BMW returned to the top ten during the latest round of the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park, with Ruben Xaus claiming a ninth place finish.

Following three disappointing events at Kyalami, Miller Motorsports Park and Misano, Xaus was on fine form during both races, the Spaniard shrugging off his 16th place starting slot to get as high as 13th, before eventually fading to 15th.

Adjustments for race two aided Xaus further, the BMW scaling the leader board as the race wore on to eventually cross the line in ninth position.

Even so, multiple race winner Xaus admits he would like to be challenging for top six finishes now they are in the second-half of the season.

“That was a tough weekend and I really know that I have done two hard races today. At the moment, the bike is very demanding physically and mentally and it requires a lot of concentration. I am happy to get a top ten finish, but I would be more happy if Troy and I would be getting top six finishes for sure.

“Today our bike was good in the fast corners, but we lost out on the slow ones. My riding style is more aggressive than Troy and for that you have to be 100% fit. Troy is not 100% fit yet, so he is having a harder time getting the bike round the track at the speeds he would like to do. I see positive signs ahead and I am looking forward to the next two tests.”

Troy Corser, meanwhile, continued his disappointing run of form after retiring from the opening race before losing the chance of points in the second when he went off course in the latter stages.

“For me, it was a terrible day and not such a good weekend. All weekend, I have being having a problem because of the lack of grip and today it was as bad as it has ever been. The bike felt hard to ride today and I got a lot of wheelspin and found it hard to stop it wheelieing. In race one, the bike just jumped out of gear when I tried to backshift from third to second and I was forced into the gravel and had to lay the bike down.

“Fortunately, I didn't hurt myself at all, but it was an unnecessary crash. Race two was all about grip, or lack of it. But I kept going, even though I was losing places, because I wanted to give the team as much telemetry info as possible.”