Broc Parkes is looking forward to the upcoming World Superbike mid-season tests at Imola following a trying weekend at Donington Park.

Looking to get back in the points after missing out at Misano, the Kawasaki ZX-10R appeared to struggle around Donington Park through qualifying, with all five 'green' entries missing the Superpole cut.

The first time this season that Parkes hadn't made it into the top twenty, the Australian battled hard in the opening race to cross the line in 18th position, but was better rewarded in the second with a run to 14th place.

Nonetheless, the Australian insists a top ten result was on the cards on that occasion had he not had a gearing problem that dropped down the order in the latter stages.

"It's been a big struggle this weekend during our practice and qualifying sessions and it's the first time all year that I've sat out of Superpole, which was really disappointing. In race one I had a bad start and had to work my way through from the back of the pack and although our result wasn't good I felt OK on the bike and was happy to finish the race.

“For race two, we changed tyres but it was really slippery out there so I'd wished I'd stayed on my race one tyre. I had a good start and got away and was able to battle with the middle guys until I had an issue with the gears in the last few laps which unfortunately put me out of the top ten.”

Attention now turns to the upcoming mid-season tests at Imola, where Parkes is hoping to eke more pace from his Kawasaki.

“I'm looking forward to the Imola test and getting back some momentum in the team."