Ian Lowry feels he is getting closer than ever to breaking his and the Relentless by TAS Suzuki team's British Superbike podium duck after climbing to a new high of fourth at Cadwell Park.

Having recovered from the illness that saw him run no higher than the mid-field at Brands Hatch, Lowry was on form all weekend at Cadwell, qualifying well in fifth before going on to challenge for a podium finish alongside James Ellison and Stuart Easton.

Eventually forced to settle for fourth position, it nonetheless represented a new best BSB finish for him, while the result also briefly helped him up to the same position in the overall standings.

Despite a retirement in race two when he crashed towards the latter stages, Lowry – now back to sixth on the leaderboard – was delighted with his and the team's performance and has now set his sights firmly on a podium finish in the three remaining rounds.

“We are now so, so close to running at the front on a regular basis and even though we had an issue with our starts at Cadwell, I would have to say it probably cost me a podium. No ones fault; just one of those little problems that we can iron out, but hats off to the team, they gave me a great bike with a very strong engine low down for those tight turns at Cadwell. I didn't want to make a Kamikaze move in race one but without sounding cocky – there were places that Ellison and Easton were holding me up.

"In race two I got stuck behind Chris Walker and a load of other guys, which was so frustrating as the race pace was so much slower than race one. I could have been right up there.

"The last three circuits of the year are some of my strongest, so if we can keep moving forward, I know I can do the business and get that podium we all deserve.”

It was a sentiment shared by team manager Philip Neill, who was also celebrating a title win in the Superstock class courtesy of the dominant Alistair Seeley.

“Ian deserved a whole lot more for his efforts than a single fourth place. He was never outside the top five all weekend and I would also say we had one of the best race bikes on track at Cadwell.