Australia’s hope for the World Supersport Championship Broc Parkes remains upbeat despite losing his lead in the series after crashing out at Motorland Aragon in Spain on Sunday.

Parkes was unlucky in the final part of the race, having led and looked comfortable in that position until the mid part of the race. Losing front tyre grip but trying to keep his closest rival Chaz Davies behind him, he slid off on lap 16 of 18.

“It was all going fine at the front, all under control,” Parkes commented. “Then the front tyre felt that it was moving a little bit under me, from about half race distance. I was struggling to control the pace and a couple of times I lost the front.

“I tried to back down a little bit and then it started to feel okay. I had three laps to go and I knew there were two riders behind me and the gap back to them was pretty much the same. Then I made a mistake and lost the front.

“Maybe on days like that you should finish and settle for the points in third, or something like that. Anyway, it didn’t work out and I am really upset because it was good points we lost.”

Despite the disappointment of losing the championship lead to Davies, Parkes is still a strong overall second after six rounds, with another six to go.