By Richard Petrie BBC Sport

While much attention has focused on Jonathan Rea and Michael Laverty's British Championship exploits this season, Ian Lowry stepped out of the shadows of his more experienced compatriots at Snetterton.

Ian Lowry was a Supersport winner at Snetterton

The Lisburn lad took his first victory in the British Supersport class to lie second in the championship to his Relentless TAS Suzuki team-mate Laverty whom he trails by 21 points.

The 20-year-old has made a rapid rise to the top in only his second season in this highly competitive class and has exceeded even his own expectations.

"My goal for this year was to finish in the top five in the championship and the fact that I am doing better than that is down to a real team effort by everyone involved.

"I'm over the moon with the way I have been riding and my racing has really come on since last season which I regarded as a learning year.

"The move to Supersport from racing standard bikes in the R6Cup was a big one but I have been working on the settings and I have a good crew chief who has given me sound advice and kept me on the right lines.

"Suzuki have made improvements to the bike from last year with an improved engine and with good suspension, top tyres from Pirelli and a strong chassis, it is a super all-round package."

Lowry is quick to pay tribute to the efforts of his team which has several years of experience in both road and circuit racing.

"They are great people to work with and the team is really well run with Philip (Neill) co-ordinating everything.

I am realistic enough to know that it will be difficult to win the title Ian Lowry

"Suzuki give us unqualified support and the sponsorship deal with Relentless has really helped to boost our profile."

The former Clubmans competitor has been making steady progress this season but knows he faces a big challenge to win the series.

"I had a third and two seconds before I won at Snetterton so I just hope I can keep progressing and not start going backwards again.

"It is a really tough series with hard racing and there are a lot of riders out there who have more experience than me.

"Michael Laverty has done two years in Superbikes and Dennis Hobbs and Billy McConnell have both competed at that level too so by comparison I am still learning and picking up confidence.

"I am realistic enough to know that it will be difficult to win the title but I will just take it round by round and try to claim a podium finish at every meeting.

"If I can keep scoring points, I will not be too far away at the end of the season."

Mondello Park is a track that Lowry enjoys but he did not get the chance to ride there last year as the meeting was cancelled due to heavy rain on raceday.

"I have always liked the circuit from the days when I raced at Irish national and clubmans level and I qualified in fifth or sixth position last year before the race was called off.

"The bikes are good and Pirelli are bringing over some new tyres for this weekend so the prospects look bright," he concluded.