SIMON Andrews might have been upstaged by rookie Alex Lowes so far this season — but, ahead of round three at Croft this weekend, the Evesham ace insists he’ll be laughing longest in 2011.

The Evesham racer suffered two sprained ankles in a heavy crash during round two at Oulton Park but managed to overcome the pain to finish third in race two.

Despite tasting the podium champagne in Cheshire, Andrews’ display was firmly put in the shade by Lowes’ heroics, winning both races to lead the Evo standings.

But, with Croft the first of 10 remaining rounds, Andrews insists once his early-season bike issues are ironed out it’ll be him, not Lowes, stealing the headlines.

“I’ve done well at Croft in the past and I’m really looking forward to going back there this weekend,” said Andrews. “We’ve not had much time at the start of the season to prepare, so we are still having to make lots of changes to the bike.

“Alex has had a brilliant start to the year and it shows how good the Evo bikes are.

“We’ve been a little slower out of the blocks but I’ve got podiums in three of the four races so far. There are 10 rounds still to go so there is plenty of time to catch Alex.

“Provided I can keep getting podiums, I’ll put the pressure on him and we’ll definitely be quicker by the end of the season.”

Andrews’ preparation has been disrupted by his ankle injuries but the racer insists he will be fit to take the grid in North Yorkshire.

British Eurosport 2 will broadcast every round of the British Superbike Championship. The channel is available on Sky 411 and Virgin Media 525. Watch online via the eurosportplayer.co.uk.