NEWCASTLE'S Chris Burns is looking to turn the performance table on its head this weekend at Oulton Park and continue his relentless charge towards the Superbike Cup.

The 29-year-old former MotoGP rider, who has teamed up with former World Endurance champion Warwick Nowland to form a new STP Superbike team, has endured a frustrating start to the new campaign.

Due to a lack of funding in the close season, Burns, who last year failed to finish in all six of his British Superbikes races, is the only rider in the series competing with simply a road bike.

Burns, who finished 18th in race one at Thruxton two weeks ago, claims his new-look bike is improving by the day and predicted a close battle over the coming months with James Buckingham and John Laverty for the coveted Superbike Cup.

"The target remains to win the Superbike Cup and by the end of the year be scoring points in the main Championship," said Burns.

"We came 14th in qualifying at Oulton Park and 18th in race one on a standard bike, so I have high hopes.

"There'll be tracks that suit the bike and others that don't - hopefully this weekend we'll be competitive. Our performances already this season show just how good the bike is anyway.

"We didn't test the bike at all.

All the other teams tested in Spain and we didn't even get chance, the first race was our first test.

"For every event we're going to have something new on the bike, so we're going to get stronger," added Burns. "It's a shame we didn't have it all at the start of the season. It might take half a season to get all the parts.

"This year is a learning year and next year we'll enter the Championship after a full season of training.

"Last year I was promised the bike would be done before November and we'd go testing in Spain and then I started to get the phone calls saying we haven't got the money yet, we haven't got the money yet. It can only get better from now on."

Leon Haslam, meanwhile, is looking forward to winning again'' at Oulton Park.

Haslam said: Oulton Park has a fantastic layout and always promotes good racing.

I've always done pretty well there in the past. I know after the disappointment of Thruxton I need to get my championship going so I'm looking forward to winning again.

It's a long season and we're making progress each time I'm out on the bike.'' * Tune into Eurosport 2 for Bennetts British Super Bikes Coverage on Monday from Oulton Park at 12.30pm or for updates head to: www.uk.eurosport. yahoo.com