Fleetwood racer Richie Harrison makes his point in Thundersport

The Myerscough College lecturer is competing in the GP1 Elite class aboard his .Kawasaki ZX10 1000cc Superbike.

After 24 years racing at various levels, this is the biggest challenge yet for 42-year-old Richie, who is competing in Superbikes for the first time since 2009.

Richie said: “Qualifying saw us line up in 18th on the grid. We made a good start and managed to get up to 13th but struggled a little bit to keep the pace.

“I made a few mistakes riding ragged and trying to rush things, which had the adverse effect and actually slowed the lap times slightly.

“I had a word with myself and managed to smarten the job up to 15th and a solitary point. I also managed to get a personal best lap of 55.2secs.

“We decided to tweak a few things for Sunday two races. We aimed to stiffen the bike up and get a bit more drive down the straights.

“In race one we got away great and made our way into tenth. The bike was flawless and really stable, allowing me to really push on and drop our ‘pb’ to 54-sec laps.

“Mid-race, though, the clutch started to slip, and despite me trying to nurse her to the flag it eventually let go on lap 10 and we had to pull her up. Although gutted, we can take the positives away and build on this for the next round at Oulton Park.

“I have to say huge thanks to all of our RAP Racing sponsors and associates. Without you we really couldn’t get out on to that grid and compete within arguably the most competitive Superbike class in the country.”

Richie took a break from Thundersport GB last year but had competed annually for the previous six years, and in 2017 was pipped to the Sparklight Golden Era Supersport Championship title by 0.2secs.