LUKE Hedger experienced a mixed debut in the British Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch.

The 18-year-old from Yate finished fifth in his first race but crashed out on the final lap of the second when he was sixth.

The weekend started with a single test session on Friday and Hedger did really well, finishing in sixth position.

On Saturday Hedger had two practice sessions and again was very consistent, finishing in sixth position both sessions.

On Sunday the weather turned for the worse with very heavy rain all day.

In his one and only qualifying session, Hedger put in some very consistent times, but just as he put himself in fourth place he had a big high-side coming out of the last corner, ending his qualifying attempts.

He was then pushed down to fifth for his first race the same afternoon.

Hedger had to go to the medical centre to be checked over as he came down hard on his left hip but got away with bruising.

When the race got underway following a delay to clear oil from the track, Hedger had a pretty good start, staying in his fifth position in the first corner and narrowly avoiding another rider just after which caused him to lose a couple of places.

For the next few laps Hedger stayed in seventh place and on lap seven he set the fastest lap of the race at that point, slowly gaining his composure back and edging closer to the leading pack.

On lap nine of the 18 lap race another racer fell off right in front of Hedger and he had to take evasive action before settling for the fifth position that he found himself in.

The second race on Monday, was much the same as the first one except for the sunny weather.

Hedger stayed in sixth place for much of the race but had a very big crash coming out of the first corner on the last lap of the race and ended his weekend back in the medical centre.

He was very lucky to get away with out injury so by the time he goes to round two Hedger should be back to full fitness.

He said: "I was really happy with how all my practice sessions went.

"The team worked really hard all weekend and gave me an awesome machine.

"I was so pleased to finish the first race in fifth position. This was a very good result for me.

"I was really happy with how race two was going until the last lap disaster.

"Thankfully I got away with just bruising and I would like to commend the medics and marshals for the amazing job they do and for looking after me all weekend."