YATE’S Luke Hedger was given an amazing opportunity after being ejected from his team the day after round five of the British Supersport.

It was a very difficult week for Hedger.

He began contacting teams within the British paddock, and just two days before the next round after speaking with the team owner of G&S Kawasaki racing, he was given a chance to race at Thruxton.

This was going to be a massive learning curve and he joined the team during the week, having never seen the bike, let alone raced a 1000cc machine.

It was a big ask for him to jump on the bike and produce a top result.

Nonetheless the 20-year-old rider approached the task in a very professional manner and soon got to grips with it completing his qualifying in a very creditable 18th place to start his race from the sixth row.

He completed the first lap in 21st place and as he grew in confidence began to move forward to 18th by lap four.

But as the race wore on the tyres began to wear and he dropped back to complete the 13 lap affair in 25th position.

He said: “It was a steep learning curve for me to step up to the big bike this weekend.

“But we managed to find a good set up for the race and I really enjoyed it out there.

“It was a hard race and of course like everyone else tyre degradation was a problem towards the end.

“I would like to thank all my sponsors especially SRS and Swindon Karting for their continued support and to Mark and the team at G&S for their help throughout the weekend.

“I would really love to continue with the team, they have been amazing, but it will come down to finding the budget.”

Team manager Mark Fisher said: “Considering Friday was the first time Luke Hedger got to ride the bike, he has done a good job for us.

“He qualified well and would have finished further up the order if the tyre hadn’t gone off.

“We hope we can continue our relationship with Luke but as usual it is all down to finance.

“If we can find someone to help us with the budget then we would like to keep him on the bike as he will be an asset to the team.”

The next round is at Brands Hatch over the weekend of August 5-7 when Kevin Van Leuven will be back with the team to hopefully join Hedger and his other new team-mates on the starting grid at the prestigious venue.