YATE motorcycling ace Luke Hedger was involved in a dramatic few days of racing at Snetterton in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 series last weekend.

Hedger, 21, debuted in the Series this season, and since day one, he has performed outstandingly and has been at the business end of every race and this weekend was to be no different.

Despite a shuddery start from the Yate ace and having to get to grips with a very trying circuit last weekend, he came through both free practice sessions with small changes that shaved his time and saw him creeping up the leaderboard.

He hopped aboard the EHA Aprilia at the Snetterton circuit, giving it all he had, and after using all the available time on the clock, he came back into pit lane in 13th place, putting him firmly on row five of the grid.

This would leave him some work to do but with a good start, anything was possible.

Sunday came along and so did the crowds to watch the talented riders of the MCE British Superbikes.

The action started with warm ups, and, after Hedger’s session, he decided to revert back to the setting he had for free practice two for his race.

His strict regime in place and with all of the preparation being done, all that was left was to watch the lights to start the race.

The roar of bikes could be heard for miles as they all scrambled into the first corner. Hedger got a good start off the line, gaining a position.

You could hear the pack on his tail around the back straight before they made their way through onto the last corner.

Hedger was already making inroads into the field in front of him, and by mid-distance, he had fought through the pack to eighth position.

Hedger was then locked into a battle for eighth place with Jordan Weaving, with the pair continuously changing positions.

The last lap was intense and very close across the line but Hedger narrowly missed out on eighth place by just 0.134 of a second. His ninth place in the race means he has moved back to sixth place in the championship.

After the race, Hedger said: “My weekend was very tough and we struggled pretty much from day one.

“We just couldn’t find the set-up we needed to go fast enough to challenge at the sharp end, but on the positive side, I managed to bag myself another top ten finish.

“We also took some good points for the championship and are still top six, which is another big positive for EHA Racing Team , Aprilia and myself.

“I’d like to thank Ian and the whole team for all their hard work over the weekend and SRS International and Swindon Karting for their continued support.”

Hedger will be at round seven of the MCE British Superbikes series down in Kent later this month at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit between 21-23 July 21-23.

Last time at Brands Hatch, he narrowly missed out on his first podium so Hedger is hoping that place on the tier of the podium is not far off for him in the future – and maybe this round will be the one where he achieves his goal of getting there.