WESTHOUGHTON motorcycle racer Joe Lawrence moved up to 22nd in the Thundersport GB Championships after finishing in the points in three out of four races of round six at Rockingham Speedway.

The 26-year-old was making his debut at the Northampton track last weekend and overcame tricky wet conditions on the second day of the meeting to step up his learning curve.

“It is a season of learning the circuits for me, so overall it was not a bad weekend, considering we had never seen Rockingham before,” said Lawrence, who finished 13th and 17th in Saturday’s races and added two more 13th-place finishes on the Sunday.

The young racer produced his best qualifying performance of the season to earn 12th place, starting on the fourth row of the grid.

He fell back in the field at the start of race one but worked his way up to 12th place and held that position until the last lap, when another rider overtook him going into a hairpin.

Lawrence managed to get the place back going into the final bend but lost out on the drag to the chequered flag to finish 13th.

Race two went much the same way until a mistake cost him in the closing stages.

“I got a great start running into the first corner and was running with the top 10 and had great pace,” said the Westhoughton rider.

“I managed to get into 11th place with three laps to go.

“The bike felt great and I was confident of finishing in the top 10.

“I grabbed 11th place but when running into the first hairpin I went down the gearbox as normal from fifth to second gear and just at the tipping-in point my left foot caught the gear lever and put the bike into neutral, making me run on.

“I dropped down to 20th place, got back on track and in the last two laps I managed to get to 17th. I was gutted but unfortunately things like this happen in racing.”

Sunday’s racing was completed in the wet, but despite Lawrence having to make adjustments in his strategy and bike set-up, he and his team bagged another two 13-th placed finishes.

“The second race was very wet, with a lot of standing water,” he added.

“I got a good start, though, and was in 12th with the leading pack going into the first lap until at the last chicane I was hit by a rider from behind.

“Luckily I stayed on but it put me back into 13th, where I stayed throughout the race.

“I tried catching up to the riders ahead but again with very little rear grip I just wanted to bring her home safely and get some more points in the bag.

“We are getting more confident in the wet but are now working on trying to get the bike set up better for the conditions to allow me to push more mid corner and get better drive to keep up with the leaders .”

The team’s next race will be in Anglesey on August 30-31.