BOLTON motorcycle racer Ben Heaton was given plenty of food for thought after claiming two podium finishes in the Wirral 100 meeting at Oulton Park.

The 30-year-old petrol-head, who works as a welder by trade, said he compiled plenty of positive data for the season ahead after breaking in two new bikes – an Aermacchi and RS125 Honda.

His team overcame some technical problems with the Aermacchi Ala’Doro to finish second fastest 350cc single cylinder in the David Swallow Memorial Trophy, only beaten by Isle of Man TT legend Bill Swallow.

Heaton then equalled that performance in the 500cc Allcomers GP race, throwing his Falcon Electrical Honda RS125 around the track to make it into the top 20 overall and second fastest 125.

“What an excellent and exciting start to our season on two amazing machines,” said dad-of-two Heaton, who used the meeting as preparation for the Aintree Motorcycle Racing Club Championship.

“It was my first race at Oulton Park for more than two years, since racing 600s.

“We have got a real headstart on our season to take with us to races like the Aintree Motorcycle Racing Club, etc.

“We are onto a real bright future with mega results with the data we have gathered.

“Racing two fresh machines at Oulton gave us some quality track time and a benchmark to work to.”

Heaton struggled with a slight miss-fire on his Aermacchi Ala’Doro, which hampered the bike’s ride and power output.

He added: “With Peter Flemming’s nod and some words of enlightenment we pressed on and rode around the issue. We had a real good battle with much bigger and more powerful machines in our class, rubbing fairings, hitting plenty of kerbs and making passes whenever and wherever we could.

“Learning the starts in the mighty little Honda RS125 saw us sat back off the line, but we cracked on and chased down the bigger and faster machines, which we really loved.”

After such a positive start to the season, Heaton was forced to take a backward step in the opening round of the Aintree Club Championships last weekend.

He was unable to start in the Aermacchi due to a carburettor problem and was hampered by a faulty clutch on the RS125.

After battling to a fifth-place finish in the opening race Heaton finished out of the points in the second.

A difficult day was made that bit harder by the fact it was the anniversary of the death of fellow Bolton rider Malachi Mitchell-Thomas, a close personal friend who died while racing at the North West 200 road races.

Heaton said: “We pressed ahead despite the technical difficulties, put a smile on, put the visor down and did what we could. You just have to play the cards you are dealt with. It’s not just racing, it’s how life goes, but we’ll come out on top.”