MOTORBIKE racer Reece Rothwell continued his impressive start to the Thundersport GB season by picking up 29 points at Donington Park, Derby.

The second round of the championships saw competitors race across a variety of engine classes.

Bolton ace Rothwell races a Suzuki GSXR 600 in the Sportsman Elite 600 class, which includes 27 other competitors.

He finished with nine points after the first race, and added 10 more in each of the next two races.

With six podium finishes out of six races so far, he is well in contention to win the division.

Joe Lawrence, another Bolton racer, also took part over the weekend, this time in the Pre-National Sport 600cc class on a R6 Yamaha.

The category is designed for riders who have yet to obtain their national race licence and enables participants to develop their racing skills and give them a taste of victory before stepping up to the more intense classes.

After narrowly missing out on the points in the first race, Joe managed to finish the second in 15th place to give him his first point of the season.

On the second day he came 13th in an experienced and largely sponsored field of riders.

After the race he said, “Our goal was to eventually get in the points throughout the course of the sesaon, so to get them this early is fantastic.

“The tech team have been brilliant working on the bike set-up with me and it’s getting better with each outing.”

Rothwell’s brother, Curtis, had a difficult weekend in the tough Thundersport GP1 Championship, a class for motorcycles with big horsepower and advanced electronics with no limitations on modifications.

Although picking up two points in the second race at Donington Park, his first year in the class has been testing, with mechanical failures and other problems blighting his season.

All three racers will take part in the next round of the championships at Snetterton circuit in Norfolk on the 3rd- 4th May.