MOTORSPORT: MECHANICAL issues halted Liam Delves’ progress at the British MotoStar Championships at the weekend.
The youngster was forced to pull out of the first race and started the second contest from the back of the grid.
But a determined effort from the borough-based racer saw him charge through the pack to finish a creditable 12th.
Delves was competing at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire for round eight of the championships which has been touring across the UK since early summer.
After completing qualifying in seventh place, Delves was due to start the first race from the third row.
But his machine developed a problem and he was forced to retire without turning a wheel.
This resulted in Liam being placed on the back row of the grid in 31st place for the start of the second encounter on Sunday.
He had a mammoth task ahead of him to even break into the top 20, but the youngster was determined to give it his best shot to make up for the non start in race one.
A strong start saw Delves make ground and by the end of lap one he was up to 20th place.
By lap four he had moved up to 16th place, just outside the points scoring position.
Despite making up ground on the bottom half of the field, Delves had to push hard to reach 15th.
He eventually passed Max Cook on lap eight before securing 12th spot in the closing stages.
Liam said: “Once I caught up with the group ahead I was keen to get past them.
“If I had just had one more lap I could have finished in the top ten.
“I was half a second faster than the three in front of me and could have taken them but it wasn’t to be.
“I am pleased with my performance as to come from 31st to 12th in just 12 laps was satisfying.
“I’d like to thank my team for getting the bike fixed so quickly for me.”
Delves is next in action at Silverstone on September 10 where he’ll be hoping to move back into the ten ten of the series after dropping to 11th following the mechanical glitch at Cadwell Park.
