LIAM DELVES rode to a strong fourth place in the opening round of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 championship at Donington Park on Sunday.
Riding the Santander Salt TAG Racing Yamaha R6, the Solihull rider had been well within the top ten throughout free practice and qualified well in sixth place for a second row start.
Delves said: “I took my time during free practice to get a feel for the circuit but in qualifying I couldn’t find the clean lap I needed to move forward.
“Despite this, I was feeling confident I could do well in the race.”
As the lights went out to herald the start of the 20-lap affair, Delves held his position but was overhauled by Kade Verway on the second lap.
One lap later he made a pass on Verway to return to sixth place and on lap six he moved up to fifth position after passing Jack Nixon.
He had Simon Reid in his sights but a multi-rider crash on lap nine brought the safety car out and he had to be content to follow him until the car left the track.
Delves gradually edged nearer to Reid and with two laps remaining he took his opportunity to make his pass.
However, Reid was not beaten and challenged him for position throughout the final lap.
Delves was not giving up without a fight though and held his position to take the chequered flag in fourth place with a 0.3secs advantage over Reid.
Delves said: “I would like to say a massive thank you to all my team for a great weekend and for putting an awesome bike together for me.
“Also a huge thanks to all my sponsors for making this happen and everyone for their kind messages of support.”
The next round is at Snetterton in Norfolk over the weekend of August 21-23.
