Last year I finished 3rd overall novice in the Sound of Thunder championship riding my Suzuki TLR race bike! (Novice is a rider new to road racing that has to complete 10 or more races at 4 or more circuits.) Highs of the year included - a support race at the World Superbike meeting, Donington Park last September in front of thousands – and lows were breaking my arm and 2 ribs in a huge crash at Pembry, South Wales.

Now in 2009 I’ve lost the 'novice' tag and got my full clubman race licence after completing the entire races last year. I’m now racing in an all new, low budget and one of the closest racing classes you can have in road racing - Thundersport 500 with Thundersport GB. It's all on the television too!

Thundersport 500 is for twin cylinder commuter machines like either the Honda CB500, Kawasaki’s ER5 or the Suzuki GS500.

These bikes are really just a commuter bike - an every day kind of bike - with a power of around 50BHP. The series rules are simple but strict; no tuning or performance modifications are allowed but we have a control tyre supplied to us from Bridgestone. Although a road legal tyre it’s very soft and just great for racing on.

So basically we all race standard bikes with lights, mirrors and all other road going gear removed and front and side number boards added, it's just great!

With over 60 riders in the championship and starting grids full of these identical machines, its fantastic close racing and its not down to who has the most money spent on their machine, it’s down to skill!

The race season started in March at Mallory Park on the weekend of the 14th and 15th March. What a weekend! It was sunny most of the time and dry on both days, just great!

I qualified near the back of the 44 riders but the racing was so close and in every race I clawed my way through the field, you can see some of this Mallory park meeting on YouTube: I have a TV camera fitted to the bike for our races, so it really is awesome to watch.

From ex-race champions brought out of retirement to complete first-timers racing it was superb. From 1st place to last rider every place was won and lost at least once by everyone.

I came in the last 10 in all my 4 races, but there was no disappointment from me, I enjoyed every single minute of it.

The next race is Pembrey, South Wales on the 9th and 10th May. You can catch the last Meeting at Cadwell Park on Motors TV Sky or Virgin 454 Cable Monday 27th April at 7pm and repeated all week.

Check out www.thundersportgb.com/ or www.cb500racing.co.uk for more information.