HASLINGDEN rider Tom Carne has received a confident boost ahead of the next round of the British Motostar Championship after making an appearance in an NG Road Racing Championship event at Cadwell Park at the weekend.

The 19-year-old is currently sixth in the British Motostar Championship after seven rounds and was on the track at the weekend at the circuit where the next race will take place on August 27.

Carne’s team Repli-Cast made a last-minute decision to visit the Lincolnshire venue and use the latest round of the NG Road Racing Championship as a test session.

The team were keen to test front tyre issues that caused them problems in the last race at Brands Hatch as well as assessing some new parts and settings.

Riding a 125cc bike, Carne entered into a class that also integrates 400ccc Streetstock motorcycles.

He had to start from the back in the qualifying race because he has not previously competed in the series this year but moved up to third place. Carne then finished second in Saturday’s main race, posting the fastest lap.

On Sunday after having to start at the back again in the qualifying race he moved up an incredible 16 places on the first lap before ending up in second place.

A bike issue then prevented them from taking part in the race but Carne was encouraged by his performance during the weekend.

“I left Cadwell with a lot of beneficial testing information that I wouldn’t normally have the time to achieve, so I am more than pleased with my performance this weekend,” he said. “An added bonus was that I achieved the fastest lap of the weekend and got some good settings.”

Repli-Cast team boss Gary Dawson said: “We decided as a team that more track time is now needed to take Tom to the next level.

“We were so impressed with how he handled the testing programme this weekend at Cadwell.

“It’s always great to work with Tom and when he posted the fastest 125 lap of the weekend the smile is what makes this all worthwhile.”