DORSET rider Brad Jones admitted his British Superbikes debut at Oulton Park was “challenging”.
Stalbridge man Jones, 23, was making the step up to Britain’s elite level after two impressive runner-up seasons in British Supersport.
Two DNFs in the first two races put Jones on the backfoot.
However, Jones put those disappointments behind him to record his first race finish of 16th in race three, with his iForce Lloyd & Jones BMW team not expected to challenge for race wins this season.
Jones is making the vast step up from a 600cc machine to a 1000cc bike and after three free practice sessions was making good progress and beginning to feel at home on his BMW M1000RR.
But during qualifying, Jones unfortunately suffered gremlins with his bike and this problem then reoccurred in race one.
READ MORE: Brad Jones seals second in British Supersport
After a successful warm-up session on Sunday morning where Jones matched his personal best lap time of the weekend, it was game on.
More importantly, his team had cured this issue with the bike – although it was not all plain sailing in race two.
After starting in 23rd, a great start saw him make up five positions in the first corner but after a collision in turn two the young racer sustained damage to his BMW which forced him out of the race on lap two.
Jones was determined to finish the weekend on a high and in race three made a storming start on a progressive first lap moving him up many positions.
A hard charge saw Jones make good progress in the battle for 14th place.
Following 18 gruelling laps of the 2.7-mile Cheshire circuit, Jones crossed the line in 16th after losing some grip with his rear tyre late on.
After his debut weekend, he said: “The opening weekend of the season has been challenging but ultimately, we’ve made good progress with myself and the bike despite the electrical issue, but this is all part of the learning curve.
“After not being able to finish the first two races the aim was to finish well in race three and gain a full 18 laps worth of race data, so in doing that we ended the weekend on a high and put the icing on the cake by putting my best lap of the weekend in on lap four of the race.
“Now we can go to Knockhill for round two with some confidence and aim to further improve and learn.’’
All riders will now battle it out in Scotland for round two at Knockhill on Saturday, July 10 and Sunday, July 11.
*Follow Jones' progress this season on Eurosport and Quest.
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