Charlie Nesbitt took an excellent fifth place in the closing race of a positive weekend for MasterMac Honda in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

The young rider was in contention for a podium finish before being passed in the final seconds of an entertaining third and final race of the latest meeting at Thruxton, eventually equalling his best result of the season to date.

It was an excellent result for Nesbitt - who also set the fastest lap of the race - after a technical issue had forced him out of Race One and left him on the back of the grid for Race Two, from where he battled through from 23rd to 12th.

His teammate Lee Jackson continued his consistently good form, finishing seventh in the first and third races, as well as 11th in the shorter second race. Those results helped him break into the top ten of the championship standings, leaving him ninth overall with Nesbitt in 12th.

MasterMac Honda’s weekend wasn’t contained to Bennetts BSB, however. Tim Neave represented the team in the Pirelli National Superstock with Moneybarn Vehicle Finance series and gave us two good reasons to celebrate - making the podium with impressive third place finishes in both races.

Reflecting on the weekend, team manager Steve Hicken said:

“There was a lot of attention on the team and particularly Charlie after his podium finishes here last year. He had a really unlucky break this time with the technical problem in the opening race and that effectively left him out of contention for the second, but he can take a lot of pride in the way he performed in the last race to deliver an excellent ride under pressure.

“Lee is finding a good rhythm with the bike now and moving up the championship standings is due reward for his consistency throughout the season.

“And I must congratulate Tim on his performance in the Superstock series. He’s come in after a break from racing and been rapid straight away - we’re enjoying having him as part of the team again and it was great to see him up on the podium.”

Bennetts BSB next heads to rural Lincolnshire for the annual August bank holiday meeting at Cadwell Park from 24-26 August.