Sam Corke defied the odds to claim sixth place in the Powerbike class as the MRO Championship began at Snetterton last Sunday.

The Uckfield rider won the championship last season but has been unable to secure financial backing for this year.

That has meant him starting the season in the knowledge that he may not be able to afford to finish it.

Corke has bought himself a four-year-old Yamaha R1 to start the season and, in racing terms, he had not stepped on to the bike before Sunday.

He said: "When I lined up on the grid the others were looking at me and almost laughing because of the age of the bike but I finished sixth and I should have been third.

"Everyone else has been testing while that was the first time I had been on the bike on Sunday morning.

"I know it might sound strange but I think I could do well this year."

Brighton's Kenny Everest finished ninth but is promising there is more to come.

Everest is hoping to be challenging for honours this season but set-up problems plagued him all weekend.

He was running second in Saturday's BEMSEE King of Clubs Powerbike race, which he used as practice, when an oil problem forced him to retire on the last lap.

The bike had to be repaired for Sunday and he qualified 17th before finishing ninth.

Everest said: "I am not too pleased with ninth but philosophically it was the best we could do with the bike.

"It was frustrating because I wanted to be on the podium from the off.

"I am still really confident I can do well this season."

Haywards Heath's Alex Symon, another possible challenger, suffered a big crash which has wrecked his Yamaha R1.

Symon, who escaped with bad bruising, is unlikely to be able to race it at this level again and is now trying to get hold of a Suzuki GSXR before the second round of the championship at Oulton Park next month.

It was a shame for Symon who had done tremendously well to qualify second on the grid.

Luke Palmer, from Plumpton Green, was another qualifier for the Powerbike race but he had problems with his R1 losing power and retired after five laps.

In the Aprilia RSV1000 Mille class, Horsham's Darren Jones produced an excellent ride to finish third. This followed a second and a third in Saturday's club races.

In the Supersport 400 class, Portslade's Andrew Ballard finished tenth on his Kawasaki ZXR.

Burgess Hill's Ed Biggs finished the weekend with a victory in the consolation race for Powerbike and Supersport non-qualifiers.

Biggs, contesting the Supersport class on a Yamaha R6, was disappointed not to qualify for the main race but showed his potential by clinching victory in the final race of the day.

He said: "I had a problem in qualifying but I thought I would stamp my authority on the day and show what I can do."

In Saturday's King of Clubs classes, Peacehaven's Kevin Stone continued his improvement by finishing 26th in the Supersport 600 A final.

Stone, who has stepped up from the Rookie classes, had finished 18th in his heat to make the A final.

He said: "I am making progress and I was pleased to get into the A final."

In the two Supersport 400 races, Ballard finished 12th and tenth while Haywards Heath's Richard Davies was 21st and 24th on his Honda VFR.

Davies said: "Snetterton has never been my favourite track or one my bike is competitive at but I was pleased with my results considering the competition.

"The Clubman 400 was more favourable, not having an MRO entry, and I managed a sixth place finish in this.

"Overall the weekend was a good learning curve and I improved last year's personal best by three seconds."

Tommy Hill, from Lingfield near East Grinstead, is taking part in the R6 Cup this season. The first round is at Silverstone this weekend.