Tommy Hill was involved in a thrilling British Junior Superstock race at Brands Hatch last weekend.

The 16-year-old from East Grinstead, riding for the Angmering-based Roundstone Suzuki team, crashed out while trying to snatch a dramatic victory.

Hill, the youngest rider on show in round ten of the series, qualified in fifth place and was immediately up to fourth as the race got under way.

Hill worked his way to the front by lap six and an exciting battle was developing with rival Declan Swanton.

Six laps from the end Swanton got through into the lead and then the Sussex rider lost ground after being carved up by a back marker.

He was half a second behind going into the final lap but Hill was determined to win the race. He caught Swanton and then tried to pass him on the last corner but lost the front end and ended up on the grass.

Team manager David Trigg said: "It was fantastic to watch. Tommy didn't want second place, he wanted to win it."

Roundstone Suzuki's other rider, the experienced Chris Burns, had to settle for eighth place in the British Superstock Championship after suffering suspension problems.

MARK Sumpter and Shaun Balfe were denied a podium finish in the 11th round of the Privilege Insurance British GT Championship at Thruxton last Sunday.

A mid-race puncture wrecked a superb performance from the duo and left them battling for fifth place in the GTO category.

The Paragon Porsche-backed Porsche 911GT3RS was the fastest of the non-works Porsches around the high-speed circuit as warm and bright conditions greeted the pair at qualifying sessions. They set the fifth fastest time in GTO.

Sumpter, from Five Ashes in East Sussex, said: "That was about as close as we thought we were going to get."

Balfe took the first driving stint and set some highly impressive times as he got onto the tail of the works Porsche of Matt Turner/Ed Horner and by lap six was on the tail of American Turner.

On lap ten, with Tim Sugden now making it three Porsches in a row, Balfe battled ahead of Turner and immediately pulled away. Just as they were heading towards the driver change, though, he felt a puncture in a rear tyre as he raced past the pits.

That meant he had to complete a full lap of the circuit at crawling pace, as the tyre flailed around damaging the rear bodywork. It was a bitter blow and meant the Sumpter/Balfe pairing lost a certain second place.

Having lost almost two laps, Sumpter blasted back into the race and set about recovering as much as possible. He quickly caught the Sugden car, which had lost time in the pits changing a wheel, and took over fifth place but it was not the result they deserved.

To make it even more disappointing, Turner and Horner moved into second place in the championship, dropping Sumpter and Balfe to third.