ELVINGTON motorbike ace Sam Holme produced a career-best finish in the final weekend of the Thundersport 600cc Pre Nationals series - to cap an excellent debut season.

Holme, riding a Kawasaki ZX6, notched a second place on the very last race at Cadwell Park in front of the Motors TV cameras.

It left him with a super seventh place overall in the championship standings, out of a field of 57 competitors, most of whom were more experienced riders with plenty on quicker machines.

The 22-year-old lauded a "long challenging season which seems to have just flown by" - his first at this level having moved up from the BEMSEE Formula 400 series.

Of the final round, he said: "I like Cadwell - I have a love-hate relationship with the place.

"I’ve had some great results and memories there and I’ve also had a lot of pain and big crashes. It’s always a lottery as to what to expect every time we go there.

"But I came home in second in the last race - my best-ever finish and proof that we have come on leaps and bounds this year.

"I had a lot of people supporting me in that final race, and it was great to repay friends, family and sponsors for all their efforts and dedication throughout this year."

The former Fulford School pupil added: "We saved the best until last, but we deserved it and it made all the pain from big crashes throughout the year 100 per cent worth it to get on that podium.

"We also managed to finish seventh overall in the championship - a great achievement in my first season on board a 600.

"We intend to push on next year and continue progressing, which hopefully will come with a lot more podiums. We’ll be working and training hard over winter."

Holme had to get used to a new quickshifter and quick action throttle on his bike but still qualified third on the grid following heavy overnight rain - his second front-row start of the year.

Race one was dry, and Holme got a decent start, slotting into second place and chasing down the leader. However, he pointed out: "I didn’t quite have the pace in the dry to challenge for the podium, so instead I was locked in a battle for fourth, which I eventually came out on top of after a last-lap duel."

In race two, Holme rued a "silly mistake" - getting a ten-second penalty for a jump start - and eventually finished sixth.

However, it again rained heavily that night and, with Holme impressed by the wet setting on his machine, he "knew we had a shot at a decent result" in race three.

This time he started from seventh due to the grid positions being determined by race times from the previous day.

He said: "I knew I had to be patient and not make a mistake on the early laps, and I got into a good rhythm, slotting into third and sitting there comfortably for three quarters of the race.

"On the last lap I encountered about eight back markers which I had to negotiate, and while doing so, I dropped to fourth and was locked in a last-lap battle where we swapped positions about four times.

"I just lost out on a podium due to being held up."

Twenty minutes before the final race there was a very heavy shower - to Holme's delight.

"As this was the last race of the year, it really was a ‘win it or bin it’ race for me," he said.

"I had no other target other than a podium. I got a much better start this time and made good progress on the early laps, sitting in third and closing down the lad in second who I got passed on lap four.

"I then pulled out about an eight-second advantage, and I was slowly catching the leader, but I couldn’t quite bridge the gap.

"Grip was very low, with the rear of my bike stepping out on me on at least five or six times, but I knew if I focussed we could bag a career-best result, which is what we did."

Holme's sponsors include CMB Motorsport, Harris Irwin Architects & Designers, Elvington Park Building Services, Elvington Plant Hire, Catton Village Motors, York Digital Image, Lee and Luke Pendall, Yorkshire Air Museum, where he works, Mick Seward, and Bryan Stephenson.