ELVINGTON motorbike ace Sam Holme produced a career best finish of fifth and was involved in some dramatic racing - including a fall - in the Thundersport 600cc Pre Nationals races at Snetterton.

Holme recorded two impressive sixth-placed finishes on the opening day.

At the start of the next day, Holme crossed the line in fifth, his best-ever finish for the class, against quicker machines and more experienced riders.

The final race had plenty of thrills and spills with Holme challenging for first place.

At the first corner Holme got a great launch off the line and was in third by the second corner. By the end of the first lap he was in second place.

"I was expecting to wake up, but it was actually happening, I couldn’t believe it," said Holme. "I could see myself slowly closing down the leader."

At the start of the third lap, however, the rain started and, on a slow hairpin, the leader, then Holme and the third rider all went down. The race was stopped and Holmes' mechanics had 10 minutes to get fix his bike and change to wet tyres. When the race re-started, Holme suffered several near misses and eventually finished tenth.

He said of the event: "The weekend was a major breakthrough for us, claiming results I really did not expect this early on in the year. We will continue to work to improve, and slowly but surely we’re nearing that top step."