Courtney in the points on Team ILR debut
Last weekend's first round of the British Motostar Championship (Moto 3 Standard) at Silverstone saw Connall Courtney score six points on his debut for Team ILR.
Practice and qualifying took place in changeable, tricky conditions and Connall finished the sessions in a positive 12th position on the grid and looking forward to improving in both of the weekend's races.
However the weather would have the last word, with the organisers eventually being forced to abandon Saturday afternoon's scheduled first race.
Race 2 on Sunday got underway in bright, dry conditions, and at the conclusion of the opening lap Connall was circulating mid-field with a big gap to the rider behind.
By the halfway stage of the race, he had lost some ground on the leaders and was now coming under serious pressure from Peetu Paavilainen, and the two had a battle to the flag with the Finnish rider managing to pull away in the last lap traffic.
So the conclusion of a hard weekend for the reigning Irish and Ulster 125/300 Production short circuit champion, but he'll be looking for better results when the championship moves on to Oulton Park in three weeks time.
Team ILR owner/manager Ian Lougher:
"The start of the 2016 season was not the easiest for the team as both our classes took the brunt of the weather, with mixed conditions making the correct tyre choice almost impossible.
As sessions started with no-one making the correct choice, it became more of a track session for everyone than anything else. Connall is progressing from a good opening learning year in Northern Ireland to move to a highly competitive field in BSB.
And although it is a hard task to move forward in this field, I feel he has the traits to come good if he keeps focused."
Connall Courtney:
"I had a great experience at Silverstone. It was great to finally get the first race out of the way. I'm very happy with the progress made throughout the weekend. And I look forward to hopefully continuing this at Oulton Park."