TEENAGE motorcycle racer Malachi Mitchell-Thomas climbed up to sixth place in the British Superbike Superstock 600 series with a fifth-placed finish at Brands Hatch earlier this month.

The 19-year-old from Horwich overcame a number of mistakes early in the race to fight back to secure a top-five berth in round seven on July 19

Mitchell-Thomas, who rides for the Silicone Engineering Racing Team, clinched ninth place finish with a lap time of 1:32.064 in the free practice session – less than a second behind the overall winner.

Following a fiercely contested first qualifying session where the top seven riders recorded 1:30s, the Horwich racer moved up to sixth on the leaderboard.

With the top-six riders all improving on their times in the second qualifier, Mitchell-Thomas raced his best lap of 1:30.455 to secure a second row, sixth position start for the main event.

Having initially dropped back a place during the 14-lap race, he showed his talent to climb back up to sixth before catching the leading pack by lap 12.

A fifth-placed finish saw Mitchell-Thomas book sixth in the Championship with an overall points tally of 56.

He said: "Making a few mistakes at the start of the race set me back from the leading group but I fought hard to claw back time and positions."

The team head south again next weekend when they travel to Thruxton Race Circuit in Hampshire.