COUNTY DURHAM road racer Chrissy Rouse bounced back from a dramatic start to round three of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship to eventually take a fighting seventh place at Oulton Park last weekend.

The 19-year-old Team HARIBO Starmix rider from Burnopfield feared his weekend was over before it had properly begun when mechanical gremlins cut his first qualifying session short in the wet on bank holiday Saturday afternoon, leaving him languishing down in 44th position.

With more rain forecast for Sunday, the 2013 Triumph Triple Challenge champion was doubtful he would get the chance to get a fast lap in, and with just 40 grid spots available at the Cheshire circuit, he was concerned that he may not even make the start.

But his luck changed on Sunday when, despite a damp start, the weather cleared in time for second qualifying and he was able to put in a number of decent laps, eventually qualifying ninth for Monday’s 14 lap race.

From there he made a reasonable start and was running eighth by the end of the first lap. He quickly settled into a rhythm he was happy enough with, but it soon became clear he didn’t have the pace to run with the riders at the front.

After holding eighth for almost half of the race, he move one place further up but wasn’t able to catch the riders ahead, meaning a seventh place finish and some vital points at the chequered flag.

Rouse now lies seventh in the championship on 20 points. The next round of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship will be over the weekend May 22-24 as part of the World Superbike Championship event at Donington Park.

In the Pirelli Superstock 1000 Championship race, Prudhoe’s Barry Teasdale claimed 21st on his Green Chem/Bob Henderson Racing Kawasaki with Hutton Rudby rider Neil Bainbridge finishing three places further back on his KLM Motorsport HBH Kawasaki.

The Guisborough based Milwaukee Yamaha British Superbike Championship team saw Australian Josh Brookes take a pair of podium places for team boss Shaun Muir to continue their good start to the season.

REDCAR BEARS eventually came out on top in a tough league match against Rye House Rockets.

The Bears lost the first heat 1-5 whereby the race was won by ex GB rider Edward Kennett. The Rockets won heats two and three to extend their lead to eight points but the home team fought back in heat four with Matej Kus and Rafal Konopka splitting the points with the Rockets.

Heat five had Jan Graversen and Stuart Robson score an impressive 5-1 for the Bears which reduced the deficit to four points before Lasse Bjerre and Ben Morley split the points with the Rockets in heat six. Heat seven saw a brilliant win for Bears reserve Rafal Konopka over the Rockets' highest scorer Anders Mellgren, with Matej Kus taking third for the home team to reduce the deficit to just two points. Mellgren won the next heat to take their lead back to four points the but Bears stormed back in heats nine, ten and 11 with 5-1 maximums in each which included wins for Stuart Robson, Lasse Bjerre and Matej Kus.

The Bears were now leading 37-29 but heats 12 and 13 were won by the Rockets which reduced the Bears lead to 41-37. The points were split in heat 14 with a fine win by the Rockets guest rider Michael Palm Toft. Going into the final heat, the Bears lead was still at just four points meaning a 5-1 by the Rockets would have levelled the points, resulting in a drawn match.

However, Lasse Bjerre produced a stunning win over Edward Kennett to split the points and to win the match for the Bears. Bjerre and Graversen each scored 11 points but also impressive was Konopka who scored nine, his highest score to date.