THE DEMONS of Snetterton continued to haunt Luke Hedger as the second round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship came to a dramatic end.

The Hereford-based motorbike racer fell out of love with the track due to a crash that happened on a test day in 2019, coming off the bike at over 100 miles per hour and since then it has been a test of the mind for the 24-year-old, writes Camilla Davina Temple-Court.

Last weekend saw the course hit him again after being taken out by another rider after just three laps of racing. Qualifying was a struggle and after 11 laps he rode the CPD Kawasaki over the line to take 18th place.

The entire team knew this was unknown territory for Hedger as he is a strong top 10 contender, but he was determined to make the most of the situation. Sunday came around and with only one race at the event for the National Superstock 1000 line up, it was one chance and all to play for to get those all important points. Hedger got a great start as he stormed off the line keeping the front wheel down and making his way through the line up.

However, it was just not meant to be as he was taken out by another rider going into the Agostini Hairpin powering his bike into the barrier on lap three.

Both riders got up and walked away, unscathed. “Well that was another tough one with me and the team struggling to get the bike set up," said Hedger.

The pace from me was slow which put us well back in the field but in the morning warm up we found the pace we had been looking for and managed to get the bike back in it’s sweet spot for the race.

"Unfortunately only doing three laps I was taken out and that was the end of a disappointing weekend but still my team work so hard all weekend I can’t thank them enough!” Team owner Chris Cunnington added: “It has been a really challenging weekend, we tested the bike here for the perfect set up a few weeks ago at the No Limits Championship.

"But with changes in weather and different factors each playing their part, it meant some hard work from all in the team over the weekend.

"We finally got things sorted and Luke was happy. The crash was unfortunate but these things happen and the other rider didn’t see Luke at all, fortunately all parties were ok.

"We now look on to Silverstone, we will take the two weeks off to reset and hope to have a positive outcome from the short national circuit.”

The team would like to thank all of the sponsors and Luke’s personal sponsors for their continued support throughout this tough year. The next round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship Round Three will be held at the short and fast Silverstone National Circuit between September 4 and 6.

You can watch it live on Eurosport, TSL Timings and catch up on ITV 4.