Kurt Wigley storms to top 10 finish in Assen

It has been another topsy-turvy campaign for the Hednesford star who, despite showing superb consistency throughout the British Supersport series, has not been challenging the top five or 10 positions often enough.

Travelling to Assen, in Holland, on the under card of the British Superbike championship – along with fellow Sorrymate.com rider Josh Hiatt – he was determined to leave round 10 with more points.

The circuit was brand new for Hiatt, 16, from Heath Hayes, while for 23-year-old Wigley was hoping to end a streak of bad luck at the track, which is the only round not raced in the UK.

The opening practice sessions proved to be positive for both riders, as Hiatt got up to speed and continuously improved, posting the seventh fastest time while Wigley put in his fastest lap of the session on the final couple of circulations, securing 12th.

Wigley said: "Josh's focus was on personal improvements but I was lacking confidence in the rear as high levels of tyre wear showed the grip wasn’t quite there.

"Following an array of changes, I went out with a fresh mindset and straight away began lapping faster than the FP1 session."

Having slashed just over a second from his lap time, Wigley climbed up to ninth by the end of the session, but with just 0.1 seconds covering the next five riders behind, he knew he needed to do more for qualifying.

Meanwhile, Hiatt had cut a huge three seconds off his lap time in the closing stages of FP2 to secure a sixth as the field began to close together.

Following some big changes to the suspension set up and geometry of the bike overnight, the team was looking for improvement but during the closing stages of the session, Wigley pushed the front a little too much entering the hairpin and broke traction, which resulted in a minor crash leaving him 13th on the grid despite setting a new PB.

And there was more drama as Hiatt was taken out, which meant, having completed less than half of the session, he would start the opening British Motostar, standard class, race in eighth.

Wigley made the best of the situation and managed to secure 13th but was left disappointed with what could have been, while Hiatt was forced to sit out his opening race when further investigation discovered his bike had suffered a broken subframe.

"Fortunately, we managed to get the brake welded in the evening ready for the following day," said Wigley.

"Sunday’s race brought the best weather the weekend had to offer and Josh was determined to get a good start from last on the grid.

"By turn one, he'd gained two places and continued to progress throughout the duration of the race.

"Midway through, Josh received the long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits, which fortunately didn’t affect his position as he managed to get his head down and create a gap, crossing the line to ta

"Midway through, Josh received the long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits, which fortunately didn’t affect his position as he managed to get his head down and create a gap, crossing the line to take a strong sixth-placed finish."

Wigley also planned to get away as the lights went out for the start of the main supersport race, and after staying out of trouble during the opening laps, he began to push forwards while getting used to the changes he and the team’s chief mechanic had made to the bike during the morning.

And after a strong 15-lap race around the 2.8-mile circuit, he to took the chequered flag in ninth, gaining valuable points, which kept him 11th in the championship.

Meanwhile, Kurt's twin brother, Matt, has also been making good progress from his latest crash and is no longer in a cast as he looks to make a return to the track is the next couple of weeks.

Stourbridge's Martin Kirk finished seventh in race one of the British SIdecar series but suffered a DNF in the second, leaving him 11th in championship table.