COLCHESTER'S Tom Oliver raced his SGR Racing Yamaha to a superb sixth place in the third round of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship, at Brands Hatch.

The gritty 20-year old dug deep and battled his way from 12th through to a solid top-ten finish.

It helped him rack up even more championship points, placing him in tenth place overall.

Oliver said: "I’m well happy with the result.

"I got away well in the first part of the race but then it was red flagged and we had some time sitting in pit lane.

"|Second start I also got away well but there were a lot of crashes so the Safety Car had to come out.

"Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good run when it went back in and I dropped off the front group.

"I worked my way to the front of the chasing group and fought hard to the end.

"I'm really pleased with the result, the bike and team are working well and I can’t wait to get to round four at Donington Park this weekend, supporting World Superbikes.”

SGR Racing worked hard ahead of qualifying to give Oliver what he needed from the R6 Yamaha.

The effort paid off when he qualified in ninth place, on the technical Indy circuit.

Oliver got away well but the 22-lap race was red flagged on the first lap due to an incident.

As a result, the re-started race was reduced to 18 laps and once again Oliver got off the line well and slotted in with the front group.

However, the Safety Car had to be deployed on track mid-way through the race and when it came back into pit lane, the Colchester racer did not did get away as well as he would have liked.

But he still managed to battle back and secure more championship points, to please SGR Racing team owner Stephen Kinghorn.

Kinghorn said: “That was a nerve wracking race.

"Tom was in the thick of things at the start and got bumped around a lot.

"His race pace was superb and he rode well in what was a chaotic race.

"The team has really gelled and I feel we are now getting into our stride.

"We are all pulling in the same direction and it is great to see everyone enjoying the racing.

"Tom is a tremendous rider and he did us all proud - we're all now looking to Donington Park which will be exciting for sure.”

The fourth round of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 championship at Donington Park this weekend will support the WorldSBK Acerbis UK Round.