CIRENCESTER schoolboy Jordan Weaving extended his lead in the Motul British Motostar Championship with another fine result at Brands Hatch, writes Alannah Fellows.

Sixteen-year-old Weaving was beaten less than a fifth of a second by race winner Olly Simpson but crucially he had his main rival in the overall standings, Joe Irving, just behind in third place.

Weaving now leads Irving by 24 points after round five of the 12-race series.

Weaving, riding his KTM 250cc Moto3 machine, could qualify only in sixth place after he was hampered by a slower rider. But in the race itself Weaving rocketed from sixth place on the grid to second at the famous Paddock Hill Bend, where he had crashed back in May.

The race developed into a tight three-way battle between Olly, Jordan and Joe and the result was still in the balance when it was decided prematurely after the race was stopped for safety reasons because of a nasty two-bike crash further down the field.

The result was judged by the positions at the last completed lap (12 of 14) in favour of Simpson.

Weaving said: "I'm still ahead of Joe (Irving) in the championship which is what I was hoping for.

"Well done to Olly, he's not fighting for the championship so he can push that extra bit harder but I'm happy and the team's done a great job again this weekend.

"My grand-parents are here from South Africa so I'm happy to do a great job in front of them."

CIRENCESTER'S Josh Day struggled to break into the top ten in his Brands Hatch race at the weekend, the National Superstock 1000 series, eventually finishing 13th.

After a tough qualifying session, Day started the race from 24th on his Be Wiser Kawasaki.

In hot, humid conditions on race-day, the 25-year-old fought his way through the pack.

However, having started so far back on the grid, there was only so much progress he could make.

Day said: "It was a tough weekend. I couldn't find a good set-up in qualifying and so I ended up too far back on the grid for my liking.

"I had a lot of work to do. I'm frustrated and hope I can make amends at the next round."