BROMSGROVE racer Jake Clark took a bruising when he came off at high-speed in qualifying at Assen last weekend.

Despite the discomfort and missing one of the two races he finished the weekend with an eighth place.

He was taking part in the only British Superbike round not on home soil when the Hel Performance Motostar British standard class series visited the famous TT Circuit in Assen.

It was a cloudy start to the weekend as Clark set about learning another new track in FP1 and then reducing his lap time in FP2. He ended the day having cut 1.5 seconds off his lap time and was placed tenth with a best lap of 1.55.527.

The weather changed overnight and for qualifying on Saturday the riders were greeted with rain. Under the black clouds, Clark was quickly up to speed, but a small mistake saw him high-side off the Honda NSF250R machine. After coming to a halt on the grass it was clear he had taken a heavy blow to his hip and also injured his foot on the foot peg.

Although he had set a good enough time to qualify he was told by the race medical staff he was not fit to ride in the first race and they would assess him in the morning.

In a spare set of leathers and gloves, Clark braved the pain he felt in his hip and foot to try and ride in the Sunday morning warm up for race two. Although it wasn’t raining the early track was damp and he cautiously circulated the track gaining his feeling with the bike again.

Despite obvious discomfort, Clark decided he was going to race on the Sunday afternoon. Having not taken part in the first he started from the back row of the grid. Clark made a good start gaining a place on the first lap. Unable to ride the bike with the freedom of movement he would normally have Clark still improved his lap times throughout the race. He crossed the finish line in a superb eight position.

He said: “The track is lovely. It’s really fast and flowing and I really enjoyed the final chicane. I’m really happy I went out for race two. It was hard work and I’m suffering now but I finished and picked up another eight points. Thanks to my sponsors, Signs Express, Clarks Motor Solutions and M&B Racing, among others.”