JOSH Day finished an impressive 12th at the Pirelli National Superstock Championship race at Brands Hatch.

The Crank Team, headed by Kent-based Irish businessman Mark Grimes, took time out from its Thundersport GB commitments to tackle the UK’s premier Superstock series at Grimes’ local track on Sunday.

And Day – a former National Superstock 600 champion – proved he is still a force to be reckoned with as he piloted the team’s 2011 Kawasaki ZX10-R to 12th, narrowly missing out on a top 10 and beating off dozens of regular riders on newer and more expensive machinery.

At the weekend the team were forced to run on a different tyre to its normal Michelins, and Day took a few sessions to get used to the new rubber, before eventually qualifying in 18th.

The Swindon rider was slow off the start and dropped down to 20th in the opening lap, but wasted no time in making his way up through the order. Picking off several rivals in the early laps, he was up 12th by the eighth lap.

Ahead was Ben Godfrey on the new BMW, and Day pushed hard and caught him, making the move past on lap 10 of the 15-lap scrap.

He held 11th spot all the way until the final lap, but missed a gear in the closing stages. It was enough to let Godfrey catch and get past, and Day was forced to settle for 12th.

“I’m a bit disappointed about that, I just clipped an extra gear down on the straight and it was just enough for Ben to get back past. Another lap and I’d have been able to get him back, so I’m a bit gutted,'' said Day “I was right up there and knocking on the door of a top 10 and I’d have been really happy with that, but if I look at what we’ve achieved today I can’t be unhappy with this result.

“We came here as a wildcards, a little club racing team with a five year old Kawasaki and we took on and beat a lot of these new BMWs which are just destroying everything this year.

“I’m grateful to Mark and all of the team for giving me the chance to race here in the British paddock again.”