CHARLES Wright was chuffed after quickly shaking off the effects of a spectacular tumble to keep his flourishing debut Elite League season on the straight and narrow.

The Swindon Robins reserve racked up a respectable seven points during his team’s thrilling 46-44 defeat at the Belle Vue Aces on Monday evening and Wright was at the centre of the action when in heat nine, after attempting to slide around the outside of Steve Worrall, he and his opponent were sent flying from their bikes.

The 26-year-old was left with a heavily swollen hand but battled on to secure a win in heat 13 and a vital third place in the penultimate race of the night.

“(Heat nine) was a good race. I kept going around him but I needed to go across him,” said Wright.

“I thought I had enough on him but obviously when we went in, I locked up to the inside and he hit the back of us. I didn’t think I should have got excluded but it doesn’t matter – that’s racing sometimes.

“I’m glad I got back on. That’s the main thing. I had two good rides then, a win and an important third.

“It’s just a shame about that one – I probably would have had nine points for the night.

“But I’ve still had some good races and as long as I’m in the mix and pushing myself, that’s all I can do.”

A trip to Kirmanshulme Lane was a jaunt down the road for Manchester native Wright and the Swindon man is certain that his team are heading in the right direction, even if they suffered last-gasp heartbreak at the hands of Belle Vue.

“It’s ten minutes down the road for me so it was a nice, easy relaxing day,” said the Robins rider.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t finish the meeting on a win. We’ll be back. It was still a good result. We still got a point out of it.

“The team’s getting there. We’re doing well away and we’re winning our home meetings, so we’re doing well. All the team’s gelling together pretty well.”