SWINDON’S Charlie Nesbitt scored his first points of the season in the latest round of Pirelli National Superstock Championship action.

Following two weekends of DNFs as a result of crashes, Nesbitt enjoyed two strong finishes at Donington Park to move up to 13th in the overall standings.

Racing on the 1.9-mile national circuit, the Swindon racer made a jump into the unknown as he had raced at Donington on board his Buildbase Suzuki.

In the first of two Friday practice sessions, Nesbitt managed a fastest lap time of 1:08.336 – 0.561 seconds off the top – to place himself ninth overall.

During the afternoon session, he improved his time to 1:07.857 and up to seventh in the class.

Saturday saw the qualifying session take place, but the Suzuki rider was struggling to achieve a clear lap during the time he had available.

Eventually, Nesbitt recorded a 1:07.471 to snatch eighth place and line up in the middle of the third row.

When Sunday’s first race began, Nesbitt was swallowed up by a handful of more experienced riders around him and he slipped backwards initially.

However, steely determination and well-managed race pace ensured the Swindon talent ended up with seventh place and seven points – his first of the 2022 season.

Beginning the second race from the left side of the third row, another poor start cost Nesbitt a handful of places before the end of the first lap.

Once the race settled down, the Suzuki rider powered back to seventh before setting his sights on a top-five finish.

Nesbitt managed to navigate through the pack in front and into fifth, hanging onto the coattails of the leaders after bridging the empty space.

Unfortunately, the lack of laps remaining failed to afford Nesbitt enough time to mount any more of a challenge and he had to settle for 11 points.

Reacting to a successful weekend, Nesbitt said: “Overall, I am happy with the weekend and cannot wait for Knockhill in a few weeks.

“Thank you to the team and all my sponsors for the support, we will go again soon!”