SWINDON youngster Charlie Nesbitt picked up his first points in the opening round of his debut season in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

Nesbitt got off to a solid start, with a point-scoring finish in the first of three races to take place at Silverstone over the Easter weekend.

The 22-year-old, on board the MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing, progressed from 15th on the grid to take four points for his 12th place in an opening race that highlighted the strength of the field in this year’s championship.

Race two saw the youngster make a strong start, progressing to 10th in the opening laps. However a collision involving his former Hawk team mate Christian Iddon ended both riders’ race early.

That contributed to a tough task in the third and final race of the weekend, when he turned in a steady performance from 18th on the grid to finish 17th, just outside the points.

Reflecting on the weekend, Nesbitt said: “We had a few tough moments, but there are plenty of positives to take from it as well.

“It was good to get some points on the board straight away and I think there’s plenty more to come.

“I’m already looking forward to getting back out there and showing what we can do in the next round at Oulton Park.”

While Nesbitt had a brief introduction to the Bennetts BSB series towards the end of last season, the weekend saw another Swindon youngster, Max Cook, making his debut.

Cook, who has made the step up having won the 2022 Junior Superstock championship, finished outside the points in his opening races but gained valuable track time while getting to grips with his new Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki.

The podium positions were shared between four riders over the course of the weekend, with Australian Josh Brookes - a double former BSB champion - Kyle Ryde and Glenn Irwin each taking a win.

Tommy Bridewell, from Etchilhampton, made the top three in all three races with impressive performances on the BeerMonster Ducati.