BROMSGROVE racer Jake Clark battled through the pain of a crashing and qualifying and missing one race to come eighth in the latest round of the Hel Performance Motostar British standard class series.
It was a cloudy start to the weekend at the TT Circuit in Assen, Netherlands, with Clark about to learn another new track during his free practice sessions.
At the end of the day, he had cut his time down by 1.5 seconds, claiming 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 to Clark that he had taken a heavy blow to his hip and also injured his foot.
Although he had set a good enough time to qualify he was told by medical staff he was not fit to ride in the first race and they would assess him on Sunday 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 morning warm-up for race two.
It was a cautious affair for Clark as he tried to regain his feeling with the bike again.
Despite obvious discomfort, Clark decided he was going to race on the afternoon.
Having not taken part in the first he started from the back row of the grid and made a good start by 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 credible eighth position.
Clark said: “The track was lovely. It was 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.”
