Ifield motorcycle racer Don Gilbert overcame appalling wet conditions to finish third in the opening race of the third round of the Thundersport GB national 600s at Snetterton in Norfolk.
He qualified third on the grid and before the start of the first race, a five-minute window was given to competitors to change to wet-weather tyres following a downpour immediately before the start of the race.
Unsure of the conditions Gilbert got a great start and was first into the initial corner and led the race for a lap until he slid sideways out the penultimate corner which relegated him to fifth place.
It was not long until Don gained two places and finished a well deserved but disappointing third.
Gilbert suffered a bad start in the second race and fell back to tenth before recovering to finish a solid seventh.
In better sunny conditions on Sunday, Gilbert started seventh on the grid and with an excellent start was in third place at the first corner.
He managed to squeeze into second place until the final lap, when a lunge from fellow competitor David Brooke stood Don up onto the grass run-off area costing Don valuable seconds which relegated him into fifth place to the finishing line.
Gilbert finished a deserved fifth in the final race despite suffering from severe tyre problems.
He said: “All in all it was a successful weekend but could have been better. I reached my goal of getting on the podium this weekend, but was bitterly disappointed about the mis-hap on the last lap on Sunday morning because I proved we had the pace to stay in second place.
“The only way for someone to pass was to make a very close and risky manouvre which didn’t pay off on my behalf and sent me off-track at about 110mph.
“A seventh, three fifths and a third place is fantastic and now stands me in eighth place out of 41 in the championship.
“I’m very confident that we will be consistantly battling for podium finishes for the rest of the season.”
The next round will be held at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire.
Gilbert thanked sponsors QED Property, Ravenol Oil and lubricants, Automotive paints and supplies, Autograffix, and GleamClean.com. Anyone interested in supporting Don should contact the C ReD racing’ facebook page. Don will be on will be featured on Motors TV tomorrow (Thursday) at 9.30pm.