Racer Chris gets a flying start

RACER Chris Hellewell made a flying start to his first full season in the Northern 600 championship, taking fourth and fifth places and blowing the other rookie riders away at Cadwell Park.

The Whiston prospect had set his sights on top eight finishes despite starting 17th out of the 22 competitors in qualifying. He powered his way up to seventh by the end of the first lap and eventually qualified in sixth.

In race one, Hellewell made another flying start to take fourth place despite being up against more experienced riders at the Lincolnshire circuit.

He followed that with another superb ride in race two to finish fifth and was also a whopping 32 and 36 seconds faster than the second highest-placed rookie.

The Northern 600 races were held alongside the Senior and Rookies Championship and he underlined his potential by comfortably winning both, the first by 11.6 seconds and the second by five seconds after his qualifying ride gave him pole on the grid.