The Poplar youngster got to rid up against his Dad Mark and produced a decent showing earlier this month

Poplar’s Mason Williams claimed his first win of the new MRO (Motorcycle Racing Club) season with a first-placed finish during four Minitwins races at Brands Hatch earlier this month.

The local resident, who won the Rookie Mini Twins Champion award in 2014, was nervous going into the first meeting of the 2018 campaign after only getting on the bike again for the Friday before.

A mixed testing session only added to Williams’ nerves, but he started with a solid finish in race one on the Saturday.

Having qualified in third place, the Poplar sportsmen managed to finish in third despite being close to the leaders at one stage.

It was a solid start, but in race two on the Saturday he could only manage fifth and heading into Sunday, Williams made some changes to his suspension to improve the bike’s handling.

It seemed to work a treat as in race one on Sunday Williams stole the show with a superb ride on a wet track.

He managed to get out in front on lap two and never looked back – leading all the way to the finish even though Paul Witherington closed the gap to a second at one stage.

Williams held his nerve and ensured he claimed his maiden win of the 2018 season.

Unfortunately he was unable to build on it in race two on Sunday as the sun came out and dried the track quickly.

This wasn’t the main problem, however, as an oil spillage during race one made the circuit wet and so Williams decided to go with the full wet tyres, which was a bad move.

He did make a solid start though, and was in the lead before his Dad Mark came past in turn one and they remained as one and two for a period.

Eventually Williams junior was overtaken and had to settle for a fifth-place finish, but it capped a solid start to the 2018 season.

The Poplar athlete said: “I’m looking forward to meeting two at Silverstone in April as this is a track I have always been quite strong at. In 2015 I was only 0.1 off the lap record, so I hope to recreate that form and go for more wins.

“I also want to say a big thanks to everyone that helped and came down to support me at Brands Hatch recently.

“Also a big thanks to all of my sponsors that make sure I am out there and competitive like MoreMoto, Putoline Oils, NEXX Helmets, Forma Boots NGK Spark Plugs, Quickshifter Cleaning Products, Inonda and Sublime Designs.