WORCESTER racer Liam Turberfield secured two second places and one third in the first two rounds of the North Gloucester Road Racing Club Championship.

The St John's rider ended the Brands Hatch meeting positively and said he will head to the next stage at Oulton Park with more confidence.

Turberfield started preparing for 2017 last October when he rebuilt his Yamaha R6 bike after getting a replacement engine.

But various issues meant he only got the bike back 12 hours before his first ride of the season.

Further problems left Turberfield with only three sessions to assess the bike before racing began.

After wet practice the conditions dried up and the city racer lost around 10 places going into the first corner in a poor start to the opener.

Turberfield improved to fifth by the last lap and eventually sneaked third by the smallest of margins.

He admitted: "I felt the result flattered my riding somewhat as I still didn’t feel fast or confident yet."

Gearing issues did not help as he struggled to fifth in class in the second contest.

Turberfield then had help to fix an engine oil leak going into the second round.

He started much better from 14th on the grid and enjoyed a strong second-placed finish over nine laps, just half-a-second behind winner and reigning champion Jon Wright.

Turberfield said: "For the first time in a long time I felt fast and confident I could push for the win."

In the meeting finale an average start pushed him down to fifth but with three laps to go a battle with Wright ensued for the lead.

Despite leading for a lap Turberfield, who set the fastest laps on both the second day's races, had to settle for second but said: "I was really happy with it."