THRUXTON Race Circuit in Hampshire proved a major challenge for Jentin Racing and Simon Andrews.

The search for a suitable chassis setting on the 200mph racetrack proved costly for the team in the Bennetts British Superbikes Championship.

The hot temperatures and an already abrasive track surface caused major problems for all the teams.

With one qualifying session, a technical problem resulted in Evesham's Andrews sitting out the last half of qualifying.

He endured the drop from the third row to seventh and was relegated to 27th place.

Andrews then got stuck in the lower qualifers and needed to fight his way up the order quickly.

Slow progress was made but the lap times were not coming down fast enough.

The concerns and doubts about the chassis setting were confirmed and Andrews finished in a hard-fought 21st place.

The preparation for race two involved major changes to the suspension and a more radical approach was needed to improve the bike handling.

Andrews needed to gain 12 places to get in the points, which was a tough task, but the team believed it was within his reach.

The changes helped the handling and, by lap 20 of 22, he had made 15th place and was in the points. But the team's excitement was soon extinguished as they watched Andrews slip back to 16th place.

A further technical problem forced Andrews to slow his lap times and cool the engine which had over-heated when a stone was thrown through the radiator.

The next round of the championship is at Silverstone on the weekend of April 28 and 29.