The Easter weekend saw 17-year-old 250 National supermoto champion Lewis Cornish make a tough introduction into the UK sport's toughest championship. The Caister youngster has moved up a league and his 2010 season debut in the British Supermoto Elite class saw Cornish in at the deep end at Three Sisters Circuit, near Wigan.

The Easter weekend saw 17-year-old 250 National supermoto champion Lewis Cornish make a tough introduction into the UK sport's toughest championship.

The Caister youngster has moved up a league and his 2010 season debut in the British Supermoto Elite class saw Cornish in at the deep end at Three Sisters Circuit, near Wigan.

Only the top 28 riders in the country can qualify for the Elite 450 and Open classes, and thanks to Proaction's Neal Blatherwick who helped set up the Nameplate Services MW Racing KTM's suspension during Saturday's intense qualifying, Lewis comfortably made the grade in front of his more experienced rivals.

In Sunday's 450 Elite races he qualified 12th for grid positions and, despite a poor start, managed to work his way back up to 13th at the flag.

However, race two was not so good. As Lewis attempted to take 10th with a pass on the brakes he crashed and lost more than 30 seconds in rejoining the race.

It meant following some recent rule changes he had to start on the last row of the grid for the final.

Ever determined and giving it his trademark all, Lewis forced his way past the riders in front and charged through the pack to finish in a safe 12th spot.

Monday's Open Class races were also a mixed bag and despite his KTM450 giving away up to 200cc to his rivals Lewis was determined to do well.

Qualifying went poorly after a problem with the circuit timing system left a sudden re-run of the qualifying session and Lewis stuck with his standard spare bike on wet tyres and a bone dry track.

Starting from way down the grid on his MWR-tuned race bike, Lewis made the move up to 20th in race one and saw an improvement of three places in race two.

By the final round, young Cornish battled to take 12th position on the last lap.

This promising start to his 'Premier League' season bodes well for the rest of the year as Lewis gets to grip with his new bike and super fast rivals.

The next race meeting is a longer trip north - to Rowrah Stadium, Cumbria - and Lewis will be determined to show his competitors he is learning quickly.