RACING prodigy Joe Francis exceeded his own expectations at Brands Hatch over the weekend.

The 14-year-old from Backford line up in the British 125cc Championship, a support series for the premier British Superbike class.

It was his debut in the open-age series, having stepped up as champion of last season’s Aprilia Superteens class.

After some encouraging qualifying displays, Joe secured 10th place on the grid – only to see his race cancelled due to an earlier incident at the rain-soaked Kent circuit.

“My aim for the weekend was to finish somewhere in the top 20 so I was thrilled when I managed 10th place in qualifying,” said the Neston High School pupil. “Each session was a huge learning experience for me.”

Joe, who is funded by bike insurance specialist Bennetts, was racing a Honda bike on his first competitive appearance for the Banks Racing team. He will be hoping for better racing conditions in the next round at Thruxton this weekend.

He said: “I still have everything to learn about racing at this level but I will go into the next round with so much more knowledge and experience than before this weekend.

“The weekend can’t come soon enough.”