HOWIE Mainwaring celebrated his 21st birthday by making a point-scoring return to action at Brands Hatch on Easter Monday.

The Frodsham rider, now signed up to the Bullet Racing team, will race on an MV Augusta machine in this season's National Superstock Championship.

He scored two points from a 14th-placed finish in Monday's series opener - the first time in 37 years that an MV Augusta has scored points in a British racing series.

But Howie had been forced to race on one of last year's bikes, robbing him of the extra power that the 2007 Augusta - due for delivery this week - would have given him.

'It was an up and down meeting for me,' said Howie, who had to put his birthday celebrations on hold until Tuesday so he could concentrate on racing on Monday.

'We were having to make do with last year's bikes but there wasn't much left in them, really. I started from 14th on the grid but if I had been another half a second quicker in qualifying it would have put me in the top three. There was nothing in it.

'The bike was struggling and struggling all race and it was one of the hardest races I've had, holding on for 14th place.

'But I think the Augusta factory will be pleased to get some points and now the new bikes are due.'

A Brands Hatch crowd of 50,000 basked in the Easter sunshine over the weekend.

And Howie's prospects for 2007 appear to be brightening after last year's frustrating season.

Bike failures in the race and practice sessions ended Howie's hopes of taking points in the first race of 2006, but now the young rider is determined to put his run of bad luck behind him.

During Monday's race, Howie got his head down and went all out for the best position he could get, dicing with faster machinery. He was not in a position to climb into the top 10, but finished in a more-than-respectable 14th position out of a 38- strong field.

The series continues at Thruxton this weekend.