Tom Toparis 'gutted' after promising start to British Championship cut short

In mid-July, Toparis announced that he and the Benro Racing Team had discontinued their world championship preparations, but said he was eager to grab ahold of any future opportunities to race which might arise.

Nearly two weeks ago, the chance came for Toparis to race in Britain, which he happily accepted.

Last weekend marked the first round of the competition, which took place at Donington Park in Leicestershire.

With two races scheduled in two days, Toparis knew he would have to adapt to a completely new track very quickly, and spent the majority of Friday's practice sessions steadily improving his times.

By Friday's end, Toparis was in twelfth position. Then, he qualified well and started Saturday's first race at fourth on the grid.

Though he showed plenty of promise, Toparis struggled for consistency in the first race and, after dropping behind the leaders, scrambled to claim a fifth-place finish among a very competitive field.

On Sunday, Toparis began race two intending to take control early. After starting at 12^th on the grid, he worked his way up to fourth place by the start of the second lap.

But then disaster struck. Toparis was caught in a highside crash, and his race was ended prematurely with a broken wrist.

After some initial medical treatment, Toparis expressed disappointment that his steady improvement throughout the weekend had been cut short.

"We were getting stronger and stronger during as the weekend went on," he said.

"Together with the team we worked very hard to learn the Donington Park circuit as quickly as possible, and that went very well with a fourth place in qualifying, and a fifth place in the first race.

"I knew I had some work to do in race two, coming from 12th on the grid. I had a very good start in the second race and gained a lot of positions. Unfortunately, I made a mistake on the second lap and this resulted in putting a bad ending on an otherwise great weekend for us."

The 20-year-old was "gutted" that the efforts of his team amounted to nothing, but in a later Facebook post, promised to return to the track as soon as he could.

"Overall, I'm super proud of my team this weekend," Toparis wrote. "After arriving at a rollercoaster of a circuit like Donington Park which we'd never seen before, and having pace for the top 5 was a big positive that we'll take away from this weekend. I'll heal up and be back at the track as soon as possible."

The event at Donington Park was the first of six rounds in the British championship, which will take place every fortnight.

Toparis is set to undergo additional medical assessments in case he received any further damage during the crash.

Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up here.