Young rider Sam Wilford impressed at Donington Park last weekend in the latest round of the Pata European Junior Cup.

The fourth round of the season saw the 17-year-old from Kent finish with a best result of his fledgling career with fifth place.

The IDWe Racing rider was the top British rider, narrowly missing out on the podium in the World Superbike support series.

From beginning to end it was by far the best weekend in the EJC for Wilford who held provisional Pole Position on Friday before eventually qualifying on the third row in eighth, less than half a second from the front row.

With the threat of rain ever present, Wilford rode hard from the start, avoiding a huge crash involving six riders on the opening lap to put himself immediately into podium contention.

As the race progressed a group of five riders that included Sam swapped places, sometimes several times a lap and as the final lap began Wilford was perfectly placed for attack.

Unable to pass his rivals, despite his best efforts Sam finished a well-deserved fifth, the best of the British riders in the field and a mere 0.532s from third after ten exciting laps of racing.

Speaking after the weekends racing, Sam said: “It’s been a really good weekend for me at Donington Park, my home round! Friday went really well with me topping of the times but Saturday we made a few mistakes and I didn’t find a rhythm in Qualifying so ended up eigth. Sunday in the race I managed to improve and score my best finish of the season in fifth.

“We were so close to the podium and it was nice to have so much support from the fans on the slow down lap. It was also great to catch up with all the fans after the event at the paddock show, where I was invited onto the stage. There are 4 races left and I will keep pushing hard to make the podium in at least one of them.”

The next round of the EJC takes place in a fortnight at the Portimao circuit in Portugal.

Images courtesy of Vaclav Duska jnr.