Pictures by Camipix

THE Jones racing brothers made a thrilling return to the circuit in the undercard for the 2021 British Superbike Race Series at Donington Park.

Matt and David, who live in Rhyl, represented their family team Dragon Racing in a double-header race at the World Superbikes Support Class Series on Saturday, July 3.

The former Rydal Penrhos School pupils, who have both won the Wirral 100 Champions while big brother David has competed in the Isle of Man TT, were confident going into the race after successful practice sessions on Friday.

In the first race, Matt set a personal best time of 1.38.4 and secured place 15 on the 43-rider grid and gained consistent lap times to achieve a new personal best of 1.37.9 and fourth place in his class.

Meanwhile David had a strong race with a good battle to finish sixth overall, between legends Chris Walker and John McGuiness.

In the second race, David had another strong performance as he battled for a place on the podium when a slight misjudgement on his braking caused him to tuck the front and to crash out.

Matt saw his brother crash not too far ahead of him and unfortunately at this point he was passed by another rider causing him to run wide and drop a couple of places, finishing in 14th.

Dad and former racer John is chief mechanic of the team and mum Debbie handles hospitality, while Matt’s wife Jen leads pitlane support and designs.

“We leave Donington in a strong position,” said Jen. “Even though David is further down the overall championship standing then he would have hoped, we have a strong bike set up.”

The series moves on to Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time.