Gloucester-based Smiths Racing were in MCE British Superbike and Motorsport Supersport Championship action this weekend where they were competing at Snetterton in Norfolk, but it proved to be a tough couple of days for riders Billy McConnell and Jake Dixon.

Australian McConnell qualified the Smiths BMW in 12th place for today's opening MCE British Superbike Championship race but he lost time when another rider crashed in front of him and he was down in 22nd place at the end of the first lap. Whilst he managed to make up a number of places, he was unable to make it into the points and ended up in 17th place. He did, however, bounce back well in the second race later in the day and was rewarded with 14th place and two hard-earned championship points.

Dover's Dixon, meanwhile, qualified in eighth place for yesterday's Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Sprint race and although he wasn't able to challenge for the podium positions, it looked like he'd secure some valuable points when he moved up to fourth at half race distance. However, it all went wrong on the seventh lap when he crashed out and there was further bad luck on Sunday when a mechanical problem dropped him down the race order. He battled back well to claim fifth place in today's Feature race to maintain fourth overall in the table.

The team's third member, David Johnson was fresh from his successful Isle of Man TT campaign and was also in action in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship. But the Australian rider was out of luck when his race came to an abrupt end on lap ten after crashing without injury when well placed.

Billy McConnell: "It's been a tough weekend and we've struggled for set-up having missed the test here back in May. It left us on the back foot a little bit but the bike felt good and we had good speed. But with just one rider in the team, we don't have the same amount of data as some of the two rider teams do. We knew our rookie year was going to be tough but there are still positives to take from the weekend and the meetings come thick and fast now so we should be able to get fully dialled in from now on."

Jake Dixon: "It's been difficult to get back into the racing this weekend after seven weeks since the last round and I struggled to get the bike set-up to my liking. I was simply trying too hard in the first race and made a mistake whilst a mechanical issue held me back in the second. I got a finish and we didn't lose too many points to the leading riders so we'll look to bounce back quickly."

Rebecca Smith, Team Manager: "It's been a tough weekend for Smiths Racing and after our commitments at the TT; we've struggled a bit to get back into British Championship mode. It's been one of those weekends where nothing clicked and it's frustrating because we know we can compete at the front and we know the riders are capable of doing that. We couldn't have done anything different as a team this weekend so we'll put it behind us and look forward to showing what we can do at the next round at Knockhill."

MCE British Superbike Championship Race One - 16 laps1 Shane Byrne (Kawasaki) 2 Josh Brookes (Yamaha) 3 Jason O'Halloran (Honda) 4 Tommy Bridewell (BMW) 5 Dan Linfoot (Honda) 6 Chris Walker (Kawasaki)17 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing BMW)

MCE British Superbike Championship Race Two - 16 laps1 Shane Byrne (Kawasaki) 2 Josh Brookes (Yamaha) 3 Jason O'Halloran (Honda) 4 Michael Laverty (BMW) 5 Tommy Bridewell (BMW) 6 Stuart Easton (Kawasaki)14 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing BMW)

Championship Positions (after four rounds)1 Byrne 151pts 2 Brookes 134 3 Ellison 118 4 Easton 99 5 Bridewell 77 6 O'Halloran 7413 McConnell 33

Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race One - 10 laps1 Luke Stapleford (Triumph) 2 Kyle Ryde (Yamaha) 3 Andrew Reid (Yamaha) 4 James Rispoli (Yamaha) 5 Glenn Irwin (Kawasaki) 6 Luke Hedger (Kawasaki)DNF Jake Dixon (Smiths Racing Triumph)

Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race Two - 15 laps1 Glenn Irwin (Kawasaki) 2 James Rispoli (Yamaha) 3 Luke Hedger (Kawasaki) 4 Danny Webb (Yamaha)5 Jake Dixon (Smiths Racing Triumph)6 Joe Collier (Triumph)

Championship Positions (after four rounds)1 Stapleford 136pts 2 Irwin 131 3 Ryde 1304 Dixon 1105 Reid 67 = Collier 67