A FIRST win of the season has propelled Lewis Rollo onto the podium in the race for a motorcycle championship.

The 21-year-old was in superb form at Oulton Park in Cheshire as he won the first race of the weekend, securing the fastest lap along the way.

The fastest lap meant he started the second race on pole position and came home second behind championship leader Chrissy Rouse.

Rollo, now third in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship, described it as a weekend where “everything clicked”.

He said: “We have known all year that we can be competitive, that we can run at the front and fight for the podium.

“At the weekend, from the word go, we were on the pace with everybody.”

Rollo qualified 0.476 seconds behind Rouse, who has finished on the podium at six of the seven races, for the first race of the weekend.

However, impressive form saw Rollo pass his championship rival and the Gifford rider would go on to win by almost five seconds.

He said: “At Oulton Park, you come out of the last corner and you know you have done it.

“Oulton Park is an amazing circuit and you come up a hill as you come up to the finish line.

“You’ve got the pit wall and I saw all of my team hanging out and shouting at me as I came past.

“It is an amazing feeling.

“That lap [after the chequered flag], you come round and there are no spectators but you have got other people who are at the meeting.

“You’ve got racers in other classes, they were all on the banking clapping, and you have got all the marshals and you come round.

“I came into the pits and saw my family, my team, mum and dad in tears.

“It was just mega.”

The penultimate meeting of the championship takes place at Donington Park next weekend, where Rollo will attempt to cut the gap on Tom Neave in the race for second place in the standings.

Two races take place on the 12-corner track, with the final round taking place at Brands Hatch a fortnight later.

Neave, on a Honda, leads Rollo by 25 points, with a maximum of 50 points up for grabs at next weekend’s meeting

Rollo won at the Leicestershire track last season and will be buoyed by his performances at Oulton Park.

He paid tribute to his Aprilia team for their efforts over the season and thanked his sponsors.

Rollo added: “I was glad my mum and dad, my wee sister and girlfriend were there.

“It was good to have them there with me and the team.

“The team has worked so hard all year and [it was great] to see how happy they were and all the guys were smiling.

“They work just as hard as me to make it all possible.”