Champion Luke rounds off his season in style

BRISTOL-based rider Luke Hedger, the 2012 Monster Energy Motostar British champion, finished the season on the podium to round off his season in Moto3/125GP in style in front of the TV cameras.

Luke had already won the title prior to the final race at Brands Hatch and despite there being no pressure, the race proved to be very exciting and very tense.

Hedger's team boss, Adrian Mason said: "I really wanted to end the season in the right way. To see him go out and race like he did today was just what he and I needed to end the season on."

Mechanical problems threatened to dampen Hedger's afternoon as the team dealt with a few panic-stricken minutes as they frantically tried to repair the bike.

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Mason said: "Yet again we didn't have it easy."

Both of Hedger's free practice sessions had gone as smoothly as he'd hoped for considering the wet conditions, and he finished second in his first qualifying round.

The second qualifying round was cancelled after a car using the 2.43 mile Brands Hatch circuit blew its engine on a lunchtime drive leaving the officials cleaning up in the afternoon.

Hedger's final qualifying round was a short eight-minute session in which he finished with a time worthy of third on the grid.

As Luke headed towards the grid it was clear that something was bothering him and within the first lap he had tumbled to seventh.

The team found oil on the sole of his right boot and the right peg of the bike and he was finding it difficult to get any purchase on the foot peg.

Mason said: "The stator breaking and the oil on his boot all added to what I thought was going to be a disastrous race."

It took Hedger until the fifth lap to gain the confidence in his tyres by which time he was in a four-way battle for fourth place.

But with bravery and commitment it didn't take him long to overtake the cluster of riders and begin to claw back at the three second gap to the leaders.

Mason said: "He just seemed to get his head down and throw caution to the wind."

In the final three laps, Hedger had caught up with the leading pack and was now hunting down the leader. However, the race end came just too soon.

But after a roller-coaster of a day Hedger took a well-deserved second place in a race that didn't matter to the overall standings because Luke was the Champion.

Picking up the Championship at Brands Hatch in front of his friends and family was a fitting way for Hedger to end the season.