The squad – which took victory in last year’s season finale at Pembrey – picked up exactly where they left off seven months ago to power to a lights-to-flag win at Round One.

As the 2024 season roared into action at the north east track over the weekend, Daisy Racing’s team of South African pilots were fast straight out of the box.

Riders Shane Norval, Brent Harran and Blaze Baker – all former South African national champions now living and racing in the UK – set the pace during qualifying, clocking a best lap of 1min 17.306secs to go 0.714secs clear of the Powertech squad as last year’s champions, Team Mechlam, were third quickest.

Almost 60 teams lined-up for the first four-hour endurance battle of the year which got underway shortly after 3pm – and Daisy Racing got a clean getaway to hit the front.

P125 runners Team RaceFasteners were also quick off the line and jumped up to second but were unable to keep the M4s behind them for long, as Powertech and Team Mechlam soon found their way past and into second and third positions.

From there, the story up front remained unchanged as Daisy Racing controlled the race, setting a blistering best lap of 1min 15.828 on their way to taking the first win of the year, with Powertech second and Team Mechlam third.

In the Production class, Usually Green Racing took the win as Money Motorsport clinched the Streetstock honours and SSK Racing took victory in the CBR Cup.

Alongside the main event, several sprint races form part of the Freetech Endurance series, bringing even more excitement and action and giving riders more opportunities to race.

The Junior Cup provided a fierce battle between eventual winner Arnie Carr, who managed see off a hard charge from youngster Hudson Cooper to take the win by almost five seconds with last year’s champion, Laken Payne, third.

Gary Daniels was victorious in the first Freetech Sprint final of the year, as Paul-Liam Baxter celebrated the Two Stroke/Single Cylinder win and the Twin Cylinder/up to 500cc win went to Simon Cockerton.

Round Two of the 2024 Freetech Endurance Series will be held at Whilton Mill from July 5-7. For more information on the series, including how to enter, please visit the website: www.freetechukendurance.com or check out the championship’s social media channels on Instagram and Facebook.