Dakari White produced an encouraging display during his debut in the formidable Spanish CEV Supersport Championship in Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, at the weekend.

The Bermudian semi-professional motorcycle racer exceeded his expectations, placing eleventh in both races in the open 600cc class on Saturday and Sunday to finish his season on a positive note.

White qualified on the back row during the qualifying session on Saturday morning competing in unfamiliar conditions.

“It was completely wet and raining during the qualifying sessions but in those conditions the wet weather tyres actually work better,” White said. “I was able to push harder and improve my time.”

“The tyres actually grip better with more water and it was a crazy sensation, to say the least, being able to push harder and learn more. We qualified on the back row of the grid with this being my first time riding in the rain. But we improved my time a lot and walked away positive.”

The wet weather did not improve for the first race held on Saturday afternoon. Having experienced those conditions earlier during the qualifying session, the 25-year-old was better equipped to deal with the situation.

“After learning a lot in the morning I was positive,” White said. “I always aim to race better than I qualify, so I was sure if I got behind someone I could up my pace and aim for some higher positions.

“I fought a lot in the race with riders and had one moment where the back end got away from me but I brought it back and refocused.

“I finished eleventh in my category and scored points on my debut race in the championships.

“My team was very happy with my performance. This was my first race in the rain and I was able to improve my positions and make challenging passes in difficult conditions.”

White got off to a bad start during the second race held on in warm, sunny conditions on Sunday.

He managed to work his way up to tenth but surrendered a position to a Japanese rival on the closing laps after running too high on turn six and paying the price.

White was then unable to make further inroads as the race was red-flagged owing to an oil spill on the track.

“All in all, it was a very good weekend where we learnt a lot and I was able to achieve my goals of placing in the points scoring positions in this very challenging championship,” he said.

“Many of the guys I raced have been to or are competing in the world championship and are very fast.

“I took the opportunity to learn as much as I can and look forward to improving my level over the winter in preparation for 2019.”