LUKE HEDGER celebrated his first win of the season in the British 125GP Championship at Oulton Park on Monday.

With his fellow championship contenders on Redbull Rookie Championship duty in Portugal, the Yate teenager capitalised by dominating the weekend.

Hedger said: “I knew that I needed to win this weekend with the likes of Kyle (Ryde) and Bradley (Ray) at the Redbull Rookies.

“We had the bike handling really sweet and I was able to control the race once I got past Tom (Carne) down into Cascades.

“I watched my pit board from there on and settled down trying to keep a constant pace. The win is excellent for me and a credit to the hard work put in by Adrian (Mason, FPW owner) and the rest of the team.”

Hedger posted a lap time of 1:48.451 in the first qualifying session to go clear of second placed Ryan Watson by 1.34 seconds.

He made sure of pole position with a time of 1:48.159 in the final qualifying session.

Hedger got a good start off the line but was beaten to the first turn by Tom Carne who had qualified fourth.

However, he flew past his former team-mate on the entry into Cascades from where he settled down to control the race from the front.

With almost surgical precision Hedger strung together nine laps in the 1:49 margin during which he opened a gap of over ten seconds on the chasing pack.

For the last two laps Hedger backed off by a second a lap to take the chequered flag with obvious delight and give FPW their first ever win in the Championship.

Team owner Adrian Mason said: “Those were the longest twelve laps I have ever experienced.

“This weekend has been a real pleasure, Luke has ridden so maturely and I’m starting to get much more feedback from him after the sessions.

“We put together a bike that was safe and you can see this from the speed traps, but Luke knew he had enough to win this weekend.

“This is the biggest win for FPW Racing and is a credit not only to Luke but his team of volunteer mechanics, who put in so much time and effort.

“I’m really chuffed to bits, this is a great result for Luke and FPW Racing.”