FAREHAM road racer Richard Keohane had a bitter-sweet debut in the BMCRC Supersport 600cc Championship at Snetterton.

Last year's national 400cc Rookies champion, took the first race by storm, snatching the lead on the second lap and holding it all the way through to the chequered flag.

But Keohane's joy turned to despair second time out when, after the race had been delayed 15 minutes by an earlier accident, he got caught out by cold tyres and crashed his Honda CBR-R.

The young rider high-sided the bike, pictured above, going into the tricky Russell's Chicane, got his right leg trapped beneath the machine and broke it in two places.

His first reaction was to scramble back on to his feet but he collapsed with a broken tibula and fibula and now faces at least six weeks out of racing. Keohane, who won 28 of the 30 races he contested in the rookies' 400cc class last year, said: "It was my fault but the way I landed complicated things more than what I expected.

"As they stopped the race to sort out an earlier accident, I lost all the heat from my tyres and I was on the gas a little too early exiting the chicane. The bike was having none of it and threw me off."

Keohane is on a double mission this year - to challenge for the Supersport 600 class and also the MRO Championship.

But now he's likely to miss at least six races.