TALENTED Andover motorbike racer Jake Archer lost ground to Hel Performance Motostar Championship leader Charlie Nesbitt after a difficult weekend at Snetterton.

Archer went into the race at the Norfolk circuit hot on the tail of the Redline KTM rider after a strong weekend at the previous round at Knockhill.

However the teenager could only manage two sixth place finishes on the 2.97 mile track, while Nesbitt raced away with two wins to extend his lead at the top to 57 points.

The City Lifting rider had a difficult start to the weekend with changing weather keeping his team guessing.

Archer qualified in seventh for the first race on Saturday morning, finishing just 0.732 seconds from a front row spot.

Weather continued to hamper the riders and a greasy track surface led to 11 riders falling during the half hour session.

Archer fought up as high as fifth after an intense battle with Tom Booth-Amos.

However the Andover teen was eventually caught by Dutch rider Brian Slooten meaning he finished the race in sixth.

Jake Archer competed in the second race on the Sunday afternoon in good weather.

With grid positions based on the fastest laps in race one, Archer had to start from 11th on the grid.

Despite this setback he made a fantastic start to the race and was up to sixth by lap two.

Archer found himself in a group of four riders behind the leading trio, but as they were constantly changing places it meant that the front-runners were able to move further ahead.

By the middle of the race Archer had been forced wide and dropped back to ninth position but dug deep to fight his way back to sixth place.

He said,”It was a tough weekend where we lost ground on the leader.

“In the first race I was involved in a battle with two other riders and managed sixth.

“Then in the Sunday race I got a great start but was bogged down in another group of riders. It was difficult to maintain my rhythm.”

Archer remains in second in the championship on 123 points.