Ethan Sparks took his best result of the season so far in the Moto4 European Cup last weekend, and he could barely get on and off the bike.

Sparks was on track in Estoril for the latest round of the season with his MLAV Racing team, and the weekend didn’t quite go according to the script well at the start anyway.

He had not one but two huge crashes in qualifying on Saturday and given that a P14 grid position wasn’t that bad. Sparks left it very late before making a decision to take to the grid on for race one.

Bravely though he decided to give it a try with just 15 minutes until lights out. It was a tough race for him with pain in both his arm and leg, and he came home in 20th place.

With his back against the wall for race two, Ethan came up with his best result of the season so far, coming home in sixth place. Which was quite the achievement.

Giving his thoughts after a tough weekend, he said: “A huge thank you to my team for their endless hard work, support, and belief in me throughout such a difficult weekend.

“They never stopped fighting to get me and the bike ready, and without them I wouldn’t have made it to the finish. It wasn’t the result we wanted, but sometimes determination is the biggest victory. We’ll recover, learn, and come back stronger.”