GUY Martin was back in short circuit action over the bank holiday weekend for only the second time since his heavy crash at the Isle of Man TT Races in June.

And the Kirmington rider was pleased with his progress at the British Championship meeting at Cadwell Park.

The Wilson Craig Racing star put in a strong ride in Monday's British Supersport 600cc Championship race on his Honda machine to pick up three points for finishing 13th.

He also had a guest outing in the Harley-Davidson XR1200 Trophy series.

Martin said: "I'm still very much easing my way back into my racing and the last thing I want to do is throw the bike down the road so this weekend's been all about building my confidence back up on the short circuits.

"It takes a while to get back to the mentality of pushing to the limit all the time but I've chipped away steadily and whilst I didn't uproot any trees, I was getting quicker and quicker all the time and to get in the points in the Supersport race and jump up 10 places from my qualifying position was satisfying.

"As for the Harley-Davidson races, well, they were certainly an education. I've never ridden one of them before and they're a fair old weapon to get around the track.

"But I was learning more and more with each and every outing, lapping quicker all the time, and I really enjoyed myself out there.

Although he had ridden superbly at the Ulster Grand Prix in mid-August, Martin admitted he was still feeling his way back into the short circuit style of racing, but he steadily improved during practice and qualifying, reducing his lap times in each session.

Conditions were mixed throughout with a combination of sun, wind and rain making life difficult for everyone, but the second qualifying run in the Supersport class was held in the dry and a time of 1m32.958s meant him lining up in 23rd place on the grid.

A good start in the 16-lap race saw Martin move up two places by the end of the first lap and, at quarter race distance, he was up to 19th.

He was soon up into the points in 15th and this became 11th on lap 14 when he overtook Dan Kneen, who he had enjoyed a number of battles with at the Ulster GP.

Despite lapping 1.3s quicker than his qualifying time, it didn't look as if Martin would be able to climb any higher but, on the 15th lap, Joe Dickinson crashed out, causing the race to be stopped early and he was awarded 13th place.

Despite his unfamiliarity with the Harley, he again got quicker as the weekend progressed and he went finish the three races inside the top eight, the best being sixth on Monday.

Martin now has a three-week break before his next road race outing, the International Gold Cup at Scarborough, on September 18-19.