Portsmouth fanatic Daz O'Leary started his British Motorcycle Racing Club season ‘petrified’ – and ended up as a rookie champion!

Yet, remarkably, he completed his first season of competition by claiming the Thunderbike Sport Rookie championship - not bad for someone whose first taste of the track only arrived in 2018!

The 35-year-old, who grew up in Portsmouth before moving to Petersfield, gained his racing licence and decided to enter last season's BMRC Thunderbike event.

Although categorised in the rookie class, O'Leary shared the track with vastly-experienced riders familiar with the race rounds at Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park and Donnington.

A daunting experience, indeed, but one he took in his stride.

But having overcome those early doubts in the opening round at Brands Hatch last March, O'Leary began to make his mark.

It was such a rapid progression that come the end of the championships he was top of the leaderboard - having been on the podium 11 times and picking up six wins in his class.

That was a result that even took O'Leary by surprise in what, after all, was his debut season.

‘I’d been doing track days for a little while, for three years, and I thought I’d give it a go,' he explained.

'I managed to pass the licence, which isn’t too difficult to do in truth, but when I turned up for round one at Brands Hatch it was petrifying.

There are some seriously fast people out there.

‘I didn’t think I’d do massively well anyway so I kind of anticipated being towards the back of the pack, so to speak, so I did better than I thought.

‘Some of the guys that race in that club have raced at a professional level, so it was always going to be a tough ask.

‘In truth, I thought I’d get absolutely destroyed by everybody, which was kind of true in the first race, then I improved as the year went on.

'I didn’t think in a million years the championship would ever come. I’m so glad I gave it a go and it’s something I don’t think I’ll give up anytime soon.'

In order to make it into competition on the track, O'Leary had to give up his other love - Portsmouth FC.

He stopped his Fratton Park season-ticket last term in order to pursue his motorcycling interest.

But even on the track, Pompey are not too far away from him. O'Leary's leathers don the star and crescent and he named his team Pompey Motorcycle Racing as a reference to his close affinity to the Blues.

But Fratton Park visits, when safe to do so, are looking likely to remain few and far between as BMRC remains the primary focus.

O'Leary is now preparing for a second season on the track, Covid-19 restrictions permitting, but he is unaware what class he'll find himself in this year.

He added: ‘My leathers are actually made to look like the Pompey kit.

‘I did just over 100 consecutive games home and away with Pompey a few years ago - I’m a big, big fan.

‘I had to knock that on the head last year (Pompey season ticket) because of the racing.

‘If I give up racing I’ll get a season-ticket again but there’s no point in getting one because of the racing.

'Our racing starts in March so I’m going to return.

'For this year coming, 2021, I’ll be doing the same thing again effectively.

‘Normally, you’d have five rounds in order to move up but we all did four rounds so it’s a bit on the cusp and they’re yet to decide it.

‘We’re not too sure yet, but I’ll be doing the national championships again regardless, whether I’m a rookie or not.'