PAUL VEAZEY finished in 14th place and collected his first Spanish Supersport Championship points in Sunday's opening round at the Albacete circuit and on his debut for the Joe Darcey Honda Team.

The Middlesbrough rider Veazey performed well in Friday's rain-hit practice and was hoping to qualify in the top ten but crashed in Saturday afternoon's final qualifying session, also held in damp conditions.

The 22-year-old consequently missed the opportunity to use a soft compound qualifying tyre and had to watch as he slipped from ninth fastest to an eventual 15th place, on the fourth row of the grid.

After a great start to the race he was in ninth place and in an eight- way fight for sixth in the early stages of the 19-lap race around the 2.199-mile circuit. The lack of dry track time and experience in the championship led to Veazey taking an eventual 14th place.

"Finishing the race was very important for me, especially after the crash on Saturday," said Veazey. "I wasn't comfortable on the machine so I decided to stay upright and try to get a top 15 finish and get some points on the board."

He added: "The weekend was a great experience for me. I never expected to be anywhere near the top ten so early in the season. I've now got to take the experience from Albacete and improve for the next round. We test at Jerez at the end of May then race there ten days later so I'm hoping to keep improving on this opening round performance."