SHADOW racing suited Benfleet’s Mason Law as he turned heads with a great international bike performance in Qatar at the weekend.

He racked up an against-the-odds points scoring finish – top 15 placing – at the World Supersport Championship final round in Qatar.

But the former King John schoolboy had more than just his two experienced team mates in the Intermoto Ponyexpres Kawasaki outfit and the heat to think about around the desert track.

He said: “Racing in Qatar was difficult because there were a lot of things to get used to.

“On a sunny day in the UK you get used to seeing your shadow out of the corner of your eye.

“But under the floodlights in Qatar you never quite knew where your shadows would be and that’s quite off-putting because you can easily think that it’s another bike just about to overtake you.

“It’s easy to get spooked by this!

“I coped reasonably well, but there were other strange things too. The track is so flat and featureless that – even though we’d walked it and ridden it – it was easy to lose track of which corner you were at.

“And the glare of the floodlights meant that you could see very little other than the track and the perimeter, so it was a bit like racing a computer game,” he added.

But despite the challenges he pushed his Kawasaki ZX6R to a rare points placing – earning himself a spontaneous round of applause from his two team mates and pit crew when the race was over.

The Essex teenager’s top 15 finish in the Gulf State was not his first success on one of the world’s highest profile bike series.

After being called into the team after another rider left suddenly he made a brilliant debut at the Magny Cours circuit in France, finishing 12th overall.

But success at Qatar will stay with Law for many months.

He said: “It was an experience that I’ll always remember. The race went well for me but I thought that somebody was just behind me at the end so I rode the very last lap like a scalded cat.

“When I got back everyone, from the mechanics to the other riders and team boss were clapping me. It was a great feeling because this circuit does include some of the best riders in the world.”

Asked where Mason Law sees his future now, the teenager says he is glad he has impressed but is just going to wait and see what happens next season.

Relaxing back in at home yesterday – after a 29-hour journey back to the UK – he said he was pleased to have made a positive impact on team boss, and former world champion, Andrew Pitt.

Now only time and staying sharp would decide if he continued to ride and race in the UK or was invited to ply his trade on the international circuit again next season.