Podium triple at Brands Hatch is fine st​​art to the season for Buxton racer Chris Kent

Part of the British Motorcycle Racing Club's season, Kent was once again competing on his, as yet unsupported, machine and said: “All in all I’m satisfied with these results.

“I wasn’t expecting podiums as the pre-season preparation hasn’t gone smoothly and I had to put a second hand piston in a couple of days before the meeting.

“So to do laps that were faster than last season, in similar conditions, was gratifying.”

Kents’ weekend got off to a poor start with an electrical fault halting his qualifying run early, meaning a back of the grid start for Race One.

A good start meant Kent got up to fifth at the first corner and a lap later slipped into fourth after a brief battle. Unfortunately, the leaders had, by this time, enough of a gap and Kent rode home to a fourth place finish.

Race Two meant a better start position and from the second row the local rider was able to slot into third place.

For the first two laps Kent held onto the leaders until a mistake at the last corner meant he lost the tow and fell back towards pursuing riders.

On the penultimate lap a rider on a different, faster, class of machine caused him to run wide again, allowing an MZ competitor to pass.

But the Buxton man was able to slipstream past on the main straight and ride defensively for the rest of the last lap, meaning he took the final podium place by 0.2 seconds.

A small adjustment to the fuelling jets and a trip to the dyno on the Sunday morning meant Race Three started with Kent looking to improve his lap times.

Another good start saw him slot into third again and manage to sit behind the front two for several laps before some small mistakes dropped him out of the tow and his race became a solo effort.

That is until a triple-champion came past just after the halfway mark.

This seemed to wake Kent up and a dogfight for several laps ensued with multiple overtakes and close-slipstreaming before Kent took third place by 0.5 seconds.

Race Four took place with the threat of rain and a slight drizzle putting a film of rain on the riders visors but with the track dry enough for slick tyres.

Kent once again got into third place. Unfortunately, he dropped back from the leaders and once again had to battle for the podium with another rider.

This time, a firm move going into the hairpin of Druids corner and some final quick laps, enabled Kent to take his third podium of the weekend by the relatively huge gap of three seconds.

The next meeting is at Pembrey on 8th/9th April.