The Bennetts British Superbike Championship heads to Brands Hatch this weekend for the second round of the season with two Kent riders leading the way at the top of the standings. 
Six time champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and Lydd’s hot prospect Bradley Ray are leading the way this season, and they are likely to be challenging for race wins this weekend in front of their home fans, at their home round.
Twenty-year-old Ray won both races in the Bennetts BSB season-opener at Donington Park over the Easter weekend in tough conditions, while Byrne was runner-up in the first race and finished fifth in the second. The Kent pair are now 1-2 in the championship table going into round two.
Byrne, who is determined to register a seventh championship win and second title defence in 2018, said: “I want to be back on the top step of the podium again and where better than my home circuit of Brands Hatch.”
Meanwhile, Leon Haslam has plenty to prove after losing the 2017 title to Byrne in the final race of the season at Brands Hatch, starting the weekend with a 32-point advantage before crashing out and handing Byrne his sixth championship.
Haslam, who was second in race two last weekend, said: “I am feeling good with Brands Hatch coming next this weekend. At Donington Park we had a few little issues and a bit cold but we had a podium to kick the season off. I am looking forward to Brands Hatch this weekend; it wasn’t one of my better rounds last year so I am ready to try and improve on that and the team is working well, the JG Speedfit Kawasaki is on point so hopefully we can rectify that on the Indy circuit and get back to winning ways.”
This weekend is the first of the championship’s three visits to Brands Hatch this season, and the only one on the ‘bullring’ Indy circuit which produces some of the most intense racing of the series. As well as two headline BSB races on Sunday, there is plenty of support class action from Dickies British Supersport and Pirelli National Superstock 600 and 1000.
Images courtesy of PSP Images