As the season draws to a close at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, Francis will be back in action on the squad’s Yamaha R6 after missing the last three rounds due to injury.

The 19-year-old from Chester suffered a fracture to his L1 vertebrae after a huge crash at Cadwell Park in August, and has been sidelined ever since as he allowed the injuries to heal.

But following a positive test at Snetterton last week, the teenager is raring to go this weekend and says he is setting his sights on two solid top 10 finishes.

“I’m really happy to be back, it’s been hard missing the last few rounds, especially since my back has generally felt okay,” he said. “I had to rest it to allow it to heal properly – I needed it to be good enough for it not to be vulnerable should I have another crash.

“We tested last Friday and the bike felt good. I was aching a little bit after but nothing that I couldn’t handle. I felt we got up to speed quite quickly and by the end of the day the lap times had improved a lot, so we should be in a good place once we arrive at Brands.

“We just need to get in as many laps as we can and I’m quite confident that we can come home in the top 10. Obviously, I want to be pushing for top five but we just need to see how we go.

“I like Brands Hatch, so for me it’s the perfect place to come back. We struggled a bit when we raced there in the summer but we know why, so that shouldn’t be an issue this weekend. I just want to have a good, solid last round and hopefully get the best results possible for the team.”

Team owner Martin Halsall is also looking forward to the weekend, and says the whole team is excited to be returning.

“Ever since the crash, we’ve only been interested in getting Joe well again, and we said if he was fit enough and wanted to race at the last round then we would be ready for him,” he said.

“We tested last week and Joe seemed happy, and I know he felt he’d be able to get a lot more out of the bike with some more laps under his belt. Everyone has been working very hard to build him a good bike and we are all just pleased he is back.

“It’s been a very up and down year for everyone involved at Movuno.com Halsall Racing, but we now we just want to end the season on a high and have a good weekend at Brands Hatch.

“There’s no pressure on Joe, he’ll do the same fantastic job he always does and if we can see off the year with two nice results then we’ll all be very happy.”

The team will take to the track twice on Friday for free practice ahead of qualifying and the sprint race on Saturday, with the season finale feature race on Sunday afternoon.