With Leon Haslam at the top of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship and Ricky and Ryan in fourth place in the Hyundai Construction Equipment British Sidecar Championship, the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team are feeling hopeful ahead of round six at Brands Hatch this weekend (20thto 22ndJuly).

Having secured his first win of the 2018 championship season on the INDY circuit at the Kent track back in April, Derbyshire-born Leon will be working hard to maintain his winning streak and remain on the podium as he reaches the halfway point in this year’s championship.

The Pocket Rocket will aim to increase his 74-point lead while team-mate Luke Mossey will focus on getting back to the front of the pack and moving up the leaderboard from his current position in 17thplace.

The Royston rider is fighting back after sustaining an injury to his ribs at Snetterton, just five weeks ago.

Flying the flag on behalf of the Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki team, Ricky Stevens and Ryan Charlwood are within touching distance of the top three in the Hyundai Construction Equipment British Sidecar Championship as they enter round six.

There are just 23 points between them and third place Bryan/Hyde (for Kawasaki) in the main championship, but they’ve managed to maintain second place in the 600cc despite a couple of challenging rounds recently.

Leon Haslam said:

“I’m really looking forward to this weekend. It’s quite important as the last round of the championship is at Brands Hatch, which is a triple header, so it’s a good opportunity to get more podium credits but also to get the set-up and feeling for the showdown round.

“I’ve had podiums at Brands and been the top Kawasaki, but we’ve always been a little on the back foot compared to the Ducati and Yamaha. For me, we’ve made some really good steps with the bike and we’re looking forward to getting back on the top step of the podium again.”

Luke Mossey said:

“I love going back to Brands Hatch. It’s a fantastic track and round six is always a very popular one with the fans. We get loads of support as it’s in the middle of the summer and schools have just broken up, which is great.

“I’ll be honest: Knockhill was hard work as it’s so physically tough, especially with my healing ribs, but I pushed hard and it paid off. My ribs are taking longer to heal than I would have hoped, but I’ve had two weeks of rest, and I’m ready to go even further.

“The team have been working really hard to get ready for this weekend, so we can go out there and get some good results. It would be amazing to pick up a podium; I will have to dig deep and see what happens.”

Ricky Stevens said:

“We’ve managed to find the issue with the engine which kept us out of race 3 at Knockhill. We believe it was holding us back all weekend so we’re really excited to get to Brands now.

“With the added step forward in chassis set up from Knockhill we have high hopes of clawing some points back on the championship leaders.”

Team Manager Jack Valentine added:

“After a successful trip to Scotland Leon will again be looking to extend his lead and more importantly add to his podium credits.

“Luke will have recovered a little more and with two solid points finishes at Knockhill will be in a great position to push back to the front where he should be.

“Leon went out to Japan after Knockhill and is now ready to fight again at a circuit that is also home to the last round of the championship, so it’s important to find a good setting ready for the finale.”