BSB: Dennis Hobbs Brands Hatch summary

Double Podium For Dennis

Hobbs Racing rider Dennis Hobbs moved into second place in the British Superbike Cup with a pair of rostrum finishes in front of a record crowd at Brands Hatch yesterday.

The 21 year old from Guisborough followed up a third place in the day's opening thirty-lapper with an improved second place in race two to leave the Kent Indy circuit just 19 points adrift of series leader Jon Kirkham after four of the scheduled 26 races.

Backed by Scott Leathers, the Cleveland rider was aiming to put painful memories of his last Brands visit behind him -- whereby he crashed out last September and as a result, lost the British Superbike Privateer's Championship -- and things looked promising as he slotted into row four of the grid alongside three factory Yamahas, after timed qualifying.

Hobbs was confident going into the opening race but a poor start handicapped him which meant he spent the whole race dicing with works riders Steve Plater and Kieran Clarke as he settled for 12th overall. A similar pattern followed for race two but this time Dennis claimed 14th position overall to stand on the Superbike Cup rostrum for the third time in as many races.

"I'm a lot happier than I was at Silverstone and I think I rode much better here" declared Hobbs. "I had a job to get past Plater and when I did, Kieran Clarke proved incredibly difficult to pass but I'm glad to have been running the same pace as two of the works guys. The bike is good and whilst it wasn't a pair of wins I was hoping for, I've scored some very important points this weekend" concluded Hobbs.

The next rounds take place at Snetterton on Sunday April 25th.

-hr-