Healthy start for Hydrex Honda at Brands Hatch.

The three man strong Hydrex Honda team got off to a good start at Brands Hatch for the opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship and the Metzeler National Superstock Championship.

Karl Harris and pure road specialist Guy Martin are riding in the Superbike class, while young South African, Allan Jon Venter, is racing in Superstock.

Harris scored a thirteenth in race one but followed that up with a superb and closely fought sixth place finish in race two. "In race one we had a clutch problem which we have had all weekend but we managed to figure it out for the second race. We changed the clutch and it improved. I want to be finishing further up the field but it is a start and we can work on it," said Harris.

Looking on the positive side Harris scalped some of the factory riders to take sixth place as he went on to say, "We passed the Rizla boys so to beat some factory boys out there is fantastic, and hopefully by Thruxton we will be up there. I like Thruxton so bring it on!"

Road racer, Martin is getting up to speed for his assault on the roads, mainly the Isle of Man TT centenary. He was unlucky in race one suffering a technical problem as he explained, "My head gasket went in race one which was a shame. I was catching James Haydon and Marty Nutt, just following them and watching their lines. I managed to catch them and then I noticed some water on my visor, I watched my engine temperature and it was going up so I came into pits - that was that."

However he made up for that in race two with a seventeenth place finish, "I got an average start then a couple of people dropped out and I moved up passing James Haydon. I was lucky the race was red flagged as I almost ran out of fuel as the race was extended due to Safety Car coming out for a few laps. I've a lot to learn but I have learned a lot this weekend," said Martin.

AJ, as Allan Jon is known, made good progress at a race track he didn't know. He qualified in twenty ninth but finished eighteenth, making up eleven places during the frantic Superstock race.

"My start wasn't too bad but I got boxed in at turn one and turn two! There was no where to go, it was just mayhem out there. The Safety Car came out and it took a while for everyone to bunch up, then a few laps from the end I got by the guy who was holding me up and then I started to really make up some ground," he said.

"I'm chuffed with the result; the team are really moving me forward. Thanks to everyone at Hydrex Honda for all the hard work and late nights, I hope I can reward them with a podium. The next round is Thruxton and I've never been there so all I can do is rely on advice from Karl Harris and Mick Shanley. I'm looking forward to it, I hear it is very fast," he grinned.

Both Championships now head for Thruxton on the 13th - 15th April where the Hydrex Honda team hope to secure more points for all three riders.