Rhys was back on the track over the weekend, this time at Brands Hatch, for round 5 of the Pirelli National Sportbike.

After a P6 last time out at Snetterton, Rhys was hoping to build on that with some more positive results this week, along with some more valuable championship points.

The first free practice session got underway on Friday morning where Rhys was able to get a feel for the track for the first time, completing 14 laps of the circuit. Rhys was struggling with some stability issues going into corners but managed a good time of 1:35.339, just over a second off the leader.

Before the second free practice session got underway, Rhys and the team made some adjustments to counter the issues found in free practice 1. After the short break and the adjustments were done, the second free practice session got underway in the afternoon. Unfortunately for Rhys, the changes caused the bike to go too far the other way, still causing him issues. However, Rhys still managed to shave a little off the time from earlier, getting 1:35.000 and a P6.

Saturday morning came around and it was time for qualifying, Rhys and the team worked hard on the bike after the second free practice session and managed to get the bike in a good place to ride. With the changes made, Rhys knocked off a second, coming with 1:34.049 and a P8.

Just before the main race got underway Rhys got out for a few warm-up laps. Whilst attempting to overtake a slower rider, Rhys hit a damp patch on the track which caused him to high side, causing a hand injury to Rhys and damage to the bike. Thankfully, Rhys got bandaged up by the medical team and the bike was fixed up ready for race 1.

After being bandaged up, Rhys was ready for the race, but worried about managing the pain. Thankfully, with the adrenaline pumping through Rhys, he didn’t feel any pain as he got underway. After jumping up a place early on, Rhys managed to build a gap to the riders behind him but unfortunately, wasn’t able to shorten the gap in front. This meant Rhys ended in P7 with 12 points to the standings. Those 12 points keep Rhys in 8th for the championship but in touching distance of the top 5.

Next up for Rhys is round 6 of the Pirelli National Sportbike at Thruxton, on the 9th – 11th of August.