Alastair Seeley returns to winning ways in British championship at Brands Hatch

The Carrickfergus man won the opening National Superstock 1000 race at the Kent circuit on the SYNETIQ BMW for his maiden win of the season.

Seeley, a former champion in the class, passed Billy McConnell and Joe Talbot to take the lead after setting a flurry of fastest laps.

The 43-year-old pulled away once he had clear track ahead of him to close out victory in difficult conditions at the Grand Prix circuit by 1.467s from Talbot.

Seeley is fourth in the standings going into Sunday’s second race, 47 points behind title leader Dan Linfoot, who was empty-handed in race one after crashing out.

Northern Ireland man Seeley, who qualified third fastest on the front row, earned a ride in the British championship this season after lifting the Ulster Superbike and Supersport titles back-to-back in 2021 and 2022.

Seeley won a British GP2 Cup race at Silverstone in 2020, but his victory on Saturday was his first major win at British level since his victory in the opening Supersport race on the EHA Yamaha in 2019, again at the Brands Hatch GP circuit.

The iconic venue is also where Seeley clinched his first and only British Superbike success in damp conditions back in 2010 on the Relentless TAS Suzuki.

He renewed his long and successful association with Northern Ireland’s TAS Racing team for 2023 and won both Superstock races on the SYNETIQ BMW M1000RR at the North West 200 in May, increasing his record to 29 wins at the north coast road race.

Donegal man Richard Kerr finished fourth on the AMD Motorsport Honda in Saturday’s race at Brands, while Simon Reid was 12th on the Jackson Racing Honda and David Allingham finished 16th (SMS Honda).