Davey Todd will make his Bennetts British Superbike Championship debut at the final round of the season at Brands Hatch this weekend (14/15/16 October) as the Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles Honda team return to the premier class.

Todd and the Padgetts team have been a formidable force in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship this season, claiming title victory last time out at Donington Park. The 27-year-old sealed the title with one race remaining, scoring his fourth victory of the year to take his tally to eleven podiums finishes.

The pairing have already celebrated success on the Superbike on the roads, winning the Southern 100 and Armoy road races, in addition to finishing fourth in the Senior TT. However, the team will face a new challenge this weekend as they line up on the Bennetts BSB grid.

Todd said: “I am obviously really excited about moving up into the Superbike class this weekend. I have rode the Superbike a little bit this year only on the roads, and I have really gelled with the bike and the team. I have been really keen to test it out on a circuit for a while! In our Superstock season we have just been getting stronger on the short circuits, as over the last few years I have been more roads orientated. It is nice to get my hand back in at BSB.

“Circuit and road racing are completely different disciplines and I enjoy racing anything; I also like supercross and supermoto – a bit of everything and I love riding all sorts of bikes! It does give a bit of extra motivation when people say that you can’t do both. I think some people at the start of this year didn’t take me seriously coming to BSB to compete for a championship, they thought I was just coming to get up to speed for the roads, so it’s nice to prove a bit of a point there.

“It is a totally different situation for me coming to BSB this weekend as I am jumping in with the same team, who I am very accustomed to and comfortable with. Also I have ridden the Superbike before as I have raced it on the roads, so it is not my first experience and I have had seat time on the Superbike already which is good. Every time I have got on it I have really loved it, so I feel that it is the perfect situation to step up this weekend.”

Team Owner Clive Padgett commented: “It is natural to give Davey the chance to have a run out on the Superbike. We have obviously raced the Superbike at the TT, the North West 200, Southern 100 and Armoy, it’s a roads Superbike.

“Davey loves to ride motorbikes, he loves motorcycle racing, but as much as anything it will be a chance for the team to experience BSB again. Obviously a lot has changed since we last competed in it fulltime with Jakub Smrz in 2013, there are more races and a different practice and qualifying format, different Pirelli slick tyres, so it will no question feel like a completely different experience for us despite how many years we have been racing!

“We were absolutely thrilled to have won the Superstock title. We have now been winning British Championships for seven decades, which is crazy in a good way! We were over the moon, the whole family were there and it meant so much to us. Davey is on an upward trajectory and continues to learn and I feel like that has shown this year. They say a happy rider is a fast rider and together hopefully we can have a good weekend at Brands Hatch to end the season.”