The first visit of the year to Brands Hatch brought a mixed bag of results for the riders and teams from our region.

Despite this it was still a great day for Morello Racing, the Norwich-based Superbike and Supersport 1000 team.

Josh Elliot went there as the current Superstock 1000 lap record holder on the short Indy circuit and he soon set about showing everyone he was there to do the job with no messing about. After the first qualifying session he was in fourth place and not happy but with the team making a few adjustments to his 1000cc Morello Kawasaki he soon upped the pace and took pole position for Sunday's race.

When the lights went out it was Elliot who took the lead into Paddock Hill Bend with Alastair Seeley, Hudson Kennaugh and Adam Jenkinson who gave chase but eventually Seeley managed to get by but could not pull away from Elliot as they broke the tow from the other riders. As they went into the last lap Seeley had a problem and Elliot didn't need an invitation as he swept past him to win the race by more than 2.5 seconds from Jenkinson with Kennaugh in third.

In the Superbikes things did not go so well for the Lee Hardy's RAF Reserves team from RAF Marham. Peter Hickman qualified in 22nd but worked his way up to ninth in the race before crashing out, unhurt.

Morello Superbike riders Danny Johnson and Victor Cox were struggling in qualifying where less than a second covered the first 29 riders. Both riders improved but still missed out on points scoring positions.

In race two Hickman had to do it all over again from the back of the grid but he was soon involved in a big scrap that saw him take some good scalps and make it into the points in 14th place. However, there was not much to cheer about in the Morello camp as Cox came home in 26th place and Johnson crashed heavily and was kept in hospital overnight.

Gorleston teenager Charlie King was right in the thick of the action on his 600cc Kawasaki with 54 riders competing for 34 places on the grid he qualified in 27th for the Superstock 600 race. Things went wrong for him in the warm-up though as he was high sided over the front of the bike.

King was uninjured and the team were able to get the bike on to the grid for the race. The lights went out and King made a good start but as they came into Graham Hill Bend four riders went down and with two requiring immediate medical attention the race was red flagged and re-run later. This time King showed that he is really getting to grips with his new bike and he came home a very credible 22nd in a shortened race.

Jack Keen finished 27th but there is better to come from the Norwich rider as the series develops.