McAMS Racing and Danny Kent progressed to a seventh place finish in the opening race of the weekend at Oulton Park, demonstrating competitive pace and finding confidence in their ability to be close to the front.

As the ninth round of the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship got underway, Kent and the team headed into Friday’s opening duo of Free Practice sessions with the ambition of picking up from where they left off at the venue earlier in the year.

The opening day of action hosted a positive degree of progress in the family-run garage, ending with the rider from Tetbury posting a best time of 1:34.204 and securing a spot in Saturday’s second Qualifying session.

Come Saturday afternoon, after a brief third and final Free Practice session, Kent hit the track aboard his Yamaha R1 for a 15-minute session to decide the grid for Race 1.

A challenging session saw Kent unable to settle into a competitive rhythm and clock a time suiting to both the bike and his own potential at the 2.6-mile circuit.

The McAMS-backed outfit secured a spot at the back of the third row, taking confidence ahead of the race from the strong pace demonstrated earlier in the weekend.

Starting from ninth, Kent retained his position throughout the opening handful of laps and latched himself onto the back of the leading group.

Progressing into eighth on Lap 5 as a rider up the road fell from the running, he continued to show worthy pace, maintaining contact with the leading group and setting the fastest lap of the early stage of the race.

Kent later progressed into seventh on Lap 12, holding position for the final 6 laps of the 18-lap charge.

The R1 rider’s best lap time of 1:34.381 lands him with an improved, second-row start ahead of Race 2 tomorrow.

Having shown promising pace throughout the second day of action at Oulton Park, hope in the camp remains high that Kent can improve on his form from today.

With a further duo of races in store on Sunday, beginning with a 12-lap sprint at 13:15, the focus remains on producing a competitive opening few laps, taking advantage of an improved grid position and slotting into a spot closer towards the front of the pack.