Lee Jackson holds third place in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings ahead of the next round of the season at Brands Hatch (July 22/23/24) and the Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki rider is vying for his first Superbike race win on the Grand Prix circuit.

Jackson’s strong start to his 2022 campaign puts him in third place in the standings and he is one of only three riders to have scored points in every race so far this season. A best position of fourth at the opening round of Silverstone set the foundations for his first win in the class at Oulton Park during the second round as confidence continued to grow.

Jackson said: “I have had a great start to the year. I think maybe round one was a little bit under the radar to where we have been in recent rounds, but I think if I had the confidence going into Silverstone then I don’t see why we couldn’t have been on the podium there or been a bit higher up. Again, it isn’t one of my favourite circuits so to get an eighth, fourth and ninth, I was fairly happy with. Race three was the worst race for me as I got stuck in a battle and couldn’t commit to a pass when I needed to.

“Overall though it has been a strong start to the year and the confidence came at Oulton Park. We had been strong all weekend but I cocked up in qualifying but knew I had the pace so finally after these years I got my first BSB win. That was a fantastic story for me to win; to do that and get a second place on the same day, I couldn’t have been happier and the form has just continued.”

At Donington Park, a pair of third places and just missing out in fourth kept Jackson at the sharp end of the standings and he followed that up with a pair of podium finishes at Knockhill, which has given the Lincolnshire contender real momentum heading into Brands Hatch later this month.

Jackson added: “We showed more good pace at Donington again and a fourth, a third and a third was strong, it isn’t quite the form that Brad Ray has been on but we have been there or thereabouts each weekend. Again, at Knockhill all the stars aligned for my teammate Rory and he has been riding great. I kept my head down, worked away in the background, and was unfortunate not to get a podium on Saturday but a fourth, third and a second was good at not my strongest track and just proves that we are really up for the fight this year and that we have done a good job.

“It has been a great season so far, myself and the Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki team worked hard over the off season and we are really getting the best out of it. I am looking forward to moving forward again. Myself and Jason have scored points in every round, my goal is to not DNF and if I can continue that at Brands Hatch then that is a good target.”

Six podium finishes from the opening 12 races means that as the championship hits the halfway point of the Main Season, Jackson is ready to come out fighting again at round five in his quest to consolidate his place in the Showdown. However, he is expecting fierce competition ahead of the next three races as more contenders continue to gather momentum and edge close to the podium battle.

Jackson said: “We need to keep the points coming in and that gives me confidence that we can fight each weekend at the front. I get on the bike on a Friday and I know I will be fast and don’t panic. We work to make it the best we can for race day and I feel heading to Brands Hatch that it should hopefully be good there too; it is a circuit that I love and have had some of my best results there.

“If I can get a Brands Hatch podium on a Superbike then I think that will be pretty special for me as I have been close before but not quite got it done. I have done it in Superstock so I am looking forward to it. It will be close; looking back at the times last year, I can’t see why it would be any different.

“I think there will be more riders in the mix as there were more riders mixing it up at Knockhill. There are other riders coming on stronger, but I have beaten them so far, so I can’t see why I can’t keep the fight and beat them again at Brands Hatch. I want to keep the position in the championship and try and consolidate the position in the Showdown.”