Motorcycle ace Osborne shines at Brands Hatch

Osborne, 31, from Billingshurst, joined the final round of BSB riding his GSX-R1000 in the Pirelli National Superstock class. It was Osborne’s first race this season, having been out with injuries since winning the GP1 Sportsman class in club racing in the Thundersport GB Championship last year. See pictures by Jamie Morris from the round on this page and the one linked at the bottom.

Friday’s practice was wet and Osborne did well. He was up to second position at one point and ended 11th. Qualifying on Saturday, on a damp track, made for tricky tyre choices, and he qualified 29th. Race one was a wet one with the track drying, so he ran both wet tyres.

A botched start due to a false neutral saw him fall to the back of the 35-strong grid, plus five seconds behind. But hard driving gained him nine places in lap one. By halfway he’d pushed to 19th, but his wet tyres began shredding on the rapidly drying track, slowing him down, and riders who’d braved intermediate tyres came past him and he finished in 24th.

In race two, Osborne started in 27th spot and got off to a flying start. Dodging a crash immediately in front of him in lap two cost him vital seconds, but he finished with a respectable 26th.

Osborne, a carpenter and builder, is supported trackside by MSG Racing Suzuki and had Horsham firm AF Scaffolding joining him as headline sponsor in this round. He said: “Wow! What a weekend. I’m so excited to get going in 2024.” Osborne and fiancée Tabby are expecting their first child in November. “For now, the pressure is off and it’s nearly time to meet my daughter and go earn some big money to make next year’s plans a reality,” he added. “It was always going to be a tough ask racing at BSB having not raced all year.

"My lap times weren’t my personal best but I’m very happy and so proud of the team who work so hard, giving up their time and putting in their all to make riding the bike the easy bit!” To find out more about sponsorship and joining the team, contact Sam Osborne Racing on Facebook or Instagram or email: [email protected]