HOWIE Mainwaring has set his sights on lifting the British Superstock 1,000cc title after finding blistering pace to claim second spot in the season’s opener at Brands Hatch.

The Frodsham Flyer is committed to new team MSS Colchester Kawasaki to the point where he has moved to Essex to be close to the team day in, day out.

And the team, which also runs two British Superbike riders, has rewarded the 23-year-old with a machine that has given him the confidence to aim for the top.

“I knew we were fast in testing and in pre-qualifying we carried that speed with us,” said Mainwaring.

“During the race it seemed like something somewhere wanted us to fail, wanted to stop us achieving our potential, but we overcame all the setbacks and sent out a message for the season.

“I believe I can win the championship this year because I know how fast I can be on this bike.”

Mainwaring, son of former Superbike rider Steve Mainwaring, qualified a disappointing 13th but soon showed that to be a blip as a series of daring overtaking moves saw him claw his way up to second in the race.

But when one of his rivals wiped out on the track, ‘Hurricane Howie’ was forced to avoid him and slipped to sixth.

Mainwaring simply got his head down and started to carve up the field again, climbing back into second place. But he was unable to catch victorious Steve Plater, who won with a 6.7 second gap.

Mainwaring is convinced he finally has the team and the machine to achieve greatness.

He said. “The team has the full support of Kawasaki and they have delivered a great bike.

“I have moved down to be close to the team and they even employed a personal trainer for me.

“So I have lost a stone, the team have made the bike fast and everything is coming together for a great season.”