Former GP racer and British Superbike star Sean Emmett will take to the grid at Brands Hatch this weekend in the Henderson R1 Cup and celebrates his 20th year in racing by riding the same marque as he started his career on two decades ago.

And he reckons he hasn’t been this excited about racing for years. "I’ve always wanted to do a one-make series, but have never had the chance," said Emmett. "It’s the same bike, the same tyres and the same tracks for everyone, so there are no excuses.

"I was going to do the TT as it’s about the only thing I haven’t done but my daughter was in bits, begging me not to. It’s also her birthday during practice week and I couldn’t put her through that.

"I thought that if I couldn’t get a decent superbikes ride this season, then there wasn’t much point. I have won 19 superbike races and it would be soul destroying to be there to make up the numbers."

Emmett and best friend Ian Huntley have spent the last seven days hunting around for the necessary £25,000 in order to get Emmett back on a bike. He said: "I’d seen Sean run out of rides and I desperately wanted to get him back on the grid, so we approached some former sponsors, and some new ones, and managed to get the money together.

"It’s a testament to how popular and highly-rated Sean is that we could get the necessary entry fees together in such a short space of time."

On paper at least, the R1 Cup look like a two-way fight between Emmett, who is 38, and relative youngster Gary Mason. However, riders like Ben Wilson and Adrian shouldn’t be counted out.

Huntley said: "Sean isn’t going out there to win the championship in the first race. But he is very excited that it’s at his home track."