Buildbase Suzuki's Keith Farmer has spent the winter regaining the confidence lost in the massive crash at Knockhill which left him with multiple leg fractures.

The Cumbria resident will line up for Steve Hicken's team at the Donington Bennetts British Superbike season opener tomorrow after spending test time working on corner exit grip.

“To be honest a lot of time has been spent building my confidence again after last year and after my injury," said Farmer.

"I’d done a lot of riding on the superstock bike but the Donington test was a real step again, back into it properly.

"We made some changes as we went and found something in the last session which really helped my confidence – knowing I could ride, knowing I could give feedback and work with the team, because it’s also a new bike to me, I’m new to the team, so it was a learning day.

"The area we need to work on for me is rear grip; I don’t mind the thing sliding on the way into corners but I’m quite aggressive with the throttle from the apex and on corner exit, so I need to know and feel that I’ve got a good connection from the rear tyre to the ground.

"But we made a big step, got closer, and hopefully we can have three strong finishes this weekend and keep building.“