Quattro Kawasaki's Gary Mason only rode his own ZX-10R for the first time this season during the British Superbike test session - one day before the season opened at Brands Hatch and managed to score a fifth place in the sopping first race after changing almost everything on the bike over the weekend.

Mason, and team-mate Freddy Foray, had shared a bike for the limited pre-season test time they had but the Lichfield man's own steed was taken out of the truck for the first time on Thursday night in readiness for the two races at the Kent track.

"It was a learning curve, that's for sure. We were pleased with the way it went during the test day, we found things to change for the better and took that into the first set of free practices. The first one was damp but I got a good feel for the bike and then we were only a second off in the dry pratice," said Mason, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

"We made a load of changes overnight for third practice and really made some progess in the drying conditions while qualifying on the third row for the first time, then getting a fifth first time in competition was mega. We know what we have to do to progress with my bike and Freddy's, so we're looking for more, or better, this weekend."