Danny Kent

Danny Ray Kent (born 25 November 1993) is an English motorcycle racer, best known for winning the 2015 Moto3 World Championship. In doing so he became Great Britain's first Grand Prix solo motorcycle world champion since Barry Sheene in , as well as the first British lightweight class champion since Dave Simmonds in .

For 2022, Kent continued with Buildbase Suzuki but for 2023 he joined, as sole rider, a new BSB team established by his personal sponsor using a Honda.

For 2024, Kent moved to the Mar-Train team with McAMS their title sponsor, and has resigned for the 2025 season. He won his first British superbike race at the final round of the 2024 season.

Career

Early career Born in Chippenham, Wiltshire, Kent like many others started out in Minimoto, before moving into the FAB-Racing MiniGP50 and MiniGP70 British Championships. Kent progressed through the Aprilia Superteens Championship earning success before being selected for the Red Bull MotoGP Academy and racing in Spain in the Spanish 125GP Championship. When the Academy closed Kent was switched to the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, where he finished runner-up in 2010. Kent also contested a wild card ride at Silverstone in 2010 aboard a 125cc Honda, earning him a late ride with Lambretta in the 125cc Grand Prix world championship that year.

125cc/Moto3 World Championship

Kent entered the 125cc world championship with Lambretta in 2010 at the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, qualifying in 16th place, a big improvement on 29th in which he qualified for the British round earlier that year – however he retired from the race. He took a best qualifying position of 10th at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril and a best and only race finish of 21st at Phillip island during the Australian Grand Prix.

For 2011, Kent switched to the Red Bull Ajo Aprilia team to compete in his first full season in the 125cc world championship. Kent enjoyed a successful first season scoring 82 points with a best finish of fourth place, on the way to 11th in the championship standings.

2012 was the start of the Moto3 class. The new formula would use four-stroke 250cc engines apposed to the two-stroke 125cc engines of the class it was replacing. Kent remained with the Red Bull Ajo team however the team switched to running KTM motorcycles spearheading the factory's assault on the title. The team had a fantastic year with Kent's teammate Sandro Cortese taking the world championship along with Kent himself taking fourth in the championship. Kent earned his first podium at Assen in the Dutch TT, and he took his first win at the Japanese Grand Prix at Twin Ring Motegi with a great last lap result. He followed up in similar fashion just four rounds later at the final Grand Prix of the season in Valencia with a brave last corner overtake on Cortese earning him his second Grand Prix victory.

Moto2 World Championship For 2013, Kent raced with Tech 3 in the Moto2 category alongside fellow Moto3 graduate Louis Rossi. Kent's season started with a run to 18th place in Qatar, he scored his first points at round six with a 13th-place finish in Catalunya. Kent scored points on four more occasions with a best of 12th at both the Czech and Malaysian races, and had a strong end to season with three consecutive point-scoring finishes before breaking his collarbone in the warm-up for the Japanese Grand Prix, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

Return to Moto3

For 2015, Kent moved to the Leopard sponsored Kiefer Racing squad, running Hondas. Kent's season started off well, reaching the podium at the first race in Qatar and taking his first win for Leopard in the following race at the Circuit of the Americas. Kent won the next two races – the first British rider to win successive races in the lightweight class since Barry Sheene in – in Argentina and at Jerez to open up a championship lead. He added further victories in Catalunya, the Sachsenring and his home event at Silverstone.

Kent led the championship by twenty-four points ahead of Miguel Oliveira, with one race remaining. Despite Oliveira winning the final race in Valencia, a ninth-place finish was enough for Kent to claim the championship and become Great Britain's first Grand Prix motorcycle world champion since Barry Sheene in .

Return to Moto2 On 27 September 2015, it was announced that Kent would be moving up to the Moto2 class for the 2016 season, with his Leopard Racing team. He was joined in the team by his Moto3 championship rival Miguel Oliveira.

Kent was sacked by Speed Up in late September 2018, with five races remaining, due to poor performances and refusing to follow team orders. In a statement to motogp.com, team boss Luca Boscoscuro was highly critical of Kent, stating “that behaviour doesn’t work. I’m sorry, but not with me”.

British Superbike Championship

Kent secured an entry riding Halsall Racing's Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the Brands Hatch final round of the 2018 British Superbike Championship in October after a successful test. He failed to finish in two races, but finished in 12th from 15 finishers in race three. The team subsequently folded after principal Martin Halsall withdrew funding.

In late May 2019, it was announced that Kent would ride in British Superbikes on an ex-Leon Camier 2016 MV Agusta F4, starting from the July event at Snetterton. Kent failed to finish a race at Snetterton, but achieved 18th place in BSB race 2 at Thruxton in August. His employment was terminated by his team in mid-August due to a court conviction.

Kent joined Buildbase Suzuki, continuing into 2022. A practice crash at the Donington Park third-round in May 2022 caused hospitalisation with no participation in the races.

Personal life Kent became part of the Phil Burgan Race Academy (PBRA) – a programme for developing British talent in motorcycle sport, under the guidance of James Toseland. The aim of the programme is to provide support, both financial and consultative, to promising British motorcycle racers and teams of the future.

In August 2019, Kent received a four-month suspended prison sentence for carrying a knife in a public place during an altercation in March, 2019. This resulted in his superbike team terminating his contract, with Gino Rea named as interim replacement.

Career statistics Career highlights 2001 – Welsh Minimoto – Debut and first win. 2004 – FAB-Racing MiniGP50 British Championship (2nd overall) 2005 – FAB-Racing MiniGP70 British Championship (1st overall) 2007 – British Aprilia Superteens Championship. 2008 – Invited into Red Bull MotoGP Academy and contested Spanish CEV 125GP (9th overall) 2009 – Academy closed – transferred to the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (4th overall, 1 win) 2010 – Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (2nd overall, 2 wins) 2015 – Moto3 World Champion (6 wins)

British 125 Championship Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts 2009 Honda BHI OUL DON THR SNE KNO MAL BHGP CAD CRORet SILRet OULRet 25th 11 2010 Honda BRH5 THR OUL9 CADRet MAL KNOC SNE BRH7 CAD CRO CROWD SIL OUL 23rd 27

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos Pts 2009 SPA1 SPA2 ITA NED GER GBR CZE1 CZE2 4th 96 2010 SPA1 SPA2 ITA NED1 NED2 GER1 GER2 CZE1 CZE2 RSM 2nd 164

Grand Prix motorcycle racing By season

By class

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

British Superbike Championship

By year Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3R4 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Suzuki DON DON BRH BRH OUL OUL SNE SNE KNO KNO BRH BRH THR THR CAD CAD SIL SIL SIL OUL OUL ASS ASS BRH BRH BRH 30th 4 MV Agusta SIL SIL OUL OUL DON DON DON BRH BRH KNO KNO SNE SNE THR THR CAD CAD OUL OUL OUL ASS ASS DON DON BRH BRH BRH NC 0 Suzuki OUL OUL OUL KNO KNO KNO BRH BRH BRH THR THR THR DON DON DON CAD CAD CAD SNE SNE SNE SIL SIL SIL OUL OUL OUL DON DON DON BRH BRH BRH 18th 49 Suzuki SIL17 SIL18 SIL15 OUL21 OUL19 OULRet DONDNS DONDNS DONDNS KNO19 KNO14 KNORet BRH12 BRH9 BRHRet THRRet THR22 THR15 CAD15 CAD16 CAD14 SNE10 SNERet SNE12 OUL12 OUL12 OUL10 DON17 DON14 DON9 BRH8 BRH6 BRH8 16th 77 Honda SIL SIL SIL OUL OUL OUL DON DON DON KNO KNO KNO SNE SNE SNE BRH BRH BRH THR THR THR CAD CAD CAD OUL OUL OUL DON DON DON BRH BRH BRH 14th 115 Yamaha NAV NAV OUL OUL OUL DON DON DON KNO KNO KNO SNE SNE SNE BRH BRH BRH THR THR THR CAD CAD CAD OUL OUL OUL DON DON DON BRH BRH BRH 4th 373 Yamaha OUL OUL OUL DON DON DON SNE SNE SNE KNO KNO KNO BRH BRH BRH THR THR THR CAD CAD CAD DON DON DON DON ASS ASS ASS OUL OUL OUL BRH BRH BRH6th 298