Kenny Everest is living his dream just months after fearing his racing career was over.

At 34, Everest is a late arrival on the national stage but at the end of last season he thought he would never get there at all.

Brighton-based Everest, who has an impressive record in club racing, had no more money to pump into his sport and had resigned himself to quitting.

But support came forward for the 2004 MRO Powerbike champion and now Everest has stepped up to compete in the National Superstock Championship.

The class forms part of the British Superbikes Series, which means Everest is mixing with the best of the best each week and gaining plenty of national exposure.

It is an amazing turnaround for someone who knows, with age not on his side, his chances were running out.

Everest said: "I had run out of money. In fact, it was worse than that, I had borrowed as much as I could borrow and couldn't borrow any more.

"I was all set not to ride at all this year unless somebody could help me out. I had a test ride for a big team but somebody ended up buying the ride which I just couldn't afford to do.

"Then I heard from Clinton Wood, a former BEMSEE Powerbike champion who had stopped racing himself but said he would put a bike together for me and put up a 2004 Yamaha R1.

"Keith Webster of Sovereign Engineering, who used to sponsor Sam Corke (Uckfield), said he would sponsor my tyres and Jim McNulty of Able Scaffolding said he would do my entry fees.

"Suddenly it had all come together and between the three of them they had enabled me to ride again for this season."

Everest has long since harboured dreams of racing in a national championship but he only wanted to do it if he could be competitive.

He explained: "It is what I have always wanted to do but I was waiting to be riding well enough to deserve the opportunity.

"To be honest, for a while I just hadn't been doing that.

"Then last year I met a friend of somebody who used to race and he taught me how to set up suspensions and the like - things I should have learnt a lot earlier in my career.

"When you get to a certain level, you need a certain knowledge to go with it. Basically, I had been getting by but then last year it all came together and I was riding as well as I was able to."

His efforts in winning the MRO Powerbike championship - the best racing you can get below national level - had not gone unnoticed and left Everest in positive mood for this season.

Early results - 11th at Brands Hatch and 14th at Thruxton - have disappointed him but the team are still working on the set-up of the new bike and Everest believes there is much more to come.

He said: "Although we have had a few problems with the set-up, at Brands I was just 0.4 seconds off the fastest lap.

"There are guys running at the front who I beat last year quite convincingly so I am really confident that when we get the set-up right I can beat anyone."

Everest is in action at Mallory Park this weekend and Oulton Park next weekend.

l Crawley's Dave Lodge finished fourth (twice) and fifth during round two of the MRO MiniTwins championship at Croft in Yorkshire.

This followed a good weekend in the BEMSEE MiniTwins series at Lydden Hill where Lodge won two races, although he was dropped to fifth in one due to a time penalty, and came second in the other two.