The distinctive rainbow livery of the world's longest established and most successful independent racing team, Padgetts of Batley will grace the British Championship circuits for an astonishing 53rd consecutive season.

The Padgett team heritage spans three generations of British Racing Legends - from Hailwood, Ivy, and Read to Haslam, McElnea and Fogarty to Camier, McGuinness and Hutchinson.

Former Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport champion Steve Plater is set to make a sensational comeback in the series this season after confirming he will re-join the Padgetts Honda team alongside his World Endurance Championship schedule for Honda Motor Europe.

Plater has a long-standing history with Honda and after winning the title in 2009 for the HM Plant team following a season-long duel with Billy McConnell. He then moved to the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship last year, but a crash at the North West 200 destroyed his title hopes; now the fans' favourite is ready to make amends and return to the top step of the podium.

Plater said:

"I've raced with Padgetts before in the last couple of years and I'm really looking forward to the season in the new format British Supersport Championship with them, I want to see if we can win back the title."

Isle of Man TT record breaker John McGuiness will also join the team to strengthen their line-up on the grid at Brands Hatch this Easter , he added: "This is my fifth season with Padgetts and I'm looking forward to getting out in the rainbow colours as often as possible"

Plater joins season entries for Ben Padgett in the Supersport Cup class, whilst Adam Jenkinson lines up for the team in Superstock 1000 and with Joe Dickinson set to return to the track in both the Supersport and Superstock 1000 classes, now fully recovered from the broken femur he sustained last August.

The squad is completed by the highly regarded Kiwi Bruce Anstey who will make occasional Metzeler National Superstock 1000 appearances alongside his road racing programme. The full squad of six riders will be on track at the opening round at Brands Hatch on Easter weekend.