Dave Heal is torn between having fun and serious business.

The Heathfield race ace made an unexpected return to Superbike racing last weekend and has now been offered a permanent deal to ride at the top level again.

The only problem is that Heal is enjoying himself in Supermoto racing.

Heal quit British Superbikes last winter after failing to secure a ride for the current season. Instead, he turned to Supermoto, a new form of sport which combines tarmac and off-road racing.

Heal is currently leading one of the two Supermoto championships he is taking part in.

The 36-year-old, a former British Superbike privateer champion and one-time British 600cc title holder, had virtually given up on returning to track racing until he received a call from a newly formed set-up, Team Discovery Racing (TDR).

Last weekend Heal rode for the team for the first time in an MRO Championship round at Snetterton and he impressed them so much they offered him a ride in British Superbikes for the rest of the year.

Heal said: "The team manager Stuart was over the moon and wanted to sign me up for the rest of the year and next year. He just said, 'I want you'.

"I have said, let's do the next round at Cadwell Park and take it from there.

"It is down to me, whether I want to do it. I want to know I am still competitive which I can't really tell from last weekend but at the moment I am quite keen."

The weather hampered Heal's progress at Snetterton, which was used purely as a test for team and rider. Heal did the practice and qualifying sessions but a torrential downpour left the track flooded and the meeting had to be abandoned, which meant he did not take part in the race.

However, his efforts were still seen as a success. Heal said: "It was a different format than I am used to. We had five minutes of free practice and then went straight into qualifying so it was a baptism of fire for me, a steep learning curve.

"The team boss said if I could get my lap times down to around 1.13, which is a respectable club time, he would be very happy. But I got them down to 1.11, which is only a second and a half away from British Championship pace.

"I qualified 14th out of 38 riders, one second away from pole, but then we had the flash floods and it was abandoned."

TDR wanted Heal to ride in the next round of the British Superbike Series at Thruxton this weekend but he did not feel ready to do himself justice. Instead he will do some testing next weekend before doing the round at Cadwell on August 24-25.

After that, Heal must make up his mind what he wants to do.

Heal said: "I will only do it if realistically I can be up there running in the top ten all the time, preferably better.

"However, last weekend was a resounding success. They are a professionally run team. I have just got to decide what I want to do. Supermoto is fun but it doesn't pay the mortgage."