Alex Symon picked up where he left off last year as the new motorsport season got under way.

The Haywards Heath bike rider claimed two wins and did not finish out of the top four in his five races at Brands Hatch last weekend.

Last year Symon won the BEMSEE club Powerbike title as well as winning the Clubman 1300 crown and the Lord of Lydden title.

In 2003 the 28-year-old will be stepping up to compete in the MRO Championship but he was in action at Brands getting in some early season practice as the BEMSEE season started.

On Saturday Symon finished second in the first race on his Yamaha R1 before winning the second race. He began with a fourth on Sunday before winning the second race. The day finished with the Sussex ace recording his fastest lap times of the weekend as he came from the back of the grid to finish third in the Champion of Brands race.

Symon said: "I improved my fastest lap from 48.7 to 48.2 which I was very pleased with.

"The key thing this year is the MRO but I will do quite a few of the club rounds for practice and time on the bike.

"I am keen to improve my lap times. I love to win but I always try to improve myself. Hopefully I will be competitive in the MRO."

Symon is being helped on race days by Ian Cooper of SAS Racing. Cooper is providing trackside assistance at all the MRO rounds but will be competing himself at BEMSEE meetings.

Luke Palmer from Plumpton Green is also competing at MRO level this year on a Yamaha YZF R1.

At Brands Hatch, Palmer improved steadily over the weekend, culminating in a best finish of ninth place in Sunday's second Powerbike race.

Palmer missed a lot of last season after suffering a broken foot and wrist. He said: "I have got the bike retuned and hopefully I will have more of a fighting chance this year."

Peacehaven's Kevin Stone is competing in the Supersport 600 this season after an impressive showing in the Rookie 400 class last year despite being on a borrowed bike.

Stone has bought himself a Yamaha R6 for 2003 and is hoping to continue his progress.

In the B final last weekend, Stone came from 21st on the grid to finish second and he also dropped his lap times by three and a half seconds over the weekend.

He said: "I wasn't expecting to go out and win. It was a learning weekend for me. It is a case of getting some experience on the bike and getting comfortable with it."

Dave Harris, who loaned Stone a bike last year when his own blew up, has tuned the R6 and will be helping the Peacehaven rider this season.

Lancing's Craig Kelly enjoyed a good weekend in the Rookie 400 class, claiming a third and two fourths from the three races he finished.

Kelly, who would not have been able to race but for some last minute help from Donuts Motorcyles, is looking to improve after his debut season was curtailed by a bad accident.

Steve Bullimore, from Haywards Heath, enjoyed a fantastic weekend, winning two of his races and finishing second in another.

Another Haywards Heath rider Richard Davies will be competing in the King of Clubs championship this year.

At Brands he went out in the Supersport 400 nationwide races and, having started 37th on the grid out of 38, he finished 21st in the first race. In race two Davies, 29, finished a tremendous fifth from 21st on the grid in his Honda VFR 400.

DAVE Heal has formed a Sussex-based team to compete in the new British Summer Supermoto Championship.

Heal, a former British Superbike privateer champion and one-time British 600cc title holder, moved to Supermoto last year after bringing his own road racing career to an end.

Supermoto is an exciting new form of motorsport which combines road and off-road racing and, along with Richard Freshwater (Peacehaven) and a number of other Sussex racers, Heathfield-based Heal competed in the inaugural British winter series.

Now Heal and Freshwater have formed Dave Heal Racing to compete for individual and team honours in the 450 and Open classes of the new summer championship which will be televised by Channel 4.

They are being joined by Simon Powell (Hailsham), Tim Guest (Eastbourne), Nick Hobden, Graham Rodemark and Paul Angear (all Herstmonceux).

The team will compete in all five rounds of the summer series, which starts on June 1, as well as the Pro-Supermoto Southern Championship which begins in Portsmouth on April 27.

Freshwater, the 2001 BEMSEE Powerbike champion, begins the new season having married partner Nicky in Antigua last month. He also hopes to do some road racing this year.