Jack Kennedy will return to the Dickies British Supersport Championship in 2017 after signing a deal with Dave Tyson’s Tsingtao MV Agusta squad.

Kennedy, who was narrowly pipped to the 2012 crown by pensioner Glen Richards, has spent a couple of difficult years in the blue riband BSB series before finishing 2017 in the FIM Superstock Cup but is desperate for race wins and feels that Supersport is the place for him.

“I’m very happy to be back in British Supersport and really looking forward to this challenge with my new MV Agusta Team. The MV brand is iconic and with the support we have in place, I feel we can accomplish great things together this season,.” said Kennedy.

“I’m hungry for results, to have some good racing battles and to be fighting for wins and feel this is definitely possible with this package. Thanks to Dave for the opportunity and to all my loyal sponsors and supporters for their continued support. I’m excited to get testing underway now and then the opening race at Donington.”

Tyson is happy to have Kennedy in his corner finally after trying to get him on-board at the end of last season when the Irishman was ‘rested’ by the WD-40 Kawasaki team.

“I’m really pleased we have been able to start to finalise our 2017 plans. We had been talking to Jack since last season and without hesitation we continued to sort an agreement for this year,” he said.

“Jack knows what it takes to win and has had great results in Supersport over the years. We need riders who have his experience and knowledge to continue our own development of the bike. We have continued support from MV Agusta Reparto Corse with the same engines as PJ Jacobsen has in WorldSSP, as well as technical support from Andrea Quadranti’s crew.

“Jack is the first rider in what will be a two-rider line up and we should have his team-mate agreed in the next few weeks.”