Luke Stapleford will take part in his first full Bennetts British Superbike season after signing to ride alongside Bradley Ray at Buildbase Suzuki.

Stapleford spent three seasons in WorldSSP after winning the middleweight domestic title in 2015 but has opted to come back to Britain for 2019.

“I’ve got a good relationship with the team, and we’ve worked together before and we know each other well. We’d talked in the past but honestly I was still enjoying riding the 600. But we talked again after last season and I was at a point where I wanted a change from what I was doing in World Supersport,” said Stapleford.

“I was riding in a family-run team and honestly it was a lot of effort that took the shine off racing a motorbike a little bit. I’d had a few offers in BSB before, after the title in 2015, but now I feel the timing and the package is right.

“It’s going to be hard, I know that, but I think we’ll get there. We’ve not set any specific targets so much, and we’re being realistic, but at the same time my goal is to be at the front. It’s going to take time to get up to speed and a lot of hard work, but that’s where we want to be and I know the team and the bike can be there.

“The feeling in 2015 of winning the British Supersport title is what’s kept me going, and I want the feeling of winning races, and eventually a championship, again.”