Plant blossoms during debut bow at Oliver's Mount

Having already taken on some of Ireland's most renowned road circuits, as well as the Manx GP – which is raced around the same iconic 37.73-mile circuit used for the Isle of Man TT – he travelled to Scarborough to compete at Oliver's Mount.

The event also attracted plenty of entries and attention too, with being the first road race to held since lockdown forced the cancellations of others across the UK.

Plant, 36, from Wem, was as eager as any to get back on his bike and jumped at the chance of taking part in the Barry Sheene Classic as a newcomer.

And despite some mechanical problems, he returned from his debut at the track with a fine fifth-placed finish, with plans already in the pipeline to return next year.

It marked a long journey since the coronavirus pandemic struck as the heating and plumbing engineer was able to continue working but unable to take part in his favourite past-time.

"Lockdown took everybody by surprise but I managed to work the way through, really, with the odd day off here and there," said Plant, who also recently became a father.

"It also gave me a chance to tinker with the bikes and get them in tip-top condition."

Plant has kept his three tried and tested bikes – a Kawasaki ZX600, a Kawasaki ER650 and a Suzuki GSXR750 – which have served him well on the roads in recent years.

"They are getting a bit old in the tooth and they needed a bit of refreshing, with the engine being retuned and things like that," he said.

"We’re also running Michelin tyres for the first time this year and we managed to do some testing at Oulton Park and Donington Park, which gave us some time on the bikes during test days, getting a feel for the tyres while collecting some data.

"Oliver’s Mount had always been on our radar since I started racing, really. It’s important to support the only road race in England we have.

"I had entered about three years ago before the Auto 66 Club, which used to run the event, disbanded. It was then taken over by The Two Four Three Road Racing Association and this year I decided to enter as a newcomer.

"I was fairly confident of being excepted, having raced on the Irish roads and also at the Manx GP twice. There were about 12 or 14 newcomers in total, so that was really good to see – it’s nice the interest is there."

Plant took his ZX600 to compete in the supersport class and ER650 in the supertwin class but things did not start so well.

"One of the vans broke down en route, so we had to sort all that out. It meant we arrived Thursday evening instead of the morning and I missed my chance to have a walk around the track, which I had never raced on before.

"There was also lots of mist Friday morning so the first time I actually managed to get out was 1pm that day, when the newcomers were called to the start line.

"We had a sighting lap to see where the circuit went and it was a little bit of an eye opener. It was a very short and narrow track, and also quite technical.

"I got back out then on the supersport machine and in all we completed six laps. By then, I was really feeling at home on the bikes.

"I was building up my confidence really slowly and it was especially nice to get back out on the supertwin again.

"We realised the gearing wasn’t quite right and little things like that but I wasn’t too fussed at that stage."

During the second session on the Saturday, Plant was able to get four more practice laps in and then it was qualifying on the supersport machine.

"I managed to qualify in the C-race, which was what I was expecting given the calibre of riders who had entered.

"I also started to have problems with my visor, which kept steaming up, affecting my visibility. We tried to change the airflow for the supertwin qualification but it was clear early on the changes had actually made it worse.

"I managed to get the bike round for a few laps and again qualified for the C-race, which I was a bit disappointed with because I knew I could’ve gone quicker, but overall I was happy enough.

"For a first time on the Michellin tyres, I was very happy with how they performed too.

"After another three warm-up laps, I was unofficially a lot quicker than the day before, and then we had the first race on the Saturday.

"Unfortunately the supersport machine suffered a gearbox failure on lap two, which was my first DNF in a long time.

"The bike was also unrepairable so we had to sit out the second supersport race.

"Race three was my first time out on the supertwin and after qualifying seventh I finished fifth, so I was really pleased with that.

"The supertwin is not really a very competitive machine because basically it’s a standard road bike and has a lot less power than some of the others, so to finish a respectable fifth, I was really happy with that."

With the second supertwin race due to take place at 5.30pm on the Sunday, Plant and his team made an executive to decision to call it a day early.

"Because we were looking at a four-hour drive home ­– and we all had work the next day – we didn’t enter the final race.

"It was nice for me and the boys to actually get to see some of the racing for a change, because usually they’re in the tent working on things.

"All in all it was a great weekend and great to be back out on a bike again, especially at Oliver’s Mount for the first time."

Next up for Plant – and his friend and crew chief, Sean Meakin, also from Wem – is the N G Road Racing meeting at Cadwell Park over the August Bank Holiday meeting.