MALMESBURY'S Danny Kent continues to struggle on his return to the Moto3 class, finishing the fifth round of the season at Le Mans, France in 13th place, writes Alannah Fellows.

From 12th place on the grid, the 20-year-old got away to a slow start and was down to 18th by the third lap of 24.

Kent found himself struggling with speed on the French straights.

The former dual Moto3 race winner was able to work his way through the field, however, and crossed the line in 13th position, however.

"We suffered a lot today, above all on the straights where I was losing a lot of places.

On the corners, however, I was able to keep up a good pace without problems.

"I can’t be fighting so far down the field, with newcomers to the world championship. I need to demand more of myself and be further up the field. We need to find solutions to our braking issues and find more speed.

"This definitely was not the weekend that we were expecting, but we need to keep pushing and giving our all in order to do better at the next race.”

The sixth round of the MotoGP season takes place at Mugello, Italy, on June 1.