MALMESBURY'S Moto3 star Danny Kent could finish only 12th in the San Marino Grand Prix but it was a good week nonetheless as he confirmed his switch in 2015 to the Honda bikes of Kiefer Racing, writes Alannah Fellows.

The German team won the Moto2 world championship as recently as 2011 with Stefan Bradl.

Kent, 20, was expecting something more at the Misano circuit having qualified in sixth place on the second row of the grid.

But he struggled with speed on the straights aboard his Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo and had to fight hard just to stay with the leading group.

Kent, who sits in 11th position in the championship standings, said: "It was a pretty tough race. I didn’t start badly, but we came up against a very large group and we were all fighting a lot among ourselves.

"I would pass on the corners but they would get past me on the straights. The other bikes, like that of Efren (Vazquez) and Juanfran (Guevara), were very fast on the straights.

"It was a little frustrating, because if I had not been in that group I would have had a higher pace throughout the race.

"Now we’ll just focus on Aragon (September 28), which incidentally is one of my favourite tracks. We have to keep working hard.”

Switching to Honda in 2015 and with a big new sponsor should help Kent get back to regular podium finishes.

Honda had a one-two in San Marino with Alex Rins and Alex Marquez and currently have four riders in the top six of the Moto3 Grand Prix series. And, of course, their rider Marc Marquez leads the MotoGP world championship.