Former Senior Manx Grand Prix winner Matt Stevenson has taken over the vacant spot with the RC Express Racing team.

The 28-year-old caught the attention of Roy and Ben Constable last year with some impressive performances, highlighted by a 15th-place finish and best lap of over 124mph in the Superbike TT.

He will campaign a Kawasaki ZX-10RR in the RST Superbike, Milwaukee Senior, and RL360 Superstock Races, and a Yamaha YZF-R6 in the two Monster Energy Supersport Races, with further track time coming in early rounds of the British Superstock Championship.

Dafabet will continue as the team’s title sponsor for an eighth consecutive season.

RC Express Racing celebrated its 10th year of racing in 2022 having first backed a young Dean Harrison midway through the 2012 season. Dean remained with the team in 2013 and 2014, with the combination taking their first TT win in the 2014 Lightweight tace.

Ivan Lintin joined the team the following year and went on to take victory in both the 2015 and 2016 Lightweights (twins), as well as taking a string of other top-10 finishes in the other classes round the Mountain Course, but injuries curtailed his racing career.

Rob Hodson took over in 2020 until the end of last season. The Wigan rider had his best TT to date when riding for the Dafabet Racing team, with five top-15 finishes last year.

Commenting on the announcement, Stevenson said: ‘I’d like to say a big thank you to Dafabet Racing for taking me on. It’s an amazing opportunity to have some serious backing and support. There is only so much a father, son and a few mates can achieve in this sport, so this chance has just come at the right time.

‘I’m excited to see the progress I’ll make with the team, it’s a big step in the right direction. I can’t wait to get going.’

Team boss Roy Constable said: ‘Matt showed his capabilities winning the MGP in 2018 and with our backing we would like to think we can help him progress.’