LAST weekend saw yet more high drama for the Keighley-based Appleyard Macadam Yamaha team at Brands Hatch, as Brad Perie showed race-leading pace before a huge accident which he escaped unscathed from.

With the Supersport Championship out of their grasp, the Appleyard Macadam Yamaha squad could concentrate on a strong finish to the year at the iconic race track.

With seasonal temperatures and sporadic drizzle, the riders knew banking fast early laps in each practice and qualifying session was key, something that had caught them out earlier in the year.

With this in mind, Perie had a strong second place performance in FP2 with a fast 1:28.738 circulation.

He then backed that up with a third (second in SS600 class) placed qualifying run, logging his lap early before the rain came down.

Team-mate Rhys Irwin wasn’t quite on the money, with a 13th in FP2, but then almost out of nowhere, he fired in a fast lap in qualifying that was just behind Perie, putting him P4 on the grid.

Starting from the front row of the grid, Perie had a good start in the sprint event, and ended up fighting a race-long battle with title rivals Ben Currie and Lee Johnston.

While ex-Appleyard rider Jack Kennedy streaked clear to take his third title, Perie had an excellent outing to hold off his more experienced rivals for a hard-fought second place.

Irwin was boxed out at the start, having an eventful ride to finish ninth (sixth in SS600).

Sunday’s feature race was held towards the end of the programme.

The track temperatures were low but the action on track was red-hot.

Perie and Kennedy had a titanic battle for the lead which kept the commentators shouting throughout.

Unfortunately Perie had a massive accident while leading, with Kennedy only narrowly managing to avoid running him over.

As an uninjured Perie returned to the pits, the race restarted and Irwin took tenth place (seventh in class).

The final Quattro British Supersport Championship points tally saw Perie finish fourth and Irwin ninth.