Olympic cycling hero Jason Kenny swapped two wheels for four at Brands Hatch today – just days after winning a record-equalling sixth gold medal at the Rio games.

The track cycling star, 28, starred in the Radical Challenge sports prototype events, scoring an excellent sixth-place finish in race two.

Kenny – who matched Sir Chris Hoy's UK record of six gold medals at the Olympics in Brazil – had only raced at the daunting West Kingsdown circuit once before in a Ginetta G40 sportscar.

He told KentOnline: “I do this because it’s a hobby and I like the challenge – and this is a real challenge.

“I still enjoying riding my bike and I loved racing at the Olympics – that was really special – but it does bring a load of stress with it as well.

“With this, as it’s only club level racing, you can just get stuck in and enjoy it.”

Kenny produced a fine lap in qualifying to start race one from sixth on the grid after setting a time of 1m 28.687s.

He fell back to 11th at the finish following a slow getaway, but starred in race two by taking the flag in sixth out of 26 starters.

Kenny added: “I was a bit nervous coming into it this weekend, but the Radicals are really nice to drive.

“Brands is an absolutely terrifying circuit – it is narrow and ridiculously fast and it does not have a lot of run-off.

“I do this as and when I can and do it to enjoy it. The moment I don’t enjoy it, I won’t bother turning up.”

Kenny, who last raced on the challenging 2.4-mile circuit in 2013, had previously driven a Radical at Donington Park, Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit and Oulton Park.

He added: “It takes a bit of bottle with these Radicals because they are fast, but they are quite user friendly.

"This is a change of scenery for me - it’s a bit of a change to get away from the nitty-gritty of every day.

“It’s a good laugh and everyone is really helpful.”

Kenny will take part in the third Radical Challenge Championship race at 2.15pm on Sunday.

Tickets for the Lotus Festival at Brands Hatch are available for £24 on Sunday, August 28 with free entry for under-13s. Call 0843 453 9000 or visit www.brandshatch.co.uk for details.