Early career Born in
Chippenham,
Wiltshire, Kent like many others started out in Minimoto, before moving into the FAB-Racing MiniGP50 and MiniGP70 British Championships. Kent progressed through the Aprilia Superteens Championship earning success before being selected for the Red Bull MotoGP Academy and racing in Spain in the Spanish 125GP Championship. When the Academy closed Kent was switched to the
Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, where he finished runner-up in 2010. Kent also contested a wild card ride at Silverstone in 2010 aboard a 125cc Honda, earning him a late ride with Lambretta in the 125cc Grand Prix world championship that year.
125cc/Moto3 World Championship Kent entered the 125cc world championship with Lambretta in
2010 at the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, qualifying in 16th place, a big improvement on 29th in which he qualified for the British round earlier that year – however he retired from the race. He took a best qualifying position of 10th at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril and a best and only race finish of 21st at Phillip island during the Australian Grand Prix. For
2011, Kent switched to the Red Bull Ajo Aprilia team to compete in his first full season in the 125cc world championship. Kent enjoyed a successful first season scoring 82 points with a best finish of fourth place, on the way to 11th in the championship standings.
2012 was the start of the Moto3 class. The new formula would use four-stroke 250cc engines apposed to the two-stroke 125cc engines of the class it was replacing. Kent remained with the Red Bull Ajo team however the team switched to running KTM motorcycles spearheading the factory's assault on the title. The team had a fantastic year with Kent's teammate
Sandro Cortese taking the world championship along with Kent himself taking fourth in the championship. Kent earned his first podium at
Assen in the
Dutch TT, and he took his first win at the Japanese Grand Prix at
Twin Ring Motegi with a great last lap result. He followed up in similar fashion just four rounds later at the final Grand Prix of the season in
Valencia with a brave last corner overtake on Cortese earning him his second Grand Prix victory.
Moto2 World Championship For
2013, Kent raced with
Tech 3 in the Moto2 category alongside fellow Moto3 graduate
Louis Rossi. Kent's season started with a run to 18th place in
Qatar, he scored his first points at round six with a 13th-place finish in
Catalunya. Kent scored points on four more occasions with a best of 12th at both the
Czech and
Malaysian races, and had a strong end to season with three consecutive point-scoring finishes before breaking his collarbone in the warm-up for the
Japanese Grand Prix, ruling him out for the rest of the season.
Return to Moto3 Having been originally announced to remain in Moto2 with Tech 3, Kent returned to Moto3 for 2014; he competed with the
Ajo Motorsport team, riding a
Husqvarna-branded
KTM. For 2015, Kent moved to the Leopard sponsored Kiefer Racing squad, running Hondas. Kent's season started off well, reaching the podium at the first race in
Qatar and taking his first win for Leopard in the following race at the
Circuit of the Americas. Kent won the next two races – the first British rider to win successive races in the lightweight class since
Barry Sheene in – in
Argentina and at
Jerez to open up a championship lead. He added further victories in
Catalunya, the
Sachsenring and his home event at
Silverstone. Kent led the championship by twenty-four points ahead of
Miguel Oliveira, with one race remaining. Despite Oliveira winning the final race in
Valencia, a ninth-place finish was enough for Kent to claim the championship and become Great Britain's first Grand Prix
motorcycle world champion since
Barry Sheene in .
Return to Moto2 On 27 September 2015, it was announced that Kent would be moving up to the Moto2 class for the
2016 season, with his Leopard Racing team. He was joined in the team by his Moto3 championship rival
Miguel Oliveira. Kent walked out on his team after just three races into the season, and was without a ride for much of the remainder, with a wildcard ride in Moto3 and acting as an occasional replacement for injured riders in Moto2, before signing with a new team
Speed Up Racing in Moto2 for the 2018 season. Kent was sacked by Speed Up in late September 2018, with five races remaining, due to poor performances and refusing to follow team orders. In a statement to motogp.com, team boss
Luca Boscoscuro was highly critical of Kent, stating “that behaviour doesn’t work. I’m sorry, but not with me”.
British Superbike Championship Kent secured an entry riding Halsall Racing's
Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the
Brands Hatch final round of the
2018 British Superbike Championship in October after a successful test. He failed to finish in two races, but finished in position 12 from 15 finishers in race three. The team subsequently folded after principal Martin Halsall withdrew funding. In late May 2019, it was announced that Kent would ride in British Superbikes on an ex-
Leon Camier 2016
MV Agusta F4, starting from the July event at
Snetterton. Kent failed to finish a race at Snetterton, but achieved 18th place in BSB race 2 at
Thruxton in August. His employment was terminated by his team in mid-August due to a court conviction. Kent joined Buildbase Suzuki, continuing into 2022. A practice crash at the
Donington Park third-round in May 2022 caused hospitalisation with no participation in the races. ==Personal life==