Elliot Burgess was praising the might of the media after thieves did an about turn and returned his racing motor bikes to their Kent workshop.

Alresford road racer Burgess had his Christmas shattered when the brand new R6 Yamaha were stolen from the Slipstream Tuning Team headquarters in Tunbridge Wells.

But after local television stations and newspapers splashed the story and gave meticulous details of the the two machines, they were promptly returned to a much-relieved Burgess.

"I think they were simply too hot to handle," said Burgess.

"As well as being hybrid racing bikes, too powerful for use on the public roads, each and every part was stamped with my initials.

"I've got a lot to thank the media boys for. I suppose whoever took the bikes saw the televesion clips, read the newspaper reports and decided it would be wiser to give them back.

"They left the bikes on the doorstep of the team shop and even rang the doorbell to make sure someone would be down down to collect them!"

Former Superbike starlet Burgess can now look ahead to this season's British Supersport Championship with renewed confidence.

"We've got the right bikes and although we still needed extra sponsorship, the funding is sufficient for us to put in a really strong challenge for the championship," says Burgess.

"But if we hadn't got the bikes back, the season would have been ruined. It would certainly have put us back months. Now I feel Christmas has come late. I feel this is going to be my best ever year."

Last year couldn't have been much worse. Burgess made a promising start to the 600cc SuperSport Series and was starting to run in the top six when he crashed heavily at Donington and shattered his elbow. When the bikes were stolen it put the lid on a wretched 2000.

"I feel strong again and can't wait to go testing the new bikes next month," said Burgess whose Slipstream team-mate is Alton-based Robert Hopcroft, a young rider who showed excellent promise in the one-make Honda series.

Burgess has been involved with the successful Slipstream organisation since riding German MUZ machines for them in the European Super Mono Championship three years ago and finishing runner-up after a hat-trick of victories on the continent.

Early last season he was a winner in the British SuperMono Series before switching to exclusively to the Supersport Championship.