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Is Steve Plater one of the most versatile racers in the current motorcycle world? Based on current performance levels, you'd have to argue that yes, he probably is.

Last weekend we were all treated to Steve putting on a tour de force as he rode in not only the British Supersport Championship race at Brands Hatch, but also in the brace of British Superbike meetings at the same venue.

Steve had been drafted into the big bike team as a temporary replacement for Aussie Josh Brookes who had hit a feast of red tape problems with his visa for racing in the UK. Brookes without a visa meant a very good, if somewhat busy, couple of days for superbike draftee Steve.

The result was very good too. A crash out of the lead in the first Superbike race, then a podium in the Supersport race and a podium in the second Superbikes underlined his ability nicely.

The HM Plant Honda team expressed their happiness at Steve's performance too. And so they should. He may have been signed by the black and orange bikes as their Supersport campaigner, but his rides must have saved some blushes for the Honda outfit too.

This weekend sees Steve leave behind both the Supersport and Superbike Championships for another of his two-wheeled loves - 24 hour endurance racing at Le Mans.

Well, I say 'loves' in reality a 24 hour race is little more than moments of prolonged pain interspersed with shards of terror and excitement in equally measure.

But that's an aside. What's the most interesting thing is that Steve is out there competing. Six days after he raced to two podiums in two classes at Brands, he's out in force in France. And probably has just as good a chance as anyone else of being on the podium there, too.

It's quite a skill to be able to switch between bikes and types of racing like Steve is doing. The mindset for short circuit dashes in BSB weekends and the drawn out scraps of world endurance are very different and there's probably no more than a big handful of riders around the world who can manage it.

But with Steve there's another string to his motorcycling bow - the roads.

He's quite a weapon at the punishing road circuits too. Plater even won his first TT last year (yes, it was when another rider was disqualified for a technical infringement with his bike, but Steve was a close-enough second to be able to call the win a proper and just one - which it was). An amazing feat.

The NorthWest 200, Isle of Man TT, BSB, BSS or World Endurance - Steve Plater is a major player in all of these things. Last weekend he raced in three of the toughest races you'll see this year and finished on the podium in two of them.

I can't think of another, current rider who can compare with the Lincolnshire man for sheer spread of ability.

And it doesn't seem to have any adverse effect on Steve himself. For the past decade and more the paddocks have been home to the raucous laughter of Plater as he flits from chat to chat, his contagious perma-smile always locked in place.

Steve really is riding in the best form of his life and although Honda boss Neil Tuxworth told us on the live TV show on Monday that Steve and he had agreed that - no matter what the outcome of Monday's races - he would not be given a Superbike ride this year, I can't help but wish we were going to see more of him on the big bikes throughout 2009.

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Tony Carter / Eurosport