World Superbike : Brands Hatch Preview
By: Neil Everett |
Published 01 August 2008, 01:08 | Views: 2,958 | tags: sbk, wsb, wss, hannspree sbk, troy bayliss, carlos checa, max neukirchner, johnny rea, craig jones, tom sykes, graeme gowland, brands hatch, london
The World Superbike paddock rolls into the fans to see Troy Bayliss, one of the paddocks great stars for the last time around the Brand Hatch circuit. He has been a fantastic ambassador for the sport over the years, taking two world superbike titles, 20+ pole positions, 40+ wins, and not forgetting that fantastic win in the final race of the 990cc MotoGP era.
It will also be a big weekend for the Santander Yamaha Italia team, as they will be hoping that a new paint scheme helps to inspire Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga to the front of the pack in their pursuit of series leader Bayliss. The team held a competition for members of the public, allowing them the chance to see their winning design on the two factory Yamaha’s for this weekend’s race.
The Alstare Suzuki boys will be looking to bounce back after struggling to maintain the pace in
Speaking of Sykes, the British Superbike double race winner will be making a wild card appearance in event and will hope to put his name in the shop window for the future with an impressive performance. Sykes is riding high at the moment after the last round at
It will be back to business for Ten Kate Honda this weekend as the riders will return from their Suzuka 8 hour duties to commence battle with the best on the world scene once more.
Two members of the team will be back with an extra spring in their step though as Kiyonari and Checa rode brilliantly to bring the number 11 Dream Honda bike home at the head of the pack in the gruelling 8 hour endurance race. The race is very important for the Japanese factory and both riders will probably be benefiting from some extra HRC support throughout the rest of the season for their success. Also it will be interesting to see if double British Superbike champion Kiyonari, will be able to run at the front of the pack and pick up his maiden World Superbike victory on a track he has spent the last four years competing at.
Another rider who had a strong performance in
As well as Tom Sykes, the
Craig Jones will be out to add another British name to the list of World Supersport winners, after he watched his friend Rea pick victory in
Graeme Gowland will be keen to impress the home crowd which has been following his progress in the championship this season, Gowland has suffered some rotten luck after a few crashes and mechanicals, but he’ll be hoping to battle for another good points scoring position this weekend and continue to build for what should be a very promising 2009 season.
All in all this race weekend should be full of surprises. There are a lot of riders and teams that know this track very intimately and should be able to run at the front, I think we could see a very different line up for Superpole on Saturday and the races on Sunday you definitely don’t want to miss. So if you have the chance get down to Brands Hatch and catch the action, I know I’ll be there.
