Riders Leon Haslam, Cal Crutchlow and Steve Brogan are looking forward to podium finishes from this weekend’s Croft races. The North Yorkshire circuit is the ‘home’ round of title sponsor HM Plant, so all three will be aiming to impress at the 2.12-mile circuit. This weekend could see Steve Brogan take the Metzeler National Superstock title. The Liverpool ace needs just five points from Sunday’s 15-lap race, and he knows that despite two rounds remaining after this weekend, a solid result would earn him the title. Brogie will also be aiming to return to his winning ways in the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship as he aims to claw back points from the top three in the series. In the Bennetts British Superbike series Leon Haslam will be aiming to continue his run of victories after wins at Knockhill and a double at Cadwell Park, while Cal Crutchlow will want to climb to the top of the podium again after a confidence-boosting podium at the Donington Park World Superbike round.
Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
“I’m looking forward to Croft this weekend as I believe it should be a good track for us. We did about 20 laps there in wet pre-season testing and did well, but we’ve come on so much with the new Fireblade since then. Last weekend at Donington we had even more wet track time, so we’ve had more than our fair share of wet testing and with the way the season’s gone so far, we know it will also be wet at some point over the weekend at Croft! It’s a special circuit for me too as I’ve got some good memories from there, especially from a couple of years ago when I came back from a big deficit to beat my mate Karl Harris to the win. With the last three wins to my name in the championship I’m hoping to at least make it four on the trot this weekend.”
Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
"The excellent result at the weekend in World Superbikes has really given me a boost ahead of Croft. I just now need to carry this through to the weekend, which I'm looking forward to. I know what I can do and I know what I am capable of in the Bennetts British Superbike series and in the World Superbike championship also, so I simply need to build on this. Leon's had a double at Cadwell, so I'd love to do the same before the end of the year. Last year I took my maiden BSB pole at Croft despite not liking the track at all...my opinion of the place changed last year, so I'm looking forward to the weekend!"
Steve Brogan – HM Plant Honda
British Supersport – Honda CBR600RR
British Superstock – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
“I obviously hope to wrap up the Superstock title this weekend and that’s what I’m aiming to do. I will be disappointed if we don’t do it this weekend and have to wait until the next round. With the HM Plant CBR600RR I’m hoping that me losing about half a stone since the last race should help me a little bit. Being the height I am, I think I’m penalised a little bit on the smaller bike, but being a little lighter should help with the old power-to-weight ratio. Either way, I just want a good result on both bikes at Croft. I like the circuit as it has a little bit of everything – there’s some fast corners out the back and some slow ones just before the start/finish straight so it has a little bit of everything really.”
Havier Beltran – HM Plant Honda team manager
“This weekend we really want Steve to carry on the way he has and have a good result. We don’t want to talk about the championship until it’s won, so we are simply looking for Steve to have another great race. With the HM Plant CBR600RR, Steve’s visited the workshop a couple of times and made some alterations to the bike. As he’s so tall he’s had a few problems with his toes catching the ground in some corners, so we’ve made some changes to make him more comfortable on the smaller bike, so that should help. All three riders this weekend, including Leon and Cal have the opportunity of podiums. Cal’s coming off the back of a very impressive ride at the Donington WSB round, while Leon’s won the last three BSB races. With this effectively being the ‘home’ round of our title sponsor HM Plant, we are hoping to have some good results for Chairman John Jones and his company as we effectively chase second and third in the Bennetts British Superbike championship.”
Check out honda-racing.co.uk for more on Honda’s racing activities and honda.co.uk/motorcycles for more on Honda’s extensive range of two-wheelers, including the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and CBR600RR sports machines.
