In a season which has seen record numbers of factory supported machines take on the challenge of World Supersport, the two man Kawasaki team, newly formed at the beginning of the season, has spent much of the year developing the ZX-6RR from an awesome leading-edge streetbike to a fully competitive race machine. The task is still a work in progress in this year of unremitting competitiveness but with victory number one on the board efforts to repeat the win have been redoubled during the short summer break between rounds seven and eight.

Even allowing for Foret’s outstanding ride at Misano, Pere Riba (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-6RR) is currently the best placed rider in the World Championship, sitting in ninth sport, three points ahead of Foret in tenth. The Kawasaki pairing will find a slightly modified Brands Hatch circuit when they arrive in the UK, as the entrance to Dingle Dell has been smoothed and modernised, without sacrificing the character of the historic full GP layout.

For Foret, his Misano win is a pleasing memory, but he has long since turned his attentions to the next race. " We haven’t tested since Misano but the mechanics have been working hard to improve the bike even more," said Foret, in relaxed mood before the second British race on the calendar. " I have had some time off to recharge my batteries. I do not want to think about what can happen in the next few races I just want to try my best.

"We won in Misano but the conditions were quite special, very warm and so on. I won there, but I cannot expect to win again right away at Brands Hatch - although I will try my best I think it is possible to win. We will go there and see what happens and for sure the bike has improved. If we can have the tyres and the chassis working as well as we did at Misano we can have a good race. Brands is not my favourite track but it is OK."

Riba, despite no scoring at Misano, looks to his own experiences at Brands and Foret’s win for inspiration on the eve of arguably the most challenging event on the calendar. "Brands is a difficult and technical track because it has a lot of corners which you cannot see around even as you enter them," said Riba. "I have had top five and top six finishes there in the past so I think with a good package and set-up on the bike we can do quite well. The team has been working very hard with the engine but I think there maybe the engine will not be the most important thing in this race. After the last round, when Fabien won, the team has an even better feeling so maybe we can do quite well again."

Practice and qualifying take place over Friday and Saturday, with the race itself scheduled for Sunday 27 July. The next round after Brands takes place at another classic circuit, Assen, on Sunday 7 September.