Ten Kate

Ten Kate Honda rider Karl Muggeridge shrugged off appalling conditions at Brands Hatch for the first timed qualifying session for round eight of the World Supersport Championship.

Muggeridge was typically Australian about the English weather; “Everyone would rather have sunshine at Brands Hatch but I don’t care about the weather! Pirelli have worked very hard and brought along a new wet weather tyre which is working really well.”

Championship leader Chris Vermeulen was unwilling to risk his title lead by pushing too hard in the wet. “I feel I am riding well but I’m not taking silly risks, I’m not pushing it past 100%,” admitted the young Australian. “It’s not worth the risk, especially as better weather is forecast for later in the weekend. The Honda CBR600RR is working really well here and WP and Pirelli have once again produced the goods.”

The wet conditions always present problems but Ten Kate Honda team manager was satisfied that the team had responded to the challenge – once again.

“It’s a good start back after the short break, despite the rain,” said Ronald ten Kate. “It’s great to be here at Brands Hatch, the circuit is steeped in history and the atmosphere his is brilliant. Of course, we’d rather have good weather but at least it’s given us a chance to work out some settings to go with the new wet weather tyre from Pirelli.”

Karl Muggeridge

Ten Kate Honda’ rider Karl Muggeridge took provisional pole position in today’s opening qualifying session of round eight of the World Supersport Championship here at Brands Hatch in England.

Brands Hatch being Muggas favourite track brought back some good old memories of his first race win in the World Supersport Championship and inspirited the Australian to set the pace in the rainy session and taking the lead of the board after just ten laps.

Muggas comments: It’s been a bit wet out there, and everybody always wants to come to Brands to have a dry race, since this is a real rider’s track. Of course at this point being on the top, I don’t care much about the weather anymore, and I now I can also be fast in the wet. We got some new tyres this weekend, and they worked pretty well. But we see, it’s only day one, there’s a lot that can still change.

There has also been some changes made at Dingle Dell corners since last season, which Muggas reckons aren’t too bad: “It was a bit more challenging before, but now the next corner is heaps better, really smooth.”

Chris Vermeulen

World Championship leader Chris Vermeulen has slotted his Honda CBR600 onto the 2nd row of the provisional grid for the 8th round of the World Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch in England.

Vermeulen in cruise control, a wet session saw the Tenkate Honda rider only do what was required. “I feel I am riding well but I’m not taking silly risks, I’m not pushing it past 100%,” admitted the young Australian. “It’s not worth the risk, especially as better weather is forecast for later in the weekend. The Honda CBR600RR is working really well here and WP and Pirelli have once again produced the goods.”

Vermeulen’s team mate, Karl Muggeridge is on provisional pole, but was some 2 seconds quicker than his counterpart, an indication of what took place in the session. “The Pirelli tyres are working better than they ever have done in the wet but when the real heavy rain came down I just dived into the garage and sat it out.” It’s been a solid return to the track for Tenkate after a months break.

“It’s a good start back after the short break despite the rain,” said Ronald ten Kate. “It’s great to be here at Brands Hatch, the circuit is steeped in history and the atmosphere here is brilliant. Of course, we’d rather have good weather but at least it’s given us a chance to work out some settings to go with the new wet weather tyre from Pirelli.”

Kawasaki

Miserable weather conditions couldn’t diminish the competitive spirit of Pere Riba in the fist timed qualifying session at the classic Brands Hatch circuit, with the Spanish ace only 0.064 seconds behind the provisional pole position time, set by Karl Muggeridge (Honda).

Miserable weather conditions couldn't diminish the competitive spirit of Pere Riba in the fist timed qualifying session at the classic Brands Hatch circuit, with the Spanish ace only 0.064 seconds behind the provisional pole position time, set by Karl Muggeridge (Honda).

With opening day lap times expected to be at or near the previous lap record pace of 1:30 in dry conditions, Riba's actual time - 1:38.850 - was nonetheless impressive for the first day.

Extensive development work on the dyno during the summer break has taken the ZX-6RR one stage further along its development path, with more power, allied to better acceleration and throttle response the biggest benefits. The poor weather prevented Riba from testing the new engine to the full, as he described after the culmination of the 45-minute session.

"It's a good start to the weekend and to be at the front is nice," said Riba. "We have worked with the bike before we came here and we would like to know of it is better or not. But in the wet conditions we are only working with the chassis settings, which we know work well, and not the engine. I just hope we can try the bike in dry conditions settings. I am a very smooth rider and in the wet you must be smooth and not make any mistakes - but the rain makes qualifying like a lottery."

Misano race winner Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-6RR) concentrated his first day efforts on set-up and acclimatisation, not wanting to risk a fall in the treacherous conditions. If the weather improves for the final qualifying session on Saturday all the riders will have the opportunity to significantly cut their times on the remodelled Brands Hatch circuit, which is now 4.197km long.

"I don't like to push so hard in these conditions. I'm not too worried about my position, tomorrow if it's still wet for sure I will try harder," said the experienced Frenchman. "I hope it is dry. The team have been in the workshop improving the engine but because of the conditions it is difficult to see if it is any better."

As Foret is the qualifying record holder on the 'old' English track layout, he can expect to jump up the order tomorrow, irrespective of the state of the track surface.

Octagon

In the World Supersport Championship the wet unofficial session in the morning was followed by a wet timed session. Despite the inclement conditions on track a few riders were able to attack the stopwatch with relish, the fastest of them proving to be a former Brands WSS winner, Karl Muggeridge (Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR).

Muggeridge’s best lap of 1:38.786 was marginally ahead of the second fastest rider, Pere Riba (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-6RR) but the star of the early show was arguably Thierry van den Bosch (Yamaha Motor France YZF-R6). The former Supermoto Champion is a Supersport rookie but was nonetheless an impressive third quickest. Another man with a nomination for best performer was Michael Laverty (Vitrans Honda CBR600RR) who took the last place on the provisional front row.

World Championship leader Chris Vermeulen (Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) was fifth fastest overall on day one, with top Brit Iain Macpherson (van Zon Honda CBR600RR) one place behind in sixth.