World SuperSport 2003 - Round 8 - Brands Hatch

With around 120,000 fanatical spectators expected at the Kent circuit, Brands Hatch is undoubtedly the biggest event on the World Superbike / Supersport calendar each year.

Racing is historically close at Brands. Five of the seven World Supersport races held here have seen the podium positions covered by less than one second at the flag and there is no reason to suggest that the 2003 encounter will be any different.

The circuit opened for business as a venue for grasstrack racing in 1926, with the first tarmac layout coming along in 1950. The current layout retains the great feel of a typically British circuit as it winds through the woodland. For safety reasons, changes have been made to the circuit this season, with the removal of the challenging (but generally disliked by the riders) Dingle Dell chicane. This has been replaced by Sheene Curve, named after the legendary two-time 500cc world champion Barry Sheene who passed away recently after an illness. The new corner offers increased run-off and has reduced the track length by just over 100m.

YZF-R6 set-up – a tough track

If any track is going to give the Yamaha engineers and riders a sleepless night then it is Brands Hatch. Bike set-up is always about finding a good compromise but here at Brands, with its fast blast up Hawthorn Hill, the curved start/finish ‘straight’ and difficult elevation changes at Paddock Hill and Surtees, the compromise is so much more than at other circuits.

The natural elevation changes can cause the suspension to bottom out, especially at the end of the long Hawthorn Hill straight but riders must avoid the temptation to stiffen things up too much as this will sacrifice performance at many of the other corners. Riders will probably look for a good set-up through the more conventional fast corners, like Hawthorn, Stirling’s and the Clark, and use their body weight to ride around the problems experienced elsewhere on the course.

The track also features a lot of blind corners which can make it difficult for the riders to gain complete confidence in the circuit. Circuit knowledge can count for a lot here and the riders, especially first-time visitors, will have to make the most of the four 45-minute practice sessions if they are to find the optimum lines for what is usually a hectic race.

2002 race recap

Casoli third in crazy race Brands Hatch 2003 was one of the most memorable Supersport meetings of all time, but for the wrong reasons.

It took four starts and almost two hours to complete a crash-strewn race. The biggest talking point was the horrific accident that saw local favourite James Whitham (Yamaha Belgarda Team) break his elbow. The red flags came out twice more for incidents involving other top riders Stephane Chambon (Suzuki) and eventual world champion Fabien Foret (Honda). Amid the confusion Whitham’s team-mate Paolo Casoli finished third on aggregate time, taking the final podium position behind winner Katsuaki Fujiwara (Suzuki) and the fortunate Foret, who was able to restart after his earlier accident.

Season so far – Jurgen’s promise

Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Yamaha Belgarda Team) goes to Brands as the leading Yamaha rider, in third place in the championship. With a pole position and a string of podium finishes to his name, the Dutchman is keen to chalk up his first World Supersport win after a mechanical problem forced him to retire while leading the last round at Misano.

Yamaha’s six other supported WSS riders are all potential podium finishers, especially Yamaha Motor Germany’s Christian Kellner and Jörg Teuchert. Kellner is already a winner this year – at Sugo in Japan – while Brands holds good memories for Teuchert. His form has been improving in the last few races and the German was a winner here in 2001, while his second place in 2000 was enough to take him to the world title.

The other R6 pilots are less experienced but showing improvement at each round. Former European champion Alessio Corradi (Team Italia Spadaro Yamaha) started the year with a podium in Valencia and lies sixth in the series, while countryman Simone Sanna (Belgarda Yamaha Team) has shown some blistering pace in qualifying. The two-time 125GP winner set pole position in the last round at Misano and will look for race long consistency at Brands.

Look out too for Yamaha Motor France pairing Thierry van den Bosch and Matthieu Lagrive. The UK has been good to them this year as they got their best results of the season at Silverstone. Former Supermoto world champion Van den Bosch particularly impressing with a fourth place.