Preview - HRC

Despite some recent misfortunes with injury, and an erosion of his previously commanding points lead, Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) makes his second comeback ride in a two week period with the same levels of determination which he exhibited before his testing crash. Having broken his pelvis and collarbone on 12 June at Brno during tyre testing duties, Charpentier was back in action at Brno again in late-July, finishing 11th - enough to keep him ten points ahead in the approach to the forthcoming Brands Hatch.

Having won races at Losail, Phillip Island, Valencia and Silverstone, and also scoring third at Monza, Charpentier has once more been the unquestioned star of the series, as he was during his championship-winning season for Honda in 2005.

A resurgent force at the previous Brno race was Charpentier’s team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) who overcame some previous disappointments to score his second podium finish in his rookie full-time WSS season. Buoyed by his latest trip to the rostrum, Sofuoglu will once more be out to score a place in the top three. Brands is a well known quantity for Sofuoglu, having won the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup race there in 2005, on the way to overall runner up spot in the World Superbike support series.

Katsuaki Fujiwara (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) will once again be replaced by Simone Sanna (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) with Sanna having scored strong points in the past two races.

Class rookie Yoann Tiberio (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) may find Brands Hatch a difficult venue at which to replicate his brilliant Monza race win but, traditionally, French Supersport riders have a strong pedigree in their adventures across the English Channel. Currently sixth overall, Tiberio was fourth at Brno.

Charpentier, now in better physical condition than during his first comeback ride at Brno, is confident that he can perform like his old self in Brands.

“I feel good, better than Brno because I have had the opportunity to work very hard on my physical condition in the past ten days,” said the 2005 champion. “Now my body is better, and my mind is OK even if Brno was not so easy for me. Now the gap in the championship is ten points - but for me ten points is the same as 20 or 30 or any other number. I am still first in the championship and I will work very hard to not only keep my championship lead, but to make it bigger.”

Sofuoglu, now a holder of two third place finishes in World Supersport races, is looking to Brands as another place to consolidate his return to top form.

“At Brno I gained more good experience in running at the front in World Supersport,” said Sofuoglu. “I think from now on I can keep riding to a good level and in all the races I will be aiming for a podium. My team has worked very hard for me and I want to show that I appreciate it. Brands Hatch is my favourite track; fun, technical and aggressive, and it suits my riding style. It’s really fantastic.”

Tiberio knows that he must put in a strong qualifying performance and then capitalise on it in the early laps of the race to have a chance of a podium finish once more.

"My target for Brands is just the same as all the other tracks - to finish the race inside the first five positions,” said Tiberio. “At Brno I achieved my target after quite a good race, but I had a problem with the tyres in the end, simply because I stressed the bike too much at the beginning. I don’t want to repeat that mistake in England.”

Sanna looks to his two previous races in the Megabike team (second at Misano and ninth at Brno) as motivation for another strong top ten finish.

"After a fantastic experience at Misano I took another top ten at Brno,”
said Sanna, “and I am aiming for at least another top ten finish at Brands Hatch, although it is a very difficult track. It’s so fast, with such a great variety of corners and cambers. I want to thank the Megabike Honda team for giving me the vote of confidence again.”

World Superbike Round 8 of 12

TOSELAND LEADS HONDA CHARGE ON HIS HOME CIRCUIT

A flurry of recent strong results, added to his win in the opening race of the season at Qatar, has pushed James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) to within one point of a share of second place in the approach to his home round at Brands Hatch. The 2004 World Champion has yet to win an SBK race on this particular home circuit, but has never been better placed to fend off all the opposition in this resurgent season for World Superbike racing.

Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) has used Honda power to win at Brands Hatch twice in the past - in 2000 and 2004 - during his previous career as a World Supersport rider. Yet to break into the podium elite in Superbike, he approaches the Brands Hatch round with renewed confidence at a circuit he clearly enjoys racing at.

Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) has spent all of his inaugural World Superbike season on a steep learning curve, after a successful career in Grand Prix racing. The immensely tricky and undulating Brands Hatch layout is notoriously difficult to learn, but for a rider with Barros’ proven track record, it may well offer high-scoring opportunities on even his first visit.

Michel Fabrizio (DFX Honda CBR1000RR) found the spark of brilliance which was to light a path to two podium finishes at Brno recently, making a breakthrough in his rookie season that has now promoted him to ninth in the championship. His previous best had been fifth at the opening Losail round in Qatar, making his Brno results of third and second all the more impressive. To cap the magnitude of his Brno successes, 24 days earlier he had crashed and broken his right collarbone at the British Grand Prix, while standing in for the injured Toni Elias.

Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Honda CBR1000RR) is one of the most popular Superbike riders to have ever competed at Brands Hatch. He is also the last Italian Superbike rider to have won at Brands, in 1996. In his latest SBK season, he sits 19th, having been forced to miss three rounds, due to a pelvic and shoulder injury.

Toseland, who has raised cheers from a British crowd already this year, after two podium-scoring rides through the field during round five at Silverstone, is ready for another home race.

“It’s been a good year so far,” said Toseland, “and the best thing is that we have been consistently quick in races. Brands Hatch has not been the kindest track for me in recent years, but I aim to reverse that this weekend. Ticket sales for the race have been strong so far so there should be a great atmosphere. The aim at Brands is to make up more ground to the championship leader Bayliss, and we did that at Brno. There are still a few rounds to go so I just want to go out and take as many points as possible, and be in there with a chance of the championship at the end.”

Barros, fifth overall so far, acknowledges that Brands will not be an easy venue for him, but likens it to another undulating circuit in an English-speaking country.

“Brands Hatch is a new race track for me and I have no concrete idea of what it is like yet,” said Barros. “But its style is similar to Laguna Seca, and that is a track I like very much. I feel confident that the bike will be well prepared and I’ll do my very best. Only after my first laps will I know how Brands Hatch really is.”

Muggeridge was disappointed with the recent race outing at Brno, but is confident in the potential of his machinery at Brands.

“Brands is a good place to race,” said former British Supersport championship rider Muggeridge, “It should be OK for us because we’ve done good work on the bike and the set-up since Brno. If it all works the way we have planned it, then it’s going to be good. My back injury is causing me no drama any more, so that helps as well.”

After his recent experiences at Brno, Fabrizio knows his full potential can once more be unleashed if things work out for him in qualifying.

“Now I am in ninth position in the standings and the next few circuits should be favourable for me,” said the Roman rider. “Everyone spoke about how fast I was at the end of the race at Brno but that’s because I can still ride the bike fast, even when the tyres start to slide. I know very well that the Brands Hatch races will be very difficult, so I hope to earn a good grid position to get away near the front.”

Chili went tenth in race one at Brno, but muscle fatigue, due to the lingering effects of injury, put him out of race two. He should be much improved at Brands, after a two-week gap in the calendar.

“I was happy for the result of race one in Brno, even if I was very tired at the end,” said Chili. “ I was confident for race two but I had a problem with strength in my right arm, so I decided to stop. After Michel’s fantastic rides at Brno I am very happy also for the DFX Treme team, because it shows how good the bike is now, and that is good news for the next few races.”

After the excesses of Brands Hatch, Assen provides the backdrop for another significant WSS and SBK race weekend, between 1 and 3 September.