Advantage Hill but Brookes closing in as BSB heads to Brands Hatch
Tommy Hill takes a slender two points advantage over Josh Brookes into the triple race eighth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch with the former two times winner of the crown Ryuichi Kiyonari in close contention.
These races come at a crucial time of the campaign with all of the riders focussed on scoring strong points in their efforts to be in the top six in the overall standings after the following round at Cadwell Park and while the leading trio are seemingly well placed to progress to the shoot-out for the title, they cannot afford any slips.
The points scoring system, introduced this season, is achieving the intended effect of concentrating the action, and ensuring the title fight goes down to the last race, although that is piling the pressure onto the riders who have to ensure consistent form, something that is not lost on Hill.
“We know that we need to get back to winning ways as although the focus is on the top six, the podium credits are vital and extra points at this, my home round, could mean the difference between winning or losing the title,” said Worx Crescent Suzuki rider Hill who is back to form after a tough couple of rounds.
“We needed podiums last time out at Snetterton after two disappointing rounds before that and that is what we did with three podium finishes. It is a good feeling to go into these Brands Hatch races leading the standings, but Josh and Kiyo showed that Honda will be up there too, and you can’t rule anybody out,” added Hill.
He had last weekend off, but the HM Plant Honda duo of Brookes and Kiyonari were in World Superbike action at Silverstone gaining more experience and information that could be vital to them when they race in the penultimate round of BSB there in September.
Both are now fully focussed on strong performances to move ahead of Hill and keep their title hopes firmly on track as Brookes, who raced on the Grand Prix circuit in World Supersport action in 2008, explained: “I want to be winning and I missed out on taking all three victories in the previous round at Snetterton, so hopefully we can put that right this time – I have always had good feelings of this circuit and I think that puts you in a good position ahead of the races.”
Brookes will be pressed all of the way by Kiyonari who knows what is expected of him: “It is important for the championship that we have three good races as we need to get on the podium as many times as possible before the Showdown. I know what we need to do so I will be working hard with the team to get the results for the championship.”
The leading trio will be hard pressed throughout, with their rivals eager to secure points, and placings in the top six, with the Michael Laverty and his Relentless Suzuki team-mate Alastair Seeley riding strongly, as are Michael Rutter aboard the RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati and John Laverty on the Buildbase Kawasaki.
Piling on the pressure will be strong front running challenges from the Swan Honda duo of Stuart Easton and James Ellison who are both keen to put their title bids back on course after problematic times. “I am going out there to win races. Mathematically, it is still possible for me to get into the top six, but I am not going out at Brands Hatch thinking about points and positions, my attitude is simply that I am going out there to win, doing my best as ever,” said Ellison.
Adding further spice to the action is the return to BSB action for the weekend by popular Yorkshireman Tom Sykes aboard the factory World Superbike Kawasaki while in the chase for the Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO title BMW riding Steve Brogan aims to extend five points advantage over Hudson Kennaugh.
The meeting promises a major festival of motorcycle racing action with rounds of the major championships: Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport; SpeedyRetail.com British 125GP; Metzeler National Superstock 600 and 1000 plus Henderson Harley Davidson XR1200; Triumph Triple Challenge and Bonhams Historic GP series.
And, MotoGP star Alvaro Bautista will be joined by twice British Superbike Champion John Reynolds to give demonstration laps aboard Suzuki MotoGP bikes while Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli will be fast lapping aboard their World Superbike machines as Suzuki celebrate 50 years of racing and the 25th anniversary of the GSX-R.
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— HM Plant Honda reflect on Silverstone wildcard
The HM Plant Honda team had a valuable weekend at the World Superbike Championship round at Silverstone, working hard on various settings ahead of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship event later in the season, with Josh Brookes scoring championship points in a hard-fought twelfth place in the second race at the Northamptonshire circuit.
The team used the event to adjust various settings ahead of the penultimate round of BSB later in the season, when the championship reaches the final stages, as both riders continued to improve their pace throughout the weekend.
Josh finished the opening race in sixteenth place, but having made some setting changes ahead of the second race he was able to steadily move up the order, passing Noriyuki Haga in the closing stages to finish twelfth. Kiyo also improved his pace and after finishing 21st in race one he moved to 16th in the final race of the day.
Brookes said: “The weekend didn’t get off to the best start for me, as we had an engine problem on Friday in the first practice session and that cost me time on track. In the second session we continued working on the set-up and our times continued to improve but we were playing catch-up as what worked at Snetterton for the BSB round wasn’t working here. We worked really hard with different shock and fork settings as this track is so different from any other we have raced on this season so we had to really get our heads down and make changes to see how they would affect us. We did continually improve though each time we were out on circuit and then the second race with twelfth was better than the first, so we were making steps forward. It gives us a better idea of what to expect later in the season when we are back for BSB and we have to look towards the podium again at Brands Hatch next weekend.”
Kiyonari said: “This weekend has been useful for us as we are now in a better position ahead of the BSB round at the circuit later in the year. We have worked very hard here, every day, trying different settings and it has taken time but I think in the end we will benefit – not just here but also at the next BSB rounds at Brands Hatch and Cadwell Park. I need to thank the HM Plant Honda team as they worked to change the settings and make me faster and improve. I am disappointed that we couldn’t be nearer the front, but it has been a good test and now I am looking forward to Brands Hatch next weekend.”
Team Manager Havier Beltran concluded: “This weekend has been a very positive test for the whole HM Plant Honda team. We came here with the intention of gaining as much knowledge as possible in order to be in a stronger position when we return for the penultimate round of the BSB championship. We have had a few chassis issues, however the track time has been invaluable and we have made steady progress with both riders throughout the weekend. We now have a good basis to start with when we return in September which will prove vital as the championship will be reaching a critical stage.”
— CAME Yamaha Preview
The CAME Yamaha team will be back on track this weekend at Brands Hatch for the eighth round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship, less than a week after taking on the world as wildcards at the recent World Supersport Championship round at Silverstone.
James Westmoreland and Billy McConnell currently lie joint second in the overall standings, but having both finished on the podium at the Kent circuit earlier this season on the Indy layout, both riders are setting their sights on victory this weekend as they look to close the gap to championship p leader Sam Lowes.
Westmoreland said: “Brands Hatch is one of my favourite tracks and I won the Supersport race there last season so it would be good for myself, the CAME Yamaha team and the championship if I can repeat that this weekend. We made some good progress at Silverstone at the World Championship round last weekend and we are going out to win as we need to score as many points as possible for the championship. There are only five races now left in the championship so we need to be consistently finishing on the podium and looking for nothing less than victories.”
McConnell said: “Brands Hatch is looking like it could be a good round for CAME Yamaha and having raced at Silverstone last weekend; we have learnt a lot that we can put into practice. We are going to work hard with K-Tech on the suspension settings as it will be technically different to last weekend so we are going to have a brainstorm and come up with some ideas to get us going in free practice. I know that we have the pace to fight for the wins, we just need to find it and then go out and give it everything on Sunday so we can try to close the gap in the championship standings.”
