With the spectacular Brands
Hatch circuit in Kent on the outskirts of London hosting this weekend's
eighth round of the World Superbike Championship, Frenchman Régis Laconi and
in particular Britain's reigning world champion James Toseland will be
searching for further victories in this year's series in front of another
massive sell-out crowd. Both riders were on the podium in the last round at
Brno three weeks ago, but a second and a third place in race 1 were not
sufficient to make much of an impact on the series leader, Troy Corser
(Suzuki).
Ducati Corse Superbike Technical Director Ernesto Marinelli explains
the varied nature of the Brands Hatch circuit: "Brands is a difficult track
because there are a lot of ups and downs and, like Laguna Seca, it requires
a good set-up for the different parts of the circuit, stiff in certain parts
and softer wherever required. For sure the first curve, Paddock Hill Bend,
is tough on the bike because you go down hard and then back up. At that
point the bike undergoes incredible compression, and that's the thing that
creates the biggest problem, as well as the fact that there can sometimes be
contact with other riders at that point."
Both Toseland and Laconi flew in directly to Brands after a two-day
private testing session at Mugello, Italy on Tuesday and Wednesday, in which
they mainly did development work for Pirelli. Both riders recorded excellent
times of 1m54.4s on race tyres at the Tuscany circuit.
24-year-old Toseland is determined to make amends for his poor showing
here last year: "It was important to do the tests at Mugello because time on
the bike for me is paramount, even though as far as the championship is
going, it looks like it's in Troy's hands. But all I want to do from now
until the end of the season is win races, especially at Brands this weekend.
We had problems here last year, it was my worst round, but not everything
was my fault. I've got to get it together in qualifying this weekend but
with the bike now feeling comfortable, I'm ready to go. The first half of
the track is very technical, where you need the bike to steer well round
Druids to Graham Hill and the second half is basically just fast and a
bravery thing. Clearways is probably the most technical corner - off-camber,
uphill, tightens up towards the end and you've got to get the drive down the
straight. For all the fans out there, they have come to see me winning and I'm going to do my best to win this weekend!".
"For me the testing was just a little bit too close to the race but
for sure it is a good help because it gets you to arrive at Brands in a good
condition" declared Laconi. "I always enjoy racing at Brands Hatch because
it is a track where the rider can make a big difference. The most important
thing is to have a good feeling with the track because you don't see many of
the corners and you have to know where to go before you go through them. The
more difficult place is Dingle Dell where they changed the corner, because
you really have to have a good feeling through there. Last year I was fast
but this year I am faster at all the corners and riding much better. The
rest of the season is going to be tough and we will have to fight race by
race, but the title battle is never over until it's over. I think I will do
nothing special in August, just training, a little bit on the beach and
relax before the rest of the races."
BRANDS HATCH STATISTICS:
Brands Hatch has been a permanent fixture in
the WSBK calendar since 1993, and 24 races have been held there. One rider
has won both races of the day on numerous occasions, starting with Giancarlo
Falappa in 1993 and continuing with Carl Fogarty (1994), Colin Edwards
(1999), Ben Bostrom (2001), Edwards (2002), Shane Byrne (2003) and Noriyuki
Haga (2004). Edwards has won the most races, 6 compared to Fogarty's 3, and
the Texan also has the most podium finishes (9) and fastest laps (4). Neil
Hodgson leads the pole position table, the Brit setting 4 straight poles
between 2000 and 2002. Only Ducati and Honda have ever won races at Brands
Hatch, the Italian manufacturer taking 18 wins to Honda's 6. The lap record
is held by Shane Byrne (Ducati) with a time of 1m26.755s (2003), and his
qualifying mark to beat in qualifying stands at 1m26.248s, while Steve
Martin's (Ducati) Superpole mark stands at 1m27.213s.
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after 7 of 12 rounds):
- 1. Corser (Suzuki) - 299
- 2. Vermeulen (Honda) - 205
- 3. Laconi (Ducati) - 187
- 4. Kagayama (Suzuki) - 158
- 5. Toseland (Ducati) - 152
- 6. Haga (Yamaha) - 122
