Honda trio at the sharp end for tomorrow’s Battle
of Brands Hatch
 HM
Plant Honda riders Cal Crutchlow and Leon Haslam line up on
the front row for tomorrow’s two Bennetts British Superbike
races.
Both riders will be aiming to make the best possible starts
to their championship campaigns, despite bad weather being
forecast tomorrow for the Kent track. Both 20-lap races will
be broadcast live on Eurosport.
Meanwhile Honda (UK) Racing’s Steve Brogan is on pole
position for tomorrow’s 16-lap Metzeler National Superstock
race with his all-new CBR1000RR Fireblade. Brogan is having
a busy year racing Superstock alongside his ride on the HM
Plant-liveried CBR600RR in the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport
Championship. The 27-year old put the Supersport bike in sixth
position on the grid for Sunday’s 18-lap race.
Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
4th position – 1m 26.552s
“We’re on the front row and I did what I needed
to do really, so I’m happy enough with that. We’ve
been methodically going through a few things on the bike to
improve our race pace, which is very good. I didn’t
get the benefit of the new tyres at the end of the session,
which is a shame, but we’ve gone quicker than we have
all weekend and the results will be more about race set up
than getting pole. Obviously it seems the weather is looking
to be wet, so we’ve got a good wet-weather set-up from
our test at Knockhill. We may make a few minor changes if
the warm-up tomorrow is dry, if not we’re confident
that the CBR1000RR Fireblade package is strong in the wet.”
Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
2nd position – 1m 26.155s
“It was great to finally get the season underway. I
really enjoyed today. I think for me to be chasing Shane Byrne
around here is quite good – he’s won World Superbike
races here after all! We struggled a little with side grip
today, but then we changed a rear shock linkage and immediately
went from high 27s to high 26s. Looking at the times we’re
not that far off at all, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
There are a lot of rumours about what the weather is going
to do, but to be honest I’m not worrying about that.
We went well in wet weather testing, so if it’s raining:
fine, if it’s dry we will still be up there. I’ve
said before that a perfect start would be two podiums and
hopefully that will come to fruition tomorrow.”
Steve Brogan – Honda (UK) Racing
British Supersport – Honda CBR600RR
6th position – 1m 29.885s
British Superstock – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
Pole position – 1m 29.391s
“The Superstock bike is spot on, I couldn’t ask
any more of it really. When you consider the conditions and
the temperatures we were running in, they were far from ideal,
but we were on lap record pace. A 1m 29.3s lap is the record
around here in the class and I was around that – so
that’s very impressive. The CBR1000RR is just doing
a mega job, it feels great and the general set-up is right
on the button. In the Supersport class to be fair I wanted
front row, but to be sixth is better than being fourth at
Brands as effectively then you’re in a ditch in the
side of the track! So from sixth, if I can get off the line
well I should be able to run with the boys and challenge for
a win.”
Havier Beltran – HM Plant Honda team manager
“It’s been difficult conditions for everyone here
today, but luckily we were fortunate with the weather in the
Superbike qualifying as it just rained right at the end of
the session with both HM Plant Honda boys on the front row.
We came here knowing that this would be a very strong circuit
for Shakey Byrne – it’s his local circuit after
all – but we’re up at the front and in a position
to take as many points away from here as possible. We’re
not really sure what the weather will be doing tomorrow; some
reports say rain, others snow, so we shall just wait and see
what happens. We are all very happy and excited for Steve
in the Superstock class with his pole position. He’s
done a brilliant job all weekend and since first throwing
a leg over the new Fireblade he’s simply said; ‘don’t
touch it,’ as he’s been so happy with the bike
and he’s got a smile a mile-wide. I think that’s
also giving him more confidence on the HM Plant CBR600RR,
so we’re expecting a good showing from him in both his
races.”
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