Haga and Corser ready for more brands success
Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
are no strangers to the podium in the World Superbike Championship,
Corser having taken 122 career top three finishes and Haga
82. As their winning records show, each of Yamaha's lead 2008
season riders has a special affinity with Brands Hatch, having
scored seven race wins between them at the sinuous and flowing
English circuit.
Corser is sitting in overall third in the points' standings
after a Brno race weekend that placed him second and then
fourth. Corser's pre-Brands confidence is boosted by the fact
that he is currently only 12 points behind the second place
rider, Max Neukirchner.
Haga is only eight points behind Corser despite a tough weekend
at Brno last time out. With four race wins to his credit this
season already, and four previous WSB victories at Brands
Hatch, he is one of the favourites for more podium glory at
one of his favourite racing venues.
Brands Hatch, despite its small paddock and pitgarages, is
not just a popular location with Corser and Haga and the rest
of the World Superbike riders, it's a real festival of motorcycling
for the fans. More than just a race weekend, it's become an
annual 'must do' for racing fans from all over Britain and
beyond.
The 3.703km circuit is undulating and generally fast, with
what feels like many more than its six right and three left
hand corners, plus a main straight, which is anything but
straight. Almost every corner entry or apex is taken blind
and the approach and eventual drop down Paddock Hill is one
of the classic corners in all of motorcycle racing.
Haga is looking for two strong results at Brands to get his
overall championship campaign back on track again, "Brands
Hatch is one of my favourite circuits and last year, in the
second race, I was doing well, and I enjoyed fighting with
James Toseland. Second position was kind of OK. This year
I'm trying for a double win there. I like the atmosphere very
much at Brands Hatch; it's a great England track. I always
do well in England and I will be thinking positive again."
On top of Corser's enviable racing history at Brands, he
also has family links to the UK. "It's kind of like a
second home race for me with my wife Sam's family there. The
track's good, I like the layout, although the fences are a
bit close on some places at the back of the circuit. But all
in all, a good place. Atmosphere wise it's the only place
like it, the spectators are so close, you can see and hear
them a lot more easily than at most circuits. It's always
a good track to go to with the atmosphere and the crowd. I
always get plenty of support there so it's one of the best
ones."
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Team YZF) enters
Brands in overall 19th place while David Checa (Yamaha GMT94)
remains tied on seven championship points with his team-mate
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94). They share 23rd place overall.
Brands Hatch according to Massimo Meregalli (Yamaha
Motor Italia WSB Team Manager)
"The staff in the team did good job in Brno and we don't
expect there to be any exception to that when we get to Brands
Hatch. It is a strange circuit in some ways but we have gained
a lot of knowledge about it over many years so we are optimistic.
We know we can do a good job there. We made a step in the
development of the engine recently, and that should make a
bit of a difference this weekend. I expect we can have good
results from each of our riders and we know they have had
great success there in the past."
Parkes out to make it three in a row
Yamaha World Supersport Team rider Broc Parkes has been racking
up record laps and pole positions this season but in the approach
to the Brands Hatch round he will be going for three in a
row in the most valuable contest there is, securing race wins.
For the past two seasons Parkes has won the World Supersport
race at Brands Hatch and this year, having already notched
up a race win at Qatar, he has already proved that his new
YZF-R6 is up to the job once again.
In the most recent rounds Parkes has scored five Poles in
a row but each time an unexpected development on raceday itself
has seen Parkes not quite able to secure more race victories
to add to his Qatar triumph.
Joining Parkes for the Brands and Donington WSS rounds, substituting
for the injured Fabien Foret, is local rider Karl Harris.
No stranger to the WSS paddock, Harris normally rides a YZF-R1
Superbike in the BSB series but has been drafted into the
top Yamaha WSS team to make best use of his vast Brands Hatch
experience, and of course to help Parkes in his championship
challenge.
In the championship table, after eight rounds have been completed,
Andrew Pitt leads on 133 points with Josh Brookes on 101 and
Parkes, overall third, on 100.
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by
Leoni) is making up ground after taking three DNFs
so far, and is currently ninth, on 40 points. Yamaha Spain
World Supersport Team rider David Salom scored his first point
since round one at the previous Brno race and is now ready
for more at the challenging circuit of Brands Hatch.
Parkes, who knows that he has to make up ground in the championship
chase this weekend, knows Brands is a layout that suits both
Yamaha man and Yamaha machine. "I just want to do my
thing and get a good result at Brands because we will have
one month off immediately afterwards. We have five races remaining
in the championship and we are 33 points behind. I wasn't
happy with the result at Brno so I want to have a really good
race result in the UK this weekend. I have won for the last
two years in a row, so I'm out to make it three. Brands is
a special track because you can hear the fans sometimes, they
are really enthusiastic and so close to you. It's not a very
long track but it is one of the most flowing and the data
tells us that the corner speeds are generally high. Our bike
seems to work very well there, its character seems to suit
the racetrack."
Harris, who came close to scoring WSS podiums in this class
after winning the European Superstock Championship in 1999,
said "I'm just happy to have this chance this weekend,
especially at a British track that I know very well. I rode
an R6 recently and it felt great to ride; the handling was
fantastic. I will be doing my best to help the team and to
get the best results possible. I am ready for this and ready
to do well."
Wilco Zeelenberg, the Yamaha World Supersport Team
Manager is confident that all the team's preparations
have been made as well as they can be ahead of the latest
WSS round. "We didn't have to work on the bike so much
for the Brands weekend because our tests and preparations
before Brno meant that we are ready now. Broc has won the
past two races at Brands Hatch and we want to put him in the
position to do that on raceday this year as well. He is so
fast in one lap and his style works best when he has a lot
of grip from the tyres. Brands should be a good place for
him again. After Fabien got injured we have had to make some
preparations for Karl's arrival, check the details a bit and
adjust footpegs, handlebars, etc, but not so much. Karl knows
the way around Brands and has also been on an R6 lately. We
have to wait and see how he goes on the weekend. We went for
a UK rider because it's Brands and Donington next. I think
it is fair to say that Karl never really had the best bike
in World Supersport but in the UK, when he was racing in that
class, he had very good bikes, and stayed in the British series.
He normally runs an R1 in the British Championship but when
he rode an R6 recently, prepared by Rob Mac, he was fast straight
away. Karl is more than welcome in the team and we will help
him all we can, but of course he is not our first priority.
Broc should do his job well so I hope Karl can compete with
the other top competitors and put himself between Broc and
the rest of the WSS paddock. We will have to wait and see
what happens on raceday! After his big crash Fabien is doing
fine, making good recovery and is today returning to his home
from the hospital in Marseille. He is now up and about and
able to move which is great news."
A sixth place finish for Michele Pirro (Yamaha Team
Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) at Brno sees him fifth
overall going into Brands, still the leading Yamaha Superstock
1000 FIM Cup rider at present.
Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team)
had another no-score at Brno, while Sylvain Barrier (Yamaha
YZF Junior Team) remains in 25th place overall.
Loris Baz (YZF Yamaha Junior Team) continues
his personal duel with Honda rider Patrick Vostarek in the
European Superstock 600 class, now seven points ahead with
four rounds to go.
|
