Kiyonari and Brookes in buoyant mood Round Five MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship Mallory Park, Leicestershire 25/26/27 June Ryuichi Kiyonari heads for Mallory Park in a relaxed and confident mood for this weekend’s fifth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in which he is aiming to repeat his success of the previous round to put his bid for a third British title firmly back on track. That buoyant feeling is shared with his HM Plant Honda team-mate Josh Brookes who also tasted the race winner’s champagne in the recent Cadwell Park round, and the Australian rider’s enjoyment of that was underlined by his winning double, aboard the team’s Fireblade CBR1000RR in the MotoGP supporting National Superstock Championship round at Silverstone. Kiyonari made good use of the month long break in the series, since the previous round at Cadwell Park, to return home to Japan to see his wife and their new born son and he has returned refreshed and ready for racing, having also fitted in a test session at the short, but demanding, Leicestershire circuit that hosts this weekend’s action in which he needs to score strong points. He worked on gear ratios, the balance of the bike and made small changes to the settings during the test session and afterwards commented: “I am ready for these races and ready to win again this has been a good test for me.” Brookes also had a good work out and is ready to set the record straight by gunning for glory at a circuit where in the corresponding round of last year he was involved in multi-bike incident. Brookes is currently second in the rankings, trailing Suzuki rider Tommy Hill by 36 points, while Kiyonari is currently in eighth place in between them is the determined young Scottish rider Stuart Easton, riding for the Swan Honda team, who is playing catch-up after a problematic time in the previous round. Easton lost ground in the title stakes with a first race tumble and then struggled with a machine problem next time out, but he is determined to put that behind him and get on with the job at a circuit that he rates as his least favourite. Easton will be re-united with his team-mate James Ellison who has recovered from the broken leg sustained in a crash during practice for the Thruxton round back in April to be able to race again. The Cumbrian rider has worked hard on his fitness and is focussed now on making up lost ground, and with the championship deciding system introduced at the start of the season has the immediate goal of securing a place in the top six by the close of play in the ninth round. At that point, the top six riders only go into a “shoot-out” for the title over the remaining three rounds, with the rest riding for positions from seventh onwards. Competition for that is intensifying by the round with riders including the Laverty brothers Michael, riding Suzuki, and John aboard a Kawasaki, looking strong together with the experienced Michael Rutter racing Ducati. Honda riders thoughts on Round 5, Mallory Park: Ryuichi Kiyonari HM Plant Honda “In the past I have either had a very good result or a disappointing result there, but I have won there before so for that reason I like the circuit. It is very different to other tracks we have raced on so far but it is just as difficult. I feel that after the last round we have made some good steps forward and in the test at Mallory was good for me. I have one win now and it should be more, so I want to be back at the front as I need to get back into the top six in the standings. After spending time back home in Japan during the break I am ready to come out and win.” Josh Brookes HM Plant Honda “I enjoyed racing the Superstock bike at Silverstone and winning both races, and now I want more of the same this weekend on the Superbike. I won last time out on the Superbike at Cadwell Park and it is always good to leave a circuit with a good result under your belt and be able to reflect on a good weekend. “This is such a long championship that to be honest, I have never felt out of it at the times the points may not look favourable but things can change so quickly. At the level and speeds that we are pushing at, anything can happen, accidents like that of James Ellison, so you can never rule anything out. I prefer to stay optimistic and believe that the better part of my year is still to come. “I have no problems about these races at Mallory Park. I had good feelings there last year even though I was seventh or eighth on the grid, I was up to fourth and if I had not had that one lapse disaster was looking good. I am going there aiming for good points and believe that a couple of wins are on the cards.” Stuart Easton Swan Honda “I’m looking forward to racing after the long lay off I am keen to get back on the bike, but I’m not so keen on the track. We have to go there there but I’m sure that it is not everyone’s favourite. Given the power of our bikes, it is tight and twisting and not much fund to ride, but the job needs to be done and I need strong points from it. “My approach will be to do the job, be as aggressive as possible as the short track means everyone is so close together, so it will be really hard, but I need to claw back what I lost at Cadwell Park , trying to win these races to get my title back on its feet.” James Ellison Swan Honda “I will be racing I have tested there, and while I didn’t set the world on fire it was really good and my fitness is good. I am out there to score as many points as possible and will be approaching these races just the same as any others I am not out there to make up the numbers and will be looking for the best possible results. “I am walking around well, and during the MotoGP weekend cycled around the new Silverstone Grand Prix circuit which looks awesome, and one I cannot wait to race on, but, that is for the future, my immediate focus is to get into the top six in the standings and then give it a big go for the title.” More, from a press release issued by Mallory Park: Josh Brookes on crashing a 180mph Superbike at Mallory Park IN 2009 HM Plant Honda British Superbike racer Josh Brookes spectacularly crashed out at the Mallory Park hairpin taking six of the main contenders out of the race in an instant, leaving him with a two-race ban – and he says he will not change his riding style when the Championship returns to Mallory on the weekend of 25th-27th June. “As I entered the run-up to the hairpin Chris Walker pushed me wide,” explains Aussie-born UK resident Brookes on the 2009 crash. “I had to get into a straight direction to start braking and I braked around one-two seconds later than normal on a bumpy section of track that popped my back wheel into the air. At that point I had lost a lot of braking force and needed to let go of the brake to get the wheel down. “I knew I was in a bit of trouble – when the wheel popped up I was a passenger and continued to pull the bike up as quickly as possible. The only person I actually hit was Simon Andrews; the rest of the riders fell on oil that came out of the engine.” There is no doubt in Brookes’ mind that the crash started a long way before the corner when he was pushed wide and his back wheel popped up and he is not prepared to change his riding style when he returns to Mallory Park, holding a strong second in the 2010 Championship standings. “I will give that section of the track consideration for how bumpy it is but the way I was riding and the moves were standard racing. The crash was caused by circumstances, bumps, Chris Walker – there were a lot of things at once that had me off. “I will continue to ride in a similar fashion but know the conditions in that area of the track now. If I had many years experience in BSB I would have known more but it was my first year in Superbike and I had less experience of the track and people I was racing with.” The criticism of the fans at the time was ferocious but Brookes is confident the fans are warming to him now. He said: “I was the new guy and people didn’t know me. I was trying hard and crashed into the regulars and they were quick to criticise – I’d react like that, they were not acting unnaturally. “When people got a better understanding of what I was trying to achieve and that I am not gung-ho or trying to ride outside my abilities that helped. If it happened now, not last year, maybe they would be less critical. “The British crowd is coming round. I am trying to be myself and ride the way I do. If I try to ride differently then I may not ever have got to BSB. I want to win and constantly push and that is what has brought me to this point in the sport and is how I will carry on and go further. The British people know this and I’ve got a lot more support now; they know I am a fun guy who gives it his all.” Approaching the fifth round of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Mallory Park on 27th June, Brookes is approaching the round with his usual professionalism: “My preparation and hopes are always the same, to work on bike set-up and with the team; we have the bike, personnel and abilities to win and that should be the result. “Ideally I would love to win BSB, move to World Superbike and then MotoGP but in-between I have heaps of little goals like winning BSB races, becoming the Champion and then moving on from there.” A refreshingly honest character, Brookes is many pundits favourite for the 2010 BSB Championship and is clearly absolutely determined to give every effort possible to win and beat rivals such as Tommy Hill and Yukio Kagayama on the Worx Suzuki team and Stuart Easton and the returning James Ellison on the Swan Hondas. Mallory Park is a super-fast circuit that allows the Superbikes capable of 0-100mph in 3.7seconds to hit nearly 180mph on the short straights, ensuring that there is always plenty of action to watch. A full programme including Supersport, Triumphs and 125cc races support the two main Superbike races. Tickets cost £26 on the gate for race day with full weekend tickets for £42. Under 16s go free of charge with adult ticket holders. For more information visit www.mallorypark.co.uk or call 01455-842931. Mallory Park is situated in the heart of the Midlands in Leicestershire just off the A47 between Leicester and Hinckley and easily accessible from the M1, M69 or M6. For further directions, please visit www.mallorypark.co.uk.