SWAN YAMAHA SET FOR SEASON SHOWDOWN AT BRANDS HATCH TITLE DECIDER The Swan Yamaha team are gearing up for the title-deciding final round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend as the team challenge for their maiden title with Tommy Hill and Michael Laverty both in contention. Hill arrives at his home round with an eight point deficit to championship leader John Hopkins and will be going all out for the final three race wins of the season. Laverty on the second of the Swan Yamahas is mathematically still in with a shot of the title despite being 44 points adrift ahead of the title leader and is determined to end his season on a high. The Swan Yamaha team will be looking to build on their run of podium finishes; Hill has secured top three positions in the previous nine races and Laverty has also consistently scored podiums over the past three rounds. Hill said: “Brands Hatch is it; the three most important races of the season and everyone is focused on the weekend. We all love the Grand Prix circuit and everyone in the Swan Yamaha team will be doing everything we can to come away as champions. We have moved forward since the round there in August when we won and this is the weekend where we need to step everything up again; this is the last chance and we really want this title. We can’t underestimate any of our rivals as everyone is going to be pushing hard. Last year was a different scenario and I will be coming out fighting as hard as I can to win again this weekend and hopefully that will be enough to be the 2011 champions.” Laverty said: “The last round at Silverstone was a bit frustrating as we deserved more, but the pressure is off me now because of my position and I can come into Brands Hatch feeling confident of a strong end to the season for the Swan Yamaha team. We have an outside chance of the title now, but at the same time you never know what can still happen; we have seen that before! We are ready for the battle this weekend and we won’t be giving up just yet. We always want the two Swan Yamahas at the front in every race and this weekend that will be what we are aiming for again. They are going to be three tough races, but we will be doing everything to win.” For more information visit www.swanyamaha.co.uk More, from a press release issued by British Superbike Championship organizers: MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP – FINAL ROUND – 7/8/9 OCTOBER HOPKINS HEADS HILL AS BRANDS HATCH PREPARES FOR BSB SHOWDOWN DECIDER The MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship reaches the title-deciding final round of the Showdown at Brands Hatch this weekend (7-9 October) as three races on the Grand Prix circuit will decide which of the five Title Fighter protagonists will seal the coveted crown. As the season reaches its much anticipated climax John Hopkins leads the championship standings by just eight points as he bids to become the first American to win the BSB championship. However British hope Tommy Hill is determined to snatch the advantage at his home round. Hopkins said: “I can’t wait until the weekend; it can’t come soon enough. I am going into this round like I have no points lead at all; in fact I am going into it as if I am eight points behind Tommy as it can easily turn around. Myself and Tommy are obviously close, but there are three races and things can change. In the past I have handled pressure quite well and from watching the previous season I think I will be able to handle it better than Tommy did last year. When the pressure has been on previously in my career I have been able to perform. I know I need to win and to beat Tommy, but all of us will all be going for it. To win a BSB title would mean everything to me.” Hill has enjoyed an impressive run of podium finishes for the Swan Yamaha team and he has put the heartbreak of missing out last season to the back of his mind. Whilst his focus is on beating Hopkins, he also won’t be discounting the other Title Fighters in the three races this weekend. Hill said: “Brands Hatch is it in terms of the title. Everyone is focused on the weekend and the three races. We all love the Grand Prix circuit and the Swan Yamaha team will be doing everything we can to come away as champions. We need to step everything up again as this is the last chance and we really want this title. We can’t underestimate any of our rivals as everyone is going to be pushing hard. Last year was a different scenario and I will be coming out fighting as hard as I can to win again this weekend and hopefully that will be enough to be champions at the end of the three races.” Whilst Hopkins and Hill head the standings, with a maximum of 75 points available from the three races Australian Josh Brookes, former double champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and Hill’s Swan Yamaha team-mate Michael Laverty also remain in contention. Byrne, who is one of the favourites to score wins in front of his home crowd at the Kent circuit, said: “Brands Hatch is like my back garden so performing strongly there is always important to me as I get so much support. We come into the final three races on the back foot after the first two rounds of the Showdown but that’s how it is. Nothing short of three race wins will be enough and myself and the HM Plant Honda team will be doing everything we can to achieve that. If we do win the races and something incredible happens then we could be champions again this weekend.” In addition to the three BSB races, the first on Saturday and the usual two on Sunday, there will also be a triple-header title decider in the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport Championship which has seen an immense battle between title rivals Alastair Seeley and Ben Wilson all season. MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings ahead of season finale: 1. John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 609 2. Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 601 3. Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 568 4. Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 565 5. Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) 565 6. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 521 Advance adult tickets for the title-deciding raceday cost from £25 online in advance with children aged 12 and under free. For more information and to book visit www.brandshatch.co.uk or call 0843 453 9000. For more information please visit www.britishsuperbike.com More, from a press release issued by Honda: MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 12 SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER BRANDS HATCH TITLE-OUTSIDER BYRNE READY TO FIGHT FOR GLORY IN FINALE Shane Byrne needs winning rides in the triple race finale to the 2011 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch to maintain his outside hopes of taking the crown for a third time. But his HM Plant Honda team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari is resigned to handing over the crown he has held on three occasions after a disappointingly inconsistent campaign. Byrne, buoyed by the birth of his second child, a daughter Lily-Jade, last week, is aiming for a celebratory performance at the Kent Grand Prix circuit on which he took a victory and a third place in the mid-term August round. He starts with a 44 points deficit on the series leading former MotoGP rider John Hopkins, who rides Suzuki, and Byrne is also 36 points down on Yamaha’s Tommy Hill and that means he has to ride for wins. The top two riders are the favourites for the title, Hopkins leading 609-601 over Hill, but should they falter there are three others Byrne, together with Aussie Josh Brookes, riding Suzuki, and Michael Laverty, aboard a Yamaha in with a chance of taking the top spot in the final rankings. There are 75 points at stake in this final Showdown although Byrne knows that the eventual outcome of the crown is out of his control. He has to go for a maximum score while at the same time his key rivals have to have a problematic time. Nothing is predictable in racing as the inconsistencies across the current season by the six riders who qualified as “title-fighters” after the ninth round at Cadwell Park has shown. Byrne who worked hard with his team in the penultimate round at Silverstone to solve problems that dogged his practice and qualifying there, being rewarded with a pair of fifth places, further refined his bike during a test session at Cadwell Park earlier in the week. He has all to ride for now at Brands Hatch while Kiyonari has nothing but pride at stake. His hopes of retaining the title ran off course with dismal performances at both Donington Park and then more recently at Silverstone, leaving him 88 points down on the series leading Hopkins. Honda have already powered the champion of the “back to basics” BSB-EVO class with Aussie Glen Richards clinching that title in the penultimate round at Silverstone and now the WFR Team rider is looking ahead to next season and intimating he might race the team’s machine built to the new technical regulations to be introduced to the series in 2012. Richards’ team-mate Graeme Gowland meanwhile is intent on extending his remarkable run of form that has seen him win all but one of the last ten races in the BSB-EVO class with a speed and style that has seen him embarrass riders on more sophisticated machines, highlighted by an overall top six finish at Silverstone. Honda rider quotes ahead of Brands Hatch finale: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda): “We tested at Cadwell Park to try and get ourselves ahead of the game. We suffered in the previous round at Silverstone, we made some changes there, but didn’t have enough time to do everything. That has not done my title aspirations too much good, but optimism says there are points available and I will fight my absolute hardest for them and then let destiny take its course. I led all of the way to the Cadwell Park round then had bad luck at Donington Park and my worst weekend ever at Silverstone. I’ve had incredibly bad luck in both showdown rounds and who is to say the others will not. I will be trying to be on top of the podium and see where that takes me.” Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda): “I think that Brands will be a good track for me and the bike as it has been before. I do not want to finish the season with results like I have been having. That won’t be something that I can achieve easily, but having three races at this round will help. This is one of my favourite circuits and we need to be up there at the front. It will be frustrating for me not to have a better weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Samsung Crescent Suzuki: HOPKINS READY FOR THE FINAL SHOWDOWN Samsung Crescent Racing’s John Hopkins leads the 2011 British Superbike Championship as it heads to the final round this weekend at the Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent. Hopkins has an eight-point lead over nearest rival Tommy Hill but with three races on the programme equivalent to 75 points to the winner of all three there’s still everything to race for. Team-mate Jon Kirkham in turn leads the Riders’ Cup, for the best rider outside of the Title Fighter’s Showdown, and with top-five and podium finishes in recent rounds he looks set to make the Cup his, while also lending valuable support to Hopkins in the battle at the front. John Hopkins: “I’m really keen to get started into the weekend. The points gap that I have is a great advantage but not really a comfort, the strategy still has to be ‘race to win’, anything less and we won’t have the championship. But I’m confident we can do just that. Th e Samsung Crescent race bike has a great set-up, I love riding it, and with the data we took from our previous visit to the GP circuit together with the track knowledge I gained it puts us in a strong position coming in. “My injured finger gets stronger each day and I don’t expect it to be a problem. Again I’ll have to manage it and with three races there’ll be a lot of work to do but I think we proved at Donington Park and Silverstone that it’s not affecting my racing. There’s mental pressure as well, but it’s nothing new to me, nothing I can’t deal with. The job stays the same: go for the holeshot, take the lead and stay out of trouble. Get the win. It’s racing. I love it!” Jon Kirkham: “I’m really looking forward to the weekend. I love the circuit and so after having a bad time here earlier in the year I’ll be going all-out to put in the best performance, finish the year on a high. I’ve got the bike the way I like it now so I’m aiming to be there in the leading pack again. I want to get the points to make the Riders’ Cup mine, but if along the way my being in there helps John’s championship then so much the better.” Jack Valentine, team manager: “Showdown time! Here we are again, just as last year, let’s hope we can finish the job this time. As a team we’re preparing the way we always do everything 100% and everything sorted so we give our riders everything they need to do the job. “With just eight points the lead we’re nowhere near applying tactics, we’re in the same boat as everyone, we have to win races to win the championship. Maybe if we get a win in the first race on Saturday we might be able to play tactical on Sunday, but we know it’s when you start being too clever, or start relaxing that’s when the problems come. For the riders, they prefer to race to win, it’s pro bably the safest strategy. “Hopper’s a great racer in any case, he’s shown all season long that he can respond to challenges, I don’t see anything changing this weekend. Business as usual for him. JK’s had a brilliant end to the year. Mid-season it got away from him for a bit, but since Cadwell Park he’s been brilliant, he’s on the pace all-race and his race craft improves with every battle. His presence in the top-five could yet make every difference to the championship outcome. Everything is readied: the riders, the bikes, the team. Let’s race!” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: The final round of the British Superbike series takes place this weekend at Brands Hatch in Kent with both Relentless Suzuki by TAS riders Josh Brookes and Alastair Seeley still in the hunt for Superbike and Supersport Championship honours. Both classes have the added attraction of three races: one for each class on Saturday and two races for each on Sunday October. Brookes – fresh from his Silverstone race two victory – still has a mathematical chance of taking the British Superbike crown and will be gunning for no less than three wins this weekend on his GSX-R1000 Superbike. In the Supersport class, Seeley – aboard the new-model GSX-R600 – has turned a 50-point deficit into and 14-point lead after four straight wins without reply at Donington Park and Silverstone. The Carrickfergus rider now has nine wins in the Supersport class this season from 17 podium finishes. Josh Brookes: “It’s just a case of going there and doing the same thing I do every weekend. Preparation is the same even though it’s the last round, but we all know how important it is as it will affect the final standings in the Championship. The boys have fine-tuned the bike a little to find some more horsepower and we can try that on Friday. We have good settings from the last time at Brands and coming from Silverstone I’m carrying some decent confidence as well. The weekend really kicks off on Saturday, which is going to be a big intense day and physically trying. Then on Sunday it’s the normal two races and we’ll be looking for more wins.” Alastair Seeley: “Well we’re going to Brands to win the Championship – that’s the only goal this weekend. We’ve been to Brands GP already this season so hopefully that gives me a psychological advantage after our double in August. I’ve been working it all out and I can’t afford any slip-ups, so I won’t be taking my eye off the ball. At this time of year there’s a possibility of rain so we’re prepared for that as well and the bike has been built from scratch with a new motor. I’m looking forward to it; it’s going to be very exciting and will probably go down to the final race; just like the BSB series. That’s what the fans want. I’ll pretty much be going out to do what I’ve been doing all year and that’s chasing race wins. I’ve won Championships before so I know how to deal with the pressure, although I’m sure there will be a few butterflies on the grid, both on Saturday and Sunday.” Philip Neill – Team Manager: “It’s certainly going to be an exciting weekend for everyone. We’ve had our ups and downs at Brands but it’s also been good to us. We are feeling fairly optimistic in both the Superbike and Supersport classes. Josh finished on a high at Silverstone and hopefully that confidence will carry through to Brands. The team has continued to work on the overall package of the GSX-R1000 for him so a repeat of Silverstone race two would be welcomed. “As we all know, Alastair has been playing catch-up all year in Supersport, but now things are pretty even after both him and Ben are equal on mechanical DNFs and crashes. Thankfully Alastair has a slight advantage in points coming into the final three races, but we will be putting nothing to chance. The bike has been re-built from top-to-bottom and we’re really looking forward to those three races. The whole team are well up for it.”