This weekend the British Superbike series will head to the legendary Brands Hatch circuit for the 8th round of the 2011 BSB season. Shane Byrne, John Hopkins, and Tommy Hill will be fighting for title points this weekend as the BSB riders will have three chances to take home a race win.
Byrne, Hopkins, and Hill will have plenty of competition from the regular BSB grid, but a few formidable wildcards will also be participating this weekend at Brands Hatch. The Kawasaki World Superbike pairing of Broc Parkes and Joan Lascorz will also be taking to the British circuit this weekend.
Byrne has 32 points over Hopkins at the moment, but he's spot at the top is anything but secure.
"I am obviously looking forward to Brands Hatch as it is my home round and I do have such good memories from there," Byrne said. "I desperately want to win this weekend and I know we have the Kawasaki World Superbike team also racing, but that won't change my goal and the races are going to be ones to watch! We won on the Indy circuit at the opening round but you can't really compare the two, all I know is that I need to concentrate solely on winning again as we haven't in the past rounds. I know we have had the pace but it just hasn't worked out, but this weekend will be so important for the championship with three races and we will be pushing hard to make sure we stay ahead at Brands Hatch."
Byrne will have to watch out for John Hopkins, who has been keeping his schedule busy lately. Hopkins just finished up a race in the World Superbike series, and following the Brands Hatch round, he'll make a wildcard appearance in the MotoGP.
"I love the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit and I was fortunate enough to do some laps there last week as before that I had only ridden the MotoGP Suzuki around for some demonstration laps back in 2006," Hopkins said. "Brands Hatch is so important to the championship, with the round being three races and then the final round which will be the title decider also on the Grand Prix circuit later in the year. I can definitely see myself going quick there for the race and I am feeling confident that we can get the Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki back on the podium. I will be doing everything possible to win as always and we want to score as many top three finishes as possible for the championship. The standings are closer now after Oulton Park so I will be giving it my all this weekend that's for sure."
Tommy HIll currently sits in third in the series. Hill is coming off of a win at OUlton Park, and is eager to close the gap at the top before the BSB showdown.
"It's great to be heading back to Brands Hatch again and as it's my local circuit I always get great support there. I think we are all raring to go now after having the second race at Oulton Park postponed due to the weather so we want to get back out even more," Hill said. "It is getting close to the Showdown now but with three races we can't settle for points, we need the wins and podiums to remain in the top six and wrack up those podium credits as they are so important. We need to push hard and we need three good races; we won on the Indy circuit earlier in the year so I won't be aiming for anything less for Swan Yamaha."
