The British Superbike champion will be decided this weekend after three races at Brands Hatch. Josh Brookes started his bid for the title at the front of the pack with the fastest time during Friday's practice session.
Brookes, who is currently third in the standings, beat out Michael Laverty and Shane Byrne across the line.
"The boys had fine-tuned the bike a little to find some more horsepower," Brookes said. "I'm carrying some decent confidence. The weekend really kicks off on Saturday which is going to be a big intense day, then on Sunday it is the normal two races and we'll be looking for more wins."
But Brookes will need more than confidence to win the 2011 BSB title, he'll also need a little luck. Brookes currently tails Tommy Hill by 33 points and John Hopkins by 41 points. He'll need Hopkins and Hill to falter during at least one of the three races this weekend if he wants to be crowned the champion.
Hopkins finished .009 seconds behind of his main title contender, but the American is confident that he can pull out some race wins this 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," Hopkins said. "Anything less and we won't have the championship. There's mental pressure as well, but it's nothing new to me, nothing I can't deal with."
