My team-mate Leon Haslam and I get on well too – we got on well last year when we weren’t team-mates, and we’ve continued to get on well as team-mates. We can work together and bounce things off each other. We’re two young riders and both very competitive, but it’s good that we’re friends too and that we can talk about racing on and off the track.
As to my main rivals, Leon and ‘Skakey’ Byrne will definitely be strong. I think there are three or four people who can win the championship, and six or seven that could potentially win races throughout the year. You’ve got some good teams out there and some very good riders; I think the strength-in-depth of the field is still very, very good. Yes, we’ve had a couple of riders leave the championship, but then again we’ve also had a couple of others come in. I think the opposition is still as strong as it was before.
Brands Hatch is a great spectator circuit. With the Indy circuit you can see the whole front part of the track, and obviously you see the last corner when we come back into view from the full circuit.
For a rider, too, it’s a great circuit because it’s technical; you have to compromise a little bit with
Brands Hatch. You can have it good for the tight and twisty stuff at the start, or you can have it good for the long, fast sweepers at the back. It will all be about compromise this weekend, and I’m looking to come away with two good results.
There is a little bit of pressure with HM Plant having won the championship for the past two years, but really the only pressure we’re feeling is what we’re putting on ourselves. I think once this weekend is out of the way, the pressure will be off us a bit more and we’ll just be able to get on with the rest of the season. The pressure is always on at the first round, but hopefully we’ll come home one-two.
![Cal Crutchlow and Leon Haslam [Pic credit: HM Plant Honda]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/418632.jpg)
