Prior to its Sunday cancellation, the
Brands Hatch event - which has been rescheduled for May 10-11 - had been dominated by Shane Byrne. The former champion and new Airwaves Ducati rider led every session at his local track and is confident of continuing his impressive form this weekend.
"We had a pretty good outing at Brands Hatch and I am aiming to take that into this weekend at
Thruxton. I just hope the weather doesn't ruin it for us again!" smiled Shakey. "Achieving pole position at Brands Hatch has given me even more confidence about the Ducati 1098R and what it is capable of. I like Thruxton and the Ducatis have done well there in the past few years so I am confident for a good result this weekend."
New HM Plant Honda rider Cal Crutchlow was closest to Byrne during qualifying at Brands.
"I've always enjoyed racing at Thruxton and had some great fights there," said Cal. "It really is a battling circuit, where the slipstream can count for a lot. From Church to the last chicane the rider leading the group is doing most of the work, so sometimes it's best just to sit back and watch what's happening and use the draft to pass into the final chicane. On the last lap, if you're five lengths back you can still win. The track itself is very abrasive on tyres, but our CBR1000RR Fireblade has got a good set-up and if our tyres last for the full distance we will be up there fighting for the win. I'm just happy to finally be going racing!"
Crutchlow's team-mate Leon Haslam has switched from Airwaves to HM Plant for 2008 with the clear aim of winning the crown.
"The positives we take from what little track time we got at Brands Hatch is that we were there or thereabouts in qualifying and we had made some improvements in set-up to the 2008 Fireblade, which have been a real step forward," said Leon, fourth in qualifying at Brands. "At Thruxton the season really begins and for me I know I need to work hard, get a good grid position for Sunday's races and translate that into some good points. I'll be looking for podiums or better this weekend to really start my championship challenge off in the right way."
