Sykes leads Brands wild-card trio.

So where's the big teams? Airwaves & HM Plant in particular.Why don't Rizla put in Watanabe as well to give him more time on the bike?

Doh - Missed opportunity to put Shakey up against WSB opposition to see whether it would be worth giving him a ride in the WSB next year. Good for Tom - not sure that he will threaten anyone on his bike though.

Its tactical. Put Shakey into WSBK and its loose loose for him.

He does well and the shrieks the Ducati has too big an advantage in BSB become deafening.
He doesn't do well and he's branded 'big fish small BSB pond'.

Personally I reckon Shakey would do well enough to start the too big an advantage chorus off again and Airwaves ain't daft so........

Not so clear why HM Plant aren't going.

Prejudices aside, Halam & Crutchlow are both top-class riders and as their bikes would be specced-up more than the Ducati they wouldn't leave themselves open to a reverse problem of implying Shakey, rather than his bike, is the difference if they did well.
('Tho I suppose they might if they bombed - But that's not so likley).

Money & trees problem maybe?
With the building industry going in to freefall, HM Plant could be scratching in their pockets for loose change soon.

HMPlant aren't there because they are tied up with preparation etc... for the Suzuka 8 hour. That was stated last week in July's issue of Motorcycle Racer mag by Stuart Higgs. He was confident that Airwaves would more than likely be there though, which they now aren't. Personally, that's a massive disappointment for the fans as getting Shakey on the same track as Bayliss and co on top spec machinery would be a huge draw in terms of fans I'd say, not just to see if he could do a repeat of 2003 but also to see how he would stack up for next year in WSB. Maybe he'll be at Donnington. Can't see Sykes and co doing much as wildcards. I think it'll be a big eye opener for them all.

Maybe if Shaky didn't fancy it why not give Camier a bit of extra bike time, after all the BSB boys have already done the Brands full circuit this season & will have some good set-up info.

have ducati not allowed airwaves to race just in case they interfere with bayliss' title hopes.all you need is a wayward wildcard and your championship aspirations are shot. im glad theres not a lot of the top teams going so it doesnt interfere with the title race but good luck to andrews and laverty

I think what Hedgeholer said is pretty spot on. Airwaves would probably have liked to have been there with Camier and Byrne as a dry run for 2009 (if indeed they are moving to WSB next year). And I expect Byrne himself would have been keen to show what he can do against the likes of Bayliss etc.. to improve his options for 2009 (i.e. either taking Bayliss's seat at Xerox, or moving to WSB with GSE), especially as this kid Cannepa seems to be getting all the top breaks at the moment. Money wouldn't be an issue to a team like Airwaves, and I don't accept that Knockhill BSB being the following week is a good enough reason either. They're playing safe and ensuring they don't attract any more...

criticism for having an unfair advantage in BSB. Someone suggested (Paul Bird I think) that lack of spares might be an issue. I don't buy that either. There's no way that teams as well funded and organised as these miss rare opportunities like WSB wildcards just because a few parts are supposedly in short supply. They've got all bloody year to gear up for it for heavens sake. Someone at a high level has put the kay-bosh on Airwaves being there if you ask me. Everyone wanted to see them there, so all things being equal (and with the possibility of moving to WSB next year full time) why on earth would they not be ? Stinks if you ask me...