Largest All British Team in WSB Take A Big Step Forward At Brands
Hatch WSB

European SuperStock 600 Championship

The preparation for our home round began with the mad dash from Brno
to get back in time for a track day on the Brands Hatch GP circuit in
preparation for the forthcoming WSB round. A steady day with good
progress from both riders testing brake pads, suspension and getting
used to a circuit they haven't visited since last year. After that it
was a week of frantic activity trying to organise new signs and
stickers for the sponsors, the van and the bikes, plus preparing an
advert to be shown over the race weekend on the large screens at the
circuit.

With only a 40 minute commute instead of 16.5 hours the weekend was
still going to be a busy one. We managed to get the race truck and
motor home to the circuit on Tuesday night in the hope we could get a
decent position in the paddock. We weren't allowed in until Wednesday
morning and even then there was a huge queue before we could get
everything organised. Another trip to the circuit in the evening to
set up the awning and I returned to the circuit ready for the weekend
first thing on Thursday. With bikes to unload, tyres to be collected
and fitted, signs to be erected, etc. it was a busy day and by the
time the rest of the team arrived it was almost time for
scrutineering. That done there was just time for a track walk with
the riders before having an early night.

Other than walking the circuit to identify reference points and lines
the only tasks left to the riders are to fix the tyre identification
stickers to the tyres on the bike (to ensure nobody uses more than
their allocated amount) and to collect their transponders. Obviously
it wasn't an auspicious start to the day when both riders were black
flagged in the first practice session for not having fitted their
transponders. Matt had also managed to get turned away at the gate at
Misano for forgetting the tyre stickers. At least they only ever make
the mistake once!

Matt made some good progress, quickly getting down to his best time
on the test day and finishing in 5th place with a best of 1'35.977 -
A good start that he felt very comfortable doing. Chris had also made
a good start and after just 6 laps managed a best of 1'37.981 which
was the same pace as on the test day. Unfortunately Chris then went
missing so was left down in 23rd place. When walking the circuit the
previous night both riders thought it funny to test the air fences
(designed to protect the riders from the hard barriers should they
come off).

It turned out that Chris had crashed through Hawthorn Bend, the bike
missing the gravel, bouncing off the top of the air fence (a good
forty or so feet away) before hitting a tree some eight foot in the
air and then bouncing to end up a further eight feet down another
slope in the nettles. The recovery crews did a magnificent job
getting the bike back to us and the team breathed a sigh of relief to
find the 'only' damage was a trashed pair of wheels, discs and
snapped front and rear sub frames. It was still a fair amount of work
but after replacing the wheels and fitting our spare bodywork and sub
frames the bike was ready to go again.

The first timed qualifying session was much less traumatic with both
riders putting in comfortably faster laps than in practice. Without
the benefit of a tow they were never going to get near the front few
but it is easy to forget that this is still their first full season
riding 600cc machines which makes their achievements all the more
remarkable. In the middle of the session Matt got his head down and
was soon running in fourth place overall. Chris was also putting in
some fine laps ending the session in 17th place with a best of
1'36.205! Matt dropped down a couple of places in the closing stages
and finished 6th after a best lap of 1'34.909, barely 0.9 seconds
from the pole position man.

With Friday complete we walked the circuit again to identify areas to
work on and to look for a few missing parts from the damaged bike. By
some luck we found a missing air intake tube in amongst the tyres
behind the air fencing and inspected the damage to the tree and the
large area of flattened foliage behind it. We all realised that we
had been very lucky to still have a bike to ride for the weekend and
decided that our luck had changed for the better after the last
couple of rounds.

The second qualifying session on Saturday proved more difficult with
both Matt and Chris having problems getting a clear lap as they were
now targets for other riders who tried to get an idea of the lines
they should be using. Matt lost almost half a session trying to keep
out of the way of riders intent on slowing him down. Matt was able to
comfortably run close to his previous best but it was only towards
the end of the session when he was called in to the pits and told to
focus more that he improved his times. Unfortunately there wasn't
much time left and despite being on target for fifth place on his
last flying lap a slide out of Stirling's Bend halted his progress
and he slipped to 9th place in the dying seconds. A best of 1'34.901
was an improvement but we all knew he was capable of so much more.
Chris also had a frustrating session although did improve his time to
a 1'36.111 he qualified in 23rd place.

Both riders knew they could ride faster and were comfortably ahead of
all three British wild card riders who all had much more experience
on 600cc bikes. Just goes to show how steep the learning curve has
been for the team in moving to the European series rather than
staying in the UK. The choice was obviously the right one though as
all the wild cards, and several of their friends from the British
SuperBike series, are looking at joining us in racing in Europe next
year. Our plans include the current riders moving up to the European
SuperStock 1000 class in 2007 whilst also running a SuperStock 600
team to bring on more British talent.

The actual race was the last item on the programme for Sunday and was
straight after the second SuperBike race. Everyone was pleased to see
the number of people in the crowd who stayed on to watch the race so
despite the long wait everyone was really looking forward to the
start. Both riders got away well with Chris getting up to 16th by the
end of the first lap and gradually chasing down and catching the
riders ahead. A few spectacular out of the seat moments through
Surtees corner were caught on camera slowing his progress slightly
allowing the 12th place man to keep his position at the flag with
Chris finishing in 13th just 0.076 seconds behind. A new best lap of
1'34.881 was a remarkable improvement and shows just how fast the
guys can ride.

Matt made a slightly slower start but managed to get up to 7th at the
end of the first lap before dropping to eight and then ninth as
faster riders found their rhythm before he did. A massive moment
through Druids didn't help when Giugliano passed so close that he
actually pulled Matt's hand off the bar almost causing him to crash.
Matt recovered and set about catching the next few places but was
held up badly on one lap and could only watch the few in front pull
away. After a brave move on the brakes Matt soon pulled clear and set
about catching the group ahead. By the last lap he had caught the
rider in 6th place but opted for a safe 7th rather than risk an
incident just a few corners from home. Finishing just 0.163 seconds
behind 6th place was frustrating but to take 7th place with a
1'34.531 (the 6th fastest lap of the race and around 0.9 off the
fastest lap) was a great result for both Matt and the team.

After a hectic weekend to come back and have both riders in the
points again was fantastic for everyone involved. More importantly,
both riders are convinced that they can run at this pace for the rest
of the season and it was great to hear them say it as the team have
long believed that to be the case.

The next round is at Assen where we will be racing in between the two
SuperBikes races on Sunday in front of one of the largest British
audiences of the series.

Mike Edwards
Team Manager - MIST Suzuki
www.mistsuzuki.com

Would like to thank main sponsors www.givemethekeys.com and Steve
Jordan Motorcycles for their never ending support and the help given
to the team from B & C Express, Dyna Pro, Pipercross, RaceDays.net,
S&B Commercials and Silkolene. Would also like to thank Mike
Eglington for all his hard working in preparing the revised stickers
and signs at short notice.