Tyco Suzuki enters the final round of the British Superbike and Supersport Championship season at Brands Hatch this weekend looking to end the year on a positive note with all its three riders.
John Hopkins is more-determined than ever to land that elusive first podium of the season and team-mate Josh Waters is looking to rediscover the form that brought him his first-ever British Superbike victory at the same venue in the summer on the GSX-R1000.
In the Supersport class, Taylor Mackenzie is still smiling after his debut middleweight podium during the penultimate round at Silverstone aboard the Tyco Suzuki GSX-R600; and the Scottish rider will be hoping for more of the same to round-out his year on-a-high.
John Hopkins:
“We’ve been right at the sharp-end in qualifying now for quite a few meetings and for one reason or another I haven’t quite been able to transfer that into a podium finish. It’s been a long time coming and I’ll be working as hard as ever this weekend and doing my utmost to stand on the Brands podium in front of what will undoubtedly be a huge spectator turn-out for the final round with Tyco Suzuki.”
Josh Waters:
“I’ve had a really enjoyable year with Tyco Suzuki and we have steadily improved meeting-by-meeting, and if anyone had told me at the start of the year that I’d win two races and be fighting for regular top-six spots I’d have been made up. But we continually have to re-evaluate in this game and I really want to be in that front-group in the races this weekend fighting for podiums and of course wins. We aren’t in the hunt for a championship but I’d like to put the Tyco Suzuki GSX-R1000 on the podium where it belongs this weekend and score as heavily as I can in the points. Seventh place in the championship is still mathematically possible and that’s the goal.”
Taylor Mackenzie:
“Silverstone was a superb feeling finally getting the podium that everyone in the team deserved and I enjoyed it so much I’d love to be up there again this weekend. I’ve had an enjoyable year with the Tyco boys and I’d like to finish the season in a positive frame of mind heading into the winter break.”
Philip Neill – Team Manager:
“It’s certainly been a tough season all-round but the spirits in our team are as high as ever and everyone will pull in the right direction to try and give all three riders a strong finish to the year. Brands has been very kind to us in the past on the final weekend, so a touch of that would be very welcome. We know the GSX-R package is good enough to do the job both in Superbike and Supersport at this circuit – going on previous visits – so let’s see what we can do.”
Brands Hatch BSB Schedule:
Saturday: Supersport Qualifying – 11.35am. Superbike Qualifying [Q1/2/3] – 12.15pm. Superbike Race 1 – 3.45pm [18 laps]. Supersport Sprint Race – 4.30pm [10 laps].
Sunday: Superbike Race 2 – 12.30pm [20 laps]. Supersport Feature Race – 3pm [18 laps]. Superbike Race 3 – 4pm [20 laps].
