The start of the season is always a nervous time as we find out how well our winter testing has prepared us for it. Going into the super-tight pressure-cooker of a venue that is Brands Hatch (Indy) for the first round makes the experience all the tenser.
So to come away with the BSB Championship lead is a positive endorsement of a job well done. Tommy Hill has reached that point in his career where he combines youth with experience and so we’ve seen him mature into a highly-skilled racer. His second place in the second race – following up on his race one win – showed he can see the bigger picture. He’s racing for the Championship.
Yukio Kagayama experienced the flip-side of the first meeting experience. A bolt broke on his gear lever and wrecked his first race. Perhaps he tried too hard in that second race as a result, but he was both unlucky and lucky when he crashed heavily at Clearways. We’re just happy he came away unhurt. Yukio has vast World Championship experience, so no question his season will improve. The big upshot from the weekend was the team was top of their game.
The GSX-R1000 is working well, our riders are wholly capable of getting the wins but equally importantly the team is giving the riders exactly the support they need to get the job done. Winning Championships is about having all these three elements performing at their best. This is what we have.
