Brands Hatch might just be the most important circuit for motorcycle races in the UK, with the annual Superbike World Championship visit playing no small part in that equation. Of the current riders, four have won here in the past, with Frankie Chili (1996-97), Troy Corser (1996-98), Ben Bostrom (2001) and Noriyuki Haga (2004) each having taken a pair of victories. The track is a fast one, diving downhill and up again, and with a few hard braking zones that aid overtaking. Racing here never disappoints.

Qualifying saw Corser take his fourth pole position of the season, and 35th in the series, showing the points leader and his Alstare Suzuki combining to good effect once again. For the third time a Ten Kate Honda was the closest challenger, but this time with rookie Karl Muggeridge aboard. Team-mate Chris Vermeulen rounded out the second row in eighth. Title holder James Toseland maintained his recent form with third on the Xerox Ducati, followed closely by Régis Laconi on the second 999.

Crowd favourite Chris Walker, sporting a helmet coloured with the cross of St George, would line up in a season best fifth on the PSG-1 Kawasaki. He was separated from Vermeulen by the Yamaha Italia pair, Haga leading Andrew Pitt. Lorenzo Lanzi’s Caracchi Ducati led row three, followed by the Foggy Petronas duo of Steve Martin and Garry McCoy - making six Australians in the top eleven.

The Klaffi Honda team were in trouble, with both Chili and Max Neukirchner failing to make it into the Superpole session, and therefore with a lot to do. In contrast, wildcard rider Dennis Hobbs was well up on the Nvidia Yamaha - thirteenth - and Kawasaki riding Pere Riba was another man making his first WSBK entry of the season.

Race one saw Corser successfully convert pole into the lead at the start, heading Muggeridge - despite a poor getaway for the Honda - and Haga into the sheer drop right-hander of Paddock Hill Bend. Walker was fourth, but only as far as the turn two right-handed Druids hairpin, where Laconi moved ahead. Toseland was sixth, from Vermeulen, Yukio Kagayama, Pitt, McCoy, Lanzi, Norick Abe and Martin. Both Pitt and Lanzi moved up a place on the first lap.

Haga was obviously looking to repeat his wins from last year, and he went through on the inside of Muggeridge at Paddock as lap two began. Before long he was in front, getting onto the inside at Druids and passing Corser around the outside at the following left-hander of Graham Hill Bend. As the first three edged clear, fourth man Laconi now led Walker, Toseland, Vermeulen, Pitt, Kagayama, Lanzi, Abe, Martin, Neukirchner, Hobbs, Sébastien Gimbert, Fonsi Nieto, Marco Borciani, Riba, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Bostrom, Giovanni Bussei, Ivan Clementi, Chili, José Luís Cardoso, Gianluca Vizziello, Miguel Praia, Alessio Velini and Michel Nickmans.

Even as the field began to space out, Laconi joined the leaders to make a four-way race of it. Indeed, he soon got into third, passing Muggeridge on the inside through the fast and banked Clearways right-hand curve, onto the start-finish section. It was a very close move, and the Frenchman then clung onto the lead pair as his Honda rival dropped towards Walker and the rest. Régis was not as close to the two leaders as they were to each other, but stayed in touch.

The lead changed hands along the short Cooper Straight, between two left-handers on the infield section. This happened when Haga appeared to miss a gear, giving Corser plenty of invitation to go by. The Japanese rider kept his Yamaha on the Suzuki’s tail, despite the odd ‘moment’, but didn’t have the straightline speed to recover the position. They were still in this order by the last lap, when Corser seemed to put in an extra effort and Noriyuki was not given a chance to re-pass. The final gap was 0.186s.

Laconi ended up a comfortable third, but the men behind had reshuffled by the flag. Walker saved an out-of-saddle moment at Clearways, and later passed Muggeridge for fourth at the Stirling’s left-hander, leading onto the back straight. By this time Toseland had dropped out of sixth with mechanical trouble, so Karl was now followed by Vermeulen and Pitt, with Lanzi and the rest out of range. The latter stages saw Vermeulen move through for fourth, with Walker retaining fifth, and Muggeridge just beating Pitt. Lanzi, Kagayama, Neukirchner, Abe, Bostrom and Hobbs followed on, whilst Chili had been another to retire.

Race two started in similar fashion to the earlier outing, with Corser staying ahead, and Muggeridge retaining second despite another poor getaway. Toseland held third this time, but was quickly passed by Haga. Then came Laconi, Pitt and Walker, but with Vermeulen passing the other Chris on the outside at Surtees, the looping left onto the circuit’s fastest section. Kagayama, Lanzi and Martin headed the pursuit, with the first of these also going by Walker in quick order.

This time it was the first four that had the pace, but the group was quickly diminished by one. Haga was on the move again, passing Muggeridge on the inside at Graham Hill, but the Ten Kate man promptly lost control on the way out, and was thrown down in the ensuing crash. Now Corser, Haga and Toseland led the way, with battle well and truly joined by the first two as James began to fade with tyre concerns. Laconi led Pitt, Vermeulen, Walker, Kagayama, Lanzi, Martin, Abe, Hobbs, Bostrom, Clementi, Riba, Neukirchner, Gimbert and Chili.

Haga went to the outside of Corser along the inclined start-finish Brabham Straight. Without much room to play with, Noriyuki actually leant on Troy as they crossed the line, making the pass by Paddock corner. Corser tried to repay the favour on the fast uphill run into the Hawthorn Bend right-hander, at the far end of the track, but his successful move came later, along the same straight but before approaching the corner. Haga re-gained the advantage at Paddock.

Meanwhile, Laconi had also made a move at Hawthorn, but went wide at the succeeding Westfield right, letting Toseland back into third and slotting into fifth behind Pitt, and ahead of Vermeulen and Walker. Vermeulen was the man about to make the running in the group, moving past Régis, and soon getting the better of Pitt at Surtees. He then put pressure on Toseland, while Laconi and Walker both got ahead of Pitt in successive moves at Paddock.

As the laps ticked down, the sliding Haga secured the smallest gap over the pursuing Corser. But going onto the last lap they were right together again. Corser went alongside to the left, and briefly ahead, on the approach to Hawthorn, but with Haga braking last and turning in first. Then Troy went inside and past at Westfield, but ran wide into the immediate right at Dingle Dell, and almost off the track. Too much ground had been lost as he gathered it up, and Noriyuki took victory by a fairly comfortable margin.

Vermeulen’s pursuit of Toseland had paid off, with the Australian getting a run out of Druids and going around his rival at Graham Hill. The leaders were aleady five seconds clear, but Chris had stretched away from those behind. James was in trouble by now, and he lost fourth to Laconi, then fifth when Walker squeezed into a narrow gap on the apex at Druids. Pitt also got ahead of the Ducati. Walker was having no such difficulty, joining battle with Laconi, and his attack was successful. He finished a place from the podium, to the fans’ acclaim.

Fifth went to Laconi, just ahead of Pitt, with Toseland next, then Lanzi, Kagayama, Bostrom and Neukirchner. This time Chili got as high as 13th, taking three points. Not so lucky were non-finishers Borciani, Cardoso, and the colliding pair of Abe and Martin, whose exit was at Druids.

Honours were even between Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga, but the Australian drew away from Chris Vermeulen and Régis Laconi in the points table. He now leads by 110. A run of fourth places should give him the title, but there is no doubt he will want to keep on winning. He has now been on the podium in sixteen consecutive races. It was a mixed day for the home riders, with James Toseland disappointed, and Chris Walker having his second best meeting all year. ‘The Stalker’ still wanted to go that one better and make the rostrum, which would also get Kawasaki up there for the first time.

Standings after sixteen races: Corser 344; Vermeulen 234; Laconi 214; Kagayama 172; Haga 167; Toseland 161; Walker 130; Chili 111; Pitt 95; Abe 88; Muggeridge 85; Lanzi 66; Neukirchner 63; Bussei 46.

To buy the photograph shown above, visit Raceline Photography

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