HM Plant Honda gears up for BSB season opener

The HM Plant Honda team heads to Brands Hatch this weekend for the first round of the 2009 British Superbike Championship, with riders Glen Richards and Steve Plater raring to take to the seats of their CBR1000RR Fireblade and CBR600RR in the British Superbike and British Supersport Championships respectively.

Aussie team-mate Josh Brookes flew over to the UK in February in order to join the HM Plant Honda team for its pre-season test in Spain, returning to Australia following the test in order to finalise his visa application for re-entry to the UK to compete in the British Superbike Championship this season.

Changes to immigration visa laws in December however, have created difficulties with Josh’s visa. Honda (UK) and the HM Plant Honda team have been working hard to try and help resolve the issues but this week established that Josh will unfortunately not be able to enter the UK in time to line up on the grid with his CBR1000RR Fireblade superbike, at this weekend’s first round of the championship.

The team is confident that Josh’s visa will be resolved shortly, and in the meantime HM Plant Honda’s British Supersport contender, Steve Plater (race #22), will take Josh’s place in the British Superbike Championship and race under Josh’s number 25.

Flying the flag for Honda in the British Superbike class, Glen Richards (race #45) commented, “I can’t wait to be back racing a superbike, on what is arguably the best bike out there and also with such a professional and experienced team like HM Plant Honda. I’ve come from winning two championships in a row and my aim is to make it a hat-trick this year with a third championship title, so I’ll be going all out for that. Pre-season testing went well although we still have a few areas where I feel we can make adjustments to get even more out of the bike, but I’m certainly pleased with where we’ve got to, I’m very comfortable on the Fireblade and am really looking forward to seeing what this season brings.”

Seasoned British Supersport contender and road racing ace, Steve Plater, commented, “I really can’t wait to get on the CBR600RR and get out there back on track in the supersport class. I think this class will be very competitive this year. I’ve finished second in the championship twice before so have got some unfinished business and my priority is to go out there and win the British Supersport title. For this first round I’ll be standing in for Josh in the British Superbike class as well so it’ll be a busy weekend and I’ll certainly be putting in some miles around Brands Hatch. But I’m very happy to have been asked by the team to take on this role and it will also be good as it will provide me with more knowledge and experience of the Fireblade ahead of Le Mans the following weekend. The next few weeks are going to be pretty full on as I head from Brands Hatch straight to Le Mans for testing early next week, then back to the UK for a TT test, back to Le Mans for the race that weekend and then straight to the Isle of Man for the ‘09 TT launch media conference the following Monday! Nothing like starting the season with an action packed calendar but I’m really looking forward to everything and particularly getting into the British Supersport Championship.”

Downhearted to be missing the opening race of this season, Josh said, “I’m absolutely gutted that I couldn’t get my visa sorted in time following the change in immigration rules but thank Honda and the team for all their efforts and I’m doing everything possible to make sure I’m on the grid at Oulton Park in three weeks’ time.”

Honda’s reigning British Superstock Champion, Steve Brogan, and 14 times TT winner John McGuinness, remain in the Honda squad in the British Superstock Championship on the acclaimed Fireblade for this season, but will be racing under the banner of the Padgett’s crew – one of the most established names in British racing and a Honda motorcycle dealer with whom Honda (UK) has enjoyed a long and successful relationship.

HM Plant Honda Team Manager, Havier Beltran, commented, “After a winter of preparation for this season the whole team and the riders are really looking forward to getting back to racing. We made good progress during the pre-season testing and there is still more to come from the riders and the machines, but we’ve got high expectations of what we can achieve together this year. Of course we would like to take the titles in British Superbikes and Supersport, and in Superstock with Padgett’s, but the championship is a long way down the road and almost 10,000km of riding away for each rider, so you can never predict anything at this stage. We are so disappointed for Josh to not be with us for the start of the season but are confident his visa issue can be resolved and the team will be complete for next round.”

There will also be two new additions making their first guest appearances with the HM Plant Honda family this weekend at Brands Hatch, with Poppy Plater and Brooke Richards - the new daughters of Steve and Vicky Plater and Glen and Nikki Richards - who were both born just a few weeks ago.

Track action from round one of the British Superbike Championship commences this Easter Saturday, 11 April, with the races taking place on Easter Monday rather than on the traditional Sunday race day. Riders and machines from each class will also be on track for a pre-race weekend free practice test day on Friday. Racing action can be seen live on British Eurosport on Monday 13 April from 12.30 to 17.15, with highlights programmes available on ITV throughout the following week.