An extra fourth day is added to the usual practice schedule to give the teams every opportunity to be fully-ready when the Roll for Pole qualifying takes place on Sunday afternoon. However, the Worx Crescent Suzuki team are positive that they've overcome the minor issues that they experienced with their new electronic package in testing in Spain and are already 100% ready to go.


Jack Valentine - Team Manager:

"The last days before the start of the season are always hectic. But this year we're well prepared. The GSX-R1000 hasn't changed markedly from last season, but we have had to work hard to establish good base settings for our new suspension package from Öhlins and new electronic engine management system from Motec.

"Although we experienced some issues while winter testing in Spain, these were overcome and the test times showed that we again, for 2010, have a highly competitive machine. That really is very much due to the team, the mechanics, as they've worked really hard in demanding conditions - rain and snow - and delivered us a bike that's so good.

"Earlier this week we took in two days of testing at Cadwell Park with Tommy Hill and we were happy to find that the base settings from Spain transferred well to a British track and the solutions that we applied to our earlier issues have also proved lasting. The bike is exactly how we want it to start the season."

The team this year is substantially bigger than last year, now a two-rider team, which means two technical crews, but with the new one-bike-per rider rule for the Championship, the quantity of hardware virtually stays the same.

For their part, the riders are exceptionally busy at this time: Hill has been much in demand for radio and general media interviews as he's seen as the local man to the Brands Hatch venue and so finds himself acting as an ambassador for the Championship as well as for Suzuki at this time. Yukio Kagayama meanwhile is busy settling in his young family into a new apartment in West London.

"For Yukio it's been quite a tense time since winter testing. Immigration laws for the UK are quite different to when he was last here, in 2003-4, and like Josh Brookes last year, he's found there are a lot more steps to gaining even temporary residency. In that respect we'd like to offer our thanks to Simon Morris at the British Embassy in Japan, who understood our need for fast tracking his application - without his intervention, there's no way Yukio's visa would have been completed within time. Yukio's now moving into his new apartment and his children are enrolled in the nearby Japanese school."

The team will be hoping for a similar start to that they saw at Brands Hatch last season when Sylvain Guintoli took pole position and a race win in his first outing in BSB.

"We've got the bike and we're very certain we've got the right riders. Yukio has seven career wins in BSB and was third in the championship in 2004. He knows the GSX-R1000 intimately and he's ready to go for podium finishes - as his fastest lap at the Cartagena tests showed. Tommy really excites us, too. He's always been an exciting rider, but these days he's balancing his speed with maturity; he's become the complete package. He showed last year what he can do and there's no question in his mind, this year he wants the championship.

"From my perspective I'll be happy to get Brands out of the way. It's always a fast and furious round with the riders all seriously keen to get their championships started in a big way. So everyone's on the edge. And around such a tight, short circuit that makes it tricky. Nonetheless, we're confident in our riders and bike. It'll be exciting."