Severe weather conditions halted the second day of testing at Snetterton this weekend. The track could not be seen under the sheet of white snow and once cleared the continuing bad weather further delayed any hopes of riders appearing on track.

This weekend is the last opportunity for riders to prepare for the season and take a look at their competitors, but the only battle going on was with Mother Nature. Circumstances allowed the circuit finally to open from two in the afternoon, but with the visibly emptier paddock and garages, numerous teams had admitted defeat. Only three riders made it out on track, Michael Rutter who completed eleven laps, the most anybody has done so far this weekend and Simon Andrews who managed one.

To benefit from the disappointment situation a meet and greet with numerous riders had been arranged, which allowed the public and media to speak to them about the 2008 season that kicks off in two weeks at Brands Hatch. The conference was pleasantly opened by Leon Haslam presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to the BSB Circuit commentator of 40 years, Fred Clarke. Fred explained: "It was a pleasure to be nominated for this awarded, to be awarded it is fantastic."

Fred then demonstrated his recognized talent and knowledge by interviewing riders of various aspects of racing, their careers and the future. Due to the language barrier the interview with Astushi Watanabe was brief, he said: "I am learning English everyday,"and when asked about his ride in World Superbikes back in 2003 he commented ‘Yes, Slow’. His team mate commented on Watanabe’s performance so far ‘Fortunately Astushi is picking things up, in Spain he wasn’t very far behind me.’ When asked if he like the Japanese national anthem and if he would like to hear it he continued ‘Yes, but not too many times I hope’. Tom is fully aware of his team’s mate talent and that he will be a threat out on track.

The main question to Leon Haslam was did he move from Ducati at the wrong time, with regards to the bigger engine and changes they have made. He stressed: "The 1200cc bikes are looking good but my decision was more down to the opportunity of getting to world racing. Honda is pretty much in the family, with the Ron Haslam race school and I starting out with Honda. I was given this opportunity and possibility of a couple of World rounds."
Raceaholic Steve Plater joked."I am fed up of riding at the moment, I never seem to be off a bike and have been doing so much testing." This is understandable as his schedule for 2008 in addition to BSB includes the North West 200, TT, Bol d’or and Yamaha Austria endurance, at least.
He is very positive about the varied season that also involves him uses different tyre manufactures for the numerous events, he is hoping that the North West 200 will go smoother than last year. ‘We had no pre-season testing and only eight weeks to get the bike sorted. In the end I matched my lap record from the year before on the HM Plant Honda."

Another competitor of the North West 200 is the character of Guy Martin who is riding for Bike Animal Honda. Regarding his road racing career he said: "It’s about time I pulled my finger out of my arse, I have set lap records but never won one." He continued to joke about one of his main competitors John McGuinness: "He is certainly the man to beat, but it is about time he got a proper job."
All the racers within the championship want to prove their talent and be the best, Guy however has an additional personal goal, he explained: "I know I only got this job due to my road racing, next year I want to get the short circuit job on merit."
James Ellison has returned to the British scene on a mission, he said: "I hope to be fighting for the championship, in the next two years I am working to get back to World Superbikes. This year the bike, team are improvement to last year." Talking about his year in AMA he said: "The circuits were hard to learn, so it is good to be back to familiar tracks. It was all down to machinery, there is a lot of money in America and they are so advanced regarding technology. Unless you are on a factory bike you don’t’ have a chance. There were at least twelve factory teams and the riders were extremely fast." Looking at his MotoGP career he said: "It was a gamble but I don’t regret it. I learnt a lot, it was an awesome bike and great team, but the whole package just didn’t work or was enough at the time."
James will be racing against his brother Dean who returns after an awful year in World Superbikes with Team Pedercini. He said: "It was good as I got to learn the tracks, meet new people but every time I got on the bike I had the same sick feeling. I worked really hard at training and testing, I wanted to gain a foot in the door but the results started off pretty rubbish and got worse. Now under team Co-ordit Racing, well known on the club racing scene he is much more happier he said ‘For me I have the best package out there, last year I wanted a Yamaha, it looks so sweet and just works."
The only rider that seemed to have an issue with the disastrous weekend was Michael Rutter who certainly wanted more time on track. He said ‘I am struggling like hell, it’s not the bike, it’s me getting my head around the technology. I was hoping for a good test here, now we have to wait for the first meeting and see what happens.’ He continued ‘It is a shame that all the technology is coming in, but you’ve got to use it and I am sure it will be beneficial to the Ducati’s once you get it right.’
Leon Haslam and Cal Crutchlow have anti-spin and crude traction control, but at present are using neither of them. Leon explains ‘In Almeria we turned it all off to run a bog standard bike to get the bike setup and we were quicker. It is something we want to introduce, but probably not for the first few races.’ Cal added ‘It wasn’t good when it launched me into the air. The thing is you can waste too much time and on a race weekend you haven’t got that much. I am sure will use it in testing sessions, but as Leon said not in the first few races’.

This was also a good opportunity to gather several riders views on the ‘One-tyre’ BSB rule of 2008. Simon Andrews said ‘Out of everyone here I am the one to get the most advantage as I am the one that usually doesn’t have the best equipment. When I started racing though it was about proving yourself and working your way up to the bigger, better teams. It’s taken that away a bit and making it a bit production based.’ Simon had to miss a few rounds last year due to the team’s finances, but this year the team is much more secure and ready for battle, he explains ‘ If one of these guys mess up we will be there to take it away from them. Leon Camier agreed ‘I don’t think it will change the front runners, but it will allow the privateer’s to run closer.’

Cal Crutchlow felt said ‘It is a shame for the other manufacturers, if we have different bikes competing why not tyre’s.’ When asked his thoughts on a one bike championship, he quickly stressed his disapproval. James Ellison added ‘I think it is a good rule for the championship, but I agree with Cal from a marketing point of view it isn’t good.’ When put to the floor a member of public suggested a rule that allowed team’s to choose their tyre manufacturers, but remove the original process of only giving the leading riders the advanced tyres and to used standard across the paddock. This again was pointed out unrealistic due to the cost of development tyres and as Leon Haslam explained ‘The top riders develop the tyres that do filter down to others and then to road users. We develop for others to make them as safe as possible, to me that’s what it was about’.

This season is definitely full of changes due to riders, bike’s and the tyre rule levelling out the playing field. This weekend has certainly thrown a spanner in the works with the lack of circuit miles carried out. No one really knows or has a view on any team’s state of play. The first round of British Superbike season is always a ‘on the edge of the seat’ moment, but this year the start is not just about a predictable handful of riders battling for the win, it’s about the whole grid.