A major headache, that is what the cancellation of the Brands Hatch round of the Bennett’s British Superbike Championship caused for many a rider and also the organiser of the Championship, BRCMC, the North West 200 and the Fingal Motor Club.
The Brands postponement eventual rescheduling of the event on Sunday 11th May, exactly two days before the start of practice for one of the biggest road races in Ireland and also the same date as the second round of the Mondello Masters series.
The Mondello Masters series was scheduled to run two days before the start of North West practice so as to attract more of the top Irish riders who normally only compete in the British Championships and also some of the other riders from the British Isles who will be in the North of Ireland to compete in the North West 200, however with Brands Hatching being cancellation and rescheduled for Sunday 11th, the Fingal Motor Club were faced with the choice of keeping with this date and losing out on many of the qualities entries who were out at the first round last weekend, or rescheduling for a later date, the club eventually took the decision to move the event until later on in the season, on July 6th. Originally this second round in May was due to have a doubled purse, with a prize fund of £14,000, but this doubled purse will now be transferred to the final round in October.
Speaking about the change of date, John Morris Managing Director of Mondello Park said: "This alteration is not what we would have wanted but under the circumstances we have no alternative. The circuit could not justify the huge investment in the prize fund for an event which clashes with a round of the BSB, as this would be counterproductive for everyone involved, including the competitors who wish to race in both. We feel that the new date will offer us an excellent opportunity to again attract a top line entry and offer spectators another quality event. The transfer of the prize fund to the end of season will hopefully make that an even bigger event than we might have had in May. The changes to the schedule have only come about due to the enormous support and assistance of Motorcycling Irelands Short Circuit Committee and The Fingal Motor Club and we are extremely grateful to both."
The North West organisers are not really being affected directly by the change of dates, but their race team the NW200 Ducati team, are now faced with having to race at Brands Hatch on Sunday and then quickly have to travel across the Irish Sea for first practice on Tuesday night. Michael Rutter said at the recent Press Conference for the event that; “It is a bit of a nightmare, but everyone has the same problem.”
The date change will also mean that AIM Yamaha’s Steve Plater will also miss out the Brands Hatch round along with the Thruxton round this weekend as he is contracted for World Endurance duties. As it will also affect the Supermono and Sidecar Championships which were due to run alongside the BMCRC event and have now been cancelled.
Unfortunately, the decision of MCRCB and MSV Racing to reschedule the snowed off Brands Hatch meeting has led to headaches for a few people, but sometimes these things happen, and at the end of the day if the big man upstairs what’s it to snow, even Stuart Higgs and Jonathan Palmer can’t change that, although Meryvn Whyte will certainly be hoping for sunshine all the way throughout the 2008 North West 200.
