Along with the likes of Stonehenge and Butlins, Brands Hatch GP is one of the UK’s most cherished facets. Unlike the dizzy monotony of circulating the Indy’s kidney-shaped layout every few seconds, the GP circuit – also bereft of archetypal British nadgery sections, chicanes and hairpins – is deeply rewarding when nailing a lap.
Joining the rest of the British Superbike circus, the Ducati Cup rolled into Brands for a Showdown of its own – more on that another time but, in a spoiler alert, my team-mate Leon Morris only bloody won the championship after an über tense crescendo. Meanwhile, I was battling for a meaty 11th place in the series…
Due to comical error, my 899 Panigale set-up notepad disappeared at the end of last season, so we used my old team-mate’s scrawling and base knowledge to form tactical guesses at gearing and suspension set-up throughout the year. But Brands Hatch GP was the only track we had nothing to go by.
As perfectly exposed in the video, the gearing was so far out, it might as well have been in Dartford and more suited to a lap of the M25. It’s not the tidiest of laps (we can only film during free practice), but sit back and enjoy an onboard of the finest circuit in Britain, accompanied by a belligerent Desmo soundtrack…
