Brands Hatch is one of the more interesting circuits on the calendar, both for riders and spectators. It is one of the very few places where you can see a good amount of the racing from trackside, rather than having to rely on the TV, being set in a natural amphitheatre that allows an almost unobstructed view of the whole Indy circuit. The atmosphere generated by the enthusiastic 100,000 or so fans who turn up on the day is fabulous and it’s something felt by everyone, visitors and riders alike. To the rider, the changes in elevation and scenery, moving from the open arena of the Indy circuit to the shaded woodland of the GP section, make for an interesting and challenging circuit that is easy to ride but very hard to get right. Recent improvements to safety have robbed the racing world of some of the more historically interesting corners but the result is a truly world class circuit that consistently offers some of the best racing of the year.

Not everyone likes it, though. Defending champion James Toseland, has never had a really good result here, while his team-mate Regis Laconi has had decidedly mixed fortunes as well. Troy Corser has spent more than his fair share of the time watching from the gravel traps here too, while Frankie Chili has left bits of various motorbikes all around the Kent countryside after a variety of high speed getoffs.

This being England, the weather always plays a part in proceedings. Practice was blessed with highly changeable weather, making things more difficult than usual, but the real dramas weren’t weather induced at all. Over the Friday and Saturday practice sessions, Frankie Chili had a big fall, shedding rather a lot of skin but not doing anything fundamental, and Yukio Kagayama had a big highside. The adopted Brit got severely beaten up in the accident, cracking a couple of ribs, and looked unlikely to continue. Being the man he is, though, Yuki pressed on and rode through the pain though he pulled in early in qualifying after doing enough to make sure he made Superpole. Qualifying proved a torrid experience for Toseland as his Brands jinx continued to dog him and he ended up twelfth before Superpole. Chris Walker, on the other hand, was threatening to upset the applecart all day as he consistently rode the PSG-1 Kawasaki faster than most other people on the track. By the end of qualifying, as always, sixteen riders went into Superpole. But what's rather less usual is that all sixteen were separated by less than a second.

Superpole itself was heralded by the sunshine and almost perfect conditions. Few surprises presented themselves as the first riders went through, then came Toseland. The young Englishman rode an almost perfect lap, setting a storming time and putting him comfortably in pole position, where he stayed. Until the next rider, Karl Muggeridge, had the best qualifying session of his season to just pip Toseland to the line. And so it stayed, with Walker riding a brilliant lap and setting himself firmly on the leaderboard where he also stayed until the end of the session. Of course, there’s always someone to spoil things and this season it’s Mr Superpole himself, Troy Corser, who has been stamping on people’s choc-ices at circuits all round the world.

Honourable mentions have to go to Yuki Kagayama for coming out to play at all, his eventual twelfth spot being poor reward for a brave and tough performance; and to British Superbike wildcard Dennis Hobbs on the nVidia Yamaha, who made the cut for Superpole and finished a highly credible thirteenth. Commiserations to Ben Bostrom who, having done the double here in 2002, failed to get onto the grid for Superpole as the Honda refused to start.

So when the dust settled, the grid looked like this. Troy Corser with Karl Muggeridge, James Toseland and Regis Laconi formed the front row with Chris Walker leading Nori Haga, Andrew Pitt and Chris Vermeulen behind them. The third row saw Lorenzo Lanzi heading the Petronas pairing of Steve Martin and Garry McCoy with the battered and bruised Yukio Kagayama twelfth.

As so often seems the case at Brands, race day dawned clear, sunny and dry. Perfect, in fact, for racing. And with a Brit on the front row and another just behind him with a third slightly further back, hopes were high among the enthusiastic but perhaps slightly biased crowd that local honour could be upheld and we could see the Union Flag above the podium as something other than part of the Southern Cross. And when the lights went out it looked really promising as both Walker and Toseland made great starts. Unfortunately, they both reached Paddock Hill Bend at the same time and tangled each other up. The contact slowed them both down to the extent that they reached Druids in fifth and sixth places respectively. At the front, Muggeridge and Corser were duking it out with Haga in close pursuit and extending a fair lead over the following group. Laconi bridged the gap between the leading trio and the chasing pack while Chris Vermeulen, Andrew Pitt and Yuki Kagayama followed the British pair.

Toseland’s luck showed no sign of improving. He struggled hard against a bike that clearly wasn’t behaving as it should have been before it finally rolled over and died on the run up to Druids on lap eight, having been passed by Chris Vermeulen the lap before. Garry McCoy’s Petronas FP1 expired even sooner, on lap six, blowing a coolant hose and nearly tipping the Australian off, while Frankie Chili's ride came to an end after just twelve laps, the Honda quietly expiring.

Up at the front, Haga and Corser fought tooth and nail for the lead, rarely more than a tenth of a second apart. Haga took the lead on lap seventeen and it seemed that it would stick but, with three laps to go, Corser barged through and went back in front. Scrapping and tripping each other up, the leading pair took it all the way to the line with Corser taking the chequered flag just a few hundredths of a second ahead of Haga with Regis Laconi a distant third. Chris Vermeulen held off the race long attentions of Chris Walker to retain fourth ahead of the popular and hard working Brit with the antipodean pairing of Karl Muggeridge and Andrew Pitt sixth and seventh. Privateer Lorenzo Lanzi came eighth with Yukio Kagayama taking a gutsy ninth ahead of Max Neukirchner on the Klaffi Honda. British wildcard Dennis Hobbs brought the customer spec R1 home thirteenth having been passed by Ben Bostrom on the penultimate lap, just a few hundredths of a second behind Norick Abe.

Race two saw the track warmer, the circuit photographers breaking out their factor thirty and hopes high that certain individuals would have better luck this time out. Things looked very promising as the problems with Toseland's Ducati appeared to be fixed just before the off, the Englishman's number one bike being wheeled back onto the grid to replace the (obviously) less favoured number two machine. And as the lights changed it all looked good. Corser made his usual rocketship start with Muggeridge and Toseland in hot pursuit, closely followed by Haga and the rest of the pack. At the notorious Graham Hill bend, at the bottom of the slope down from the Druids hairpin, though, Muggeridge got a little overexcited and highsided the Honda, breaking his right hand and taking himself out of the points. Haga had already charged through to chase the rapidly vanishing Corser, and was putting clear air between himself and Toseland. To put this into perspective, while Toseland was lapping a good half a second a lap faster than Corser's winning pace in race one, Corser and Haga were going half a second quicker again. And it got worse, too, as the Englishman's Ducati faltered again. Despite the fact that Toseland was exercising all his considerable talent and riding absolutely to his limit, the recalcitrant Ducati was having none of it and first Vermeulen, on lap eleven, then Laconi a couple of laps later slipped past. Two more laps saw Walker get past while another two saw Toseland lose the battle to keep Pitt behind him, though a brief resurgence saw him get back past the Australian before yielding again. In fairness, though, come the chequered flag, just two seconds separated fourth placed Walker from seventh placed Toseland, with a yawning seven seconds back to eighth placed Lanzi with Kagayama and Bostrom filling the next quarter of a second quite nicely. The Petronas team had a continuation of the bad luck that has dogged them all season, with Steve Martin heading for a points finish when he got skittled by Norick Abe at Druid's, taking both riders out of the race, happily without injury. Garry McCoy, meanwhile, having failed to finish the first race, came in a dismal eighteenth in the second. The engine and tyre data gained is scant reward for a hard working team who surely deserve better results than they've been getting. Privateer Dennis Hobbs came in fifteenth, just a tenth of a second behind Sebastian Gimbert on the official Yamaha entry while Frankie Chili also had a poor weekend, finishing thirteenth with team mate Neukirchner eleventh and stand-in PSG-1 rider Pere Riba between them.

Meanwhile, as they say, up at the front, Vermeulen was failing to make much ground on the battling pair ahead of him. Conventional wisdom says that when you're at it hammer and tongs then you'll slow each other down. Obviously, conventional wisdom doesn't apply to Haga but it appears not to apply to Corser either as the pair of them fought tooth and nail but dodn't slow up at all. On the final lap, after riding in the Yamaha's wheeltracks since lap three, Corser made his move, storming past on the way into Westfield. But in a rare error of judgement he went in too hard, running onto the grass but somehow managing to keep the Suzuki upright and get back on the throttle in time to chase Haga down. But to no avail, as the Japanese rider won by a clear two and a half seconds with Vermeulen filling the last podium slot nearly six seconds further back.

There are two hundred points left to win, which means that theoretically anyone from Toseland onwards could still take the title if Corser fails to score any points. But as the Australian has yet to finish off the podium this season that looks slightly unlikely. Assen is a favourite track with many of the riders, not least James Toseland who finished with a first and a second last year, so we shouldn't count any chickens just yet. And yet I'd still be reluctant to place a bet against that Australian and his Suzuki...

Oh, the title of this article is a slightly obscure reference to the fact that Troy Corser has just become a father again. Sam had a baby girl - Kelia - just five days before the race, and still managed to attend! Mother and baby are well, clearly! Congratulations to them all from all at MBT.

Race One

1 Troy Corser (Suzuki)
2 Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
3 Regis Laconi (Ducati)
4 Chris Vermeulen (Honda)
5 Chris Walker (Kawasaki)
6 Karl Muggeridge (Honda)
7 Andrew Pitt (Yamaha)
8 Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati)
9 Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki)
10 Max Neukirchner (Honda)

Race Two

1 Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
2 Troy Corser (Suzuki)
3 Chris Vermeulen (Honda)
4 Chris Walker (Kawasaki)
5 Regis Laconi (Ducati)
6 Andrew Pitt (Yamaha)
7 James Toseland (Ducati)
8 Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati)
9 Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki)
10 Ben Bostrom (Honda)

Championship Standing after eight rounds:

1 Troy Corser 344
2 Chris Vermeulen 234
3 Regis Laconi 214
4 Yukio Kagayama 172
5 Noriyuki Haga 167
6 James Toseland 161
7 Chris Walker 130
8 Pier-Francesco Chili 111
9 Andrew Pitt 95
10 Norick Abe 88