Stiggy team rested and ready
Even though Jonathan Rea and Ten Kate have now moved ahead in the rankings, Stiggy and his squad have drawn deserved praise for frequently mastering the top level of Superbike racing in such a short time.
It has, as Stiggy attests, taken a lot of work, and therefore taken a lot out of his team. "We have had a break in the season for a few weeks and it was pretty much needed by everyone in our team," said Stiggy. "Now the plan is to enter the last four races and do the best possible. We have some new engine parts to use on the Superbikes and we have spent our time refreshing all the engines and machines for the last few races. Our workload has been ongoing since December last year, without any real break until now."
Stiggy's main hopes from now to the end of the season again fall on Leon Haslam, although he is now fully confident that John Hopkins, hurt so severely at Assen, is in top physical shape after a long recovery from his hip injury. "Obviously Leon is our best rider in WSB at the moment and he can do the best for us in the last races to finish as high in the championship as he can. So we are pushing hard for this. John is OK now, a lot better. He really needed the six-week break for training and to get much better physically. He is very enthusiastic and looking forward to racing again."
Of Stiggy's four riders, Leon, John and Anthony West in WSB have never seen the Nürburgring before, which will make Friday's first practice session a crucial one for both WSB and WSS arms of the team.
