TEAM HANNSPREE STIGGY READY FOR THE FINAL ROUND IN PORTUGAL

The 13th and final round of the 2008 Supersport World Championship takes place this weekend at the all-new Parkalgar Algarve Motor Park circuit near Portimao in Portugal.

The circuit has only recently been completed and is already well known for its special characteristics consisting of many twisty corners and changes of elevation. The brand new facility has a huge crowd capacity and is in a prime location, only a few kilometres from Faro airport, in beautiful countryside near the Atlantic ocean. The 4.658 kms circuit will play an important role for the two HANNspree Stiggy Motorsport riders as it will be the last race of the year as well as their last race in the Stiggy team. With Andrew Pitt already crowned World Champion in the last round at Magny-Cours, and with Jonathan Rea not riding in the SSP class this weekend, Joshua has a very good chance of grabbing runner-up spot on Sunday.

Joshua
This will be my last race of the year in this championship and in the team. It's going to be a bit strange, but I hope to make it a good final weekend. The first session on Friday will be just getting to know the track and getting comfortable with the bike. I will try to ride as much as possible beforehand on my scooter so I can start memorising the layout. I heard the track was pretty slippery, but surely it will get better and better as the weekend gets going. Currently I'm third in the championship but, as Rea decided to not ride this weekend, I have a good chance to bring home that second place!

Robbin
I'm excited to race in Portimao - a completely brand new track. I have heard from the guys who have been there testing this week that it should be fantastic! There are many fast sections, twisty corners and the width of the track means there's plenty of room for overtaking. From the pictures I have seen, the place looks amazing - great facilities and also the track itself. This weekend is my last race with the team, so I want to finish it well and get a good result.

Johan Stigefelt
It has been a long time since we have raced at a completely new track. It will be very exciting to see how it looks and find out what kind of circuit it is. For both of our riders it will be their last race in the team, which is always a bit sad. But, on the other hand, we have had a great season with great results from both of them, so I couldn't be more happy. It is important for the championship that we get good results this weekend. Josh is only seven points behind Jonathan Rea, who is currently in second place. But Jonathan is riding in the SBK class instead this weekend, so Joshua has a good chance to take second. Our aim this weekend is to take second place in the championship and that's what we'll be chasing until the very last lap.

ends