Haslam hoping for home success at Silverstone
LEON HASLAM is looking for two wins in Sunday’s 10th and British round of the World Superbike Championship at the revamped Silverstone circuit near Northampton.
A run of three lowly finishes in the last four races has left Haslam determined to get back on the podium at his home round this Sunday.
With race wins in Australia, Spain and South Africa and a total of 11 top three finishes under his belt this year Haslam is now keen to give an expected large and patriotic crowd something to cheer on Sunday.
“We’ve had a rough time of it of late but it’s not through the lack of effort from the team and myself,” explains Haslam. “We were unfortunate at Misano and Brno and now, with four rounds remaining, it’s time to try and rectify that.
“I’m focussed on race wins now and we’ve already achieved that this year – on very different circuit and on three continents so I’m certain we can find all the ingredients again to secure more wins between now and the end of the Championship, hopefully starting on Sunday.
“Silverstone is a new circuit for everyone but I really liked the old circuit and much of that is incorporated in the new layout. Of course, I’d like to get two wins but I’d also like as many of the British riders as possible to then get between myself and Max Biaggi!”
Haslam is 68 points behind factory Aprilia rider Biaggi and 81 points ahead of Jonathan Rea in third place. He finished in fourth and second places at last year’s British round, at Donington Park.
Practice gets under way on Friday lunchtime at Silverstone followed by Superpole final qualifying on Saturday with the races, as usual, at 12noon and 3.30pm on Sunday.
Haslam will wear a special Arai RX-7 helmet for Sunday’s races, commemorating the 70-year anniversary of the Battle of Britain and to raise money for the RAF Association’s Wings Appeal – a charity caring for serving and ex-members of the Royal Air Force.
The unique Wings Appeal helmet is being given away in a competition, further details are available at: http://www.whyarai.com/cgi-bin/arai_news.pl?id=258
Ends.
Silverstone schedule:
Friday July 30
10.00 – 12.00noon Technical inspection
12.45 – 1.45pm Free Practice One
3.45 – 4.45pm Qualifying One
Saturday July 31
10.45 – 11.30am Qualifying Two
1.50 – 2.35pm Free Practice Two
3.00pm Superpole Final Qualifying
Sunday August 1
9.20 – 9.40am Warm-up
12.00noon Race One – 18 laps (106.236km/65.973 miles)
3.30pm Race Two – 20 laps (106.236km/65.973 miles)
World Championship points after nine of 13 rounds: 1 Biaggi 352, 2 Haslam 284, 3 Rea 203, 4 Checa 189, 5 Haga 172, 6 Toseland 160, 7 Corser 149, 8 Fabrizio 147, 9 Camier, Crutchlow and Guintoli 138.
Manufacturers points: 1 Aprilia 358, 2 Suzuki 305, 3 Ducati 276, 4 Honda 214, 5 Yamaha 206, 6 BMW 163, 7 Kawasaki 55.
2010 World Superbike Championship: 1. February 28 – Phillip Island, Australia; 2. March 28 – Portimao, Portugal; 3. April 11 – Valencia, Spain; 4. April 25 – Assen, Holland; 5. May 9 – Monza, Italy; 6. May 16 – Kyalami, South Africa; 7. May 31 – Salt Lake City, USA; 8. June 27 – Misano, San Marino; 9. July 11 – Brno, Czech Republic; 10. August 1 – Silverstone, Great Britain; 11. September 5 – Nurburgring, Germany; 12. September 26 – Imola, Italy; 13. October 3 - Magny-Cours, France.
