DONINGTON PODIUM REWARD FOR HASLAM
LEON HASLAM took hard-fought fourth and second place finishes in Sunday’s two races of round nine of the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park, GB.
Haslam - starting both races from ninth place, on row three of the grid - made excellent starts and in the opening 23-lap race battled through to fourth place, holding off the Ducati of Shane Byrne and Aprilia's Shinya Nakano in the closing stages.
Similarly, in race two it was Byrne and eventual third-placed Michel Fabrizio, on the factory Ducati, who shadowed Haslam to the finish line. The second place promotes the Stiggy Racing Honda rider back up to fifth place in the Championship points standings after nine of 14 rounds.
"Overall I'm happy with the day," said Haslam. "I had some front suspension problems in the opening race and I was just concentrating on holding position to the end of the race.
"For some reason the circuit became really slippery for the second race and there was a lot of crashes. I had a few issues with the machine, like I had in race one, but to stay aboard and also take a podium finish was great, especially for the Stiggy team and also all of the fans. And I was relieved to see the chequered flag.
"I was always hopeful of two strong finishes at Donington, especially as the past four rounds have been difficult. To get a fourth and a second and climb one place in the Championship is exactly what the team needed as we go into a month break then the final five rounds of the Championship."
Haslam will test at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic on July 6-8 prior to the 10th round of the Championship on July 26, at Brno.
World Superbike Championship, round nine, Donington Park, GB.
Race results (both races 23 laps - 92.529km / 57.461 miles):
Race one: 1 Ben Spies, USA (Yamaha) 34m 57.230s - 158.831kmh / 98.634mph, 2 Max Biaggi, Italy (Aprilia) +7.156s, 3 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Ducati) +10.968s, 4 Leon Haslam, GB (Stiggy Racing Honda) +18.843s, 5 Shane Byrne, GB (Ducati) +19.125s, 6 Shinya Nakano, Japan (Aprilia) +21.286s, 7 Jonathan Rea, GB (Honda) +23.644s, 8 John Hopkins, USA (Honda) +32.849s, 9 Jakub Smrz, Czech Rep. (Ducati) +32.904s, 10 Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (Honda) +33.192s.
Race two: 1 Ben Spies, USA (Yamaha) 35m 14.788s - 157.512kmh / 97.815mph, 2 Leon Haslam, GB (Stiggy Racing Honda) +6.622s, 3 Michel Fabrizio, Italy (Ducati) +6.816s, 4 Shane Byrne, GB (Ducati) +7.349s, 5 Tom Sykes, GB (Yamaha) +8.145s, 6 Leon Camier, GB (Yamaha) +13.463s, 7 Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (Honda) +15.751s, 8 James Ellison, GB (Yamaha) +16.837s, 9 Ruben Xaus, Spain (BMW) +22.891s, 10 Simon Andrews, GB (Kawasaki) +30.347s.
World Championship points after nine of 14 rounds: 1 Haga 308, 2 Spies 294, 3 Fabrizio 257, 4 Rea 177, 5 Haslam 167, 6 Biaggi 155, 7 Sykes 141, 8 Smrz 115, 9 Checa 114, 10 Kiyonari and Byrne 113.
Manufacturers points: 1 Ducati 383, 2 Yamaha 337, 3 Honda 240, 4 Aprilia 162, 5 Suzuki 131, 6 BMW 70, 7 Kawasaki 47.
Next round: Brno, Czech Republic - July 26 2009.
Ends.
2009 World Superbike Championship: 1. March 1 - Phillip Island, Australia; 2. March 14 - Losail, Qatar; 3. April 5 - Valencia, Spain; 4. April 26 - Assen, Holland; 5. May 10 - Monza, Italy; 6. May 17 - Kyalami, South Africa; 7. May 31 - Salt Lake City, USA; 8. June 21 - Misano, San Marino; 9. June 28 - Donington Park, GB; 10. July 26 - Brno, Czech Republic; 11. September 6 - Nurburgring, Germany; 12. September 27 - Imola, Italy; 13. October 4 - Magny-Cours, France; 14. October 25 - Portimao, Portugal.