Haslam claims third row start at Misano
The blistering heat that dominated the opening day of qualifying at Misano, took a turn for the unexpected as wet conditions hovered over the track in the second series of qualifying today.
Having qualified safely for Superpole by posting the ninth fastest time in yesterday's qualifying, Leon Haslam choose to remain in the garage for most of the session, and only ventured out on the wet track in the ultimate minutes to post the 11th fastest time on the board at the damp 4.226km long track.
Haslam pushed himself through the first Superpole session, but lost his seventh fastest time in the second shootout after he had to give in three places and finished a final tenth place.
Leon Haslam, P10, 1'36.510s:
" I am a little disappointed. I only had one clear lap behind another rider in the second Superpole, but then was held up by other riders as I tried for another lap. I thought I was sitting safe in seventh position, but obviously, it was not enough and I lost out on the last Superpole by less than a tenth of a second. We have a few issues we need to resolve just for the race set up, but all in all we have a good direction for tomorrow. If I have a good start in the race I can be there at the front."
Johan Stigefelt, Team Manager:
" It is hard to say I am satisfied. I think we can do a lot better and need to improve our Superpole strategy. This is where we lose all the time. It is hard to keep up coming from 10th position and we can't keep doing that while we could easily be riding top five. We have to change the strategy and work from there. It is very important to qualify well on the grid, sometimes it can make a whole race."
Results Superpole:
1. J. Smrz 1'35.435
.2 J. Rea 1'35.609
.3 B. Spies 1'35.631
10. L. Haslam 1'37.490