TOUGH FINAL ROUND FOR HASLAM IN PORTUGAL
LEON HASLAM suffered his first double non finish of the year in Sunday’s 14th and final round of the World Superbike Championship at the Portimao circuit in Portugal.
Haslam started the two 22-lap races from fifth place - at the head of the second row of the grid - but was further hindered by a Sunday morning warm-up crash which left him with 25 stitches in his left elbow.
Undeterred, Haslam was in fifth place in the opening race but was almost immediately fighting a front end handling problem which was to eventually contribute to him crashing out on the 10th lap.
"We made some small changes to the rear suspension for the first race and it had a really negative affect on the front end feeling from the machine," said Haslam. "My crash was a little bit like the crash I had in South Africa in May, again a front end problem and, again, my own frustration led to the crash."
In race two - on his spare machine - Haslam looked in confident mood, again in fifth place in the early stages. But an electrical sensor would break and end the 26-year-old's season on the eighth lap.
"This is a really disappointing way to end the year," explained Haslam. "I felt good enough to be able to challenge for a top three finish but the machine started misfiring and the engine wouldn't rev above 10,000rpm. I'm disappointed for the team but today shouldn't detract from what has been a great year overall with the Stiggy Racing Honda Team."
World Superbike Championship, round 14, Portimao, Portugal.
Race results (both races 22 laps - 101.024km / 62.736 miles):
Race one: 1 Ben Spies, USA (Yamaha) 38m 15.390s - 158.442kmh / 98.392mph, 2 Jonathan Rea, GB (Honda) +1.697s, 3 Max Biaggi, Italy (Aprilia) +2.113s, 4 Shane Byrne, GB (Ducati) +2.757s, 5 Michel Fabrizio, Italy (Ducati) +14.753s, 6 Leon Camier, GB (Aprilia) +20.044s, 7 Carlos Checa, Spain (Honda) +25.634s, 8 Ruben Xaus, Spain (BMW) +31.104s, 9 Matthieu Lagrive, France (Honda) +36.689s, 10 Matteo Baiocco, Italy (Ducati) +39.331s.
Race two: 1 Michel Fabrizio, Italy (Ducati) 38m 19.654s - 158.148kmh / 98.210mph, 2 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Ducati) +1.195s, 3 Jonathan Rea, GB (Honda) +1.494s, 4 Shane Byrne, GB (Ducati) +5.553s, 5 Ben Spies, USA (Yamaha) +5.842s, 6 Max Biaggi, Italy (Aprilia) +7.374s, 7 Leon Camier, GB (Aprilia) +9.658s, 8 Jakub Smrz, Czech Rep. (Ducati) +10.434s, 9 Troy Corser, Australia (BMW) +17.010s, 10 Sylvain Guintoli, France (Suzuki) +24.509s.
Final World Championship points, after 14 rounds: 1 Spies 462, 2 Haga 456, 3 Fabrizio 382, 4 Biaggi 319, 5 Rea 315, 6 Haslam 241, 7 Checa 209, 8 Byrne 192, 9 Sykes 176, 9 Byrne 166, 10 Smrz 169.
Manufacturers points: 1 Ducati 572, 2 Yamaha 505, 3 Honda 431, 4 Aprilia 329, 5 Suzuki 173, 6 BMW 141, 7 Kawasaki 76.
Ends.