‘Bit of a nightmare’ weekend for Haslam

Leon Haslam had a solid start to the season, despite bad weather and rear tyre grip problems plaguing him through the weekend. The ‘Pocket Rocket’, who completed the double at Donington Park last season, was right in the mix until the races, although he was one of a few riders who didn’t tumble in the inclement and unfavourable conditions.

“Somehow a potentially good weekend turned into a bit of a nightmare. In race one we had a major issue with rear grip and then the same problem emerged in race two. I was more than a second slower than the race pace from practice so clearly we need to look closely at the weekend and resolve the issues ahead of Brands Hatch and round two,” began Haslam.

Last year’s bronze-medalist sits fourth in the championship tables, with a 23-point gap to the Suzuki championship leader, Bradley Ray. Haslam went on to explain how he thought about the championship, proactively thinking about not making a mistake that could potentially harm his championship charge.

“In the second race, starting from the third row obviously didn’t help but I did try to catch Bradley Ray. Fair play to him, he’s had a cracking start to the new season. In the end I had to consider the championship and avoid going crazy to try and win and make a mistake in the opening round. We’ll work out a plan for Brands and hopefully I can make it to the top step of the podium there.”