OF THE HILL

Haslam ends long search for victory

LEON HASLAM ended a run of eight races without a win when he was crowned King of the Mountain at Cadwell Park yesterday.

The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider trailed title rival Shane Byrne in the opening race of the eighth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.

But he came out fighting in the second race, nudging into the lead on the fifth lap for his fourth win of the campaign to be crowned King on aggregate results.

“I knew the bike had the pace and could be strong here so I was frustrated in the first race and knew we had to do something different in the second,” said Haslam (right).

“I tried to manage it as best as I could with a slow pace to save the tyres, and then get a good pace at the end.

“Three or four tough rounds allowed Shane to get a gap on us in the championship so to beat him here is something special.

“Now we can go to the next round ® at Oulton Park with our heads held high.” Aussie Jason O’Halloran, on the locally-prepared Honda Fireblade, held off Byrne for second place, leaving the four times-winner of the crown puzzled about the performance of his Be Wiser Ducati. “We ran the bike the same as in the first race, but it moved around a lot, moving sideways then I was able to get the power down a bit,” Byrne said. “It was a difficult race and I just don’t know why the bike worked as it did.” Byrne’s first win at the course for 13 years came after a scrap with Haslam, although O’Halloran showed his title credentials and kept the leading duo in check.

Haslam moved ahead of Byrne in the second half of the race, but the series leader hit back and lined up an attack that brought him his seventh victory of the season.

But Byrne pulled off an audacious move through the inside of Haslam at Chris Curve on the final lap.

Byrne said: “I went wide, Jason came past me, then I got ahead of him but Leon was riding a smart race – he was saving his tyres.

“I followed him for a few laps, saw what his strategy was and then put a spanner in his works.”

Byrne made the running next time out but had to had to settle for third place and saw his lead over Haslam cut to 21 points.