HASLAM: ‘NOT THE TIME TO SETTLE FOR POINTS’
Kawasaki star turns a corner and now fancies his title chances
Leon Haslam walked away from what he’s called his worst circuit on the Bennetts British Superbike calendar with a victory and fourth place after taking a big step forward with his JG Speedfit Kawasaki last weekend. While a close-fought, wet weather win was an unexpected cause for celebration for Haslam, he believes the progress the team made with the softer option Pirelli rear tyre could be significant in his 2018 title challenge.
For the last three years, Haslam has struggled to make the softer option tyre last over race distance in cooler conditions, something which has given his rivals, especially Shane Byrne, an advantage. Haslam said: “Normally with the track temperatures we had in race one, we just would not have been able to make the tyre last as long as the Ducati could, but I was actually faster than Shakey (Byrne) at the end of the race.
“We’re still lacking a bit of edge grip, but we’ve taken a big step with the overall tyre wear.” Haslam’s move to the softer tyre came after his team experienced a number of problems with this year’s harder rear.
“The harder tyre was always my preference, but it’s not an option at the moment as it loses me too much time and doesn’t seem to last as long. I’ve never raced the soft option at Oulton, so next week’s test will be about understanding how it’ll wear at a different track. The results from here would suggest it is looking quite positive but we need more testing on it.” Should the progress found by Haslam’s team at Brands transfer to other tracks, it will level the advantage the likes of Byrne and Brookes have enjoyed on the softer tyre in the past and with Pirelli set to introduce their new soft option rear tyre at Oulton, which retains the same compound as the previous soft but with a stiffer construction, this could further play into Haslam’s hands.
An added bonus for Haslam was the wet race two win, which comes at a circuit he left in the back of an ambulance with his title hopes in tatters not six months ago. It was both an important an unexpected victory with some title rivals opting for safe points in the tricky conditions.
“It’s not the right time in the season for settling for points,” Haslam said. “That was such a fun race and it was an important win for us as I’d have been happy to leave here with two fourth places!
“I’m now third in the championship and have the same podium points as Shakey so in all it’s been a good weekend.”