Longtermers: Honda Fireblade meets Leon Haslam at Donny
HRC’s Leon Haslam shares his Bladeriding tips with Emma at Donington
Honda’s all-new CBR1000RR-R has been bred to win World Superbike titles. So too has their factory rider, Leon Haslam. A superbike rider of outstanding pedigree, the 2018 BSB champ signed for HRC’s WSB squad at the end of 2019 alongside Alvaro Bautista. His mission: to help return Honda to WSB glory.
Back in 2007 the Fireblade notched up 22 race wins and took James Toseland to the title which, amazingly, was the last time Honda won the WSB championship. Given the fact that they’ve now also gone four seasons without a race win, you can see why the Big H have gone to such lengths with the new Fireblade. But 2020 wasn’t the best year to make a big WSB racing comeback.
“It was a strange season for everyone,” said Leon Haslam when I caught up with him at an MSVT trackday at Donington Park back at the end of October. “It was a short season with a new team and a new bike, so it was difficult to understand which direction to go, especially with so few tests, too,” he admitted. “But hopefully we can reach the top step of the podium and challenge for the title in 2021.”
With the new Blade so track focused, rumours from the world press launch suggested Haslam and Bautista had been flying around the Losail circuit on road-trim Blades in just two minutes flat, [the WSB lap record is just 1:56.1] But just how close is my Fireblade to Haslam’s full-factory racer?
“Honestly, the standard road bike is very fast. Riding it at the world press launch in Qatar, Alvaro and I were only a few seconds off race pace, so the level of performance is fantastic. The chassis is very different from the last bike – it is much more stable – plus the road bike electronics are very advanced which means you don’t have to push too hard to get the best out of it. It’s weird to think that a bike people ride on the road and go to the shops on is so similar to the one I push to the absolute limit in races.”
So, can HRC’s main man share any tips to help the average trackday rider get the best from the Blade?
“You’ve got to be the boss,” said Leon. “When you’re sat on it, you need to be as far forward as possible to not only reduce strain on your arms under braking and prevent wheelies from hard acceleration, but also to allow the rear end to do its own thing, so if it does step out then it’s less likely to chuck you.
“The Fireblade steers really well, but you’ve got to maximise the line by turning hard and getting to full lean quickly, and the best way to do this is by cornering off the throttle. By coasting to the apex using engine braking, it allows you to use a tighter line on corner entry so you can stand the bike up and fire it out hard on the throttle at the exit.”
With lockdown still in full effect, it looks like I’ll have a few weeks longer to wait before I can put Leon’s wisdom into practice again, as MSVT’s trackdays are due to restart on Tuesday March 30 at Donington Park (www.msvtrackdays.com). And as for the factory man himself, he and Bautista will be lining up for action in Estoril on May 7-9 and I can’t wait to see how they get on.