Haslam makes WSB return
British Superbike champ Leon Haslam used the Jerez test to become familiar with the World Superbike-spec ZX-10RR he’ll ride alongside Jonathan Rea next year. Haslam finished the test third quickest, just a second off his teammate, as he continues to adapt to the machine, riding with full electronics for the first time since his WSB wildcard ride at Donington in May. Re-learning how to ride with electronics, such as traction control and anti-wheelie, has been the 35-year-old’s focus instead of set-up. “I need to adapt to the bike and not the bike to me,” Haslam said. “This is a winning bike so it’s up to me to make it work. We’ll get it where I need it but it’ll take time to understand the bike. It’s basically a Catch-22 because we could adapt the bike for my style but I’m riding it wrong. I need to ride it correctly first.
“The feedback doesn’t tell me what I need to do because I’m way faster than Johnny on the entry but that doesn’t help lap times. How he brakes and enters is better than my style at the minute. Tom’s style was totally different to Johnny and mine is halfway between the two so I want to try to adapt the best of both as Tom was faster than Johnny in certain areas. “We’ve not changed a spring or a click since Aragon. We’ve been playing around with weight balance. My light weight (just 60kg) is a big factor and my positioning on the bike is having a big effect.”
‘This is a winning bike so it’s up to me to make it work’