BMW's Leon Haslam, who looks set for a move to Ten Kate after his S1000R was yesterday given to Chaz Davies, is puzzled about the crash which ended saw the end of his second World Superbike race at the Nurburgring.
The gritty Briton fell when he lost the front but, unlike team-mate Marco Melandri's double off, Haslam wasn't on the brakes when it happened. He also suffered a serious lack of power in race one which saw his laptimes drop off by three seconds.
"Race one was really bad. I felt I had the pace to run with Eugene Laverty and Chaz Davies. Earlier on I was struggling a little bit with the feel at the front and I found it quite hard to pass the other guys but then midway through the race I was really struggling with changing direction and in the last six or seven laps I had zero power," said Haslam.
"My lap times went up to high 59s and two minutes in the end, while yesterday I did a race simulation all in 56s. So for me it was really disappointing because it should have been a podium but today was affected by my injury and the power through my shoulder.
In race two I felt pretty comfortable. I was in a battle with Eugene and Leon Camier who finished second and third. I made a mistake a few laps before the crash which dropped me back behind the Ducatis but I managed to get back by them guys and to catch up to Camier but then I just lost the front. I never really had any slides before. It was just in that lap and it put me down pretty fast. It was strange. In race one a lot of people crashed that way.
"In race two it was me and Marco. Normally the crashes are on braking, but this time it was off brakes. I don’t have any other major damage, just a lot of bruises. I landed on the same shoulder again and damaged my elbow and a finger a little bit but nothing too major. I am happy about a two week break now and then we will work on to getting back to where we should be. Today we were in a battle for second or third coming from 12th on the grid with my injuries so I can’t be unhappy but I am just disappointed about the crash.”
