JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam has set his MCE British Superbike Showdown stall out ahead of this weekend’s Donington round, saying that race wins are the only thing he wants to bring home from how until season end.
The Derby rider comes into his home round on the back of a triple-win at Oulton Park last weekend which saw take the championship lead and overtake Shane Byrne in the podium credits chase. Haslam will begin Sunday’s action with a three-point gap over the Be Wiser Ducati man.
“I was always aiming for the three wins, but for Shane to have a bad weekend as well on top of that and not be on the podium in any of the races was unexpected for sure. To achieve the 1-2-3 finish for the team in race one is something I don’t think we’ll see again, especially as the British Superbike Championship is so strong right now,” said Haslam.
“We’ve been consistent at every weekend this year, and besides rounds at Snetterton and Thruxton, we’ve not been outside the top three. That’s where we should be this weekend, but for me it’s all about race wins, that’s what I am aiming for this weekend.”
Haslam has enjoyed a superb return to the British series after seven years competing in World Superbikes. Despite a difficult mid-season, he’s been one of the men to beat throughout the year, with seven wins.
“We’ve been in good shape recently, I expected a double win at Cadwell Park but we just missed out on race one. Before that we’d had issues at Snetterton, Thruxton and even at Brands Hatch, we were having problems with the bike and we lost a lot of points, so it could be even better. We’ve won races everywhere else though and I feel we’re getting on top of the Kawasaki ZX-10R bike just in time for the Showdown.”
Haslam is a regular face at Donington Park, as he makes constant appearances at the Honda Ron Haslam Race School, and admits that competing at his home venue is going to be a big boost: “Donington Park is a track I know very well and I come here not having to learn the track again after eight or nine years like I did with places like Knockhill or Oulton Park. It’s a massive positive from my perspective and my home race at Donington is one I’m super excited for. I’m really looking forward to it, we’ve got a busy weekend with a lot of my friends and sponsors coming to support me, and I’ll be visiting the campsite on Saturday to meet the fans, so I can’t wait to get going.
“The Ducatis are going to be strong at Donington and Shane always goes well here, but I’ve been confident all year in that we can win races. The weather for this weekend looks fantastic and hopefully we can come out on top.”
