JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam was blighted by tyre wear during the MCE British Superbike double-header at the Snetterton 300 circuit.

In the opening race he opted for the SC0 rear tyre construction and the harder front, and in race two changed to the harder rear, which is a tyre he hasn’t raced with all year, and in both races experienced some ‘issues’.

Haslam has slipped to second in the overall championship standings, behind title rival, Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne after a fifth and fourth place finishes, which Haslam has described as ‘not ideal’. But there are only four points separating the pair in the series.

The Derby-based rider did bag some valuable points and finished inside the top five in both races, even with the tyre problems that he experienced, and the former World Superbike star only had his first taste of the 300 layout during the recent test last month too.

“I think we had a few issues over the weekend and we had a big problem with the tyre in race one and it dropped right off after five or six laps. In race two we opted for the harder option [rear tyre] which we have not ran all year and I felt quite comfortable on the harder option even though I didn’t have much grip as other guys,” said Haslam, speaking to Bikesportnews.com at the track.

“It was one of those weekends, we had some issues. I felt like we could have probably got a couple of thirds out of it if we didn’t have those issues but we were on the back foot this weekend.

“Fourth and fifth was not ideal I think we could of challenged for a third in race two if it was not for the red flag and we had some problems and we need to assess that. But on the longer sweep of corners we are having a big problem and in the cooler track temperatures we are having a massive issue with tyre life compared to the Ducati’s and Honda’s. But we are getting improvements and making good steps.”