Red Devils Aprilia’s Haslam thinks the factory-backed RSV4 he rides in this year’s World Superbike series is his best chance of securing the title since he came second on the Alstare Suzuki back in 2010.

The team has factory ties being based in the Noale factory, and with good performances in pre-season testing at Jerez and Portiamo, it all looks good for the pint-sized Smalley man.

“Even with the Suzuki I was not sure at the beginning. We were super quick and won the very first race but it was always an old bike competing against the might of Aprilia. Even though this Aprilia isn’t the same as it has been, in my opinion it is still going to be competitive,” said Haslam, speaking to bikesportnews.com

“For me the Ducatis and Kawasakis are the bikes to beat; it isn’t going to be easy. I’m not saying I will win straight away but I am pretty confident we can be challenging, which is definitely all I can ask for at this point and I am very happy with that.

“It’s the happiest I have been for as long as I can remember as far as the team and the bike are concerned – every lap I do on the bike, I feel more confident with it, I feel back to where I was in the Suzuki days.

“As far as looking ahead to the year, I am super-excited. With the rules and how competitive the bike is, it’s quite early days for the Aprilia. They only decided to do this engine last minute and we are very early in trying to make it competitive.

“I think it has taken the most of a knock with the new rules out of all the machines that are here, but in my opinion it is still super competitive and for me, I definitely feel a lot happier with that bike even in the spec that it is in now. Aprilia are quite confident that we can make it better and we will have to wait and see where we stack up against the others.”

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