Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam priority is to get into the top ten in the final timed World Superbike free practice session tomorrow at Aragon, after he had a mix day on track today.
The Brit was able to dramatically improve his lap time this afternoon after an unsatisfactory opening free practice session, ending the day in ninth place. The morning was ‘wasted’ after his crew were sorting out a new engine, but he felt he was performing consistently on the tyres, and even after a few mistakes is ‘reasonably happy’.
“Most of this morning’s session was wasted as we tried to get the bike sorted with the fresh engine but the guys made some good changes between sessions. My first flying lap was about 1.3 seconds faster than I went all morning so that was a good step. I felt pretty consistent on that tyre but went quicker on a new tyre at the end,” said Haslam.
“I made a lot of mistakes on my lap and got held up in some traffic so I’m reasonably happy with this afternoon’s performance. I feel the lap could’ve been a high to mid-58s without those issues.
“We’ve got a way to go yet, but Johnny [Rea] seems to be able to put the lap together so we know the bike can go well here. Tomorrow’s the last timed session for Superpole, so the priority is to get into the top ten, but we need to test in the cooler conditions for Sunday, too.”
