British Superbike front runners Leon Haslam and Cal Crutchlow will be running World Superbike-spec motors in their Honda Fireblades at Donington Park this weekend to be on level pegging with the rest of the field in terms of horsepower.
Both riders are believe to be running engines from the team’s road racing shelves, which are already in FIM Superbike trim and will conform to WSB specifications.
“I’m coming off the back of a double win at Cadwell Park in the Bennetts British Superbike championship so my confidence is high," said Haslam. "I’m very much looking forward to the World Superbike round at Donington – it’s going to be great to compete at World level again. The track is very special to me, being about 20 minutes from home and it’s going to be good to measure myself against the guys out there.
"We will have a higher-spec engine, with probably a bit more top speed so it’s going to be interesting to see where we stack up against the series regulars.”
Cal Crutchlow added: “I’ve done a World Supersport race before but this will be my first World Superbike race and I really can’t wait. Leon’s had a year of WSB, but this will be new to me and it will be a great experience for the team and myself.
"I’m well up for it, but we know it will be a challenge as Donington may not be the best circuit for us, but we will be doing our best to show off our talents. Tom Sykes did so well at Brands and that’s boosted his confidence so let’s hope we can do the same. It’s not a secret that I want to go onto the World stage as soon as I can so this will be a great opportunity.”