WSB ROUND 3, VALENCIA, SUNDAY 11TH APRIL

Arai riders claim both wins!

LEON HASLAM, ALSTARE SUZUKI

Race 1: First Race 2: Fourth Championship Position: First

“I EXPECTED THAT I WOULD COME UNDER ATTACK”
Leon Haslam stormed his way to victory in the first World Superbike race at Valencia and then followed it up with a hard-fought-for fourth in the second which increased his series lead to 18 points after three rounds. But for braking problems in race two, Haslam would have been well on course for another podium. He’s happy enough, though.

“I made a reasonable start and was fourth at the end of the lap one and then just worked my way up to first by lap five. Once I was in the lead, I realised that the pace was not great and it all felt pretty easy for me. I expected that I would come under attack, but my pit board signals showed that my lead was increasing! We made some small changes to the bike for race two – because of the hotter conditions – and managed to pass about five riders quite quickly despite not making a very good start. Then the race was stopped and we had to start again. We put a bit more preload on the front, but I began having brake problems before too long. I am happy to be leading the series; delighted that I have increased the lead; and really looking forward to Assen – a circuit where I think our bike will go really well.”

JONATHAN REA, TEN KATE HONDA

Race 1: Sixth Race 2: Fifth Championship Position: Fifth

“I’VE GOT A LOT OUT OF BOTH RACES TODAY”
Starting from the second row on the grid, Rea lost places at the beginning of the opening 23-lap encounter, finishing the first lap in 10th place. The 23-year-old once again fought his way past a number of riders, however, moving up to sixth at the flag. His race two start was better, and Rea was in a leading position when the race was red flagged – with results subsequently based on aggregate times, Rea’s result moved him up to fifth place in the championship standings.

“We’ve had a few gremlins this weekend, which ended up costing us time but I feel I’ve got a lot out of both races today. It’s been a difficult weekend and it’s been clear we didn’t have the pace of the frontrunners, but we’ve found out how to make the bike better. The new electronics have definitely made the bike easier to ride but we’ve had problems getting acceleration and grip on corner exits. It’s still early days though, and we know what to work on when we test at Assen this week. I’m really looking forward to that and the next race there, and I’d really like to thank my team for all their efforts this weekend. When morale’s been low, there’s always been a smile on their faces and I’m very grateful for that.”

CAL CRUTCHLOW, STERILGARDA YAMAHA

Race 1: Seventh Race 2: Ninth Championship Position: Tenth

“I WAS DISAPPOINTED I LOST THE TOW”
Cal Crutchlow had a tough first race. A less than perfect start saw him drop from pole to seventh going into the first corner of the race; he fought hard for the duration despite suffering from a lack of grip, riding as high as fifth before dropping back to claim seventh at the line. The hot track temperatures of the second race proved challenging for grip levels but Crutchlow hung on to take ninth at the flag.

“Race one was ok, I was disappointed I lost the tow to the leaders at the start. We’ve got bad rear tyre problems again and we seem to be spinning a lot more than the other competitors from the go – the higher grip levels in Portugal suited us better. We’re looking forward to hopefully improving it, quickly. A difficult weekend, the second race was much the same, no grip from the start.”

NORIYUKI HAGA, XEROX DUCATI

Race 1: Fifth Race 2: First Championship Position: Fourth

“I AM MR VALENCIA…!”
Having scored a solid fifth place finish in race one, Haga triumphed in race two finishing 25 thousandths of a second ahead of Carlos Checa. The win, on board his Ducati 1198R, was far from easy but after 20 laps of the second heat Haga had done just enough to collect the silverware on aggregate. At last it seems Haga’s season is heading in the right direction.

“I like Valencia a lot, I am Mr Valencia! The track was a lot warmer in race one than in the morning’s warm-up and I was lacking rear grip. The more I pushed, the more my bike slid around and this needed to be fixed before race two. Before that race we made a change, reverting to the setting we’d used in the warm-up and it worked well. I was able to push hard, stick with Biaggi and Checa and eventually pass them. I was not thinking about the time difference, I just new I had to go at the front. I’m very happy to have been able to win today. I thank my team, Ducati of course, and all the sponsors who helped contribute to this great result.”

Jakub Smrz had a much better weekend on his PATA Ducati and, after failing to finish either race at Portimao, brought it home in tenth place at the end of both races at Valencia.

The WSB paddock now rolls north to set up for business in Assen, on April 28th.


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