WSB ROUND 6, KYALAMI, SUNDAY 16TH MAY

Exciting racing from Arai riders in South Africa

LEON HASLAM, ALSTARE SUZUKI
Race 1: Third Race 2: First Championship Position: First

“WHAT AN AMAZING DAY!”
Leon Haslam, wearing his unique World Cup replica Arai, extended his World Superbike Championship lead to 15 points after a thrilling victory in the second race at Kyalami. After racing to third place in the opener, the second outing was particularly dramatic for Haslam; action-packed and one of the best battles of the season so far. Throughout the race Leon fought tooth and nail with Jonathan Rea, and the battle went right down to the wire with Haslam making an audacious passing move one lap from the end. This time he made it stick and went on to take the flag by half a second. It was his third win and ninth podium of the season and one of hardest victories of his career.

“What an amazing day! The second race was one of the best I’ve ever been involved in and definitely one of the hardest. Jonny and I had a real ding-dong and it was bar-to-bar stuff for most of it. I passed him a few times, but he always got me back and the longer the race went on I could feel him working out where I’d pass and how he’d stop me. In the end, I had to pass at a different place and this time I made it stick and held on to the flag. To win a race like that is quite an emotional thing and I have to give a big thank you to the whole team for all their work this weekend. The bike in the second race was an improvement. We had a few issues in race one, so changed the balance by making it a bit lower in the front and higher in the rear. I still had some issues with it, but it was better and allowed me to fight for the win. After the drama of race two, it’s hard to remember what happened in race one. I didn’t get a good start and had to make up a lot of ground as best I could. I wasn’t completely confident in the front end, so could not push hard enough to catch Fabrizio and Checa, but I was happy to get on the podium.”

JONATHAN REA, TEN KATE HONDA
Race 1: Fifth Race 2: Second Championship Position: Fourth

“IT WASN’T LOOKING TOO CLEVER AFTER WARM UP…”
Jonathan Rea produced two outstanding rides at Kyalami, to take fifth and second place finishes. Starting from the third row of the grid, Rea began race one impressively, moving up to sixth on the opening lap before a lack of grip dropped him to ninth place. However, the 23-year-old was able to maintain consistent times throughout the race and he fought his way back to fifth in the closing laps. With a slightly harder rear spring in his CBR1000RR for the second outing, Rea charged into second place on the first lap and snatched the lead from Haslam on lap two. The Northern Irishman was able to hold Haslam and Biaggi at bay until Haslam made his winning move on the penultimate lap.

“I got a good start in the first race but just couldn’t hold the other guys as I didn’t find any grip. But even when I dropped down to ninth with quite a gap in front, I didn’t give up on a single corner or a single straight. I was able to maintain pretty consistent laps, which allowed me to catch and pass the others at the end. We made a small change for race two and then I got a blinding start. From there I found it easy to go to the front but it was really difficult to make a break. In the end, Haslam made a lunge and I had to settle for second. All in all, I would have taken your arm off if you’d offered me those results this morning and I’d like to thank the team for keeping my spirits up – it wasn’t looking too clever after warm-up. I’m really looking forward to Salt Lake City now that we’re back on the podium.”

CAL CRUTCHLOW, STERILGARDA YAMAHA
Race 1: Eighth Race 2: Fourth Championship Position: Ninth

“WE DID THE BEST JOB WE COULD”
Race one saw pole-sitter Crutchlow initially drop to ninth off the line and as the grip levels dropped dramatically he fought for traction, eventually finishing in eighth place.
Race two saw Crutchlow again struggling to maintain a competitive race pace as his grip levels suffered early on – despite a less than perfect start he battled up to take fourth position, taking race one winner Fabrizio in the process. Crutchlow held the position to the line, taking the chequered flag just under a second behind first placed Haslam.

“We did the best job we could today at a track that the bike is not best suited to. Like a lot of riders I seemed to lose a lot of grip very early in the races making it a struggle to keep on the pace. Having said that I was pleased overall with the second race, we were battling for a win and showing good pace throughout to hold on for points. It’s a difficult circuit and we’ve done well, the team did a really good job and we’re looking forward to getting to Salt Lake City. The track at Miller will suit our bike a bit better so I’m confident we can achieve some good results.”

NORIYUKI HAGA, XEROX DUCATI
Race 1: Seventeenth Race 2: Tenth Championship Position: Sixth

“WITH NO GRIP YOU DON’T REALLY GET ANYWHERE”
Noriyuki Haga had a difficult race one, struggling with a lack of grip. Although he made up a few positions straight off the start line, progressing from sixteenth to twelfth, after about ten laps the lack of rear grip began to affect his lap times which consequently caused him to lose over the final laps the positions he had previously gained; the Japanese rider therefore finished in seventeenth position. Haga had a better race two, lapping consistently fast, with times in the final stages that matched those of the podium placed riders. Although he continued to improve, there was too much to make up from sixteenth on the grid, and the he had to be satisfied with tenth place.

“In race one after about ten laps the performance of the rear tyre dropped dramatically. There wasn’t much I could do to improve. I’m disappointed of course because with no grip you don’t really get anywhere. In the second race, having made some small changes to my bike but deciding to go with the same tyre, I had a better overall feeling and, from more or less mid-race, unlike race one, I was able to push increasingly hard. The problem was that those ahead of me had already built a significant lead; I needed a few more laps to be able to catch some of them.”

Jakub Smrz finished onboard his PATA Ducati in ninth place in race one and two. He remains 13th in the championship.

The WSB paddock now heads to Miller Motorsports Park, USA, with racing on May 31st.