World Superbikes, Silverstone
LEON HASLAM, ALSTARE SUZUKI
Race 1: Third Race 2: Fourth Championship Position: Second
“I WAS HAPPY TO FINISH AHEAD OF MAX BIAGGI”
Leon Haslam endured two tough 18-lap races at the British World Superbike 10th round at Silverstone – racing to third in race one and a fourth in race two – but all importantly closed the gap on series leader Max Biaggi. Wearing a specially painted one-off duck-egg blue Arai, in commemoration of the Battle of Britain’s 70th anniversary and in support of the Royal Air Force Association’s Wings Appeal, Haslam rode his socks off but finished the day a little frustrated, because he felt he could’ve challenged for the wins if things had gone his way a bit more and that would've narrowed the gap even more.
“Generally, I feel that the Silverstone round has been a bit frustrating because I think it could’ve, and should’ve been better. When our package is perfect, I know I can challenge for wins, but when it is not, it can be a bit of a struggle and that’s how it was. I made a bad start in the first race but managed to close the gap on the leaders and was getting ready to mount an attack on Jonathan Rea, but had gearbox problems for the last seven laps, so couldn’t push harder and get closer to him. A podium is not bad though, and it was good to be up there with two other Brits. We used a different engine in race two, but everything else was the same, including the tyres. However, this time the grip feeling was completely different and I really had to work hard to keep in the top four or so. On the last lap, I had a big fight with James Toseland. He passed me, but I was determined to get him back and that’s what I did. On the last turn, he tried to get round the outside of me at the beginning of the start-finish straight and hit me, breaking my tail fairing and exhaust bracket in the process. It was a bit of a hairy moment, but happily we both stayed on our bikes and crossed the line OK. It was a tough end to a hard race but, just like race one, I was happy to finish ahead of Max Biaggi. It would’ve better, if I could've got some more points, but that’s how it went.”
JONATHAN REA, TEN KATE HONDA
Race 1: Second Race 2: Second Championship Position: Third
“MY TEAM GAVE ME A GREAT BIKE”
Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea, finished second in both races at Silverstone. The encounters around the revised 5.902km Silverstone circuit were won by British rider Cal Crutchlow, with Leon Haslam and Leon Camier each taking a third place to make two all-British podiums. Starting from second place on the grid, Rea grabbed the holeshot in both outings, leading the first for the opening eleven laps as he and Crutchlow built up a lead over third placed Haslam. Race two was almost a carbon copy, with Rea leading until lap 15, when Crutchlow again hit the front and made a break for the flag. The results strengthened Rea’s hold on third place in the championship.
“In race one Cal had a little bit more pace than me, where I was missing maybe a couple of tenths a lap. The bike was working very well, but we got let down by the tyre a little bit, I think, because it definitely felt a lot different to the one I used in warm-up this morning. I thought I might have the pace in race two, but well done to Cal – he did a great job and rode absolutely superbly. My team gave me a great bike this weekend that allowed me to at least fight for the wins here. I’m really happy and really enjoyed riding at Silverstone this weekend and we’ve had a couple of good results to take into the summer break”
CAL CRUTCHLOW, STERILGARDA YAMAHA
Race 1: First Race 2: First Championship Position: Fifth
“IT’S BEEN A DREAM COME TRUE”
Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow made it two in a row at Silverstone, delivering the double win at his home race, all while wearing his Arai World Champion design helmet, the one he won his World Supersport title in. The British rider ended a flawless weekend’s riding with a masterful display of race craft; a good start from pole position in race one saw him quickly into second behind Johnny Rea. Crutchlow then played the waiting game, comfortably following the Honda rider just 0.1 seconds behind until mid race before taking the lead. He surrendered briefly to Rea but then re-took quickly and pulled away to build a 1.6 second lead as he crossed the line to claim his maiden win of the championship. Race two saw a repeat of the first with Crutchlow quickly settling in behind Rea, again maintaining a gap of just 0.1 to 0.2 seconds until just three laps from the end when he again pulled out to take the lead. Crutchlow’s performance means he leaves Silverstone having jumped up from tenth to fifth in the rankings, now sitting on 188 points, 55 points behind Carlos Checa in third.
“We’ve been trying so hard all year to achieve a win, I’m ecstatic that it has happened at my home race. It’s been a tough weekend with all the Brits trying hard but we knew we had the pace. We were worried about tyre wear but it wasn’t too bad; it was a little bit cooler in the first race, which helped our bike as well. We now need to carry on and fight for the rest of the season. It’s been a dream come true, three Brits on the podium for both races is brilliant. The British fans have been fantastic, they came out and gave us tremendous support all round the circuit, a brilliant day for me, a brilliant day for Yamaha, Sterilgarda and all our other sponsors. All credit to Johnny Rea he rode really well in both races but I was able to pick him off with a couple of laps to go…”
NORIYUKI HAGA, XEROX DUCATI
Race 1: Fourteenth Race 2: Thirteenth Championship Position: Seventh
“IT WAS A VERY DIFFICULT WEEKEND!”
Noriyuki Haga, starting from the fourth row, had problems from the start; the rear of his 1198 was sliding around to such an extent that it was difficult to open the throttle out of the corners. He was lapping in eleventh position for the best part of the race but the level of feeling worsened in the last laps, and the Japanese rider unfortunately lost three positions, eventually closing the race in fourteenth place. He made some small changes to the set-up of his bike before the second race in order to improve rear tyre wear but unfortunately, these modifications did not work to his advantage. Noriyuki benefited to a slight extent from the changes made but his feeling was not great and he was unable to do better than thirteenth position.
“In race one it was really difficult as the rear was moving around all over the place and so I couldn’t open the throttle when I needed to or make up positions as I’d hoped to. We made some changes for the second race but they didn’t improve my overall feeling with the bike. It seemed like I needed more traction and I could only push so much. It was a very difficult weekend.”
Jakub Smrz and his PATA Ducati finished thirteenth in the first race and ninth in the second. He remains 13th in the championship.
The WSB paddock now heads to the Nurburgring in Germany, with racing on 5th September 2010.
For more news and information on Arai helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk
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