LEON HASLAM, BMW MOTORRAD MOTORSPORT
Race One: 4th Race Two: 4th Championship Position: 3rd
“I WAS GLAD TO SEE THE CHEQUERED FLAG…”
BMW’s Leon Haslam finished fourth in both races of the second round of the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park. Haslam led both races but endured contrasting fortunes on his way to the fourth place finishes, and to retaining third place in the World Championship. He led the opening 23-lap race for the first six laps and was only pipped for a podium finish on the very last lap to cross the line fourth and add to his third and fifth place finishes in round one in Australia a month ago. The Derbyshire rider hit the front once more in the second race of the day but then almost crashed on lap eight, running off the track and onto the grass at Coppice corner. He rejoined in ninth place and fought his way through to an eventual fourth place finish. Marco Melandri, riding for Yamaha, won race one, and Althea Ducati-mounted Carlos Checa race two.
“It’s not the sort of day I wanted but I’ll certainly take the points. After qualifying in second place, I really felt that we were in with a chance of winning. But it’s very early days for me and BMW and my expectations are maybe a little high at present. In the end I simply didn’t have the pace to win but the consistency is certainly starting to show now. In the second race I had a big highside at Coppice and went through the screen, cutting my neck, so I was pleased to see the chequered flag…”
JONATHAN REA, CASTROL HONDA
Race One: 5th Race Two: 6th Championship Position: 6th
“OK IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH”
Castrol Honda rider Jonathan Rea was not entirely satisfied with the fifth and sixth place finishes he achieved at Donington Park, but believes they were the best he could achieve. Opting for the harder rear tyre in race one, Rea was involved in a number of battles but ran across the Esses on lap eleven, dropping back to ninth place before fighting his way back to fifth at the flag. His crew adjusted the engine mapping on his CBR1000RR for the second outing to provide more punch out of Donington’s Melbourne hairpin at turn 11, but it wasn’t enough to improve traction and Rea was forced to settle for sixth.
“We got through the weekend OK but five and six is not what we came here for and, by my own standards, ‘OK’ is not good enough. I’ve tried my best all weekend but I got duffed up a bit in race one and maybe could’ve finished a bit higher. In race two, I didn’t make any mistakes and rode as well as I could so it was frustrating when the other guys came past. We tried to use the softer tyre during the weekend but it tore up after ten or 12 laps so I’m not sure if it would have made any difference. We’ve got some work to do, I think – especially on the electronics side of things to get driveability off slower corners. Luckily for us, Assen hasn’t got the stop-go slower section that we have here, so I’m looking forward to getting there for a bit of flow.”
Noriyuki Haga had a blinding race one, looking much like his old self and carving his PATA Aprilia all over the track – he eventually finished sixth, just nine seconds behind the winner. Race two was less rewarding, and an error at the Redgate interrupted his rhythm; he ended up 17th at the flag.
Jakub Smrz (Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati, pictured below) nearly won the first race, and was only overhauled by Melandri as his rear tyre faded in the dying laps. He rounded out race two in 8th place, and characteristically dealt with his near-win well; “Of course I am disappointed to not win the race but it was really nice and I am back on the podium, which is important. The feeling all the race was very good and the bike was perfect, in the end my rear tyre was gone and I could not push any more. Marco passed me and I did not want to risk anything in the end.”
World Supersport campaigner Broc Parkes qualified his Motocard.com Kawasaki on the front row and unlike some other riders was untroubled with significant technical issues in the race, although he lost traction from his rear tyre in the later stages. His top five finish left him in a solid second place overall. He was fairly pleased with his weekend’s work:
“We’re second in the championship overall and it was good to get some points again. We just didn’t have the pace from the start and I tried to conserve the tyre a little bit, because we were a bit concerned about tyre wear pre-race. I could see the group in front of me and I tried to stick with them but at the end I could not battle for a podium position.”
The next Word Superbike championship round is at Assen, with racing taking place on May 17.
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