WSBK ROUND 3, ASSEN, SUNDAY APRIL 17

LEON HASLAM, BMW MOTORRAD MOTORSPORT
Race One: 12th           Race Two: 5th       Championship Position: 3rd

“IT’S BEEN A TOUGH WEEKEND…”

Leon Haslam had a torrid weekend at Assen, but battled hard for points that could prove crucial later in the season. Starting race one on the third row he fought his way up to seventh before crashing out, remounting in second to last place; by the end he’d made it up to 12th, collecting four valuable points (Jonathan Rea nosed his Castrol Honda ahead of Max Biaggi to take the win) on the way. Race two was a different story – Haslam made a much better start into seventh place, and as the leading seven riders broke away, Haslam stayed with them. He got past Eugene Laverty on the start of the fourth lap, then managed to get in front of Noriyuki Haga later that same lap. On lap eight, Leon Camier forced his way past Haslam and began to chase down the leaders; for the remainder of the 22-lap race, Haslam had to work hard to try and defend his track position, fighting off constant attention from Laverty, Michel Fabrizio and Haga for the majority of the race to eventually finish in fifth place. Carlos Checa took victory at the flag, from Biaggi.

 
“It’s been a tough weekend. We’ve been encountering a few minor issues that made lap-by-lap consistency difficult. The situation obviously wasn’t helped by my crash in race one, the back of the bike came round on me unexpectedly and I was unable to stop myself from crashing. I also got clipped by one of the other riders when I was on the floor, which meant I was a little sore for race two. Still I got a good start in the second race and managed to get up with the leaders but sadly I was unable to progress through the pack. But we still managed to secure another top five finish and I know that we will go away from here, work hard back at the workshop and prepare well for Monza.”

JONATHAN REA, CASTROL HONDA
Race One: 1st           Race Two: 3rd      Championship Position: 4th

“I’M HAPPY TO BE BACK WHERE I BELONG, IN THE WINNERS’ CIRCLE!”
Jonathan Rea won race one and followed it up with a podium in race two to kick start his season in style; Assen marks the home race for Rea’s team and the victory was his first of the season and the first for the newly branded Castrol Honda squad, which is based just 50km to the south of the historic 4.452km circuit. After qualifying in fifth place on the grid, Rea made a good start in the opener and passed Checa for the lead on lap four, before powering to victory from second placed Max Biaggi. In race two, the 24-year-old had a slower start and, as he tried to get by fellow Ulsterman, Eugene Laverty, Checa and Biaggi were able to open a gap which Rea was unable to bridge after his tyres went off.

“I’m proud of this one. We spent all weekend developing the bike for the races, and that strategy paid off. I got a good start but couldn’t decide whether to let Max past and let him dictate the pace. In the end I made the right decision to stay in front and take the win. We had to dig deep in race two because I got held up for a while and the front guys got away. I was matching their lap times but we ran into some tyre problems later in the race. I’m really happy with the weekend though – it’s been a long hard winter coming back from injury. The team has worked really well and that’s exactly the right sort of confidence and momentum that we need to take to the next races. I’m happy to be back where I belong, in the winners’ circle.”

Noriyuki Haga and his PATA Aprilia had a superb superpole and qualified fourth on the grid; a DNF after a poor start in race one did not go down well but he wound up race two in eighth, scrapping hard all the way.

Jakub Smrz (Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati) qualified brilliantly and put himself second on the grid. He had to fight through the pack though, then crashed at Assen’s famous last corner chicane taking his teammate Guintoli out in the process. In race two he made it home in ninth; “The first race I was always in close contact with the front group, though I had to avoid a falling Haslam and got off line. But then I made my mistake in the chicane and inadvertently caused the crash for my teammate Guintoliho. I suffered an elbow injury that did not affect my performance in race two. I had a bad start though and during the first laps I got into contact with Camier; I finally finished in ninth place, only a few tenths from fifth place...”
After a race that was re-started twice World Supersport campaigner Broc Parkes eventually took his second podium of the year and is now only three points from the top, in second place overall, as points leader Luca Scassa crashed out; “I was a little bit fortunate that some other riders went out but I was unlucky to be bumped wide in the first turn, so it was just luck coming back my way. We have learned some things to take from this weekend to Monza and the team is always working on new things, so we can look forward to that.”

In the Superstock 1000, Arai supported rider Davide Guiglioni took a superb first place and further success followed in the European Championship Superstock 600 with Michael van de Mark also taking the win.

The next Word Superbike championship round is at Monza, with racing taking place on May 8.

For more information and news on Arai helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk