Hard work and slim pickings for Arai riders in Spain.
LEON HASLAM, BMW MOTORRAD MOTORSPORT
Race One: 9th Race Two: 9th Championship Position: 6th
“WE’VE STILL GOT A LOT OF WORK TO DO…”
Leon Haslam finished ninth in both races at round seven of the World Superbike Championship at Aragon in Spain. Haslam battled through from row four of the grid in both races, holding 14th place for the early part of race one before easing into ninth place and a battle with team-mate Troy Corser in the closing stages. A much better start to race two left Haslam in eighth place at the end of the first lap but he drifted back to 10th before muscling out Italian Ayrton Badovini in the closing stages to ensure ninth place a repeat finish of race one. Yamaha-mounted Marco Melandri won the opening encounter, while fellow Italian Max Biaggi and his Aprilia took victory in the second race.
“It has been another tough weekend for us. In race one I didn’t get a good start and left myself with a lot of work to do. I felt like I had the pace to run with the second group of riders who were fighting for fourth place, but I made a mistake on lap one and was not able to bridge the gap. However, I worked hard, made up some places and finished the race in ninth. In race two I got a better start, the one I was hoping for in the first race. Sadly I did not have a good feeling with the machine, as we went for a softer tyre and I did not have the same level of grip, but I had a good battle with Ayrton Badovini. We just have to go through the data now and get ready for the next round. We’ve still got a lot of work to do…”
JONATHAN REA, CASTROL HONDA
Race One: DNS Race Two: DNS Championship Position: 8th
“I’M SO DISAPPOINTED.”
Castrol Honda rider Jonathan Rea was forced to miss the two races at Aragon and has undergone an operation to secure the radius bone in his right arm, which was fractured in a warm-up crash at Misano. The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland also sustained minor fractures to his right foot and left collarbone and is working on regaining 100% fitness as quickly as possible.
“I’m so disappointed to be missing the Aragon round because when we rode a couple of really cold laps there last year I did enjoy the layout. I like riding at new circuits and it would have been useful to get some data from there. It was a pretty fast crash last weekend – everything’s quite sore and I also got some gravel rash on my neck which is pretty painful, too. I’m going to concentrate on getting fit again as quickly as I can. When I get back on the bike I want to be at 100% so that I can really get the very best of out it and try to get us back on the podium and back to winning ways.”
Race One: 9th Race Two: 9th Championship Position: 6th
“WE’VE STILL GOT A LOT OF WORK TO DO…”
Leon Haslam finished ninth in both races at round seven of the World Superbike Championship at Aragon in Spain. Haslam battled through from row four of the grid in both races, holding 14th place for the early part of race one before easing into ninth place and a battle with team-mate Troy Corser in the closing stages. A much better start to race two left Haslam in eighth place at the end of the first lap but he drifted back to 10th before muscling out Italian Ayrton Badovini in the closing stages to ensure ninth place a repeat finish of race one. Yamaha-mounted Marco Melandri won the opening encounter, while fellow Italian Max Biaggi and his Aprilia took victory in the second race.
“It has been another tough weekend for us. In race one I didn’t get a good start and left myself with a lot of work to do. I felt like I had the pace to run with the second group of riders who were fighting for fourth place, but I made a mistake on lap one and was not able to bridge the gap. However, I worked hard, made up some places and finished the race in ninth. In race two I got a better start, the one I was hoping for in the first race. Sadly I did not have a good feeling with the machine, as we went for a softer tyre and I did not have the same level of grip, but I had a good battle with Ayrton Badovini. We just have to go through the data now and get ready for the next round. We’ve still got a lot of work to do…”
JONATHAN REA, CASTROL HONDA
Race One: DNS Race Two: DNS Championship Position: 8th
“I’M SO DISAPPOINTED.”
Castrol Honda rider Jonathan Rea was forced to miss the two races at Aragon and has undergone an operation to secure the radius bone in his right arm, which was fractured in a warm-up crash at Misano. The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland also sustained minor fractures to his right foot and left collarbone and is working on regaining 100% fitness as quickly as possible.
“I’m so disappointed to be missing the Aragon round because when we rode a couple of really cold laps there last year I did enjoy the layout. I like riding at new circuits and it would have been useful to get some data from there. It was a pretty fast crash last weekend – everything’s quite sore and I also got some gravel rash on my neck which is pretty painful, too. I’m going to concentrate on getting fit again as quickly as I can. When I get back on the bike I want to be at 100% so that I can really get the very best of out it and try to get us back on the podium and back to winning ways.”
Noriyuki Haga and his PATA Aprilia finished race one in 6th and race two in 7th; the consistency helps move him up one spot to 9th in the championship. Jakub Smrz and his Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati had another disastrous weekend and DNF’d both races, dropping him back to 11th overall in the title chase.
Kawasaki Motocard.com rider Broc Parkes not only blasted off from pole he led from the front and looked comfortable, but was unlucky in the final part of the race. Losing front tyre grip from mid-race on, but trying to keep his closest title rival Chas Davies behind him, he slid off on lap 16 of 18. Despite trying to get going again, he had to retire and no scored. Despite the disappointment of losing the championship lead to Davies, Parkes is still a strong overall second after six rounds, with another six to go; “It was all going fine at the front, all under control. Then the front tyre felt that it was moving a little bit under me, from about half race distance. I was struggling to control the pace and a couple of times I lost the front. I tried to back down a little bit and then it started to feel OK. I had three laps to go and I knew there were two riders behind me and the gap back to them was pretty much the same. Then I made a mistake and lost the front. Maybe on days like that you should finish and settle for the points in third, or something like that. Anyway, it didn’t work out and I am really upset because it was good points we lost.”
For more information on Arai please visit www.whyarai.co.uk
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