Arai’s Hopkins bags Superpole, Haslam tantalisingly close to a podium
LEON HASLAM, BMW MOTORRAD MOTORSPORT
Race One: 4th Race Two: 8th Championship Position: 5th
“I WAS REALLY PUSHING FOR THE PODIUM”
Silverstone played host to a dramatic World Superbike round, with Leon Haslam coming close to clinching a rostrum finish in front of his home crowd, wearing a special one-off paintjob on his Arai RX-7 GP helmet in support of his chosen charity, SPARKS (Sports Aiding medical Research for Kids). Leon makes a contribution to the charity that is directly linked to his racing performance, and gives SPARKS £10 for every World Championship point he scores in 2011.
Race one started promisingly for Haslam, who made a good start from 9th on the grid to join the leading group in 6th in the early laps. As the laps tumbled, seven riders fell victim to the tricky Silverstone circuit, but Haslam crossed the line in 4th position after fighting hard with pole sitter John Hopkins and Marco Melandri. Top honours went to championship leader Carlos Checa. Race two saw a difficult opening lap for Haslam and he dropped back to 10th; but he continued to push and, at half race distance, managed to take seventh position from Fabrizio. However, with a four second gap to the leaders to contend with and a charging Guintoli chasing him down, Leon still faced a battle to the end, eventually being forced to settle for 8th position. But it was to be the same three from race one who took to the podium with Checa doing the double, followed by Laverty and Melandri.
“In race one I was really happy with the start, I was able to get myself into the position I wanted to be in and run with the leaders. I was really pushing for the podium and battled to keep with Melandri but I was really struggling to pass him and remain in front. I was happy to be running close to the front and the lap times were OK, I just couldn’t quite get on the podium. In race two I was having a few issues with the bike and was forced to adapt my riding style to try and ride around it. I got to the point where I was able to run consistent lap times but by then the leaders had gone. Now we have the summer break so I am just looking forward to spending some time at home and preparing in the gym for the next races.”
JONATHAN REA, CASTROL HONDA
Race One: DNS Race Two: DNS Championship Position: 12th
Castrol Honda rider Jonathan Rea remained on the sidelines for his home round of the WSBK championship at Silverstone as his right arm, broken at Misano during morning warm up on race day, June 12 continues to heal.
Samsung Crescent Racing's John Hopkins raced to fifth and seventh places as a ‘Wild-Card’ entry at Silverstone. Following his victory in Superpole – where he set a new lap record – the British Superbike Championship contender started both races from pole, going in full of fight and dicing for the lead in the early stages of race one. But with a riding style that dictates use of the rear brake, disaster struck mid-way through for Hopkins when he suffered a rear brake issue, effectively ending hopes of a podium finish – but he still finished the race in an impressive fifth place. In race two, Hopkins was at the sharp-end of the action, battling hard with WSBK title contenders Marco Melandri, Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty. He thoroughly enjoyed his day’s racing:
LEON HASLAM, BMW MOTORRAD MOTORSPORT
Race One: 4th Race Two: 8th Championship Position: 5th
“I WAS REALLY PUSHING FOR THE PODIUM”
Silverstone played host to a dramatic World Superbike round, with Leon Haslam coming close to clinching a rostrum finish in front of his home crowd, wearing a special one-off paintjob on his Arai RX-7 GP helmet in support of his chosen charity, SPARKS (Sports Aiding medical Research for Kids). Leon makes a contribution to the charity that is directly linked to his racing performance, and gives SPARKS £10 for every World Championship point he scores in 2011.
Race one started promisingly for Haslam, who made a good start from 9th on the grid to join the leading group in 6th in the early laps. As the laps tumbled, seven riders fell victim to the tricky Silverstone circuit, but Haslam crossed the line in 4th position after fighting hard with pole sitter John Hopkins and Marco Melandri. Top honours went to championship leader Carlos Checa. Race two saw a difficult opening lap for Haslam and he dropped back to 10th; but he continued to push and, at half race distance, managed to take seventh position from Fabrizio. However, with a four second gap to the leaders to contend with and a charging Guintoli chasing him down, Leon still faced a battle to the end, eventually being forced to settle for 8th position. But it was to be the same three from race one who took to the podium with Checa doing the double, followed by Laverty and Melandri.
“In race one I was really happy with the start, I was able to get myself into the position I wanted to be in and run with the leaders. I was really pushing for the podium and battled to keep with Melandri but I was really struggling to pass him and remain in front. I was happy to be running close to the front and the lap times were OK, I just couldn’t quite get on the podium. In race two I was having a few issues with the bike and was forced to adapt my riding style to try and ride around it. I got to the point where I was able to run consistent lap times but by then the leaders had gone. Now we have the summer break so I am just looking forward to spending some time at home and preparing in the gym for the next races.”
JONATHAN REA, CASTROL HONDA
Race One: DNS Race Two: DNS Championship Position: 12th
Castrol Honda rider Jonathan Rea remained on the sidelines for his home round of the WSBK championship at Silverstone as his right arm, broken at Misano during morning warm up on race day, June 12 continues to heal.
Samsung Crescent Racing's John Hopkins raced to fifth and seventh places as a ‘Wild-Card’ entry at Silverstone. Following his victory in Superpole – where he set a new lap record – the British Superbike Championship contender started both races from pole, going in full of fight and dicing for the lead in the early stages of race one. But with a riding style that dictates use of the rear brake, disaster struck mid-way through for Hopkins when he suffered a rear brake issue, effectively ending hopes of a podium finish – but he still finished the race in an impressive fifth place. In race two, Hopkins was at the sharp-end of the action, battling hard with WSBK title contenders Marco Melandri, Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty. He thoroughly enjoyed his day’s racing:
“Boy that was a lot of fun. The first race was a bit of a disappointment with the rear brake pad issues, but I managed to alter my corner-entry and keep my focus to bag that fifth place. Race two felt better, but to keep with those factory bikes you really need to make up time on the brakes and on the gas out of the turns. I knew that would kill my tyre, so it was no surprise in the closing stages of race two when we started losing the times. Overall, I’m really pumped about this weekend. I’ve bagged my first-ever World SBK pole position, mixed it at the sharp-end and enjoyed the racing immensely. A huge thanks to the whole team.”
Noriyuki Haga and his PATA Aprilia crashed out of race one and DNF’d in race two he remains 9th in the championship. Jakub Smrz and his Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati didn’t make the end of race one, but finished 11th in the second outing, moving him back one place to 13th overall in the title chase.
Kawasaki Motocard.com rider Broc Parkes found the World Supersport competition tough in the early laps, with top names like Robin Harms, Sam Lowes and Gino Rea crashing or running off the circuit. The race settled into a pattern of Parkes vying for a top six finish which he achieved and after the race he was pragmatic, if a little unhappy with the performance:
“We struggled in the race big time and didn’t have the pace all weekend. It was damage limitation really, a matter of seeing what I could do in the race. For some reason our set-up is not working the way we want it. I could do the same consistent lap time but to have the pace to get to the front I could not pass people. Sixth was not so good for our championship push but we came out of here with some points and we have to improve and go into the last part of the season and see what we can do…”
The next Word Superbike championship round is at Nurburgring, on September 4.
The next Word Superbike championship round is at Nurburgring, on September 4.
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