Haslam takes debut 2008 win for HM Plant Honda at Knockhill
Leon Haslam finally got his first Bennetts British Superbike
win on the board for HM Plant Honda at Knockhill today. The
victory in race two made up for his retirement in the first
race, which was due to a misfire. His team-mate Cal Crutchlow
suffered a disappointing day. He crashed in race one, before
having to start at the back of the grid for the re-start of
race two. Despite this handicap the Coventry rider managed
to scythe his way through the field to finish in seventh place.
In the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 race Steve Brogan
toon his CBR1000RR Fireblade to yet another win – his
sixth in eight races. He faced a tougher battle in the Fuchs-Silkolene
British Supersport event, where a bad start saw him way down
the order. He managed to fight back to 11th place at the flag.
Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
RACE ONE: DNF
RACE TWO: 1st position
“That’s such a relief! It feels like I’ve
got a monkey off my back, as this win’s been a long
time coming! The team have worked so hard so it’s great
to finally give them the reward for it. Obviously it wasn’t
the way I wanted to win it, with Shane Byrne falling off,
but I was reeling him in after he’d pulled a bit of
a gap through backmarkers so I felt the win was mine. It also
made up for the disappointment of the first race. I was slowing
down to come into the pits when Shakey caught me and knocked
me down at very slow speed. This fires me up for the rest
of the season and I’m looking forward to Cadwell Park.”
Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
RACE ONE: DNF
RACE TWO: 7th position
“I’m very disappointed overall. In the first race
it was a stupid crash in pretty dodgy conditions really –
half wet, half dry. I hold my hands up to it as it was my
mistake as I hit a wet patch. It was my fault! The second
race was a lottery really with the conditions and on tyre
choice and we made the wrong one. On the sighting lap I realised
so we had about a minute to get onto the spare bike with slicks
and unfortunately we were too late and had to start from the
back of the grid on about the wettest part of the track. I
carved my way through but was disappointed not to finish higher
up, especially on a day when I so wanted to get a double win.”
Steve Brogan – HM Plant Honda / Honda (UK)
Racing
British Supersport – HM Plant Honda CBR600RR
11th position
British Superstock – Honda (UK) Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade
1st position
“Another win in Superstock is great, but once again
Jon Kirkham has finished second so I’ve not got as much
advantage out of it as I would have liked. Still, it’s
brilliant to win again on the 2008 Fireblade and we’re
getting closer to having a two-race cushion in the points.
In Supersport I’ve won before so it’s frustrating
to finish 11th. I expected a win to be honest, but I got a
poor start, which is my own fault. The tall first gear we
run to get out of the hairpin doesn’t help and we bogged
down off the line. That was pretty frustrating and it took
me a lap or two to make up some ground. Between now and Cadwell
Park I will be training hard to be in the best shape for the
next round.”
Havier Beltran – HM Plant Honda team manager
“I’m really pleased for Leon he worked hard all
weekend and has really gone from strength to strength. I think
with both our riders their experience at the Suzuka 8-hour
has helped them and Leon in particular is feeling more confident
in the front-end of the HM Plant Honda Fireblade. It’s
a shame he had the technical problem in the first race, but
he did the right thing with the misfire and was coasting round
to enter the pits when he had the coming together with Shakey
and down he went. Cal was so disappointed as he felt he was
on podium pace, but he just couldn’t get to grips with
that last sector. The tyre choice for the second part of race
two was wrong, but we missed the window to get him out on
slicks to take his place on the grid. Either way, we now have
two riders who are confident of winning in the class, which
is very positive for the team. For Steve it was another superb
win in the Superstock class. He’s so strong and consistent
in that class and he’s showing both his skills and the
strength of the 2008 CBR1000RR Fireblade. In Supersport I
think it’s frustrating as he’s losing out a little
on acceleration so that’s something for us to look at.”
Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Race One Result
1. Tom Sykes – Suzuki
2. Shane Byrne – Ducati
3. James Ellison – Honda
4. Michael Rutter – Ducati
5. Leon Camier - Ducati
Leon Haslam – DNF
Cal Crutchlow - DNF
Race Two Result
1. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
2. Michael Rutter - Ducati
3. Karl Harris – Yamaha
4. Tom Sykes – Suzuki
5. James Ellison – Honda
7. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
Championship Points
1. Shane Byrne, Ducati – 332 points
2. Cal Crutchlow, HM Plant Honda – 222 points
3. Tom Sykes, Suzuki – 214 points
4. Leon Haslam, HM Plant Honda – 199 points
5. Leon Camier, Ducati – 179 points
|
