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DARK DOG rider Leon Haslam
maintains his superb lead in the world championship
after a second position at the fourth round of World Superbike
Assen, The Netherlands:
Leon Haslam from Team Suzuki Alstare once again proved to be a title contender for the Superbike World Championship 2010 by posting a fantastic second position on race two in Assen and by maintaining his lead in the overall standing!
Summer temperatures and a sunny weekend characterized the last race weekend in Assen where all teams came together to compete once again in one of the most exciting and thrilled motorbike events: the Superbike World Championship!
DARK DOG together with Team Suzuki Alstare started the fourth round of the Superbike with mixed fortunes: during the Friday qualifying, Leon kept his impressive start to the season by posting the fourth fastest time of the day while Sylvain struggled in both sessions and ended 17th quickest.
Saturday's Superpole continued in the same way: Leon finished it with the fourth quickest lap and this meant a start from the front row of the grid. His team mate Sylvain Guintoli improved his performance from the Friday qualifying but was unluckily unable to get his qualifiers to work and ended 13th overall.
Although, Leon Haslam started from the front row of the grid during the Sunday races, he fought hard during race one and finished with an eleventh place. But Leon did not disappoint his fans, the team and sponsors this weekend and bounced back to take a superb runner-up spot in race two in Assen.
Leon's lowly eleventh in the first race was a result of a loss of air pressure in his front tyre and that meant he couldn't push hard at all. At first he thought it was a brake problem, but he kept going somehow and collected five valuable points. Fortunately, his main rivals, Max Biaggi (Aprilia) and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) were unable to fully capitalise on Leon's eleventh in the first race and Biaggi now trails DARK DOG rider Leon by twenty points in the standings.
While Leon was able to celebrate the extension of his lead in the series, it was not such a good day for team mate Sylvain Guintoli. The Frenchman hardly recovered from his position in qualifying and never found his rhythm in either of the 22-lap races, finishing in 14th in race one and 13th in race two.
DARK DOG is delighted about the results of Team Suzuki Alstare rider Leon Haslam and wishes good luck to both riders for the next race taking place the weekend of 9th May in Monza, Italy!
Leon Haslam
Race 1: 11th, Race 2: 2nd
"Today was very, very hard, but I am happy because I have extended my lead in the series. In race one I had a problem with the front end and was struggling in 16th after five laps. I wasn't sure if it was a brake problem, but when the bike was checked over after the race, the team discovered that air had escaped from the front tyre. It was a real struggle to keep going especially when I was with a couple of other riders, but I was determined to bring the bike home one way or another. The team changed the front discs and pads (in case they were part of the problem) for race two and I was able to do a normal race. It was a fantastic race, with plenty of close contact. Elbows were everywhere and we were close enough to touch each other's handelbars. It was very hard, but fair, and we all enjoyed it a lot. It must have been great for the fans and of course, having both podiums filled by Brits was also great."
Sylvain Guintoli
Race 1: 14th, Race 2: 13th
"This was a weekend to forget and I don't really even want to think about it anymore. It didn't start well and never really improved. It did get a bit better and I might have been able to rescue something if I had managed to find my rhythm. But I didn't, and having a problem with another rider in race two didn't help either. I'm not sure if it was Sykes or Lanzi but there was an impact and that affected the steering of my bike. I was lucky not to crash, but I thought I might as well keep going and see what happened. The steering felt strange and I just could push any harder. I think it's better I forget today and start thinking about the next race in Monza, because that is something positive."
Results / Race 1
1 Jonathan Rea (GBR-Honda)
2 James Toseland (GBR-Yamaha)
3 Leon Camier (GBR-Aprilia)
4 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati)
5 Troy Corser (AUS-BMW)
6 Max Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia) ...
11 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki Alstare) ...
14 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki Alstare) ...
Results / Race 2
1 Rea
2 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki Alstare)
3 Toseland
4 Biaggi
5 Troy Corser
6 Checa ...
13 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki Alstare) ...
Overall standing
1 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki Alstare) 148
2 Biaggi 128
3 Rea 110
4 Checa 103
5 Toseland 86
6 Haga 85
7 Troy Corser 68
8 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki Alstare) 55 ...
