Leon Haslam, crowned British Superbike champion 2018 on Kawasaki
Vice-champion of the World Superbike in 2010, Leon Haslam had been racing for three seasons in British Superbike after his first national title. The # 91 Kawasaki rider, who will ride again in WorldSBK next year alongside Jonathan Rea, finally takes the British crown ! Explanations.
This weekend, while the stars of the World Superbike inaugurated the San Juan Villicum circuit (Argentina), the "stars" of the British Superbike were playing their 2018 final on the good old Brands Hatch circuit, in its GP configuration of 3.9 km (Vs 1.9 km for the "Indy" config used at the start of the season).
Back in the British league in 2016, Leon Haslam came very close to the title two years in a row. Last year especially, the n ° 91 appeared for the BSB 2017 final with a 32-point lead over champion Shane Byrne … But a technical failure on his Kawasaki had relegated him to third place in the final ranking !
- BSB 2017 – Twist: Byrne and Ducati keep their crown !
- BSB 2018 – Leg exit under braking: the Haslam / Dixon clash
- WorldSBK 2018 : MNC Calendar and Reports
This year, Leon Haslam arrived at Brands Hatch with a lead twice as high: 61 points more than his last rival in the championship, Jake Dixon. A fair reward given his 12 victories in 19 races during the regular season, followed by two podiums at Oulton Park then a double at Assen during the "Showdown"…
Only regret perhaps for the "Pocket Rocket" – a nod to his father Ron "Rocket" Haslam: the forfeit of his best enemy and six-time BSB champion, Shane Byrne. The Ducati rider n ° 1 was indeed out of the race in June,. For Leon, however, the 2018 title race was far from won..
All this summer, the 2010 vice-world champion had to fight hard against particularly tenacious riders, each with a specific weapon: Jake Dixon therefore, on his own Kawasaki, but also Glenn Irwin on his Ducati, Josh Brookes on his Yamaha, Peter Hickman on his BMW (the same as at the Tourist Trophy!) or Bradley Ray on his Suzuki…
The n ° 91 rider of the official Kawasaki JG Speedfit team finally managed to win the title on Saturday (see the video at the bottom of the article). Taking advantage of excellent weather conditions, Leon was content with a wise and strategic sixth place in the first of the three races of the weekend, "the longest race of all time", underlines "King Leon" !
"This is the first British Superbike crown for the Derbyshire ace", continues his team, but also "the first for the team and the first for the official Kawasaki team since 1992, making it a great day for all of us ". For the record, Byrne was crowned in 2012 and 2014 on a private ZX-10R.
The next day on a wet track, the new champion ticked one last box of his "To Do List": "the main objective is to win this championship", recalled the 35-year-old driver in anticipation of this final, "but also to win at Brands Hatch on a Kawasaki. I won on quite a few other bikes, but not on the GP track with the Kawasaki ". that’s done.
Leon Haslam can therefore leave the British Superbike with the extreme satisfaction of a job well done. He is now preparing to, starting with his great friend Jonathan Rea whom he had left world champion … before stacking three world titles since !
Replacing Tom Sykes in the Kawasaki factory team in WSBK, will the n ° 91 be better than the n ° 66, or even the "Number One"? To do this, he will have to quickly integrate the operation of his new ultra-sophisticated ZX-10RR, at odds – especially from an electronic point of view – of motorcycles used in BSB, devoid of any piloting aid….
Video: Leon Haslam’s title race
View on TV…
… and experienced from the inside !
British Superbike 2018: final classification
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