WSBK – Haslam confirms, Haga is back! – First Superbike race

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Haslam confirms, Haga is back !

WSBK - Haslam confirms, Haga is back! - First Superbike race

Third round of the World Superbike this weekend in Valence: for the first time this season, the two Superbike rounds have given us two very distinct scenarios while in Supersport, the local of the stage has won.. Reports.

First Superbike race

Max Biaggi takes the best start but Troy Corser takes the first corner ahead of Max, Carlos Checa, the two Leons – Camier and Haslam -, James Toseland, Cal Crutchlow, etc. Supported by his home crowd, Checa went on the attack from the first lap: he overtook Biaggi in the first sequences, and executed a superb exterior on Corser in the last corner. ! The BMW returns to La Ducat ‘in the straight line but must surrender in the following curves.

Behind, Biaggi and Haslam, decidedly inseparable at the start of the season, are trying to stay in contact. In their wheels, Camier and Toseland do not let go either, followed a little further by Guintoli and Crutchlow.

The second round is in full swing when the first twist occurs: Checa must give up! After having made up for a loss of grip in the middle of a turn at the last minute, the Spanish driver left the trajectory then the track and could not restart…

Troy Corser thus inherits the lead of the race. The Australian and his S1000RR then beat Leon Haslam by a breath, and Max Biaggi, Leon Camier and James Toseland are not far either….

At the start of the 5th lap, braking the straight line, Haslam took control of the race. His teammate – our compatriot – Sylvain Guintoli rolls in 6th position and gets out of reach of Crutchlow and Rea. Behind the two Britons, Haga and Fabrizio whip their two official Ducatis…

A bit too much from Michel, who made a mistake in the 7th lap: "in the 1st round, I had a good rhythm and had managed to gain a few places quickly when I lost the front without expecting it, and found myself on the ground", will relate the pilot n ° 84.

In the same lap, James Toseland and his R1 virtually climb to the podium, overtaking Max Biaggi and his RSV4. For the first time this season, James is fighting for the win! "It’s always good, when the team is working so hard, to be able to return the favor with a good result.", admits the Number Fifty-two.

The Yamaha Team is decidedly painted: in the 8th lap, Leon Camier loses the front of his Aprilia on too much braking and offers his 5th place to Cal Crutchlow! Sylvain Guintoli should have taken advantage of this error but to avoid Camier must shoot straight into a loophole…

"Everything was going as planned when Camier fell right in front of me", will tell the unfortunate Frenchie who loses six places the time to execute his turn."I ended up 14th (when I was 6th) but fought well to finish 9th", he will console himself on arrival !

Discreet in this first half of the race, Noriyuki Haga is in 7th place. The fight that begins between Crutchlow and Rea allows the Japanese to hope to reach 5th place.

In front, just before the start of the 11th lap, James Toseland climbs on the second step of the podium. Troy Corser did not stay third for long: Max Biaggi passed him a few bends later and started again in pursuit of the Yam ‘.

Meanwhile, Haslam continues to string together the towers without a hitch: "once in the lead I realized the pace was not amazing and it felt easy"Even the" Pocket Rocket "will report … Leon even expects his opponents to attack,"but my signaller informed me that my advance was increasing !"

At more than a second now, Biaggi and Toseland bicker: the RSV4, extremely fast in the straight line, passes stealthily in front of the Yam ‘n ° 52 at the start of the 14th lap, but James does not intend to give up his 2nd place too easily and picks it up quickly.

A similar brawl between Haga and Rea: to the delight of the public, the two men actively fight and trade 5th and 6th places on several occasions. !

"The track was much hotter than during the warm-up and I lacked grip. The more I attacked, the more my 1198 drifted", explained Nori, who indeed gives us superb glides. However, with seven laps from the end, the Japanese ended up taking the ascendancy over the Irishman..

Alone in the lead, Haslam and his Suz ‘parade and fly to another victory. On the other hand, nothing is settled for the other two steps of the podium: Toseland must contain a very pressing Biaggi, while Corser is more discreet … but remains less than a second !

In addition, Haga continues to gain ground on its predecessors: with four laps to go, the Ducati n ° 41 is lodged in the aspiration of the BMW n ° 3…

In the same straight line, a few meters further ahead, Biaggi again took advantage of the suction phenomenon to overtake Toseland. This time, the Roman Emperor retains the advantage in the following sequences. Better, it moves away from "Dji Ti" !

Attention is therefore turned to Haga and Corser, who do not let go of one sole: the two old World Superbike breakers finish this race wheel to wheel but Haga does not find the fault. !

In the last lap, Leon Haslam is content to unwind and closely controls Max Biaggi’s final charge. The Englishman turns around in the last corners and can sign his second victory of the season with a superb wheelie.

Max Biaggi finished in a very important 2nd place for the championship and yielded only 5 points to his main rival. For his part, James Toseland collects a 3rd place essential for his morale.

"It was great to get this podium, my first this year, and my first since Brands Hatch in 2007 I think.", admits the ex-Tech3 rider in MotoGP."It’s been a long time since I brought home a trophy so I was very happy", he will conclude.

Satisfaction is also at the rendezvous in the BMW clan: Troy Corser finally finished 4th in this first round and gave the S1000RR its best result since its debut in the SBK World Cup last year. "

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