Sykes and Haslam eye second spot
Added on Friday, October 10th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Sykes (66) and Haslam (91) do battle for second spot.
The British Superbikes Championship concludes this weekend with plenty of pride still at stake at Brands Hatch.
The Championship returns to Brands for the last round of the season with Shane Byrne set to be crowned as champion on his home circuit after clinching the title at Silverstone two weeks ago but there is still plenty to play for on Sunday, with Leon Haslam, Tom Sykes and Cal Crutchlow all looking to sign out of the competition with a victory.
The trio, along with ‘Shakey’, will all leave the domestic championship at the end of the season to make the step up to the World Superbikes circuit and both Sykes and Haslam in particular have pledged to fight all the way to secure second in the championship.
Honda rider Haslam, who currently occupies second position, said: “I’ve won five out of the last seven races and now I want to make it seven out of nine. I want to the leave the team and the British Superbike series on a high and that’s the aim.
“Obviously everyone is out there and are going for it; Cal’s got a point to prove coming into the last round, Tom Sykes is strong and Shakey hasn’t won a race in 12 races, so the competition is going to be red-hot. I think 30 laps of the short Indy circuit makes for a pretty busy race, so it should be fun.”
Yorkshireman Sykes, who sits just 18 points behind Haslam after a crash at Silverstone two weeks ago, told the BSB website: “I am looking forward to Brands Hatch and I am going there in the mind set to win the races. Leon (Haslam) has been riding really good lately and it is just a case of finding his weakness. I know this weekend I need to at least beat Leon as we want the runner-up spot with second rather than third.”
“I am going to treat Brands Hatch like any other race weekend and I am lucky that I have a big fans base so I want to get out there and put on a good race and get some decent results for the crowd.”
“I am disappointed with how Silverstone went; I made a mistake passing Cal and then hit Leon. I took the punishment on the chin but then I was put back three rows in the second race. Myself and Leon are battling for second in the championship, as are some of the other riders, so it is always going to be close.”
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