Haslam Confident about Suzuki Switch
Added on Monday, November 30th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Haslam Confident about Suzuki Switch
Leon Haslam has expressed that he made the right decision to sign for Alstare Suzuki. Joining a factory team for the first time, Haslam moved from the Stiggy Honda team after the former BSB rider was not given the opportunity to continue in the team in the 2010 season due to financial worries.
After completing three days of testing, with a total of 280 laps at Phillip Island in Australia, the British rider discussed his situation with the new team:
This is the first time I’ve ridden for a full factory team. You always think the grass is going to be greener and it is. I can’t pick fault with anything they’ve done. Everything is organised so all I have to do is ride the bike which is perfect for me.”
During the three days testing at Phillip Island, Haslam was joined by his new team-mate Sylvain Guintoli who made the move from British Superbikes. During the testing, only the two riders were practicing on the track and managed to hit several birds whilst struggling to ride in a heatwave. Commenting on the adverse conditions, Haslam said:
“There was only two of us lapping so it took time to clean the track. Between myself and Sylvan I think we hit about eight birds. Sylvan hit one with his helmet on the start finish straight which was a bit messy.”
“When we were there it was a heat wave and that meant we could only really set fast times early in the morning or late in the afternoon. I’m not allowed to speak about lap times, but what I can say is that I’m really happy.”
