Haslam vows to improve after losing championship lead
Added on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Haslam vows to improve after losing championship lead
Leon Haslam has vowed to look at his own performances after losing the lead in the World Superbike Championship at the weekend.
Haslam lost the championship lead to Italian rival Max Biaggi after crashing out of race two at Miller Park on Monday, a crash that lefty him needing stitches in his elbow, whilst Biaggi capitalised on mistakes by Carlos Checa to take victories in both races.
And Haslam claimed that he was even lucky to claim his second place finish in race one, prompting him to revisit his performance ahead of the next round in Misano in three weeks time.
“I’m really disappointed with how the day ended,” said Haslam, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Monday.
“I’ve crashed out and lost the championship lead. I knew that it was going to be tough and that was proven.
“I was fortunate to get second place in the first race and feel sorry for Carlos Checa, who was leading both races, should’ve won both and, in the end, didn’t pick up a single Championship point.
“As a result, Max got lucky but that’s how it goes in racing. One week, you benefit and the next week it’s your turn to lose out.
“My problems started with two bad starts.
“In the first race, I was covered in oil from the Ducati of Jakub Smrz and I was moving around the track to make sure I didn’t crash on the oil.
“I was making good progress in the second race and was up to fifth place when the rear tyre just lost traction at one of the hairpin corners and I was thrown off the machine.
“I’ve had a load of stitches in my elbow but I’ll be fine for the next round.”
