After spending four seasons in Superbike with the world's leading manufacturer in the past, Leon Haslam is back at Honda with teammate Álvaro Bautista, the star transfer of the off-season, from Ducati while Haslam leaves Kawasaki.
When he was racing in Grand Prix, Leon was already riding Hondas, a 500 twin (Honda NSR500V) in 2001 and a 250 in 2002. He found this manufacturer within the HM Plant Honda team in British Superbike in 2008, where he finished second in the Championship in front of his teammate Cal Crutchlow, and behind winner Shane “Shakey” Byrne on Ducati.
In 2009, he competed in the Superbike World Championship with the Stiggy Honda team of Johan Stigefelt, the current team manager of the Petronas–Sepang team. fabio quartararo. Leon finished sixth and first private.
2013 and 2014 saw him on an official Honda entered by Ten Kate, with teammate Johnny Rea (like this year!). But the Fireblade was not competitive and Haslam had to settle for just one podium and a final seventh place.
Will the new Honda he will share with Bautista be more competitive? 2019 was quite unflattering for the brand, with an out-of-the-box bike and an unimpressive HRC–Althea–Moriwaki field organization. In this last area, the arrival at the helm of Alberto Puig, already team manager of the Repsol Honda team in MotoGP and organizer of the Asian Talent Cup, should restore some order to the Augean stables. All that remains is for the bike to be competitive, and that's where the question comes in: either it's the same bike as for ten years and we don't see it winning, or the CBR1000RR-R SP presented at the EICMA in Milan is truly new and efficient, but in this case it will have to be developed to adapt it to the world circuits. According to Honda, “ The bike is derived from technology used for MotoGP's RC2V13. »
Leon Haslam for his part, very happy to be able to stay in the World Championship, is delighted with this opportunity: “I am really excited to join the HRC project and experience the new bike. It’s a dream come true and I can’t wait to get on the machine. »
“For me, the news of HRC returning to the WorldSBK paddock was quite intriguing, there were a lot of secrets, and we didn't know what the bike was going to be. »
“For me, having this opportunity and being involved in this project was my goal. The goal will be to win. Honda and HRC are not there to finish second! »
“Of course it's a new machine and a new team in the Championship so the testing is going to be very important. I am convinced that we will start the season well at the Phillip Island event which is one of my favorite tracks. There isn't much longer to wait. »
The new CBR1000RR-R SP.
Leon Haslam in 2013 on Ten Kate Honda
Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam in 2014 with their sons
Photos © Honda Racing Corporation, Ten Kate Racing, Honda
