Leon Haslam has consolidated his status as a Cadwell Park expert after streaming to victory in the first Bennetts British Superbike race of the day around the Lincolnshire circuit.
A winner at Cadwell for the last three seasons, Haslam extended that run by another year after prevailing in a tussle with Tom Sykes as the two riders destroyed the rest of the field with their relentless pace.
Starting on the second row of the grid, Haslam wasted no time in pulling himself up into the lead fight as he slotted into second place behind the equally fast starting Sykes.
Although Cal Crutchlow initially gave a spirited chase, with fastest laps almost half a second quicker than the majority of the opposition, Sykes and Haslam began to pull away quickly as they embarked on a display of precision riding around the intricate circuit.
For the most part, Sykes looked comfortable out front, with Haslam feigning several moves coming down Park Straight into Park Bend but being unable to find a way past the distinctive Rizla Suzuki.
Nonetheless, Haslam knows his way around Cadwell Park better than most and after harassing Sykes for a number of laps, he finally made his move stick on the run down the hill into Park, Haslam dipping beneath Sykes and holding off any chance of a switch back.
Not that he was allowed to get away, with Sykes shadowing Haslam's every move for the next few laps, but just as it looked like he was readying himself for an attempt at wrestling the lead back off his rival, the front end almost tucked beneath him at the Hairpin, causing him to lose some ground.
Giving him too much ground to make up over the remaining four laps, Haslam crossed the line just over half a second up on Sykes to record his second consecutive victory following on from his maiden HM Plant win at
Knockhill.
Although a little disappointed to miss out on a fourth win in five races, second place for Sykes does nonetheless lift him up to second place in the standings after a struggling Crutchlow slipped down the order to an eventual fifth place.
