Leon Haslam insists he has no regrets about his switch from Ducati to Honda, despite slipping further from title contention in the latest Bennetts British Superbike round at
Snetterton.
Haslam moved from the GSE Racing outfit last season to race for reigning champions HM Plant Honda in a bid to claim the title he has yet to secure in six years of trying.
However, the debut season hasn't gone entirely to plan with Haslam failing to score a victory so far and falling a comprehensive 117 points behind championship leader Shane Byrne after ten races.
Even more galling for Haslam is the superb form of the team he left behind, with the new Ducati 1098 helping Byrne to finish every race this season either first or second, while the latest round at Snetterton also saw them score a double 1-2 finish.
Nonetheless, Haslam claims he is not casting the green eye of envy over to the neighbouring pit garage as he maintains that Honda are still in the lengthy process of developing their CBR1000RR.
“I am really happy at Honda because it is more a long-term thing here,” he told
Crash.net Radio. “The Honda is a new bike so we have to accept that it is in its early stages and the Ducati, with the ruling, they have a lot of good feedback from these tracks with it.
“We knew the Ducati 1200 would be competitive and quicker than last year's bike, so we knew it would be tough against these boys, but it is nothing we can't do. It is a long old season, so we can claw them back.”
With that in mind he is sure that he can top the winner's rostrum soon, starting with the next round at
Mallory Park.
“It can only get better. The bike is getting better and better and I am getting more comfortable. We can win races and it will come, so hopefully it is at Mallory where it will come.”
