Haslam: I'm going there to win.

personally i dont think wildcards should be allowed in different championships, there's no point them having an effect on the points table when they will take no further part in the championship. e.g. IF! haslam was to win a race he would get 25 points on the board and with no other rounds that he would ride in that would be that, so what.

I think it's a good way of lesser riders being noticed (providing obviously that they do well)

Tom Sykes was phenomenal in the previous British WSBk round at Brands hatch. Got a lot of Tongues wagging that he may be on a factory WSBK Suzuki next year.

The same could happen for Haslam, as you say IF he won. A World Superbike race win is hard to get these days when you see the talent that is up there competing for them. Bayliss, Corser, Haga, Biaggi, Checa, Neukirchner etc If someone from a lower competition comes in and takes a win, it'll be a big thing.

Haslam should keep his mouth shut and go out and ride, all he is doing is drawing attention to himself if he fails. You don't see Sykes making comments just going out and riding his butt off.
I agree with Ben in that it is a good way for new talent to be noticed on centre Stage.

I watched this wildcard at Donington a fair few years ago blitzing all of the regulars in both races on an over-the-counter customer bike. Despite falling in the first race, he easily won the second and he caught the attention of a certain factory team by doing it. What was his name again? Oh yes, Carl Fogarty.

I love watching the wildcards have a go. It's great for them to show what they can do and it keeps the regulars on their toes.

Wild cards add rather than detract from a championship - MotoGP sorely needs some to make up the poor grid numbers.

Its a chance for up and coming riders to guage themselves against the top riders, and a chance for team managers to scout out the next "big thing".

Long may it continue

Ian, that is true, also Brands in 2003 a certain Shakey !

But Leon Haslam to win @ Donington, 2 hopes, Bob and no.

Not to mention Reynolds, Hodgson (with Walker 2nd), Ben Bostrom at Laguna and many other decent podiums and Tommy Hills pole at silverstone! Wildcards are great for comparing the championships so you know just how fast they are comparitively..... I'll be cheering on Haslam and any other brits.... no matter how well they go...

Tim Bo. Hate to name drop but was at Donnington the other day and the Haslams are REAL confident and Ron rates Ellison too !

I rate Ellison too, he's a great rider.

P.S .. You name dropper you.

Tim Bo Not the time to say Nial Mackenzie was there then!

I have to say the HM Plant livery is 100X better looking than the staid Hanspree Ten Kate one. What a godawful looking color scheme that is, take a look at the Suzuka 8 hrs dream CBR1000RRW to see an example of how it is done right.

ha i doubt it.
The hm plant 'design' is awful personally. prefer the ten kate anyday.

Looks like the weather going to play a big part in it this weekend, So l would not be suprised to see the brits to do really well. Watch out for Walker 2nd fastest in the wet at brands. Nice leveler a bit of rain

Really looking forward to camping this weekend peeps lol not but i'm doing it anyway, afterall we survived Silverstone last year and it'll be hard to find much worse than that!
Wildcards are awesome, got Tommy Hills signature the year before that after Superpole. This is a bloody hard championship so if you get the win then fair play to you, i love seeing the supposed underdogs showing the big boys the way round. The more the merrier although the way things are going there won't be much room for wildcards cos next year the grid is going to be heaving One other thing, wildcards get locals in the track, there's money in them thar wildcards too...and the merchandise

Haha! Ive got Tommy Hill on facebook!
He's a good lad!

Sorry to prove you wrong Ian, but the 'wildcard' ride of Foggy's was nothing of the sort. The year was 1992 and he did the full season, riding a privately ebtered Ducati. Indeed, he'd done the full 1991 season riding for Honda Britain, finishing 7th overall. Yes, the ride at Donington (where he fell off at Goddards whilst leading race 1 and won race 2) certainly brought him to the attention,but he had some very good rides that year.

Is there a Woolworths near Donnington?, because if Haslam does win I will show my backside in its window Haslam is nowhere good enough to beat the likes of Bayliss, Corsa, Biaggi, Harga.

rolly

Noone thought Sykes was good enough to do as well as he did either.

Also, it only takes a tenth of a second for Bayliss or Haga or Corser to put too much throttle on going into a bend and lose the front end. Casey Stoner has done it 2 races on the bounce!!

Anything can happen in Bike racing as is proved time and time again.

I think wildcards are a good thing. Gives possible up and coming riders to show their pace against the worlds best. Maybe they shouldnt score points so as not to interfere with the championship? Good luck to Tommy Sykes, i hope he does well and who knows where it might lead. Leon Haslam, i dont really rate his chances but lets see. Maybe he will prove me and all the other doubters wrong!

Over cooking it and losing the front end in a corner is hardly grounds for Haslam being subsequently rated as a world-beater is it ? The way to win races is to 'beat' the other players fairly and squarely, not have them all fall off then just trundle round and pick up the chequered flag !!!