WSBK » Haslam: We could have challenged for front row

21 April 2012
Leon Haslam misses the front row for BMW at Assen as both he and Marco Melandri are out-qualified by Michel Fabrizio on the Italia machine.
Haslam: We could have challenged for front row
Leon Haslam feels he could have been starting on the front row for the third round of the 2012 World Superbike Championship at Assen, but for chatter issues with the rear of his BMW.

The British rider came into the weekend keen to take another step towards a victory challenge following a strong outing at Imola, but will now have a task to do so from seventh on the grid after failing to get the best from the S1000RR during Superpole.

Complaining of rear chatter, Haslam was frustrated that the changeable weather conditions prevented him from dialling out the bike's set-up, a set-back that would see him out-qualified by BMW Italia rider Michel Fabrizio.

Nonetheless, Haslam says he is satisfied with seventh position and is confident he will be able to make gains during the races.

“I felt quite happy with this morning. We were consistently one of the fastest guys out there. In dry conditions this weekend we have issues with the rear of the bike giving me some chatter. This is something we are working on hard, but as the conditions have been changing a lot it has been difficult to have a full session to properly resolve it.

“Given that, I am actually quite happy to be starting from the second row, but I am disappointed as well because I know that without the difficulty we could have challenged for the front row.”

Team-mate Marco Melandri, meanwhile, was left a disappointed ninth after late improvements saw him nudged out of the crucial top eight shootout.

“For sure I am disappointed with the qualifying result. In the dry we have good pace here but the first Superpole was very difficult. It was raining around the track, but not everywhere at the same time. I saw many riders crashing so even if it had been dry in the last few minutes, I was not confident enough to push.

“I think I made a mistake but it was definitely better than crashing. Now we will see what is possible tomorrow. It is not easy to pass on this track, but I feel okay for the race.”

Tagged as: BMW , Assen , Marco Melandri , Leon Haslam
« Take me back to the WSBK Homepage


Related Pictures

Haslam, Dutch WSBK 2012
Haslam, Dutch WSBK 2012
Haslam, Dutch WSBK 2012
Haslam, Dutch WSBK 2012
Haslam, Dutch WSBK 2012
Haslam, Dutch WSBK 2012
Haslam, Dutch WSBK 2012
Melandri, Australian WSBK 2013
Davies` team, Australian WSBK 2013
Marco Melandri on the Goldbet BMW during testing at Jerez

Join the conversation - Add your comment

Please do not post any personal abuse or attacks.

  • (this will never be displayed, but is required for email notification of follow-up comments)

    Email me when this topic is updated.

Note: Your comment may take a few minutes to appear

Although the administrators and moderators of this website will attempt to keep all objectionable comments off these pages, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the poster, and neither Crash Media Group nor Crash.Net will be held responsible for the content of any message. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. If you find a message objectionable, please contact us and inform us of the problem or use the [report] function next to the offending post. Any message that does not conform with the policy of this service can be edited or removed with immediate effect.


Locks46+91+38&35

April 21, 2012 10:13 PM
Last Edited 395 days ago

No one can tell beforehand how well the bike is going to work at a paticular track until they start putting in quick laps. The main reason been they have made a lot of changes to personel and the electronics package . They really needed consistent weather to get the right set up. I think Leon will do well in the races as he always gets his head down and gets on with it in the race.


Related Stories