Ducati returnee just 0.320s off the pace at Donington BSB test

Leon Haslam ended this weekend’s British Superbike Championship test in second place overall.

It was an impressive two-day outing for the rider who is back on a Ducati for the first time since 2007.

Haslam is ending an injury-riddled spell at BMW to join the Moto Rapido Ducati Racing team for the 2025 BSB campaign, and he has made a promising start.

Haslam was second-quickest on Saturday behind Glenn Irwin, who broke his own lap record from 24 hours earlier.

Overall he was  0.320s off Irwin’s pace - providing optimism considering Haslam has jumped onto a new bike this year.

“Testing has honestly been good,” Haslam insisted.

“It has been a bit of a new me and I have been quite calm. We have been finishing sessions early and not throwing any new tyres at it and with Wilf we have been making big, big changes.

“We have really been gathering data for what I need and like and instead of making one or two mil changes we have been making like 10 or 15 mil changes.

“It has been good here, a bit like Navarra was and we have gathered a lot of good information.

“The first session of the test we were like P1, so it wasn’t about finding a lap time, it was more about understanding the changes we were making.

“It has been really positive, we ended P2 overall and at the same time we never really bit the screen and went for a time attack, so I feel pretty good now ready for Oulton Park.”

The Oulton Park pre-season BSB test is on Wednesday and Thursday this week.