Haslam: We’ve definitely made a step at Brands Hatch

Leon Haslam is confident he’s found pace breakthroughs at Brands Hatch but says he was still frustrated at missing out on the battle for victory behind Josh Brookes and Glenn Irwin.

The Bennetts British Superbike championship leader had to settle for a pair of third places at the Kent circuit, which also hosts the final round, having entered this race weekend targeting performance gains having struggled at the track in recent seasons.

Haslam: We’ve definitely made a step at Brands Hatch

Leon Haslam is confident he’s found pace breakthroughs at Brands Hatch but says he was still frustrated at missing out on the battle for victory behind Josh Brookes and Glenn Irwin.

The Bennetts British Superbike championship leader had to settle for a pair of third places at the Kent circuit, which also hosts the final round, having entered this race weekend targeting performance gains having struggled at the track in recent seasons.

Despite adding to his podium tally, taking his record to five rostrum finishes across a total of 12 BSB races on the GP circuit since his return to BSB, Haslam says improvements have been established with his JG Speedfit Kawasaki but there is still more work to do with his ZX-10RR accleration out of corners to join the victory fight having seen Brookes claimed a dominant double ahead of runner-up Glenn Irwin.

“I pushed on to catch the front two at mid-race and made some improvements which saw us set the fastest lap so the pace was a little bit better,” Haslam said. “But honestly the last three or four laps we really struggled.

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“I felt like I was losing a little bit on acceleration from the changes we made. I am happy with the changes we made and the improvements we made to extend the lead but I am a little bit disappointed I didn’t get to fight the front two.

“We are lacking a little bit and losing on the straights. We changed the gearing for that race but it wasn’t helping with the punch off the turns especially against the Ducati.

“But we are the closest we have ever been to the Yamahas and the Ducatis around this circuit so we’ve definitely made a step and we are extending the lead and got a couple of Podium Points.”

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