WSBK Portimao: Fatigued Haslam curtails race day early
Leon Haslam says the demanding nature of the Portimao circuit played a part in his decision to curtail his race day early, the British rider still struggling with his injured leg.
Eager to complete his first race weekend since Aragon in April, Haslam start the opening race brightly by hauling himself into the top ten, but soon found he couldn't compensate for the lack of strength in his leg around the Portuguese venue.
With fatigue setting in, Haslam withdrew to the pit lane after nine laps before deciding to sit out the second race altogether, much to his disappointment.
"A tough weekend, really, when I've been struggling with power in the leg," he lamented. "The knee bend was pretty good, but I just struggled in race one with fatigue in the rest of my body. I couldn't use my leg properly, so the manhandling of the bike that's needed round here was done pretty much using my upper body. You don't realise how much you use your legs on the bike until you can't use one of them!
"It's a little frustrating, but I got eight or nine laps in before I was completely done, and I managed to pass a few people, like Leon Camier, who finished fourth. We've made progress from Donington and we have another three weeks until Imola.
"We've also been keeping up to speed on the electronics, which will be useful in the races to come. We haven't made many chassis changes because a lot of the problems are from me not being able to push through the pegs. I just need to get a bit more strength back in the leg."
