Haslam eats Gravel close to finish | Miller
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: June 1st, 2009 - 1:57 pm
Strong race ends in Miller gravel for Haslam
The first Superbike race for the seventh round of the championship was red-flagged after just 5 laps into the 21-lap race at the Miller Motorsports Park today.
The re-started race left another 16 laps to tackle. Leon Haslam had qualified in 12th position, but struggled to find flow throughout the race. He launched a tough performance and managed to bring his bike back home in tenth position, while temporary teammate Jake Zemke took 18th place at the line. Ben Spies took the win in the aggregated race in front of his home audience.
The second Superbike race was saved from the red flag, but accounted for an even bigger number of crashes, including Leon Haslam.
Haslam started from a 12th position on the grid, but gained three positions on the first lap. He got handed another position after an unfortunate crash by last-year’s double Miller winner Carlos Checa, and gains another one as Shane Byrne runs wide and drops to the back of the field.
From then on it is hard work for Haslam, as he pushed his Stiggy Racing Honda forward through the field and finds himself in the middle of a seven rider group on the hunt for front runners Michel Fabrizio and Ben Spies. But Haslam was on the pace, and first moved himself past Haga before putting the pressure on Kiyonari. He set his fastest lap, and launched himself into the top five in the second half of the race, where he then battles for third place with the Honda pairing of Riyuchi Kiyonari and Jonathan Rea.
Haslam first puts the pressure on Kiyonari and decides the outcome of the battle by claiming fourth place in the first sector on the 15th lap. Rea is the next in line to lose his position to Haslam, but the latter then struggles to find enough acceleration in his bike on the long straight of the Miller track. Haslam out breaks Rea going into the first corner, but the fellow Honda rider quickly reclaims his ground. Haslam tails Rea into the final lap of the race and rides on the limits of his bike’s potential when tragedy hit and he undeservedly crashed out in one of his strongest performances to date, with just half a lap left to the flag.
