At the recent round of the Superbike World Championship in Silverstone, Leon met Andy Fordham and threw a few arrows with the former World Darts Champion in the Suzuki Alstare hospitality unit.
Team Suzuki Alstare rider Leon Haslam endured two tough 18-lap races at Silverstone today, taking a superb third in race one and a fourth in race two to close the gap on series leader Max Biaggi. But It was a day of frustration for the young Brit because he felt he could’ve challenged for the wins if things had gone his way a bit more and that would’ve narrowed the gap even more.
Leon’s team mate, Sylvain Guintoli, suffered with a too hard tyre in race one and ended 12th. He used a softer tyre in race two and had a much better race, finishing 7th.
Team Suzuki Alstare rider Leon Haslam just missed out on a front row grid place today in final Superpole when he was held up by a slower rider on his flying lap. He will now start tomorrow’s pair of 18-lap races from the second row of the grid, just behind the poleman, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha).
Both Team Suzuki Alstare riders Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli gave the thumbs up to the new Silverstone circuit after spending the day learning the new layout and are now looking forward to improving their positions tomorrow. Leon finished 8th fastest and was the happier of the duo, but Sylvain is very upbeat about his prospects tomorrow, despite ending the day 17th in the standings.
The tenth round of this year’s Superbike World Championship is a ‘home’ race for both Team Suzuki Alstare riders Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli. It is a home race for Leon because he is a Briton and lives in Derbyshire, but it is also a home race for Sylvain because the Frenchman has lived in UK for some time and is married to an English girl. Sylvain will be making the short trip from his home near Melton Mowbray, while Leon will have a slightly further journey.
Britain’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ World Superbike riders will ride into Silverstone next week for the UK’s only round of the FIM Superbike World Championship (Friday 30 July to Sunday 01 August). Rather than protecting the Silverstone crowd from marauding Mexican bandits, our Magnificent Seven will be searching for glory of a different kind; going all out to clinch race wins and podium finishes aboard their trusty 1000cc two-wheeled steeds.
