HASLAM ENDS EIGHT-YEAR WAIT FOR BSB GLORY

It has been a long time coming for JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam but the former Grand Prix and WorldSBK racer toasted his first victory in the British Superbike Championship by clinching a damp and tricky first sprint at Oulton Park for round two of the ’16 series. The 32 year old had to wait three weeks after a disappointing opener to BSB at Silverstone to seal Pole Position at Oulton and then judge a wet-dry spin on Bank Holiday Monday in the UK to walk the top step of the popular domestic competition for the first time since 2008. The undulating circuit in the northwest of England was dowsed with some entirely expected spring showers that threw bike set-up and tyre choice to the fore. It was Haslam’s teammate James Ellison who looked the more likely as the grid slipped and span away from the lights but the wet asphalt soon began to dry and once Dan Linfoot had hit the ground it was left to a duel between the Monster Energy athlete and Christian Iddon. Haslam made a couple of wobbles but prevailed at the chequered flag by just a tenth of a second in what was yet another grandstand finale by the BSB boys.