Endurance: Haslam begins Suzuka prep

Leon Haslam began preparations for this year’s Suzuka Eight Hour race with a test at the Okayama circuit in Japan today.

The BSB star returns to the prestigious endurance race this year with Kawasaki’s Team Green World Endurance squad alongside Akira Yanagawa and Kazuki Watanabe.

Set to last three days, the test will largely be a familiarisation exercise for Haslam with the EWC-spec ZX-10R vastly different to his BSB steed.

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“It was great to get out for day one of our first test today at Okayama; it was a new track for me but it has been a productive day,” he said. “It is another new challenge for me because although I have been at the Eight Hour before I am adapting to a different spec Kawasaki again with full electronics and we run Bridgestone tyres. We had a solid few hours on track though today in the wet and that was a good experience as traditionally the weather for the event can be mixed.

“We have a really good programme to work through with the team; it feels good after day one and the times are coming. I am really happy and now we can look forward to building on that over the next two days.”

The Suzuka Eight Hour race is set to take place between 29/31 July.