BSB: Haslam on front row as title rivals suffer

Leon Haslam holds the advantage going into tomorrow’s first MCE British Superbike race at Assen after significantly out-qualifying his Showdown rivals.

Haslam was the only title fighter to progress into the final qualifying session with closest challengers Josh Brookes and Shane Byrne starting 11^th and 16^th respectively.

Jake Dixon will start 12^th and Jason O’Halloran 15^th after a treacherous qualifying in challenging conditions after constant rainfall at the Dutch circuit.

Haslam will look to take advantage of his strong position to further extend his 22-point championship lead, starting second on the grid for tomorrow’s first race which is forecast to be dry at this stage.  

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“It was quite dodgy out there,” Haslam said. “I saw a lot of people crashing, so it was a case of judging how hard to push. I had a good feeling with the bike, didn’t have too many moments in Q2 and I made some quite big changes with the bike between sessions and I only got out for the final five minutes. We’d gone the wrong way with the bike and I had so many moments. We still managed to do a good lap time, and the biggest bonus is that we’re on the front row and our biggest title threats aren’t on the first three rows.

“I’m feeling pretty good with the bike in both the wet and the dry, so whatever happens tomorrow we’ll be fighting at the front. I’ll definitely be looking to make advantage of being ahead of my rivals on the grid!” 

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