Haslam under the lap record to hit the top of the test times at Oulton Park
Leon Haslam heads into the third round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park next weekend (April 29 – May 1) gunning to add to his winning tally after setting the pace in the official test at the Cheshire circuit.
The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider saved his best until the final session of the day to dip under the lap record with his final run of the day, holding off defending champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne on the Be Wiser Ducati who leapt to second in the closing 15 minutes of the session.
There was an also last run improvement from the McAMS Yamaha team as James Ellison moved third fastest in the final five minutes of the day to become the top Yamaha by just 0.113s from Josh Brookes on the Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha.
New race winner Luke Mossey completed the top five at the end of the test as he remained ahead of Smiths Racing BMW’s Peter Hickman in sixth place and the leading Honda Racing Fireblade of Dan Linfoot.
Jake Dixon marked his return to Oulton Park with a strong eighth place on the timesheets for the RAF Reserves Kawasaki team with Tommy Bridewell and Jason O’Halloran completing the top ten ahead of next weekend’s third round of the season.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Official Test, combined times:
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 1m:34.134s
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.473s
James Ellison (McAMS Yamaha) +0.605s
Josh Brookes (Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha) +0.718s
Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.845s
Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +1.007s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +1.049s
Jake Dixon (RAF Reserves Kawasaki) +1.292s
Tommy Bridewell (Team WD-40 Kawasaki) +1.434s
Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) +1.447s
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Leon Haslam
JG Speedfit Kawasaki
P1, official test
“For me this has been a really positive test. We had a real tough weekend at Brands Hatch and we felt that we didn’t have the right set-up and that compared to some of the other riders we were lacking in a few areas, but my base setting here has been working perfectly.
“We were under the lap record and I felt confident running over race distance. We have re-evaluated and now I feel that we go into the races next weekend positive that we can come out fighting again.”