Leon Haslam knows that he needs double top in the Spring Bank Holiday Monday fourth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at his local Donington Park circuit to put his title bid firmly back on track. The HM Plant Honda responded to the challenge with a hard working performance across free practice, putting in a late fast lap to head the leaderboard, though by only 0.073 secs from his team-mate Cal Crutchlow. Haslam has good memories of the Leicestershire grand prix circuit, having taken a winning double there last year, and he is aiming for an action replay to ease the disappointment of a difficult start to the current campaign which leaves him back in sixth place in the standings. “It’s obviously time to put my recent disappointments behind me and this is the place to do it,” reflected the 24 year old who is expecting a tough time against the Ducatis:. “They have dominated in the past I took the double there last year with them but I know that my new Fireblade goes well around here. “Going top in the practice was just what I needed and I know that there is more to come we just have to keep working at it and ensure that the results come,” added a confident Haslam. Crutchlow, second in the standings, though 44 points down on series leading Shane Byrne, is recovering well from the ankle injuries sustained in a crash at Oulton Park and looking both strong and comfortable, with his lap of 1m 32.225secs, piling the pressure on Haslam. Karl Harris, returning from the foot injuries that kept him out of the Brands Hatch action, was well on the pace throughout, with his lap of 1m 32.256secs underlining his determination to power the Rob Mac Racing Yamaha to a first podium finish of the season. The rider they all need to watch however remains Byrne the former champion was little more than a quarter of a second down on Haslam and that despite a tumble early on in the afternoon session from his Airwaves Ducati. Tom Sykes showed well aboard the Rizla Suzuki, lapping in 1m 32.854secs, to be ahead of Michael Rutter on the North West 200 Ducati and Leon Camier aboard the second Airwaves bike in a second session punctuated by two red-flags, an oil spill and five non-injury tumbles. Billy McConnell, ran eighth best for MSS Discover Kawasaki, with Hydrex Bike Animal Honda rider James Ellison sandwiched between the Aussie and his team-mate Stuart Easton. Chris Burns, riding the STP MV Agusta, headed the times for the Daily Star Cup with a best lap of 1m 34.827secs, ahead of Luke Quigley on the PDM Suzuki and Gary Mason, making his seasonal debut into the series on the Quay Garage Honda. John Laverty, the leader in the Cup points, ran fourth on the Buildbase NW200 Ducati. Bennetts British Superbike Championship, free practice, top ten times: 1. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) 1m:32.152s 2. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) +0.073s 3. Karl Harris (Rob Mac Racing Yamaha) +0.104s 4. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) +0.267s 5. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.566s 6. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) +0.825s 7. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +0.949s 8. Billy McConnell (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +1.355s 9. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +1.418s 10. Stuart Easton (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +1.557s Superbikes on track Sunday 25 May 10.25-11.15 free practice 14.10-15.00 Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole grid deciding session Monday 26 May 09.15-09.30 Warm-up practice 13.00 Race one 20 laps 15.30 Race two 20 laps More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Tom Sykes and Atsushi Watanabe spent the two 50-minute free practice sessions with their Rizla Suzuki technicians today at Donington Park, dialling in both their GSX-R1000s ahead of round four of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship. Sykes, who favours the 2.5 mile GP circuit, worked on perfecting his already-excellent handling Rizla Suzuki chassis, reducing his lap times to 1min 32.718secs, just 0.566secs off Leon Haslam who put in the fastest time of 1min 32.152secs. Watanabe also worked hard and had a productive first free practice finishing in 12th place. But his second session ended prematurely when he slipped off uninjured at Coppice corner. He had been making progress towards the top 10 as the session unfolded and that will be his target tomorrow for qualifying. The 50-minute qualifying session will take place tomorrow at 1410. Race one takes place on Monday at 1300 with race two at 1530. Jack Valentine – Team Manager Rizla Suzuki: “I’m quite happy with today as we are in contention; we are just half-a-second off pole position and there is more to come tomorrow: We were making small changes to the chassis and Tom put in his fastest time on lap 18 which is full race distance. All in all I’m pleased with how things have gone. “Atsu did well in the first session but unfortunately he stepped off during the second session which slowed his progress. His time from this morning’s session would put him 13th overall so again there is more to come and I know tomorrow he will dig deep and push hard to get into the top 10.” Free practice results: 1: Leon Haslam (Honda) 1:32.152 2: Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +0.073 3: Karl Harris (Yamaha) +0.104 4: Shane Byrne (Ducati) +0.267 5: Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.566 6: Michael Rutter (Ducati) +0.825 7: Leon Camier (Ducati) +0.949 8: Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) +1.355 9: James Ellison (Honda) +1.418 10: Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) +1.557 13: Atsushi Watanabe (Rizla Suzuki) +2.333