        While the eyes of the world are on Spa Francorchamps for this weekend&rsquo;s 24 Hours, preparations are underway in Japan for the next World Endurance round, the legendary Suzuka 8 Hours, which returns this year after a two-year absence. And so it is that KRT, in the shape of Alex Lowes and Leon Haslam, two thirds of the team that will head out on track to defend its 2019 title, is currently out on track at the Suzuka circuit, working on the set-up of the ZX-10RR ahead of the classic Japanese race, scheduled to take place on 7 August. All as they await Jonathan Rea, the third member of the team that won the 2019 race, the squad not even having to field then Puccetti Racing rider, Toprak Razgatlioglu. Kawasaki&rsquo;s 8 Hour announcement  With a post on its Instagram page, KRT has announced the line-up with which it will defend its 2019 Suzuka 8 Hours win, or rather SBK factory riders Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes plus BSB rider Leon Haslam. The post reads: &ldquo;Kawasaki has confirmed that it will officially participate in the 2022 Suzuka 8 hours event. As a reigning champions, a full factory program is being put into place after two years without the event being held due to the worldwide Covid pandemic. The KRT riders, engineers and mechanics will support Japanese Kawasaki engineers and technicians ready to fight for success in the World&rsquo;s most challenging motorcycle endurance race&rdquo;.             Visualizza questo post su Instagram  Un post condiviso da Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK (@krt_worldsbk)      The KRT Suzuka test post  On its own Instagram page, the KRT team has published a post from Suzuki with this caption: &ldquo;We can't stop racing! Here we are in Suzuka, Japan. Working together with our Japanese Colleagues at KMC and Showa, Alex Lowes and Leon Haslam working to find the right set up for our ZX-10RR, for the most challenging race of the Year! 8 Hours Suzuka race is back, here we go!&rdquo;             Visualizza questo post su Instagram  Un post condiviso da Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK (@krt_worldsbk)      Translated by Heather Watson TT Supertwin, a change afoot for Hickman: he&rsquo;ll race with the Paton       

Alex Lowes and Leon Haslam are in Japan to work on the ZX-10RR ahead of the race on 7 August, as they await Jonathan Rea

EWC: Kawasaki prepares for the Suzuka 8 Hours

        The second round of the season is yet to play out, but we already have a first shake-up on the Superbike grid. Today&rsquo;s news regards the split between team Pedercini and Loris Cresson, who should have continued to wear the Italian team&rsquo;s colours for a second consecutive season. The break-up came in the week following the first Aragon round, where the Belgian rider unfortunately finished last in all three races. These less than satisfactory results combined with some financial issues led to the definitive split between team and rider. Haslam returns to Superbike ahead of time. On a full time basis?  With Cresson&rsquo;s premature departure, WorldSBK&nbsp;reopens its doors to Leon Haslam. The experienced British rider was set to compete in four world chamionship rounds with team Pedercini (Misano, Donington, Most and Portimao) but, considering the situation, he will now make his season debut already in The Netherlands. As for the future, or rather what will happen from Estoril onwards, we do not yet know. A strong result on Haslam&rsquo;s part in The Netherlands could convince both rider and team to continue together for the rest of the season, but there are also financial considerations of course. Leon is currently competing in BSB with&nbsp;the Kawasaki Lee Hardy Racing team, with which he scored a best result of 13th in the third race of the Silverstone season opener. Translated by Heather Watson WorldSBK, Dall&rsquo;Igna: &ldquo;The title? We rely on Alvaro Bautista&rsquo;s return&rdquo;       

The Brit returns to the world championship ahead of time, replacing the Belgian. The Italian team&rsquo;s future remains up in the air

WorldSBK, Cresson and Pedercini split - Haslam to return at Assen

        The 2022 British Superbike season will get underway this weekend at the Silverstone circuit in its National configuration. A first round that will run without its current champion, as Tarran Mackenzie is still recovering after injuring his ankle during tests at the same track. The McAMS Yamaha team will therefore have to count on Jason O'Halloran alone. Sykes and Haslam line up, aiming for victory  The two most highly anticipated riders on track this season are undoubtedly Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam. Both coming from the production-derived world series, they will clearly be in the spotlight as they aim for the top, aboard team PBM&rsquo;s Ducati Panigale V4 R and the Lee Hardy Racing team&rsquo;s Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR respectively. Haslam was in fact the last rider to win the national title with the Akashi bike, in 2018. Possible frontrunners  In addition to the aforementioned names, many other riders will be battling it out for the podium, not least Sykes&rsquo; fellow Ducati riders, or rather Josh Brookes, his PBM team-mate, and Tommy Bridewell, very fast in testing with team Moto Rapido. Another one to watch is young Rory Skinner with the Kawasaki of team FS-3 Racing, and then there are well-known names Peter Hickman, Christian Iddon, Danny Kent, Bradley Ray and Kyle Ryde, in great shape since moving to Yamaha. And we can only expect improvement from the official Honda Racing UK team, on track with four bikes, entrusted to Glenn Irwin, Neave, Mizuno and Takahashi, and the Synetiq BMW squad with Andrew Irwin and Danny Buchan. It will be very tough to make the difference around such a short track, so we can expect some very close-fought races. Race schedule  The three-race format is confirmed, with a Sprint Race on the Saturday and two further races on Sunday. The shorter Race 1 will take place on Saturday afternoon at 17:15 CET, then Race 2 on Sunday at 14:30 CET, followed by Race 3 at 17:30 CET. For Sunday&rsquo;s races, the starting grid is based on the fastest laps made in the previous race, making for even more unpredictable results. All three races will be broadcast on the Eurosport Player platform. Translated by Heather Watson WorldSBK: Tarran Mackenzie&rsquo;s world championship debut postponed       

With Tarran Mackenzie absent due to injury sustained during testing, the British Superbike championship is set to resume with more than 30 riders and numerous reasons to watch, not least the participation of Sykes and Haslam

BSB, Silverstone: the 2022 season begins, without the current champion

The Superbike weekend at Donington Park highlighted several things, not least the difficult situation in which Honda currently finds itself. While Yamaha and Kawasaki fight for the title with phenomenons Razgatlioglu and Rea, the Tokyo manufacturer is in a tunnel with seemingly no way out.  Bautista never at ease   In the constructor&rsquo;s standings, Honda brings up the rear with 74 points (and not even one podium to date), far from Kawasaki&rsquo;s tally of 191 and Yamaha&rsquo;s 187. The Honda CBR 1000 RR-R has failed to take off and the riders, particularly Alvaro Bautista, are feeling the effects.  At Donington, the Spaniard finished race 1 in eighth place, 37 seconds behind Toprak, a gap that &ldquo;dropped&rdquo; to 22 seconds in race 2, one that took place in the dry, #19 crossing the line tenth. Huge gaps at what is a relatively short track, and one where Bautista reached the podium in 2019, back when he was riding the Ducati. And there&rsquo;s also a different in terms of fastest laps, Bautista&rsquo;s best in lap two &ndash; a 1&#39;29.104 &ndash; far from the time set by Rea, or rather a 1&#39;28.078.  Alvaro is in need of a new bike, the electronic updates not enough to resolve the tricky technical situation. Not even Leon Camier&rsquo;s arrival has brought the desired turnaround. And yet, during winter testing, the Japanese weren&rsquo;t exactly standing by. Barcelona brought a new swingarm, a new exhaust and a torque sensor. All updates that failed to modify the character of the CBR or facilitate the life of the former MotoGP rider, never able to exploit his own particular strength, corner speed.&nbsp;  Haslam, strong in England but...   And while Bautista cries, Leon Haslam is not exactly laughing. The Brit has scored 41 points to date, compared to his team-mate&rsquo;s tally of 57. In the UK, at a track he knows so well, Haslam lifted his head, scoring a fourth-place finish in the Superpole race which is the high point of his season so far. We&rsquo;ll have to wait for the next Assen round to see whether this was just a one-off result or a sign of real growth but, considering the technical situation, we&rsquo;re more inclined to think it&rsquo;s the second.  As hard as the guys in the garage are working, Honda needs to really believe in the Superbike project. Many small updates to the CBR are clearly not enough to close the gap to its rivals, competitors who are not exactly standing still either.  And this is the key point, or rather, to what extent is the Japanese manufacturer really interested in WorldSBK? As the seats for 2022 start to be defined, this summer will serve to clarify ideas and projects, the future once again appearing cloudy. With the threat of playing out another season as also-rans.  Translated by Heather Watson  MotoGP, Schwantz on Rossi&#39;s hypothetical retirement before the end of the season 

The manufacturer&rsquo;s CBR project is slow to take off. Bautista and Haslam are yet to score a podium this year, with future projects still to be defined

SBK, Honda in crisis: but just how interested is it in Superbike?

This weekend will see the Superbike World Championship finally get underway at the Spanish track of Arag&oacute;n and the 2021 season already presents a number of talking points. One of these is the performance of the Honda CBR1000RR-R which, following a year of intense development, has so far failed to achieve the desired race results despite an expert rider line-up comprising Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam.  The factory HRC team has clear goals for the 2021 season then, namely to reach the top with an even more advanced machine and two riders who know the bike well and can start to push to the max right from round 1, which is set to play out at the very track where Bautista reached the podium last year.  Camier team manager: the right choice?  One of the big changes in the Honda garage regards the arrival of Leon Camier, who undertakes the role of team manager. The former rider will try to bring his experience and guide the factory team towards a victory, no easy feat considering the tough competition, starting with usual favourite Jonathan Rea of course.  While it&rsquo;s true that the pandemic has limited development of the Fireblade, it&rsquo;s also true that the number 19 and 91 rider pairing is one of the most experienced on the grid. It will be essential for them to secure a race win as soon as possible if they want to save a project that, as of today, has not yet shown its full potential.  And let&rsquo;s not forget that Leandro Mercado is also riding a Honda this season, competing with the MIE Racing team. During the CIV SBK round at Misano, the Argentinian demonstrated that he might be a possible outsider and, even if he&#39;s not fighting at the front, he can provide important additional feedback about the CBR, a bike he&rsquo;s riding for the first time in the world championship.  Translated by Heather Watson  MotoGP, Max Biaggi admits: &ldquo;Rossi won&#39;t be back to how he was&quot; 

After a complicated 2020 in which it scored just one podium, the HRC factory team is expected to play a central role in 2021, with Leon Camier as team manager and Bautista and Haslam called upon to fight at the front

WorldSBK, Honda: time to get serious

It wasn&rsquo;t easy but Honda has finally started 2021 with its first tests of the year. Like last week, the team was out on track at Jerez, and once again the weather hindered the Japanese manufacturer&rsquo;s plans.  While yesterday riders Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam were able to enjoy a dry track during the afternoon, more bad weather today saw the team packing up early and leaving in the early afternoon.  Haslam: &quot;Good sensations on the bike, I&rsquo;ll continue my training with added motivation&quot;     Despite the various difficulties, this first half day served as a very important step, Honda able to receive some initial feedback from its riders regarding the new technical components of the CBR.  This is what Alvaro Bautista focused on this week: &ldquo;We have not been very lucky with the weather &ndash; he admits - but we finally made the most of a half day, testing some new items HRC has brought. We were able to collate some useful data and gain some references, and at least give the technicians the indications for them to be able to continue their development work. So with that in mind, it&rsquo;s been an important and very positive test, and now we have the direction to follow.&rdquo;  Leon Haslam is of a similar opinion, pleased to be back on his # 91 CBR. &ldquo;Even though we eventually had just half a day, we were able to complete some laps and give the engineers and team the information they needed. My feeling with the bike was good and the new items we&rsquo;ve tested were very interesting, so now I have even more motivation ahead of my training camp in coming weeks. Hopefully we can test again soon so that we&rsquo;re well prepared for the start of the season&rdquo;.  Translated by Heather Watson  WorldSBK, further changes to the test regulation 

Team HRC was able to make use of just half a day of testing. Alvaro: &quot;We gave the engineers some useful data&quot;. Haslam: &quot;Good sensations, I&rsquo;m even more motivated&quot;

WorldSBK, Bautista: &ldquo;We have a direction to follow&rdquo;

        Along with Alvaro Bautista, Leon Haslam took part in the virtual event arranged by HRC. The British rider will continue to compete with the SBK team and wants to help develop the Fireblade, a fast and powerful inline four cylinder, even further: "Continuing to compete in the world championship and doing it with HRC is a fantastic opportunity &ndash; he says. Last season was very short and it was all new for us, from the bike to the team, with an entire project to develop. From a high-performance standard CBR RR-R, we needed to develop the race model, our work conditioned by the long break in the spring. Despite this, I have to say we made significant progress". Where do you need to improve? "We need to take further steps, and we already saw some positive feedback at Jerez. We tested some parts that we couldn&rsquo;t use during race weekends. It all went well and we&rsquo;re pleased."  You made your debut in 2003, racing against names that have gone down in history. What&rsquo;s changed over the years? "Many years have passed&hellip; The bikes we rode back then were different. I can say that I&rsquo;ve had experience of racing with legends like Bayliss and Biaggi, for example. I&rsquo;m very happy, because I&rsquo;ve been on the podium with six different manufacturers. And it&rsquo;s exciting now too, Honda is officially back racing, battling with Yamaha, Kawasaki, Ducati and BMW. This is probably the strongest, highest level I&rsquo;ve ever seen, if we&rsquo;re talking about the commitment of the manufacturers. Being involved in the HRC project is the most exciting time for me, because the challenge on track has grown and the bar is being raised every day". You know Kawasaki well, having raced with them. Are you worried about the new Ninja? "Knowing the Kawasaki environment and method, I can say that they are successful because nothing has really changed for them. I'm talking about the team, which is solid. And the riders, and the way they provide information to develop the bike. In practice, they&rsquo;ve done the opposite of Honda, where it&rsquo;s all new, although I believe HRC has greater capability than Kawasaki, while they have more experience. I reckon the new Ninja can make another step, we need to beat them, that&rsquo;s our goal&rdquo;. Translated by Heather Watson WorldSBK: Davies and Go Eleven, like Checa and Althea in 2011?        

Leon is not unnerved by Rea&rsquo;s new Ninja, faster than the others at the Jerez test: "They are competitive because they&rsquo;ve made few changes, while for us at HRC it was all new. Our aim is to beat them&rdquo;

7 risultati per 'EN leon haslam'

EWC: Kawasaki prepares for the Suzuka 8 Hours

WorldSBK, Cresson and Pedercini split - Haslam to return at Assen

BSB, Silverstone: the 2022 season begins, without the current champion

SBK, Honda in crisis: but just how interested is it in Superbike?

WorldSBK, Honda: time to get serious

WorldSBK, Bautista: “We have a direction to follow”

WorldSBK, Haslam: “Honda has greater capability than Kawasaki”