Superbike: 43 and not feeling his age, Leon Haslam is still a threat in BSB

Remember Leon Haslam? He was Superbike world runner-up way back in 2010 with Suzuki, after a stellar duel with Max Biaggi. At 43 he’s still blazing fast in British Superbike with Ducati Moto Rapido: at Thruxton he topped Friday practice!

Yes, Leon Haslam is still lightning quick. In the first free practice session of the seventh round, the penultimate before the Showdown series, he had to bow to the rampant Kyle Ryde, the BSB’s prince for the past two years and the rider to beat again this season in pursuit of a potential hat-trick. But in the second session LH91 raised the bar, ending the day ahead of everyone. He leads the (factory) Honda of Ryan Vicker and the other Ducati of Scott Redding. The former WorldSBK rider is racing on home soil and is particularly motivated to claw back points on championship leader Ryde. Expect three fiery races: at the end of FP2 the top 17 riders (out of 24 starters) are covered by just nine tenths!

Leon is the son of Ron Haslam, a factory Honda rider in the 500 World Championship during the heroic 1980s, the era of Kenny Roberts, Marco Lucchinelli and Franco Uncini. The son arrived in the 125 World Championship very young, at just 15, and in 2001, not yet 18, he was already in the top class—one of the youngest ever to race the ferocious 500cc two-strokes. With the Honda V2 he scored points on several occasions, narrowly missing the top ten. He then moved down to BSB before making the jump to World Superbike: in 2004 with the British outfit Ducati Renegade, he was teammate to Noriyuki Haga. The big opportunity came in 2010 as a factory Suzuki rider run by the fantastic Team Alstare: he won on debut in Australia and fought Max Biaggi for the title, point for point. The showdown came at Imola, where Leon Haslam was forced to retire due to engine failure.

Having started racing at the highest level so young, Leon Haslam has spanned many eras of motorcycle racing. In Superbike he was a factory BMW rider, then with Aprilia Racing. In 2020–21 he was teammate to Alvaro Bautista at Honda HRC. His last world outings came with BMW in 2023, filling in for the injured Michael van der Mark. He then returned full-time to BSB: last year he finished third, with one win to his name. Time seems not to touch him: Leon Haslam is still right up front, and who knows—this weekend at Thruxton he might just spring a surprise on the usual suspects Ryde and Redding...

Around mid-August, the motorsport calendars are dead calm. Formula 1 and MotoGP won’t be back in action for another two weeks, WorldSBK has been on pause for over a month and won’t resume until September 5–6 at Magny-Cours (France). The British series, however, roars this weekend at Thruxton, one of the legendary tracks of British motorsport. The most competitive national series on the planet is run smartly, racing when the competition is thinner and tapping into the holiday crowd’s appetite for action. BSB’s mid-August racing is a bit like the Premier League’s Boxing Day: on December 26, when other leagues stop, the United Kingdom becomes the center of the world. Simple recipe, guaranteed result.

The three races of BSB’s seventh round will start at these Italian times: Saturday, August 15, Race 1 at 17:10. Sunday, August 16, Race 2 at 14:00, Race 3 at 17:15. In Italy no TV network carries BSB, but it is available on the Eurosport and Discovery streaming platforms, with English commentary and by subscription.

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Photo: BSB/MSVR