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Superbike World Championship in South Africa:
DARK DOG rider Leon Haslam ready for another podium
Kyalami, South Africa:
The sixth round of this year's Superbike World Championship takes place at the Kyalami race circuit in South Africa and promises to be yet another close-fought affair for Team Suzuki Alstare riders Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli. The season so far is proving to be the most competitive since the series began in 1988 and every practice, qualifying and race has been closely contested.
After taking fourth and second last weekend in Monza (Italy), Leon tops the series by three points and will be looking to extend that lead at the demanding 4.263 kilometre Kyalami circuit. The track is one of the most undulating circuits on the calendar and features many changes of elevation and bike set-up and a good grid position will be crucial.
In Monza, last weekend, Leon hurt his left wrist when he had a problem in the first race. He was spectacularly highsided, but somehow managed to stay on the bike. In the process of keeping hold of his GSX-R1000 Suzuki, he tweaked an old scaphoid and ligament injury, but still managed to get on the podium in race two.
His team mate Sylvain Guintoli saw improvements during the race last weekend in Monza by posting 2 Top10 positions. His clear aim for South Africa is to build on that and to be much better right from the start of the race weekend!
DARK DOG wishes a lot of success to Team Suzuki Alstare riders Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli and is confident to see the team on the podium in South Africa!
Leon Haslam
"Kyalami is a physically demanding track and it is going to give my left wrist a good workout, but I don't think it's going to be too much of a problem. It is well strapped up now and I don't feel much pain. Of course, it would've been good to have a bit more of a gap between Monza and Kyalami, but I shall just have to put up with it. That's assuming of course that the volcanic ash situation doesn't prevent us from getting there! It's funny to think that we are all dependant on some stuff outside of our control, but hopefully we'll all be able to get there and back! Max Biaggi went well in Monza, so I will have to do my best to make sure I beat him and maintain my series lead. In Kyalami last year, I qualified 10th, DNF'd in the first race and finished fourth in the second, so I will be aiming to do a lot better than that this weekend."
Sylvain Guintoli
"It's going to be new territory for me riding the Suzuki in Kyalami and I will have to learn the track quickly and do well in qualifying. That's something I have been struggling with recently, but I know that I have to improve my results on Friday and Saturday or else it's very difficult to do well on race day. At the moment, I have been finding it a bit hard getting into a good rhythm in practice and qualifying and that's preventing me from doing what I should be doing on race day. Kyalami has many ups and downs and it's a tough circuit at the best of times. I have to crack it early on and be in a good grid position and that's what I will be trying to achieve."
TV COVERAGE SUPERBIKE RACE KYALAMI, SOUTH AFRICA
Sunday, 16th May 2010 10:30 GMT
SUPERBIKE: World Championship in Kyalami, South Africa - Superpole (30min)
12:00 GMT LIVE
SUPERBIKE: World Championship in Kyalami, South Africa - 1st Leg (60min)
17:30 GMT
SUPERBIKE: World Championship in Kyalami, South Africa - 2nd Leg (45min)
