Leon Haslam will become the ninth rider in the history of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship to start his 200th race, in Race 1 at Laguna Seca this weekend.

Race start 200 will come in the first race of the day, while in the second race Haslam’s 201st start will match the tally of fellow Briton and two-time World Champion James Toseland. Only Carl Fogarty will remain ahead in terms of the most British race starts, on 219, while topping the overall list is Troy Corser on 377.

Since debuting at Brands Hatch in 2003, Haslam has won four races and collected 36 podium finishes, plus two pole positions and five fastest laps. He sits 12th overall in the table of most points scored by an individual rider (1,782), behind only Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes in terms of fellow regular riders on the 2015 grid.

“Racing in the USA is always special and it marks the start of the final sprint in the championship,” Haslam says. “I’m confident both the characteristics of the track and the weather conditions will suit the Aprilia. After three weekends off, I’m looking forward to working again with the mechanics and getting back in action.”

Team-mate Jordi Torres has competed in the United States in Grand Prix racing, at Austin in Texas and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but never at Laguna Seca.

“We now to Laguna Seca – a legendary circuit – and I’m really happy to be racing there,” the Spaniard begins. “We’ll have to be quick at learning it. It’s a very ‘busy’ track, with a lot of corners in quick sucession, and I think that could be good for my riding style. I’ve used the break since Misano to work on my physical training in the gym, thinking especially about riding through The Corkscrew for the first time!”

Aprilia has won at Laguna Seca three times in the World Superbike class: with Troy Corser in 2000, Eugene Laverty in 2013 and Marco Melandri in 2014.