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Super Leon extends championship lead in Kyalami

Monday, 17 May 2010 08:55 GMT
Super Leon extends championship lead in Kyalami
Suzuki Alstare rider Leon Haslam is not only still on top of the world, but in Kyalami he extended his championship lead over his closest rival to fifteen points. Leon didn't achieve his third place in race one and tremendous win in race two without a fight though.


Race two was particularly dramatic and action-packed and was one of the best battles of the season so far. Throughout the race Leon fought tooth and nail with fellow countryman Jonathan Rea (Honda), with Leon taking the lead several times only to get overtaken again. The battle went right down to the wire, with Leon making an audacious passing move one lap from the end. This time he made it stick and went on to take the chequered flag by half a second. It was Leon's third win, ninth podium of the season and one of hardest victories of his career.


"What an amazing day!" said Haslam. "The second race was one of the best races I've ever been involved in and definitely one of the hardest. Johnny and I had a real ding-dong and it was bar-to-bar stuff for almost the whole race. I passed him a few times, but he always got me back and the longer the race went on I could feel him working out where I'd pass and how he'd stop me. In the end, I had to pass at a different place and this time I made it stick and held on to the flag.


"To win a race like that is quite an emotional thing and I have to give a big thank you to the whole team for all their work this weekend. The bike in the second race was an improvement over race one. We had a few issues in race one, so changed the balance by making a bit lower in the front and higher in the rear. I still had some issues with it, but it was better and allowed me to fight for the win. Today was a tough day, but I'm very happy to have extended my championship lead and I'm looking forward to the next round in USA."