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STIGGY HONDA>> Haslam turns Stiggy Superbike squad from rookies to podium regulars in Assen

April 29 2009

World Superbike Championship
Stiggy Racing Honda

Round 4 Assen
Sunday April 26
SBK Race 1+2

Only four months ago the Honda CBR1000RR Superbike first entered the Stiggy Racing garage, but today the team celebrated its first double podium in Assen, and showed they have what it takes to compete at the top of the Superbike Championship.

In the breathtaking first Superbike race, Haslam brought his bike through in fifth place and immediately pushed hard to chase the front group of Spies, Neukirchner and Haga. He found the connection in the fifth lap, and moved into third position after Neukirchner crashed out in front of him.  It was Haga who remained in the leading position in the second half of the race, and while Spies tried to recuperate his position, Haslam upped his pace and beat the lap record doing so, by no less then 0.6s. Haslam overtook Spies in the first sections of the track, but lost valuable second coming out of the chicane onto the straight. He kept it clean and close in a frantic elbow rubbing session with Spies in the last laps, but lost his second position to the Yamaha rider.  In the last chicane Spies got the better out of a tussle with Haga and reclaimed the lead, while Haslam took third position as they crossed the line.

In the second race, Haslam was in good form once again, but in his quest to move forward to second place, was hindered by Fabrizio. He managed to overtake the Italian in the second part of the race, but by this time Haga had extended his lead to a mere 4 seconds. Haslam stayed put and completed the successful day for the Stiggy Superbike team by adding a second place to the tally. Haslam succeeded in his mission to be the top British and fastest Honda rider in the Superbike Championship, and further secured his third place in the rankings today.

Leon Haslam, R1-3rd, R2-2nd:
" I am absolutely over the moon. This certainly was my best race ever on one of my favourite tracks. To be on the podium twice in one weekend is just awesome. I was a little frustrated after the first race, as I wasn't there in the last two laps with Nori and Ben to battle for the win.

With Spies crashing out in the second race I thought I had a great opportunity to battle with Nori, but it just took me too long to pass Fabrizio. By the time I got passed him I managed to brake him by a second , but Nori was already gone and had a nice lead. I managed to gain a little bit on him towards the end, but it wasn't enough to catch him.
I want to give big thanks to my team and sponsors, and am looking forward to the next race in Monza.

Johan Stigefelt, Team Manager:
"It has been an incredible day for us. We achieved a fantastic result here in Assen, it is a great effort from everyone in the team. We all have worked so hard to get here. Everyone believes in the project. We just have an incredibly strong and motivated team. At ten o'clock last night we were still swapping engines in Leon's bike, but he is delivering and has rewarded the team for their efforts.

Leon can ride the bike well and has put it to the limit. He has put in a great effort as well and to take home two podium places in our fourth Superbike race is just incredible. It's a big thing for the team, we are currently third in the Championship and best Honda team. It is hard to believe we achieved this in such a short period of time.

On the other side there was the heavy crash on Friday that took John out of contention for a while. I feel really sorry for him, and hope he will make a speedy recovery. We can give him the same package Leon has and are ready for him when he comes back.

Results Race 1:
1. B.Spies
2. N.Haga
3. L.Haslam

Results Race 2:
1. N.Haga
2. L.Haslam
3. J. Smrz

Stiggy Racing Honda is sponsored by Hotbodies Racing and uses our windscreens on all of their bikes. Hotbodies Racing specializes in manufacturing high-performance parts for high-performance sportbikes, and is the North American distribution of KR Tuned performance parts. Hotbodies Racing is the market leader in Undertails, Huggers, Windscreens, Flush-Mount Signals, Megaphone Exhausts and full-race Bodywork. Hotbodies Racing supports the sport with sponsorship around the world and encourages dealer and distributor inquiries. For more information visit: www.HOTBODIESRACING.com.