HM Plant Honda duo Leon Haslam and Cal Crutchlow performed brilliantly at the final round of the World Superbike championship today, showing strongly in both races. Both riders were up at the sharp end of the action as results were decided by tyre performance at the new Portimao circuit. Both HM Plant Honda riders suffered tyre consistency problems at some point during the races, but Leon managed to take a superb third place in the second race after a seventh in the first outing. Cal also showed strongly in both races, but tyre problems saw him retire in race one, and force him into 9th in race two. Both riders showed both their strength and the potency of the HM Plant Honda Fireblade on the World stage. Leon and Cal now leave the team to prepare for their 2009 campaigns on the World scene, while HM Plant Honda will look forward to reclaiming the British Superbike Championship and winning on the roads at the 2009 North West 200 and Isle of Man TT races.
Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda World Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR FirebladeRACE ONE: 7th
RACE TWO: 3rd
“Everyone knows I’m moving to World Superbike in 2009 so I think this podium bodes well for me and 2009. I’m staying with the Honda family with Stiggy Honda – which is important to me – and I’m looking forward to next season. I’ve wanted to be back on the World scene for a while, so to podium here at the last race of the season and my final race for HM Plant Honda is just brilliant. It’s a fantastic finish to my season with HM Plant Honda – they’ve been awesome – and it’s great to finish the season on a high.”
Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant HondaWorld Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR FirebladeRACE ONE: DNF
RACE TWO: 9th position
“Looking at the results we deserved so much more, really. I suffered a complete tyre delamination in race one, others used that tyre and didn’t have a problem, so why we had an issue is anyone’s guess. I was lucky not to crash and had to pull out for safety reasons. In the second outing the tyre spun on the rim and then I had similar problems as in the first race. It’s disappointing as we were capable of two podiums, but congratulations to Leon for the podium and to Troy Bayliss for leaving racing on such a high with two wins and the championship. I’m proud that I was up there battling with the World’s best riders and I aim to be doing that in 2009 in the World Supersport Championship.”
Havier Beltran – HM Plant Honda Team Manager“Leon’s podium is great for us all and shows that the team can run at the sharp-end of a World Championship – like Cal’s podium at Donington showed. We did have a tyre consistency problem, which affected Cal in both races and Leon in the first. It affected other people in the race and I guess it was the same for everyone, but it’s very frustrating the way it upset our races. We did learn a lot about the HM Plant Honda Fireblade here this weekend, which helps for next season. It’s been nice to come away with a third, but then also frustrating and disappointing for both riders who showed strongly on the leaderboard, but had problems which meant they didn’t show consistently in the overall results. Congratulations to Troy Bayliss – his set-up on the bike was perfect. You could see it was almost inevitable over the weekend as they tweaked the bike and the traction control. It was the perfect end both to his championship and career, so well done to him and the team. We’ve had a tough but successful season at HM Plant Honda in 2008. Despite developing a brand-new motorcycle in the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, on tyres that were new to us, we’ve battled for the British Superbike title – taken second and third in the series – and fought for wins on the roads and taken on the World’s best Superbike riders and taken podiums. I’d like to thank HM Plant, Honda, our partners and sponsors, the riders and the team for a good year, but we’re aiming for better in 2009!”
World Superbike ChampionshipRace One Result:1. Troy Bayliss – Ducati
2. Carlos Checa - Honda
3. Troy Corser – Yamaha
4. Jonathan Rea – Honda
5. Fonsi Nieto – Suzuki
7. Leon Haslam – HM Plant HondaDNF. Cal Crutchlow Race Two Result:1. Troy Bayliss – Ducati
2. Michel Fabrizio – Ducati
3. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda 4. Max Neukirchner – Suzuki
5. Fonsi Nieto – Suzuki
9. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
