Leon Haslam

'Pocket Rocket' Leon Haslam, son of 'Rocket' Ron Haslam, is a motorcycle racer from Smalley, Derbyshire, England. Born on 31st May 1983, he raced in most of the significant British and international championships whilst still in his teens, but since 2005 has been a regular front-runner in the British Superbike Championship.

Career

Early Days

Haslam was first exposed to motorcycle racing as a baby, often travelling with his parents to his dad's races. He was 1995 and 1996's National Youth Motocross champion [http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/catalog/book.htm?command=Search&db=twmain.txt&eqisbndata=0593059638] , and 1998's MCN Young Rider of the Year after finishing 7th in the British 125cc Championship. He did an assortment of 125cc races in 1999, but quickly advanced into international racing after that.Leon spent the 2000 season with the underprepared ItalJet team in the 125cc world championship, then racing a 500cc Honda in 2001 (scoring five points finishes, as the youngest rider ever to compete in the series), and a 250cc Honda in 2002 (again scoring points five times).

2003

At this stage he had valuable experience but little in the way of results, leading him to return home. For 2003 Renegade Ducati signed him, and he did rounds of the British Supersport, British Superbike and Superbike World Championships, adjusting quickly to all 3.

2004

For 2004 he did the full WSBK season for Renegade alongside Noriyuki Haga. He was 8th overall with a best of 3rd, but it would be unfair not to mention his impressive victory in a British Superbike race at Brands Hatch on one of the team's 3 ventures into the series. In torrential rain, this was the only Ducati win in the series all year, even though this was the title-winning bike in both 2003 (Shane "Shakey" Byrne) and 2005 (Gregorio Lavilla).

2005

It was BSB full-time for Leon in 2005 with the GSE team, with the Airwaves Ducati team, finishing 4th overall behind only team-mate Lavilla and the two HM Plant Hondas of Ryuichi Kiyonari and Michael Rutter.

2006

2006 saw Leon once again on the Airwaves sponsored GSE Ducati 999, partnering Lavilla. In the first 12 races of the 2006 season he finished 2nd no less than 8 times, without winning a race but taking 3 poles and lying 2nd overall. The wins came later; he was particularly proud of a win in the wet at Croft.

He managed to push for the title all the way to the last race of the season at a rain soaked Brands Hatch where Leon, Lavilla and Kiyonari all had a chance to win. Leon was running second to Kiyo in the first race when it was stopped after Byrne crashed heavily, and despite storming to victory in the second race, he ended the season in second place and Lavilla (who crashed in race one) was third. Leon did however drive off in the £50,000 Audi convertible which was his prize for scoring the most points in the Audi pole position competition.

2007

While Lavilla won the first four races and lead the championship after eight, Haslam struggled to match these results. However, two second places at Oulton Park in round four moved him up to fourth overall. He ultimately finished 3rd, behind Kiyonari and Jonathan Rea's Hondas but ahead of a fading Lavilla.

2008

Haslam left Ducati for 2008, amidst uncertainty as to whether they would contest the 2008 BSB series. He joined Airwaves' rivals HM Plant Honda for 2008, but the Ducati proved to be the faster bike, with Shaky Byrne dominating the championship. Haslam struggled early in the season [http://betting.betfair.com/betting/other/the-betfair-big-interview-leon-haslam-260608.html] and was generally outpaced by younger team-mate Cal Crutchlow, and was excluded from race 2 at Oulton Park after a racing incident with Tom Sykes [http://www.crash.net/motorsport/bsb/news/162950-0/haslam_excluded.html] . Despite several podium finishes his first win did not come until round 8 at Knockhill, when race leader Byrne crashed heavily [http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/mcn/2008/august/4-10/aug1008-knockhill-bsb-race-2-/] . He then took a double win at Cadwell Park, despite not starting on the front row [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/motorcycling/2621798/Leon-Haslam-happy-with-first-winning-double-of-the-season-at-Cadwell-Park---Motorcycling.html]

Haslam also made a wild card appearance in the World Superbike Championship round at Donington Park, but a competitive showing ended with disappointing results. In race one he ran with the leaders after a red flag, but eased off after seeing a white flag with a red cross. In BSB races this indicates the deployment of the safety car, however in WSBK it merely means slippery surface. The time he lost here proved costly, as he was taken out by a rash Roberto Rolfo move a lap later. In race two he crashed out of fourth place with just three laps to go.

World Superbikes part 2

WSBK remained his target for 2009 [http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/sport/Haslam-hungry-world-glory/article-312271-detail/article.html] , and he joined the Stiggy Honda team for their first World Superbike campaign [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/motorcycling/3131008/Leon-Haslam-joins-Stiggy-Honda-team-Motorcycling.html] .

Personal life

Leon has two sisters, Emma and Zoe [http://www.rbooks.co.uk/product.aspx?id=0593059638] . He is currently dating ex-glamour model turned masseur Olivia Stringer. The pair are living in Derbyshire, close to the Haslam family home. He owns the cue Peter Ebdon used to win the 2002 World Snooker Championship, and has it framed on his wall. He also enjoys playing poker, pool and golf, and supports Manchester United F.C.. His training partners include Oli and the Formula Renault front-runner Riki Christodulou.

External Links

[http://www.leonhaslam.com/history.php History on his official site] [http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s180/st106110.htm Leon Haslam full profile]

ee also

*2008 British Superbike season