SBK – Kawasaki signs Leon Haslam for next season

Bruno Gomes

July 26, 2018

British rider Leon Haslam is set for a return to the World Superbike championship after Kawasaki Racing Team signed the experienced rider to replace Tom Sykes. Haslam has been doing some wildcard races in World SBK, but has been racing full time in the British Superbike Championship (BSB) with Kawasaki.

Haslam returns to a championship he knows well. He’s been runner-up in 2010, has won 5 times and finished on the podium for 39 times before he decided to race in BSB, where he’s been fighting for the title every season since 2016, and is leading the standings at the moment.

Kawasaki hopes to get a better relationship between teammates, since Tom Sykes – who is moving away from the team – hasn’t been getting along well with current champion Jonathan Rea, while at the same time the Japanese team secures an experienced rider who knows how to make the Ninja ZX-10RR go faster that their rivals.

Rea and Haslam will start their collaboration sooner that 2019, all because they will by riding for Team Green during the next Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race.