It’s official. Former Superbike World Championship runner-up Leon Haslam has reached an agreement with the Kawasaki Weber-Motos Team and will ride the IDM Superbike of the injured Bastien Mackels at Most.
When the IDM visits Most, Czech Republic, from June 24 to 26, 2022, the often-cited comparison between the IDM and the level of competition in the British Superbike Championship (BSB) will once again come up. Haslam has recently returned to British Superbikes after more than 300 races, five wins, and a runner-up finish in the world championship. He won the domestic series in 2018.
Now he is confident that he can get the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR back on the winning track and clinch his second title with the Green team.
Haslam is also a die-hard fan of the FIM Endurance Championship. In 2019, he won the legendary 8-Hour Race at Suzuka alongside Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu. In 2022, the Briton will attempt to repeat that triumph with Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes.
“We’re all very happy that, with the tremendous help and support from Kawasaki Germany, we were able to find such a top-notch replacement for Bastien in such a short time,” says team manager Emil Weber. “Leon knows the bike very well, and with all his experience and skill, he’ll make the starting grid even stronger. We wish Bastien a speedy recovery.”
Bastian Mackels suffered a complicated foot fracture at the end of May during the first practice session for the IDM race in Oschersleben.