The connection between Leon Haslam and Donington Park is well known and well documented and last weekend Haslam got the chance to return to the track he almost literally grew up at.

Despite his intense efforts, including a recovery from a massive near-high side in race one, Haslam stuck with the task manfully and came very close to scoring a much desired podium in race one, despite a far-from perfect machine set-up. Said Leon "It has again been a hard fought weekend for us, but we have definitely made clear improvements from Australia. In race 1 we had some issues, which were similar to those I experienced in Phillip Island, so we made some changes for the second race and it was a real improvement, especially in the second half."

He was not to be able to make the most of his better set-up after a moment of drama put him backwards for a time. "I made a mistake in the early laps of race 2, which dropped me back a number of places, but I was happy I was able to fight back and finish strong. We will now work hard to be ready for Assen."

Leon retained third in the championship after his two strong Donington rides.