Haslam enjoying life in factory team

Following his three day test at Phillip Island in Australia, Leon Haslam remains 100% convinced he’s made the best decision of his career to join the factory Suzuki Alstare squad.

Having ridden for the privateer Stiggy Honda squad in 2009, Haslam has revealed how satisfied he is with his new team having already completed five days of testing since the end of the season.

Speaking to MCN he said:
“This is the first time I’ve ridden for a full factory team. You always think the grass is going to be greener and it is. I can’t pick fault with anything they’ve done. Everything is organised so all I have to do is ride the bike which is prefect for me.”

Haslam completed 280 laps over the three day Phillip Island test despite having to cope with blistering temperatures which resulted in 65 degree track temperatures.

He said:
“When we were there it was a heat wave and that meant we could only really set fast times early in the morning or late in the afternoon. I’m not allowed to speak about lap times, but what I can say is that I’m really happy.”

Haslam spent the three days lapping with new team-mate Sylvan Guintoli who was also in impressive form despite hitting a number of seagulls during the test.

Haslam said:
“There was only two of us lapping so it took time to clean the track. Between myself and Sylvan I think we hit about eight birds. Sylvan hit one with his helmet on the start finish straight which was a bit messy.”

The two men used the test to evaluate new parts including a back to back test between Ohlins and Showa suspension, with the Belgium run squad expected to make the full time switch to Ohlins in 2010.