Breaking news
World Superbike
Haslam retains Honda World Superbike seat for 2021
Leon Haslam will remain at the factory Honda World Superbike team for the 2021 season after being handed a fresh contract extension.
Jamie Klein
Edited: Oct 15, 2020, 8:24 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The announcement means the Japanese manufacturer will go into the second season of its full works return to WSBK with an unchanged line-up of Haslam and Alvaro Bautista.
With only this weekend's Estoril season finale still to go, Honda lies fourth in the manufacturers' standings, with Bautista giving the all-new CBR1000RR-R Fireblade its first podium finish during the first of this year's two Aragon rounds in August.
The Spanish rider sits ninth in the riders' table, one place and eight points ahead of Haslam, whose best result so far in 2020 has been fourth.
Haslam was cryptic about his future when asked about the situation last month, but now he has been named as Bautista's teammate for the 2021 season.
“To say I’m pleased about renewing my contract with Team HRC would be an understatement," commented Haslam. "This year has been difficult, with Covid-19 and limited test sessions, but I knew right from the start that this project has great potential and so to have a second year in which to continue developing the Fireblade and working with the team is very important to me.
"I’m really confident that we can be fighting for the top steps of the podium in SBK and that’s my ultimate goal, so to work towards this with Honda and Team HRC is fantastic. I’m excited and can’t wait for the 2021 season to get underway.”
Leon Haslam, Team HRC
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
HRC President Yoshishige Nomura added: "Leon is an experienced and highly motivated rider who has strongly committed to our SBK project since joining Honda at the end of 2019, working hard with the HRC engineers to exploit the full potential of the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP despite all the limitations and challenges posed by the globally unsettling Covid-19 pandemic.
"Confirming our rider line-up will bring continuity to our project and allow us to continue along our growth path in the most important production-based championship. We are confident that we have the potential to win races as well as the title and we will continue to work towards this goal.”
Honda confirming its 2021 line-up means all five factory squads in WSBK have now announced their riders for next season.
Ducati revealed on Wednesday that it is promoting Michael Ruben Rinaldi to its factory squad alongside Scott Redding, while earlier in the week Yamaha named Andrea Locatelli as the replacement for BMW-bound Michael van der Mark on its 2021 roster.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Rinaldi replaces Davies in Ducati's 2021 WSBK line-up
Next article BMW in talks to add satellite team in 2021 WSBK season
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jamie Klein
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
More from
Leon Haslam
Kawasaki "can't be disappointed" with second in Suzuka 8 Hours
FIM Endurance
FIM Endurance
Suzuka 8 Hours
Kawasaki "can't be disappointed" with second in Suzuka 8 Hours
Kawasaki to enter factory team in 2022 Suzuka 8 Hours
FIM Endurance
FIM Endurance
Kawasaki to enter factory team in 2022 Suzuka 8 Hours
Haslam to make early World Superbike return at Assen
World Superbike
World Superbike
Assen
Haslam to make early World Superbike return at Assen
More from
Honda World Superbike Team
WSBK super concessions "not enough" for struggling Honda
World Superbike
World Superbike
WSBK super concessions "not enough" for struggling Honda
Lecuona to miss Phillip Island finale after Indonesia crash
World Superbike
World Superbike
Mandalika
Lecuona to miss Phillip Island finale after Indonesia crash
Honda using 'super concessions' upgrade for Indonesia
World Superbike
World Superbike
Mandalika
Honda using 'super concessions' upgrade for Indonesia
Latest news
Max Verstappen: FAQ on his GTWC Europe debut
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 4 min
Max Verstappen: FAQ on his GTWC Europe debut
Pedro Acosta: "I'm going to Ducati to learn from Marc Marquez, not to beat him on same bike"
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
1 h
Pedro Acosta: "I'm going to Ducati to learn from Marc Marquez, not to beat him on same bike"
Christian Horner admits that F1 rivalry with Toto Wolff became "theatre"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 2 h
Christian Horner admits that F1 rivalry with Toto Wolff became "theatre"
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe