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Jamie Klein

Haslam to make WSBK wildcard outings for Pedercini

After losing his factory Honda WSBK ride at the end of the 2021 season, Haslam took the decision to return to BSB, where he was champion in 2018, with the Lee Hardy Racing Kawasaki team.

That announcement followed speculation that Haslam could remain in the WSBK paddock with Pedercini, which ran two ZX-10RRs last year but has scaled back to a single full-time entry for Loris Cresson for 2022.

Now it has been announced that Cresson will be partnered by Haslam at four rounds this season, with the 38-year-old Briton coming on board at Misano, Donington Park, Most and Portimao.

“Leon coming back to our team is a perfect match," said team boss Lucio Pedercini. "We both still have a lot to say on track in the WorldSBK paddock and we are looking forward to entertaining the public for four rounds of pure racing passion!

"Thanks to our knowledge and his ability, we are confident that we will do battle and hopefully bring some good results like we did together in the past. For sure it will be a lot of fun."

 

Haslam made one previous outing for Pedercini in the 2016 season finale in Qatar (pictured top), scoring a top-five finish, having stepped down from WSBK to BSB at the end of the 2015 campaign.

The Briton made further one-off appearances for the Puccetti Kawasaki team in 2017 and '18, scoring a podium on home soil at Donington Park, before his return to WSBK in 2019 with the works Kawasaki team.

“I am super excited," said Haslam. "I’ve known Lucio for so many years and actually raced against him back in the day when I first started.

"I did a one-off wildcard with the team in Qatar a few years back and managed to finish in the top five and I have a lot of fond memories of being a part of the team. To be able to come back and ride with them again after all these years is really exciting for me and I hope we can achieve some good results together.

"The focus of course is BSB, but we have been able to find a solution that will see me return to the WorldSBK for these four races and I am really looking forward to it.”

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