[UPDATE: Right on cue, Leon Haslam confirms a four-round 2022 WorldSBK Championship wild-card stint with Pedercini Kawasaki - FULL STORY]
Leon Haslam has pulled the wraps off the VisionTrack Kawasaki ZX-10RR he will race in the 2022 British Superbike Championship (BSB) as he bids to mount a title-winning return to the series this year.
The British rider embarks on a comeback to the series he has last contested in 2018 when he romped to a dominant title win with 15 victories on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki.
Back then his closest rival was Jake Dixon aboard the Lee Hardy Racing-run RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki, the team with which Haslam will link up with for his return to the series following two years competing in WorldSBK with KRT and HRC.
With Lee Hardy Racing also securing title backing from VisionTrack - formerly sponsors of Paul Bird Motorsport - the livery is similar to that of the Moto3 World Championship outfit being run by Michael Laverty.
“There has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes between Lee, Leon and the rest of the team to get to this point, and we have to say, the new livery looks great,” said Kawasaki UK Head of Marketing and Racing. “If it’s anywhere near as fast as it looks, then we’re confident the VisionTrack Kawasaki team will be in for a strong season!”
Meanwhile, Haslam has revealed he is returning to BSB to ‘enjoy racing again’ after turning down options to remain in WorldSBK, adding that his time in the world championship is ‘done’.
However, the Briton says he will still be active on the international stage this year in the Suzuka 8 Hours and in WorldSBK with wild-cards. Though the latter could take place with VisionTrack Kawasaki, Haslam is rumoured to be riding the privateer Pedercini Kawasaki at selected rounds this season.
“I had options to stay in WorldSBK,” he told Bennetts Bike Social. “But I wasn’t enjoying it and I didn’t feel we couldn’t be competitive so it was important for me to get something competitive and enjoy racing again so this opportunity with Lee and Kawasaki ties in really well with what I am doing with Affinity [Haslam’s Kawasaki backed young rider programme] as well.”
