The undulating Laguna Seca circuit in California returns to the FIM Superbike World Championship calendar for the first time since 2004 with Pata Honda World Superbike riders Leon Haslam and Michel Fabrizio keen to get back to top form as the season begins to wind down.

After a tough previous round in Turkey Haslam is keen to get back to a circuit that he knows from his early career in SBK racing, having competed there on a twin cylinder machine in 2004. Haslam is in the final stages of recovery after his left lower leg break at Assen, in April, improving his physical condition every time he competes.

Leon is 15th in the championship after missing a number of rounds through injury and this weekend he shoots for his first podium finish of the year. Haslam has shown the same pace as the leaders more than once this year and is now working with his team on strategies to allow him to make that raceday jump to a top three position.

With regular Pata Honda rider and Silverstone race winner Jonathan Rea still out through injury after his big crash at the German round of the championship, his place is filled once more by the talented and experienced Italian Michel Fabrizio. Michel took his first race starts for the official Honda SBK team at the previous Istanbul round in mid-September. In Turkey he was tenth on each occasion, so his immediate goal is to better those finishes in America.

Honda riders have had a good record in the 20 previous races held at the Laguna Circuit racetrack, with Chris Vermeulen winning both races on the 2004 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade before the Laguna venue started to host MotoGP events.

The 3.610km racetrack is a popular venue for teams, riders and fans alike, partly because of its location just a few miles inland from Monterey on the magnificent Pacific coast of California. The very physical circuit features the uniquely steep and extreme 'Corkscrew' corner, where riders plunge down what feels like a sheer drop to the left, then almost immediately flick the bike to the right that leads o a fast left hand corner to the base of a hill to complete what must surely be the most extreme chicane in all asphalt-based motorsports. Even around the rest of its layout Laguna provides challenges for the uninitiated as it follows the natural bowl of an old dry lake bed, which makes every scrap of prior knowledge of the track a valuable commodity for riders like Haslam.

The race weekend will, uniquely, feature one race on Saturday 28th and the second on Sunday 29th. That means that there will be one free practice and two official qualifying sessions on Friday 27th, and then one short free practice session, Superpole qualifying and race one on Saturday 28th. The second 26-lap points scoring SBK race will feature on Sunday 29th.

Only two championship rounds will remain after the American event, in France and Spain, after the recent cancellation of the proposed round in India in November. The Magny-Cours round comes along very close on the heels of the Laguna weekend, with raceday on Sunday 6th October.



Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team)

"I have been to Laguna before but a lot of the other top boys have raced there. As far as SBK goes I am one of the few guys who have been there on a Superbike. I ended up breaking my wrist there back in '04 but it was otherwise a really memorable experience as far as Laguna, Monterey and the circuit itself was so I am massively looking forward to going back there. It is quite a bit faster than people think when you see it on TV. It feels very quick, it has lots of ups and down sections and it is a really unique track. I think it should be good for the Honda and I am feeling better in myself week-by-week. I have only three rounds to go so I need to start getting back to where I should be. It is a bit strange to have the two races on different days and Saturday will be busy with practice, Superpole and then a race."

Michel Fabrizio (Pata Honda World Superbike Team)

"I'm still disappointed by the results that we were able to achieve at Istanbul because I think they could have been better. However, I am going to Laguna Seca with a big motivation. Although I have never raced at this circuit before I can hope for a good performance because of the experience that I was able to gain on the CBR1000RR in Turkey. I have been in contact with my crew chief, Chris Pike, and we have a clear idea about the direction we need to take in America so I am looking forward to riding at this iconic circuit."

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