With BMW Motorrad team to downsize and merge with BMW Italia next season, and Ben Spies tipped to join Marco Melandri in the team, (the Italian isn’t exactly jumping with joy at the prospect – and has already said he would prefer someone who could help in the development of the BMW S1000RR and is unsure that Spies is the man for the job -adding that it would be better to ask someone from Spies old SBK crew about it – ) Leon Haslam could be out of a ride.
However English webiste Visordown.
com is reporting the rumor that Pocket Rocket has signed a deal with the Honda SBK team, even if the Briton in a interview with bikesportnews.
com admitted that he has received several offers to ride in MotoGP from CRT teams.
Who Haslam will replace in Honda is up to speculation as Jonathan Rea has been tied to a ride in MotoGP with Gresini, but so have Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Iannone, with Bautisa still in the running to reconfirm his ride (Fausto Gresini has to still find the budget to race next season and is anxiously waiting to know if there will be an imposed price cap on leasing satellite machines – Alvaro Bautista’s crashes this season has cost the team almost 800,000 euros in spare parts ), but will all probability Haslam will be replacing underperforming Hiroshi Aoyama.
Haslam has has already ridden a CBR1000RR in 2008 in British Superbikes with HM Plant where he finished 2nd in the standings and then in 2009 when he switched to WSBKs where he rode for the now defunct Stiggy Honda team and finished 6th overall.