HM Plant Honda perform in Portugal!

HM Plant Honda's Cal Crutchlow and Leon Haslam both enjoyed a strong qualifying at the 14th and final round of the World Superbike championship.

This afternoon's Superpole at the Portimao circuit was held in poor weather conditions. Cal will start tomorrow's two races in second position behind champion Troy Bayliss, with team-mate Leon in 6th. Despite the wet weather experienced today, tomorrow's conditions are expected to be much better.

Leon Haslam - HM Plant Honda

World Superbike - Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

6th position - 2m 02.861s

"I'm happy enough with 6th on the second-row, I think we can run strongly in both races tomorrow as race set-up feels good. If anything I'm disappointed with the conditions and the timing of my runs today. The weather was pretty poor out there in the end, not what you expect from travelling all this way from the UK! We probably should have headed out at a different time for our allotted 12 wet laps, but that's the way it goes. We're still up there and I'm confident for both races tomorrow and determined to leave the HM Plant Honda team with some good results."

Cal Crutchlow - HM Plant Honda

World Superbike - Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

2nd position - 2m 01.023s

"To finish the wet Superpole behind a man like Troy Bayliss is something pretty special, but now it's the races I'm concentrating on. We timed our last run almost to perfection, but we've now got to convert this into two good results before I say goodbye to HM Plant Honda, who've been a great team. I want to get a pair of good finishes, preferably in the dry to show the Donington result wasn't a fluke. It would be nice to show the World what I can do before joining the World Supersport paddock in 2009."

Havier Beltran - HM Plant Honda team manager

"After a season of poor weather in the Bennetts British Superbike championship, we were expecting better here! We can't believe it: it was lovely this morning and then the rain came just before Superpole. One half of the circuit soon got drenched, but then it got worse all around the circuit. Conditions got pretty bad with standing water on the first turn, which soon brought silt down from the side of the track. Despite these conditions both riders did well. Leon perhaps got his timing a little wrong with his final fast laps, but he wasn't going to get any quicker in the last ten minutes or so. We're really pleased for Cal, as second on the grid is a great result. I think hand-on-heart we may not see which way Bayliss goes tomorrow, but I'm confident that both riders can run in the top three and battle for a podium finish here. The weather is also supposed to be better, so let's keep our fingers crossed!"

Check out www.honda-racing.co.uk for more on Honda's racing activities and www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles for more on Honda's extensive range of two-wheelers, including the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and CBR600RR sports machines.