World Superbike duty calls for HM Plant Honda in Portugal

HM Plant Honda will sign off a successful 2008 race season this weekend with their wild-card appointment at the final round of the World Superbike championship at the Portimao circuit.

With the Bennetts British Superbike season over with riders Leon Haslam and Cal Crutchlow in second and third places respectively, now both riders and team have a chance to shine in the World series for a second time. At Donington Park in September, Leon and Cal did well, despite poor weather conditions. Leon was taken out of a podium position by another rider in race one, but remounted to take 8th, but crashed in the second race. Cal suffered a DNF in race one, but battled hard to take runner-up spot in the second race. Both riders will be aiming for podiums as they say goodbye to the HM Plant Honda team as they move to the World championships in 2009. In preparation for this weekend's race, HM Plant Honda conducted a two-day test at the circuit last week.

Leon Haslam - HM Plant Honda

World Superbike - Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

"The track layout itself is fantastic with flowing corners and undulations and the facility itself will be superb. Grip was an issue during our test as it was a little slippery out there. Obviously we were going quicker and quicker during the day and I ended up being second quickest behind Troy Bayliss which was nice. We've fine-tuned a few things on the HM Plant Honda Fireblade since then, so I think we can have a good go at the regular World Superbike stars there this weekend. I want to simply go out there and enjoy myself and get a couple of podiums for HM Plant Honda and myself to end the year with them on a high."

Cal Crutchlow - HM Plant Honda

World Superbike - Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

"During the test the track was improving all the while, but if you went off-line you would lose so much time it was untrue. Hopefully with more bikes out there from tomorrow we will see the times come tumbling down as more rubber gets laid on it. It's nice to be out here to compete at the final World Superbike round. I'm hoping to repeat my podium result or better it from the Donington Park round earlier this year to sign off my year with HM Plant Honda with a good result."

Havier Beltran - HM Plant Honda team manager

"There's absolutely no pressure on either the team or the riders this weekend, which is nice. We've finished our championship and this is the last round of the World Superbike championship, which has already been decided. The riders have already been privileged to test out there already and the facility looks tremendous and second-to-none. The grip level hasn't been too good, but this is new asphalt and you get that when the oil is seeping out of the bitumen, but the times get quicker as more rubber is laid down. We've had the rear spinning on corner exit and also had problems on corner entry grip. Things will get better as time goes on. Either way, this will be a level-playing field for everyone, both for the regular World Championship runners and us. It's the last time we will see Leon and Cal in HM Plant Honda colours, so let's hope they get some good results both for themselves and the team."

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.