While he is now very much classified as an outside contender for this year's World Superbike title, Leon Haslam at least had the satisfaction of overcoming the pain barrier to get on the podium at the Nurburgring.
The Suzuki Alstare rider was left battered and bruised by an accident early on in the first race, Haslam high-siding on his own but being collected by the two Yamahas and BMW's Troy Corser.
Hurting his hand, his arm and his left leg, Haslam nonetheless made the restart, where he battled against an indifferent spare bike to cross the line in sixth place.
Insisting the set-up was to blame for his lack of pace in race one, Haslam showed as much in race two when, on his repaired number one bike, he fought his way up to the head of the chasing pack, an effort that was eventually rewarded with third and a podium.
A strong end to a difficult weekend, Haslam was delighted to be hobbling onto the rostrum, the Briton praising the Clinica Mobile staff for getting him out on track.
“My crash in race one was a high-side and I am sorry that it caused Troy to crash also,” he said. “Luckily the race was stopped and everybody was able to have another go. I had hurt my right thumb and left knee and they were very sore, but I was determined to get out there and give my all.
“Once the race started, the adrenaline kicked in and I think I would've been much faster and more competitive if it had not been for the fact that I was on my number two bike. The mechanics weren't able to repair my number one bike in time for the restart. I had only done a few laps on the spare bike and so the set-up wasn't as good and it was that which prevented me challenging the front guys, not my injuries.
“The team repaired my number one bike in time for race two and I felt much happier. They and the Clinica Mobile staff did great jobs and it was thanks to both of them that I was able to get on the bike and take a podium.
“I'm sure I'm going to be pretty sore now and although I would've wanted a couple of wins, I was happy to get on the podium and with 100 points possible in the next two rounds, anything can happen.”
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