It started good but then Suzuki decided to neglect it. It was during this time that Haslem was begging for support to go on deaf ears from the factory. It was this string of bad runs that let the championship get away from them. It's a damn shame for Haslem and his crew. But shows a true reflection of the ...... work ethic and committment that suzuki has.
Joined Oct 2006
3K Posts | 34+
Tar Heel State
I think Haslam wanted out. He prob wasnt happy about their reluctance on the decision to stay in wsbk so he realized that they would never give him all the resources he wanted, even if they decided to stay.
Joined Feb 2007
11K Posts | 2K+
Tennessee
My guess is, Haslam was told it would be a one bike effort and knew that he would be behind the 8 ball. That second bike is a resource when it comes to testing and Suzuki's effort next year will be minimal by the looks of things. They knew it would not be a competitive , so why have an expensive rider on the piece of ..... Haslam got out of a nightmare, and Suzuki got out of paying for a top rider.
I don't think its about a bad work ethic. I think it comes down to corporate decisions about allocation of money and resources. They have decided they don't want to commit so much money to racing. I can see why. I don't think its fair to say that anyone in their various race teams isn't pulling their weight for results, i'd have thought high up management have decided they'd rather put the money somewhere else.
Apparently Leon's contract was for a factory backed bike, if Batta can't guarantee him that he was always going to be free to leave and i think it was right of him to do so.
