Well, thank you very much. And actually, I signed an extended contract with them after three or four races. You touched on it a little bit already, but can you go into more detail about the differences between your experience on the Stiggy Honda team and then now joining the factory Suzuki team? Chris Jonnum: So, it's almost like a cultural thing, do you think, where you're talking about with Grand Prix, with the support classes that you have to be Italian or Spanish. Ktm-bound miller appreciates ducatis unusual motogp update plan for him to resign. The only problem was, at the end of 2004, there were no rides available and I had to come back to the UK to basically to continue the four-stroke thing that I wanted to do with Ducati. And the only way that is a possibility is if you become a World Superbike Champion. I never knew if, one, I'd be even as quick as I was on the Honda, and you never know how you're going to take to a bike.
So, how are you going to get an opportunity to get into that series? I'll go racing on my own. " It's a terrible shame about what has happened to Donington, really. Our guest today is Leon Haslam, who rides the No. You don't get the opportunity to have one-off rides. Leon Haslam: Yeah, first time on a Suzuki. Ktm-bound miller appreciates ducatis unusual motogp update plan for him he’s. When I came back to the UK in 2003, that was a bit of a mixture year as well. It was always going there to gather as much learning and experience as possible rather than, you know, maybe win a British championship or whatever it may be.
So, when Stiggy approached me initially halfway through 2008, it was something I definitely wanted, going to go to World Superbike. And just getting race to race I know was difficult for the team. And a lot of the guys weren't being paid at all. It was the first year in the championship for the team. David Swarts: A quick question. Leon Haslam: I first got into riding bikes through the motocross scene. Ktm-bound miller appreciates ducatis unusual motogp update plan for him commercial. And in 2008, after Honda didn't go to World Superbikes, the Stiggy thing was my only option just to kind of get back. And he kind of left it all up to me. It was kind of — I'd been in England a little bit longer than I wanted to be. And basically, it was only down to the team, and it got into financial difficulty. I just think that it was very unlucky, and with it being a new bike, you know, it was tough competition.
But due to circumstances out of their control and out of your control, the team's basically falling apart. And so far, they've not faltered one bit and everything's going to plan. The first thing I noticed driving into the paddock was the mini bike track and the supercross track. And then I'm not sure if I want to fly out to Utah or do the road trip again straight to Utah from San Francisco. I've been through parts of the United States from when my dad was racing, from me racing. And in previous years people like that have always been our target, and just through experience have still been winning races and doing good. And that relationship there is fantastic and I wouldn't change that for the world. And it's something that I might want to do in the future but, right now, I'm happy with World Superbike. Thanks for the opportunity to talk to you, Leon. So, from a confidence and good-feeling thing, we probably couldn't have asked for a better start. And we got these black Virgin Atlantic pajamas.
David Emmett: You said also about making the switch from the — was it the Stiggy Honda that was the owner — it was Honda in BSB that was the first time you were on a four, right? And it was my big learning curve on a Ducati. Chris Jonnum: We've talked about Spies. So, we'll wait and see what happens for this year. Leon Haslam: They made the decision last week, actually. And that helped me quite a lot, with the help of my dad getting out there and filming as well. But yeah, I'm planning to fly straight from South Africa to catch the first outdoor this year.
Leon Haslam: It was a big change for me, because coming from a two-stroke to a four-stroke was big, while I was in England. So hopefully, it'll open out to a lot wider range of people for the future to get into MotoGP. Then you went back to the British Superbike Championship for three years and you've come back sort of since then. I was 10th in the first race, and then the second race I DNF'd. Do you think that Ben Spies had a lasting effect on the series? Every rider obviously wants that and thinks they've got it in them. But yeah, this was the first time I got to travel and see some of the sites that you guys have got out there and it was pretty cool.