Leon Haslam feels he and PATA Honda are well placed for a good result at Motorꦅland Aragon this weekend as the World Superbike Championship gets underway again following a leng♊thy break.

Both Haslam and team-mate Jonathan Rღea struggled to get the most from the CBR1000RR during the opening round at Phillip Island, but a productive recent test at Jerez gave the pair an opportunity to improve the machine.

Indeed, Haslam feels the bike is friendlier and easier to ride than before, and thoug𓂃h he admits he hasn't had great fortune at Motorland Aragon in the past, he is nonetheless eyeing a good result this weekend.

"It seems a while ago🃏 now, but I remember Australia as being not such a good weekend for us. After a really positive testꦅ there, we had some issues with the new race-spec engines, but the team has been working flat out since to get a good base map and they've done some good development work with the traction control.

"As a result, the bike is nowꦏ much more usable and rider-friendly so I'm really looking forward to round two at Aragon this weekend.

"I've never had particularly good results there but Johnny [Rea] showed some good pace in one of the races last year so we're confident that the bike can go well there. It's an✱other race for us to keep up this development work to get the Fireblade to a place where we can challenge for podiums again."