Team Green Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam will start tomorrow’s Suzuka Eight-Hours from third on the grid and believes his squad has the pace on new and old tyres to give Yamaha a hard time in the pursuit of a win hat-trick.

Haslam was the quickest of the two Kawasaki riders and only a couple of tenths behind Suzuka specialist Kats Nakasuga on the works R1. Haslam is in pursuit of his third win at the iconic event after taking two wins with MuSASHI Honda and will re-ignite his rivalry with close friend Alex Lowes.

“Last year we went in lots of direction with the settings but this year from the start we've been able to find the same opinion on the bike. We've been quick on new and old tyres as well so for me it's been a really enjoyable week. Testing went well for us too so it's been positive,” said Haslam.

“I made a couple of mistakes in my Superpole lap but I'm pretty happy with what we achieved and I think that tomorrow we'll try and fight to stop Yamaha winning three in a row. The Honda and Suzuki are new for this year and they look competitive. It's not going to be an easy eight hours but I think that we're prepared and I'm ready for the fight.”