Leon Haslam to rejoin 2022 WorldSBK grid with Pedercini Kawasaki

Leon Haslam will retain a presence on the WorldSBK Championship grid in 2022 after confirming he will make four wild-card appearances this season with Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki.

The five-time race winner returns to the British Superbike Championship (BSB) this season with the VisionTrack Kawasaki team four years after he dominated the domestic series, a result that springboarded him back into WorldSBK for a stint with KRT Kawasaki and HRC Honda.

However, despite losing his seat with HRC Honda for 2022, Haslam will still be present for four of the year’s 12 WorldSBK rounds with Pedercini Kawasaki, beginning at Misano before also taking in Donington Park, Most and Portimao.

“I am super excited. I’ve known Lucio for so many years and actually raced against him back in the day when I first started. I did a one-off wildcard with the team in Qatar a few years back and managed to finish in the top five and I have a lot of fond memories of being a part of the team. 

“To be able to come back and ride with them again after all these years is really exciting for me and I hope we can achieve some good results together. 

“The focus of course is BSB, but we have been able to find a solution that will see me return to the WorldSBK for these four races and I am really looking forward to it.”

Haslam is no stranger to the odd WorldSBK showing while competing in BSB with a handful of outings between 2016 and 2018 competing for both the Pedercini and Puccetti satellite teams.

Moreover, Haslam - a five-time race winner at WorldSBK level - even scored a fine fifth place finish on a Pedercini Ninja at the 2016 Qatar season finale, the team’s best ever result with Kawasaki machinery since its switch from Ducati in 2008. 

He will be BSB’s second wild-card entry for a selection of WorldSBK Championship races with McAMS Yamaha’s Tarran Mackenzie due to race at Assen, Donington Park and one other event, expected to be Most.