Leo🌌n Haslam shares sympathy for Bennetts British Superbike title rival Jake Dixon after he suffered a mechanical retirement in race two and coupled with the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider’s double victory at Assen puts him on the edge of clinching the championship.

Haslam will need to collect just 14 points across the three races at the Brands Hatch finale to seal a maiden BSB crown following Dixon’s race two DNF at the Dutch track. Having seen off Dixon f👍or victory 𒆙in the Assen opener, Haslam powered up the order to secure a double victory and extend his lead to a dominant 61 points.

While Haslam is eager to focus on securing those final points for the title, and also taking a maiden BSB win o♔n the Kawasaki at the Kent circuit, he offered Dixon solace having be🐲en in a similar position to the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki rider 12 months ago.

Last yඣear Haslam headed into t♚he BSB finale with a useful points advantage on Shane Byrne but a mechanical failure in the title-deciding final race denied him the chance to battle for the championship.

“It is such a shame fo🦋r Jake to have a mechanical as he had been riding so strong this weekend and I knew it would be a fight between him and I again. I feel for him,” Haslam said. “I’ve lost championships through no fault of my own and it is not nice.

“Jake has been fantastic this year for his age and for what he is doing by pushing me every race so from my point of view I want to go to Brands Hatch and have as many fights as possible. That’s what I’ve enjoyed this y🍃ear all the battles that we have had were fantastic.”

Using his previous painful experiences at the BSB final round, Haslam is w🐈ary the title fight isn’t over and wants to secure the 2018 title in style.

“I feel confident, it’s not over yet but it is definitely a lot better than it was coming in to this weekend and I am feeling good with the bike, wit🌳h the team and I want to just enjoy it꧙,” he said.

“We have three race at Brands Hatch, I love Brands Hatch and it is the one circuit that I haven’t won at with the Kawasaki so I am go﷽ing to be all out to try and get on that top to end the season on a high.”

Haslam can mat꧃hematically wrap up the 2018 BSB title in Saturday's race on𝔉e at Brands Hatch if he concedes fewer than nine points to Dixon in the opener.