ROCKET MAN!

Here’s my favourite Haslam family anecdote. The year is 1999, it is Brands Hatch and in the opening British Championship 125 race of the year there are two Haslams competing: Ron and his son Leon.

Towards the end of that race, Leon is lying in 3rd place with Ron just in the points in 13th. Suddenly, Leon crashes at Graham Hill Bend. Ron, against racing rules or wisdom, sees his boy has crashed and gets off the track right on the corner to see if his son is hurt.

Ushered away by marshals he gets back on his Honda RS125 and catches up with his 15-year-old son in the pits, just as he’s being transferred into a waiting ambulance. The prognosis is a broken wrist. Mum Ann is being comforted by a Honda race PR man: she’s spent years seeing Ron bash himself up and has had sleepless nights with Leon also doing youth motocross with some serious injuries along the way.

Ron needs to know something, urgently, is it to find out that his son is okay? “What was it son, what was it? What ‘appened?” Leon, knocked about more than a tad, answers: “It just nipped up dad.” Ron, with a half-smile on those trademark side-burned chops, exclaims: “Ah! I knew it were running lean!” Then he rushes off to the garage to sort out the spare bike.

This is part of Haslam family folklore – but is it actually true, Ron? “Well, not quite – it was Paddock Hill Bend he crashed on,” smiles Ron. “I was very old back then (he turns 65 just after this issue hits the shelves) and I just wanted to help Leon out. There was quite a bit of jealousy out there in the paddock that season and some 125 riders didn’t like me helping Leon, but they couldn’t stop me as I entered the events. I could see that Leon had been knocked out but he’d said the bike had seized up on him, so