LEON Haslam topped the podium by the narrowest of margins with a maiden victory to kick off his World Superbike campaign in fine style.

The 26-year-old from Smalley – son of former Grand Prix racer 'Rocket' Ron Haslam – took the race one victory at Phillip Island in Australia after a tense photo finish revealed he had pipped Italian Michel Fabrizio to the line by a mere four thousandths of a second

Team Suzuki Alstare star Haslam – who started in pole position - then almost completed the perfect weekend in race two, but was overtaken by Spaniard Carlos Checa on the final straight and was forced to settle for second place in race two.

"It's not sunk in just yet," said Haslam. "It was such a close finish in race one and, because of the photo finish, I didn't know I had won it for a while.

"I am so happy to get my first WSBK win and it feels great.

The first race was such hard work and it was impossible to relax for a second. I knew that I had Michel and Nori breathing down my neck, but I just kept concentrating on my lines and my braking points and tried to hold them off.

"I realised that Michel was in my wheeltracks going into the last turn and would try to use the slipstream to get past me, but I kept my head down and charged to the flag. At the end, I didn't know if I'd won or not, but when I realised that I had, I was so unbelievably happy and it was such a fantastic feeling.

"All weekend I knew that a win was possible, but thinking about and it happening are two different things.

"In race two, I had some problems with rear traction but I still thought I could win. I had a great fight with Sylvain and when I finally got ahead of him and made it stick, I thought he might act as a buffer between me and the rest. Then suddenly, Carlos was there.

"He dived under me just three corners from the end, on the last lap. I tried to get it back, but he managed to hold me off and take the flag. But, it feels good to take a win and a second in my first race with the team and it feels fantastic to be leading the Superbike World Championship."

It was a welcome return to form for Haslam, who struggled to stamp his authority on the championship in 2009.

A winter switch from Stiggy Honda – who dropped out of the sport – to Suzuki has breathed fresh life into Haslam and he insists he owes a huge debt of gratitude to his new team.

"I can't thank my team enough – they have been solid since day one and to repay them with this is great," added Haslam, who tops the early championship standings with 45 points.

" I'm delighted with the start and hopefully I can kick on from this now."

Points: 1 Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) 45, Fabrizio 36, 3 Checa 34, 4 Haga 27, 5 Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) 23, 6 Rea 23,

All Superbike World Championship races will be broadcast on British Eurosport, with the European rounds also available in High Definition. British Eurosport Sky 410 & Virgin Media 521, Eurosport HD Sky 412.