Ducati News Today

He almost did it in 2000 on the Yamaha R7 superbike but Colin Edward, his Honda VTR1000SP-W and controversy over a banned drug in his system (ephedrine) meant it wasn’t to be. In 2007 he finished second once again. So long associated with Yamaha, last year he was the only credible threat to Troy Bayliss’ speed and supremacy taking 7 wins. Yet he finished a close third to the more consistent Troy Corser, who this year, will be riding a BMW. Can Noriyuki Haga finally go all the way and win the championship? Well this year he is on a factory Ducati.

Nitro Nori, the Sultan of Slide, whatever you call him, you can’t deny the impact Noriyuki Haga has had on the World Superbike Championship. A bit of a crash or win merchant, he has rarely had the best equipment in his more than a decade of World level superbike racing career. However on his day there is no-one faster. Only the legendary Carl Fogarty has set more fastest laps than Haga (48 vs. 45) but he needed 144 more races to do it. Noriyuki is the 3rd most winningest rider along with Troy Corser, but you guessed it, Troy has competed in 133 more races. You take my point, Haga is scary fast.

The big news this season is that Haga will be astride the best machine run by the best team in the paddock, the factory Xerox Ducati. In the past there was always the question of whether his Yamaha would be competitive with the Ducati all season long. Well that objection has been suddenly swept away.

Haga is in fact already familiar with Ducati. In 2004 he rode a privateer 999RS for the Renegade Koji team to third place in the championship taking 6 victories along the way. Unfortunately the bike was not reliable. It is alleged the bike didn’t receive the regular and expensive maintenance at the factory specified intervals due to budgetary constraints.

His bike failed both times at Monza, and a convincing double at Oschersleben was lost to a race two engine failure. In fact, Nori only crashed out once, and it was bike failures that were most costly to his title hopes.

link: Motorcycle Racing Online – World Superbike championship review 2004

A consistent impediment ito Haga’s quest for a championship has been his traditional slow start to the year. For example, last season, he had just 2 wins and 2 second places in the first 6 rounds. In the first 4 races of the season he finished 13th, 14th, 7th and 8th. However in the last 7 rounds he recorded 5 wins and 2 seconds.

This year he will need to be on the podium if not on the top step from the very first race this Sunday at Phillip Island. He will have a distinct advantage in the early rounds as his championship competitors will, for the most part, be on new machinery. Last year’s runner up, Troy Corser will be on the new BMW, whereas Biaggi will be on the new Aprilia. It will probably take a few races before the new bikes are truly competitive over race distance.

Haga has come off of a good build up to the series, he is injury free and has been fast at Phillip Island during pre-season testing, although he has not had a lot of success during the races in the past. He recognizes the need to be competitive right from the beginning this year.

“I have to say it’s a track that I like but I have had very mixed results here over the years. In the last few years my best result was a third in 2007 but in 1998 I won Race 2. Since then I haven’t had so much luck but I am hoping that I can change this this year!”

link: Battle commences for Ducati Xerox Team :: SBK – Official Site ::

2009 is the best and perhaps last chance for Noriyuki Haga to claim the World Superbike Championship that he has coveted for over a decade. I believe he can do it. He has the speed, his maturity and race craft has steadily improved and now he is the number rider for the number 1 team on the best bike, the factory Ducati.

If Haga can stand twice on the podium this weekend, then it I believe it will be a portent for the season ahead. Good luck Nitro Nori. I’ll be shouting for you come Sunday.

Share you views in the comments. Will Noriyuki Haga be champion this year?

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