Get to know the grid: WSBK- NORIYUKI HAGA 41

Today and in the next few weeks I will post every day about 2 riders, one from MotoGP and one from WSBK.

About each rider I will go over his raiding career, successes and failures, facts and rumors, to help you all to get to know the grid better.

I will go by teams

And the first team is Ducati

WSBK

NORIYUKI HAGA #41 Team: Ducati Xerox Team, Bike: Ducati 1098R

Pic: Tim Keeton/Raymonds Press Agency. 3/5/04.
British Superbikes. Round 4, Oulton Park, Cheshire.
British Superbikes Race 1. Vince Whittle's Ducati RS explodes in a fireball as Noriyuki Haga tries to take evasive action.

Stats from WorlsSBK.com

TITLES	FAST L.	3RD PL.	2ND PL.	WINS	PODIUM	RACES	POLE	YEARS
0	46	25	30	34	89	0	0
Position	FAST L.	3RD PL.	2ND PL.	WINS	PODIUM	RACES	POLE	YEARS
1	1	0	1	1	2	2	0	2009 SBK

3	4	0	4	7	11	28	1	2008 SBK
2	12	3	6	6	15	25	2	2007 SBK
3	3	5	5	1	11	24	1	2006 SBK
3	6	5	3	2	10	23	0	2005 SBK
3	7	1	2	6	9	22	0	2004 SBK
4	4	4	3	0	7	26	1	2002 SBK
2	3	3	4	4	11	24	0	2000 SBK
7	0	1	0	1	2	0	0	1999 SBK
6	4	2	0	5	7	0	1	1998 SBK
13	1	1	1	1	3	0	0	1997 SBK
22	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1996 SBK

Opinion: He is a strong rider, now raiding retired world champion Troy Byless old Bick, he is a strong contender for the 2009 wsbk champion title.

Bio

From: his official web site: http://www.nki41.com/home.html

Born: 02/03/1975 Nagoya

Team 2009: Ducati Xerox Racing Team

Bike 2009: Ducati 1198

Career:

2000 - 2007 - 2008: 2' World SBK

2004 - 2005 - 2006: 3' World SBK

2002: 4' World SBK - 1999: 7' World SBK

Poles: 5

Races: 230

Podium: 87

Wins: 33

Fast Lap:45

Favourite circuits: Laguna Seca, Suzuka, Brands Hatch, Assen

Hobbies: Aquatic sports, golf, hangin' out with family and friends

He likes: Happy people and ...

He hates: People don't ask "sorry" when mistake ...

Noriyuki Haga also known as Nitro-Nori...

He won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race in 1996 with American Colin Edwards as his teammate.

He was the Japanese Superbike Champion in 1997, coupled with four top-five finishes in World Superbike (WSBK) while filling in for the injured Edwards.

In 1998 N-N was racing WSBK full-time, adopting the number 41 he has used ever since.

He won five races (including 3 of the first 4) and finished sixth in the championship, despite lacking knowledge of most circuits on the calendar. He also scored an unexpected third place podium in a 500cc wild-card ride at his home race at Suzuka. Haga finished seventh in the WSBK standings in 1999 on the new R7 Yamaha.

As Akira Yanagawa came 5th, he was not the highest placed Japanese rider, something which has never happened since.

Nori improved his performance to challenge for the title in 2000.

Many race fans feel he would have won the 2000 championship had he not been disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance. It was later learned that the banned substance was ephedrine, which occurs naturally in herbs used in the Ma Huang supplement Haga had been taking during the off-season to lose weight. As a result, Haga was stripped of his race win points at the opening round in Kyalami, South Africa, and was forced to sit out a 2-race weekend as punishment.

Noriyuki raced in MotoGP on a WCM Red Bull-sponsored Yamaha 500cc motorcycle in 2001, and on MS Racing's MotoGP Aprilia in 2003. He finished a disappointing fourteenth in the championships both years. 2002 was a winless season in WSBK, but in 2004 he returned to the series with Renegade on a Ducati and was in contention for the championship until the final round. For 2005 Haga has led Yamaha's factory team, finishing third in the championship and becoming the first rider to win a dry weather race having failed to lap fast enough to qualify for 'Superpole'.

In 2006 he is again Yamaha's leading man. After 7 rounds he lies 2nd in the championship to Troy Bayliss, despite not having won a race. At round 7 in Brno he took pole, but finished third and fourth in the two races, having been passed by Michel Fabrizio on the last lap of both. At round 8 in the UK, he won a race for the first time of the year. At Round 9 at Lausitzring in Germany Nori picked up two second places after battling for the win in both races, the first race was won by his good friend Yukio Kagayama of Alstare Corona Suzuki and the second race was won by Brit James Toseland of Winston Ten Kate Honda who had been his main rival for 2nd place in the year's championship. For the third season in a row, Haga came third.

Troy Corser joined the Yamaha team for 2007, and together they brought Yamaha the manufacturer's championship. Haga finished 2nd in the riders championship, only 2 points behind James Toseland.

In 2008 Noriyuki continued on with the Yamaha Motor Italia team for the fourth consecutive year, and a strong set of results that included a double win at Nurburgring and Vallelunga meant that he closed the year in third position behind second-placed man and team-mate Troy Corser, and Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), crowned World Champion in 2008 for the third time. Noriyuki replaces the now retired Troy Bayliss in the Ducati Xerox Team in 2009 and is hungry for a championship title, having finished second or third in the standings for the last five years.