Haga Back On A Superbike, At Valencia

Haga Back On A Superbike, At Valencia

© 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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From a press release issued by FGSport:

2004 World Superbike Championship

VALENCIA HOSTS TESTS FOR KEY SBK TEAMS

Pre-Season Update

With the factory Ducati Fila and Foggy Petronas teams having tested at Phillip Island in Australia recently, it was the turn of those teams and riders who elected to stay in Europe to conduct their latest series of shakedown tests. Valencia, always a popular testing venue and the scene for the first races of the new season on Sunday 29 February, played host to a number of SBK entries on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 February. It also proved to be the scene for the return of a glittering SBK star from the East – Noriyuki Haga.

The Renegade Ducati rider took his first steps on his Ducati 999R, alongside his new team-mate Leon Haslam, on Monday 2nd, and followed that up with a second day of familiarisation with the big capacity vee-twin and Pirelli tyres.

Haga, an 11-time World Superbike race winner, has had previous SBK seasons on Yamaha and Aprilia machinery and he and his Renegade team, by contrast in its first season of SBK competition, have high hopes for their immediate future in the series.

Another SBK first presented itself at Valencia, when current World Supersport Champion Chris Vermeulen took tentative steps on the Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, another machine and rider combination expected to be in the forefront of the action once the racing starts for real. At Valencia the team’s race spec wheels did not arrive on time and thus Vermeulen had to ride a virtually stock chassis set-up for the two-day test, settling for gathering valuable engine data, if not low lap times.

Having gone fastest in pre-season testing at Valencia in December, DFX Ducati runner Steve Martin repeated the feat over the two days of this test, setting a best of 1:36.2 on day two. With no transponders fitted to the machines in this unofficial test session, the lap times were taken manually and Martin’s team-mate Marco Borciani was somewhat shy of his Australian team-mate’s pace, setting a best of 1:37.6.

Second fastest riders on show were the aforementioned Haslam and PSG-1 Ducati rider Pierfrancesco Chili, both on 1:36.8. Chili was giving his 999 a shakedown run in preparation for the final test of the year, again at Valencia on 11-13 February.

Haga came next on the stopwatch, with a 1:37.2, Vermeulen tying with Kawasaki Bertocchi rider Mauro Sanchini on 1:38.3. Ivan Clementi secured a best time of 1:38.6 on his big Kawasaki.

Garry McCoy was not present on the NCR Ducati 999R machine at Valencia, as the team makes preparations for their high-profile assault on the championship.

In World Supersport the current World Champions, Ten Kate Honda, fielded their dynamic 2004 duo, Karl Muggeridge and Broc Parkes. Each was fully on the pace, with Muggeridge fastest of the Supersport riders on 1:38.2. Fabien Foret went second fastest in his debut for the Belgarda Yamaha team, his time of 1:38.3 beating Parkes by 0.4seconds.

Any one of the before mentioned riders could be thought of as a championship favourite and another, Belgarda Yamaha rider Jurgen van den Goorbergh, set a best time of 1:38.8 before crashing and being taken to hospital for checks. His suspected broken ribs proved to be painfully bruised, but luckily not fractured.

All SBK and WSS teams are expected at what will be a closely fought and tense official FGSPORT Winter Test next week, with the final preparations and tyre choices being made in readiness for the 17th straight season of SBK competition – a competition which will commence with the first untimed practice session on Friday 27 February.

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