Haga looks for Valencia magic

From Yamaha Racing

The Ricardo Tormo Circuit will once more host the first European round of the World Superbike Championship season this weekend, with the Spanish track now boasting an unbroken run of nine years on the calendar.

The circuit can quite rightly claim to be unique as it is the first true motorcycle racing 'stadium' of modern times in Europe, having been built on a remarkably small patch of land close to the Valencia/Madrid motorway. The 65,000 grandstand seats provide the spectators with unbroken views of the entire 4.005km circuit, as it repeatedly twists and turns in on itself.

There is one significant straight on the track, and one almost never-ending left-hand corner, which leads onto the gently downhill start/finish straight. Valencia is a favourite test track for Motorsport categories of all kinds, and its heavy use leads to unpredictable surfaces and an ever-changing level of grip.

It is a well-known venue for all the top contenders in the Superbike and Supersport classes, and thus neither the official Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team nor the Yamaha World Supersport Team elected to take part in the most recent official FGSport tests, on March 13-14.

Last year Noriyuki Haga scored two podiums at Valencia, with a second and a third, while Corser just missed out on third place in race one. This year Corser has had the brighter start to his overall campaign, in his second season as a Yamaha rider. With two rounds down, he now sits fourth overall in the championship, having earned two podium finishes. For Haga, bad luck has been an unwelcome companion so far, as he holds ninth position in the championship rankings, with 12 rounds to go.

Said Haga of the forthcoming weekend, "It feels like the first two races this year have just been an exercise for me. We have not had the chance to build our performance on the bike so it feels like our season will start in the European races."

Haga also acknowledges that he needed some time to prepare himself for the Valencia race. "The break between the race in Australia and Valencia has been useful, it allowed me to recover after some bruising crashes," said Haga.

Troy Corser said, "I felt much more confident on the bike in the second race at Phillip Island so we can go to Spain with a setting that worked well there. We have learned a few things in the first two races."

Corser is a highly adept rider at the tight Valencia circuit, having raced there every year but once since the track held its first WSB race in 2000. Corser is a five-time race winner at Valencia, while Haga has won two WSB contests at the intense Spanish circuit.