Haga second at Assen

From Yamaha Racing

Noriyuki Haga secured a second place for his Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team at the Assen World Superbike Championship round after another unsettled race day for the Japanese star, with a crash in race one preventing him from a potential double points score at one his favourite tracks.

In the first race Haga fell on lap 2 after colliding with Ruben Xaus at the slow De Strubben left hand corner, while Troy Corser went on to fight in the leading group for most of the race, only dropping back to fifth in the later stages and finishing 11 seconds from the win after 22 laps.

The second race of the day was run in warmer conditions than the first, with a track temperature of 31 degrees, and it offered Haga a real chance to make up for his first race disappointments. He ran eventual race winner Troy Bayliss close, taking second place by a margin of 0.082 seconds.

"When I overtook Ruben I touched with him and then we fell," Haga said of his opening race crash. "In race two I pushed hard all through the race and when I was following Bayliss he tried to get away near the end. But I could stay with him and even caught back up with him. I was following, waiting to see where I could pass but in the last few laps he rode the corners on a tight line and had good acceleration."

Corser experienced a drop in front tire performance and slipped back from a possible podium finish to 10th.

"Towards the end of race one the rear tire, maybe after two-thirds distance, lost grip on the right hand side," Corser said. "On the long rights, onto the back straight, it was spinning but not pushing. In race two I struggled with the front tire a bit and used it up. I had no front left at the end. It was a bit rough with a couple of riders at one point, but that's normal, just racing."

Bayliss won both races to extend his championship lead. Corser remains third in the championship standings, thanks to his Assen scores, on a total of 89 points. Haga holds on to sixth position, with 67 points, as thoughts now turn to the team's home race in Monza.

Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi was 15th in each Assen race, scoring points both times as he battled hard in the midfield, finding a better race two set-up than he had in the opener.

David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) dislocated his hip after a heavy fall in race one. It is very likely he will need to sit out Monza race weekend and perhaps even the American round.

His teammate Sebastien Gimbert was close to two points scores, but missed out by placing 17th in each event.

Race 1 Results
1. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) AUS 36:50.907
2. Carlos Checa (Honda) ESP +2.132
3. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) GER +2.179
4. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) JPN +10.919
5. Troy Corser (Yamaha) AUS +11.051
6. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) CZE +11.979
7. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) JPN +15.184
8. Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki) JPN +1.395
9. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda) ESP +18.634
10. Max Biaggi (Ducati) ITA +20.699
11. Regis Laconi (Kawasaki) FRA +25.759
12. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) TUR +26.064
13. Ayrton Badovini (Kawasaki) ITA +35.582
14. Karl Muggeridge (Honda) AUS +36.266
15. Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha) JPN +37.215

Race 2 Results
1. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) AUS 36:46.238
2. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) JPN +0.082
3. Carlos Checa (Honda) ESP +6.336
4. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) ESP +7.575
5. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) GER +8.011
6. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) JPN +13.999
7. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda) ESP +15.215
8. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) CZE +16.376
9. Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki) JPN +17.269
10. Troy Corser (Yamaha) AUS +18.380
11. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) ESP +18.926
12. Max Biaggi (Ducati) ITA +21.452
13. Karl Muggeridge (Honda) AUS +23.794
14. Roberto Rolfo (Honda) ITA +29.847
15. Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha) JPN +30.252
Best Lap
Max Neukirchner 1:39.395

Rider Standings
1. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 178
2. Carlos Checa (Honda) 108
3. Troy Corser (Yamaha) 89
4. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) 85
5. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) 81
6. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) 67
7. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) 66
8. Max Biaggi (Ducati) 54
9. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda) 48
10. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) 42
11. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 41
12. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 39
13. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) 37
14. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 35
15. Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki) 28