Haga and Corser head to Utah

From Yamaha Racing

After two gutsy rides at his team's home circuit of Monza, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team rider Noriyuki Haga has now moved into overall third in the championship table.

At the previous round in Italy Haga only just lost the battle in race one by 0.058 seconds, before going on to win race two by 0.009 seconds. This weekend the 33-year-old Japanese star is ready for more podium success at the all-new American WSB venue of Miller Motorsports Park, near Salt Lake City.

Haga arrived in the US early to catch up with friends and got the chance to play some golf with legendary racer Kenny Roberts and his family.

Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) has not found the 2008 season a straightforward challenge, slipping to sixth after Monza in a closely contested fight for second spot in the rankings. Having been crowned AMA Champion in his first ever full season in America in 1994, the latest new Stateside venue of Miller Motorsports Park will hold no fears for a rider with two World Championships to his name.

Miller Motorsports Park will be an eagerly awaited return to America for the World Superbike Championship, which last raced there, at Laguna Seca, in 2004. Haga won two races at Laguna (in 1998 and 2000) while Corser can count three wins in the previous US rounds of WSB at Laguna, in 1995, 1998 and 2000.

Haga looks to America as a chance of pegging back the lead of championship leader Troy Bayliss.

"I am very focused now, and I am determined to close the gap on Troy from now on," he said. "It will be a real learning weekend for all the teams and riders, as it is a new track for us all. I don't know that much about it but that's the same for everyone. But after Monza my confidence is high, because we were competitive in each race."

Corser is keen to get back to podium form, having scored three top three finishes earlier in the season.

"It's always nice to go back to the USA, I've got some really good old friends there as well so it's great to make some time to catch up," he said. "I think it's great for the WSB Championship to be coming here. I haven't heard too much about the track to be honest, the layout looks good and the safety is supposed to be great. I've spoken to a few guys who've done trackdays there on bikes and in cars and they give it the thumbs up, so I'm looking forward to racing there."

Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Team YZF) had his best overall race weekend of the season so far at the previous Monza round, taking 12th and 13th place finishes after making progress with his overall machine set-up.

Yamaha GMT94 regular Sebastien Gimbert also had two points-scoring finishes at the challenging Monza track.

David Checa, who missed Monza due to a hip injury, will be back in action at Miller after being cleared to race by his doctor.