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WSB : Double podium sees Haga move up
Round: 9 - Netherlands
Circuit: Assen
Date: 4 September 2005
Crowd: 80000
Temp: 23ºC
Weather: Sunny
Noriyuki Haga moved up to fourth place in the 2005 Superbike World Championship with two podium finishes at Assen today.
The Japanese rider finished third and second in the day's two thrilling 16 lap races at the classic Dutch circuit, duelling it out for second place behind world champion James Toseland (Ducati) in the opener and race one winner Chris Vermeulen (Honda) in the second.
Race one proved to be an easy win for Vermeulen, but the crowd was thrilled by the battle behind. Toseland and Haga traded places throughout, with the young Englishman pulling away to take second in the closing laps.
The second outing proved equally as thrilling with Haga and Vermeulen battling for the lead, this time the Aussie getting to the line less than a tenth of a second ahead of the Yamaha man.
Race two marked Haga's 150th in the class and his 100th racing Yamaha equipment. Following the race, the popular Japanese was reunited with the YZF750 and YZF-R7 machines he rode with such success as Yamaha Motor Italia's racing manager Claudio Consonni raised a champagne toast to the brand's most successful world superbike racer.
Haga's Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt had his best collective pair of races of the season, taking home 22 points for a brace of fifth places. The Australian rode strongly throughout, battling with the leading trio and championship leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) in both races, before succumbing to tyre chatter and ending settling for his welcome fifths.
Yamaha Motor France pairing Norick Abe and Sebastien Gimbert had differing fortunes, although both left the Netherlands each with seven more points to their name. Abe retired from the opener but came back to take ninth in race two. Gimbert had his best outing since round three in the Valencia with 12th in race one and 13th in the second.
Haga's 36 point haul moves him up to fourth place in the title race, ahead of countryman Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) and just nine points behind third placed Regis Laconi (Ducati), who was absent through injury. Pitt remains in ninth place in the standings, albeit with a reduced gap to eighth. The Australian is just 11 points shy of Pierfrancesco Chili (Honda), with Abe slipping back to 11th. Corser continues to lead the standings, with an 86 point advantage over second placed Vermeulen.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We made great races with James and Chris. I was a little bit disappointed with the final result of both races because if I had lasted one more lap I would have tried something more to push. It was hot and sweat was already affecting my eyes after three laps. In the last two or three laps I felt like I was going to give up but I didn't and the result I know is not so bad."
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "It's getting better. We are starting to fight with them now but we've just got to get on that podium! We used the regular engine spec, because we know where the position of the bike has to be now and when you've got the confidence to just grab the brakes and fire it into corners it really helps. At this moment I don't want to change too much on the machine."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "In the first race we had a broken engine so we had to change the motors. But I think that the clutch on that engine was already no good. So I could not make a good start. In the race it was very difficult to shift down - so we had some bad luck. Knowing Assen from MotoGP helps a little but when the bike is completely different from the one before, it makes the whole experience very different."
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "A good race for me and for my team. I had a little difficulty with the set-up, the balance of the motorcycle, but it was not so bad. The leg is still causing me a little problem but it should be a lot better for next week."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "In Brno we said, 'ok, maybe we are lucky,' but to win also in Brands Hatch and be so close to the wins here means we are close to the best. Noriyuki used the new engine, so we were a little bit worried, took a big risk, but in the race it was ok. I am happy for both our riders because Andrew made a good race today, close to Troy Corser and was always trying to overtake him."
Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "We lost Abe from the first race because of a stone holing the radiator, so the engine boiled. He did not see the increasing engine temperature, unfortunately. We put in the spare engine and the clutch was too hard, so he lost the start - that's why he stayed in ninth position. Sebastien seems better, took some points and moved up a position. The main thing is that his confidence is coming back."
Race classification WSB
Round: 9 - Netherlands
Circuit: Assen
Circuit Length: 5997
Lap Record: 2' 4.685 (Chris Vermeulen, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 2' 4.179 (Chris Vermeulen, 2005)
