Written by:
SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com
06/15/2008
Nurburgring, Germany
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) scored a fantastic double win at the Nurburgring on World Superbike's return to the German track for the first time in ten years. Just two weeks after breaking his collarbone in the USA, Haga fought off Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) to win race 1, and then got the better of his teammate Troy Corser in a rain-shortened second encounter to take the double. Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) took two thirds in front of his home crowd. Despite unfavorable weather conditions, the German Round of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship, reached a satisfactory overall attendance of 41,000 over the 3 days.
Race 1: Haga was in terrific form on the Yamaha and with a perfect race strategy the Japanese rider got the best of a determined Troy Bayliss (Ducati), who tested him until a couple of laps from the flag before making a mistake. Third place went to local hero Neukirchner, who held off Corser. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) got a bad start but made a good recovery to pass Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) for fifth place on the final lap. Seventh went to Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), who faded in the final stages after running with the leading group for much of the race. Behind the Italian were Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki Alstare) and Makoto Tamada (PSG-1 Corse) on the first Kawasaki to finish. Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) concluded in a disappointing 14th place.
Noriyuki Haga: "Ten days ago I was a disaster and I am very happy for this win, just fourteen days after breaking my collarbone. Everyone has helped me and I felt very comfortable in the riding. I want to say ‘thank you' to the Clinica Mobile and my team and all the fans. Congratulations for Troy and Max and I hope Yukio comes back very soon!"
Troy Bayliss: "I saw after the warm-up that Nori was looking really consistent, and Max was going to do a good job and maybe Carlos, but Nori proved to be the strongest in the race. At about two-thirds distance I was doing everything I could to stay with Nori but thought that second place was good and I would increase my lead. Nori won fair and square, congratulations to him."
Max Neukirchner: "I'm happy with third place, it was a really hard race for me to catch Troy, and Noriyuki was a little bit too fast for me. I lost a bit in the first split, my tires and my chassis were really good, but I think we need a bit more handling in the second race."
