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WSBK: Yamaha Go For The Triple Crown (Pt. 2 of 2)
Written by: Dennis Noyes   
10/23/2009
Borrego Springs, CA
 
(Photo: Ducati Corse) ยป More Photos

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The MotoGP race from Sepang will air on SPEED on Sunday, October 25th at 6:00pm ET, immediately following coverage of the 250GP race. The World Superbike finale doubleheader from Portimao will air back-to-back on SPEED on Sunday, October 25 starting at 3:00pm ET.

Haga's Last Stand

After his double win in Kyalami, South Africa, Round 6 of the 14-race season, Noriyuki Haga led American challenger Ben Spies by 85 points. No one has ever lost a World Superbike title after holding such a lead. But Haga, badly injured in a huge high-sider at Donington Park in Race 2 after taking third in Race 1, was only able to take 38 points from his next five starts and his lead withered. As the series moved to Imola, with 150 points left in play, Haga had fallen 18 points behind the American.

But in Imola it was a Ducati day. Haga won Race 1 while Spies was fourth. Then in Race 2 the Texan drew a duff tire and slumped to fifth and Haga moved back into the points lead, albeit
by a mere three points. It easily could have been eight points if Haga's young teammate, Michel Fabrizio, had backed off and let the team leader through to take the win.

This was clearly a major strategic blunder by the Ducati Corse team -- and there is a long tradition in Ducati of expecting riders to think of the overall good of the marque over individual glory.

In 2007, for example, Brazilian Alex Barros, riding a satellite Pramac Ducati Desmosedici in MotoGP, finished third at Mugello, taking three (at the time) valuable points from championship leader Casey Stoner. On the TV screens we saw grim faces in the factory Ducati garage that day, and Barros, outspoken in a Brazilian interview, said, “after that day my bike was never as good again.”

And, whether the bike’s performance actually suffered as a result, Barros believes that his future in Ducati darkened after that race. He was not renewed at the end of the season and subsequently retired.


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