Haga hoping for flawless finish
Added on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Haga double in Germany came despite a broken collarbone.
Noriyuki Haga believes that this weekend’s World Superbikes meeting in San Marino could prove to be crucial as the championship enters the second half of the season.
The Yamaha rider, who secured a double victory in Germany two weeks ago, believes that the title race is now very much open but admits that there is now no room for error with just seven weekends of the season remaining.
Australian Troy Bayliss dominated the championship earlier in the season, winning five of the first eight races of the season and failed to finish on the podium just once in that time but over recent weeks, the gap between Bayliss and the competition has shrunk as Carlos Checa, Max Neukirchner and Haga have all found form over the past three races.
During that same time, a series of errors has led to Bayliss failing to finish in the points in three of the last six races and Haga feels that it is individual errors that could decide who ends up with the 2008 title.
“The double win in Germany, after my injury and operation in America, has made me a bit more relaxed,” confessed the Japanese rider.
“My first aim in Germany was to not crash and get some points, so to get a double win was a surprise. I was riding a little bit carefully because everyone around me over the weekend was saying ‘don’t crash!’ So I was not riding too hard, but we still had a very successful outcome.”
“Misano was a turning point last year so it will be an important race again this year and I have to be careful not to make a mistake.
“All the other riders have been fighting each other, making slip ups and we have already been unlucky and then lucky again.
“It’s very competitive for everybody and we are out to get as many points as possible to the end. We have half the season left and to be 55 points from the lead is not so bad. But we know we cannot make any mistakes any more. All the team have been working hard towards Misano, so I am looking forward to it.”
