Noriyuki Haga

Template:Infobox Superbike rider Noriyuki Haga (芳賀紀行) born (1975-03-02) March 2, 1975 in Nagoya Japan is a Japanese professional motorcycle racer. He is also known as Nori-Chan, Nori, Nitro Nori, and Haga-san. Haga has twice been runner-up in the World Superbike Championship, and has finished 3rd in the series three times.

Early Days

Haga won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race in 1996 with American Colin Edwards as his teammate. He was the Japanese Superbike Champion in 1997, coupled with four top-five finishes in the Superbike World Championship while filling in for the injured Edwards.

WSBK Part 1

In 1998 Haga was racing WSBK full-time, adopting the number 41 he has used ever since. He won five races (including 3 of the first 4) and finished sixth in the championship, despite lacking knowledge of most circuits on the calendar. He also scored an unexpected third place podium in a 500cc wild-card ride at his home race at Suzuka. Haga finished seventh in the WSBK standings in 1999 on the new R7 Yamaha, finishing ahead of team-mate Vittoriano Guareschi in every race he finished. As Akira Yanagawa came 5th, he was not the highest placed Japanese rider, something which has never happened since.

Haga improved his performance to challenge for the title in 2000. Many race fans feel he would have won the 2000 championship had he not been disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance. As a result, Haga was stripped of his race win points at the opening round in Kyalami, South Africa, and was forced to sit out a 2-race weekend as punishment. It was later learned that the banned substance was ephedrine, which occurs naturally in herbs used in the Ma Huang supplement Haga had been taking during the off-season to lose weight.

MotoGP Interlude

Haga raced in MotoGP on a WCM Red Bull-sponsored Yamaha 500cc motorcycle in 2001, and on MS Racing's MotoGP Aprilia in 2003. He finished a disappointing fourteenth in the championships both years. 2002 was a winless season in the Superbike World Championship on the sole Aprillia

WSBK Part 2

In 2004 he returned to WSBK riding for Renegade Ducati and was in contention for the championship until the final round, despite several reliablity failures.

For 2005 Haga joined Yamaha Motor Italia, Yamaha's factory supported team. He finished third in the championship and became the first rider to win a dry weather race having failed to lap fast enough to qualify for 'Superpole'.

In 2006 he was again Yamaha's leading man. After 7 rounds he was 2nd in the championship to Troy Bayliss, without having won a race. At round 7 in Brno he took pole, but finished third and fourth in the two races, having been passed by Michel Fabrizio on the last lap of both. At round 8 in the UK, he took his first win of the year. At Round 9 at Lausitzring in Germany Nori picked up two second places after battling for the win in both races; the first race was won by his good friend Yukio Kagayama of Alstare Corona Suzuki and the second by Britain's James Toseland of Winston Ten Kate Honda, who had been his main rival for 2nd place in the year's championship. For the third season in a row, Haga came third.

Troy Corser joined the Yamaha team for 2007, and together they brought Yamaha the manufacturer's championship. Haga finished 2nd in the riders championship, 2 points behind Toseland after a double win in the final round at Magny-Cours[1] was not quite enough.

He continued to ride for Yamaha in 2008. Haga won seven races during the season, with wins at Valencia, Monza and Magny-Cours, as well as doubles at the Nurburgring and Vallelunga. However this was only good enough for 3rd in the final standings behind (the winless) Corser and Xerox Ducati's title winner, Troy Bayliss.

For 2009 he moves to the works Ducati Xerox Team, replacing retiring champion Troy Bayliss.

See also

• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

External links

• nki41.com
• Noriyuki Haga at Yamaha-Racing.com