2006 World Superbike

"Nitro" Noriyuki Haga.  Courtesy Yamaha Racing

2006 World Superbike - Brands Hatch

Text and Photos Courtesy MotoGP, Kawasaki, Yamaha Racing, Team Suzuki and World Superbike.  Edited by webBikeWorld.

Race Results
Bayliss and Haga split the podium today at the eighth round of the 2006 World Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch.  Troy Bayliss won from pole in the first race while Haga took third, but Haga came back in style in the second race to win.

Bayliss' wins are almost expected, but Haga thrilled the large and passionate Brands Hatch crowd by taking his YZF-R1 to a spectacular victory in the second race.  Andrew Pitt also rode brilliantly to take a hard fought third place to give the team its second double podium finish of the season.

Haga was involved in a race long battle with series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) to take the race two victory by just two tenths of a second after 85km of breathtaking racing.

Earlier in the day Haga finished third in race one after contesting the lead with Bayliss and Honda rider James Toseland.  For the second outing Haga switched to his back-up machine, which used alternative settings, to take his fourth win at the venue in three years.

In a thrilling race the pair were never separated by more than a quarter of a second as they crossed the line for lap after lap.  Championship leader Bayliss applied considerable pressure in the final lap but the Yamaha man, wearing a new helmet design for this race, showed all of his experience and legendary late braking skills to take his first race win of the year and the 20th of his illustrious world Superbike career.

Teammate Pitt proved to be one of the stars of the show at Brands, providing plenty of thrills for the fans as he overcame bad starts to take a third and fourth place finish.  The Australian over-revved his YZF-R1 on the line on both occasions, relegating him to the middle of the pack.  The former Supersport world champion was able to match the pace of the very fastest men, working his way to fourth in the opener and a fine third in the second race to complete a great day for the Italian Yamaha squad.

With two thirds of the season gone, Haga retains second in the championship, 77 points behind Bayliss and 11 ahead of third placed James Toseland.  Pitt stays sixth in the points and has reduced the gap to fourth placed Troy Corser (Suzuki) to 36 points.  Honda's Alex Barros is fifth in the series.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia):  "In the first race I could not push as hard as I wanted to in the last five laps and for the second race I used my other bike, which had other settings.  I had a big fight with Troy and I was determined not to see his exhaust pipes again.  It feels so good to win today.  We have been close so many times, especially at the first race - where I crashed on the last lap - but for some reasons I have not been able to take the win.  Today the feeling with the bike was very good and the tyres worked perfectly all the way to the end."

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia):  "I made a terrible start in both races, which is surprising as our R1 is normally one of the quickest bikes off the line. I think that I was a bit anxious and just gave it too many revs, but each time I lost a lot of places. I just had to get my head down and get through as quickly as possible.  My rhythm was good and I was pleased with my fourth place in race one, so to top it off with a podium is a fantastic end to the day.  I'm especially pleased as I have some friends over from Australia for this race. They've come a long way so it is great to give them something to cheer."

Qualifying
Troy Bayliss took another pole position for the eighth round of the 2006 World Superbike Championship today at Brands Hatch.

Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga was a close second and is hopeful of repeating his last visit to Brands Hatch, where he won a race in the season's most exciting meeting, after claiming a front row start in Superpole today.

The Japanese star only narrowly missed out on his second successive pole position, losing time as he fought to control a massive slide on his grid-deciding lap.  Haga lost a few tenths of a second in the incident but was able to compose himself and set his fastest lap of the weekend - an impressive 1:25.857.

Only series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) was able to go quicker than the Yamaha man, setting a pole time four tenths of a second quicker than Haga.  Despite the minor disappointment of missing out on the honor of pole position, Haga and his team were delighted to secure a front row start and are confident that their machine settings will allow them to fight at the front in tomorrow's races.

Haga's team-mate Andrew Pitt will start tomorrow's races from the second row after setting the sixth fastest time in Superpole.  The Australian had experienced a few small problems in the morning's second qualifying session, including a trip through the gravel after an incident with another rider, but was back to his best in superpole - recording a 1:26.291 on his flying lap.

Local rider Tommy Hill upheld British honor on board his Virgin Mobile Yamaha YZF-R1.  The 21-year-old wild card ended regulation qualifying in seventh position and eventually ended up tenth in his first ever dry-weather Superpole.

Sebastien Gimbert was the fastest of the Yamaha Motor France trio in 15th.  The Frenchman squeezed into superpole in 16th place, despite a high-speed accident in the morning's final qualifying session.  His Japanese team-mates both missed the cut: Norick Abe failed to improve his Friday time in the morning qualifying session and will start 19th, although he was able to go quicker in the afternoon free practice, while team-mate Shinichi Nakatomi will start 26th on his first visit to the demanding British course.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia):  "The front row was our target so I am very happy with second because I made a mistake on my superpole lap when I grabbed too much brake and came out of the saddle.  We have a very good setting and have been able to do two long race settings yesterday and today, so we know what tyres to use and how they are likely to work late in the race.  Troy (Bayliss) is very fast but I think that tomorrow we will have the opportunity to go for the win.  I am second in the championship but have not won a race yet, so I hope to fix this at Brands Hatch."

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia):  "We made a few changes to the bike overnight and it didn't feel quite as good in the morning session.  We changed some things around in he afternoon and I think we're in good shape for the race.  I had a few slides on my superpole lap and that probably cost me some time but the second row's alright and I'm confident for the race."

Brands Hatch Race Circuit.  Courtesy Yamaha Racing

Suzuki Racing
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser missed out on a front row grid place by less then a tenth of second at the Brands Hatch World Superbike eighth round, but he is happy with his bike’s race set-up and ready to challenge for the lead in tomorrow’s pair of 25-lappers.

His team mate Yukio Kagayama had a bit of a nervous Superpole and ended ninth quickest, but he too is confident of making good starts and challenging the leaders.

Series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) had been fastest in qualifying and followed that up by taking Superpole today three-tenths-of-a-second ahead of Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) with Karl Muggeridge third and his Honda team mate James Toseland fourth.

Troy Corser - 5th, 1:6.00:  “The only problem I had in Superpole was a bit of a slide which lost me three tenths of a second and once that happened I knew winning Superpole was gone.  Strangely though, I’d rather be fifth on the grid than fourth because of the slope at Brands Hatch.  Fifth is on the top part and the run to the first turn from there is much easier than from fourth.  I’ve got a pretty good race set-up and know what we can do on race tires, so now it’s up to me to get a couple of good starts. If I can do that, I’m confident that I’ll be fighting with the leaders.”

Yukio Kagayama - 9th, 1:26 .560:  “I am so angry not be on the font row of the grid because that was my intention.  I felt a lot of pressure and a bit nervous on my Superpole lap.  Ninth is not so bad as long as I make good starts because the position is on the top of the slope and better than eighth because that place is on the lower part of the grid.  It’s better to be high up on the grid for the charge down to turn one.  My race set-up is ok and I know which tyres to use but we will try a very small adjustment in the morning warm-up tomorrow to alter the balance of the bike a little. That’s all.”

Final WSB Qualifying: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:25.449, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:25.857, 3 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:25.901, 4 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:25.933, 5 Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:26.000, 6 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha) 1:26. 291, 7 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:26.323, 8 Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 1:26.542, 9 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:26.560, 10 Hill (GB-Yamaha) 1:26.580.