| Noriyuki Haga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Haga at Assen in 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Japanese | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1975-03-02)March 2, 1975 (age 50) Atsuta-ku, Nagoya,Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | AG Motorsport Italia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bike number | 41 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | nitro-nori41.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Noriyuki Haga (芳賀 紀行,Haga Noriyuki; born 2 March 1975 inAtsuta-ku, Nagoya) is a Japanese former professionalmotorcycle racer. He won 43 world championship superbike races during a 25-year racing career, making him one of the most accomplished competitors never to have won aSuperbike World Championship. Haga was the runner-up in the championship three times and, four times finished in third place.[1] His 43 victories rank him sixth all time in the history of the Superbike World Championship behindJonathan Rea,Álvaro Bautista,Toprak Razgatlıoğlu,Carl Fogarty andTroy Bayliss.[2] Haga ranks fourth behindTroy Corser,Tom Sykes andJonathan Rea in career World Superbike race starts with 313.[3] He last competed in the 2018 CIV Supersport 600 Championship, aboard aYamaha YZF-R6.
Haga started his racing career by competing in theJapanese Superbike Championship in 1993, riding aDucati bike. He then moved toYamaha in 1995, and won the championship with Yamaha in 1997.[4] During his stint with Yamaha in Japanese Superbike, Haga was chosen to represent Yamaha in the 1996Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race. He teamed up with Yamaha's World Superbike riderColin Edwards and won the race.[5]
Before Haga began racing full-time in theWorld Superbike Championship in 1998, he had already been racing occasionally in WSBK since 1994. In1996, Haga received awild card entry to race in the Japanese round of WSBK atSugo. He surprisingly finished second in Race 1, collecting his first podium in WSBK at his first attempt. However, he failed to finish in Race 2. In1997, while still racing in his home championship, he was given another chance to race in WSBK. He was chosen to replace the injured Colin Edwards for the last two races of the season in Sugo, Japan, andSentul,Indonesia. He performed well in both rounds, collecting his first win in WSBK along with 2 more podiums.
In1998, Haga began racing WSBK full-time. He also adopted the number41 that he has used ever since. Haga joined Yamaha's Superbike team, replacing Colin Edwards who moved toHonda. He started the season brilliantly by winning 3 of the first 4 races. Unfortunately, his performance declined and he dropped out of championship contention. He won another two races in the season and finished 6th in the championship standing. During the year, Haga also received a wild-card entry to the1998 500cc Japanese Grand Prix atSuzuka. Haga scored an unexpected third place podium in his 500cc debut.[6] This was his only podium in his brief 500cc/MotoGP career.
Thefollowing season, Haga finished 7th in the championship. He only managed 1 race win and 1 third-place finish on the newYamaha YZF-R7. As a result, another Japanese rider,Akira Yanagawa finished 5th, above Haga. This marks the only time Haga was not the highest placed Japanese rider in every season in which he competed in WSBK.
Haga improved his performance to challenge for the title in2000. However, his season was disrupted when he was tested positive for a banned substance. Haga was tested positive for the substanceEphedrine after the race in South Africa, though it was later learned that Ephedrine occurs naturally in the herbs used in theEphedra supplement that he'd taken during the off-season. He initially received a one-month ban beginning on June 5 and had his points from both South African races deducted.[7] However, after a series of appeals the points from Race 1 in South Africa were reinstated and the ban was delayed and reduced to a 2-week ban, resulting in Haga missing the final round atBrands Hatch,Great Britain. With Haga losing 25 points and sitting out a 2-race weekend, Colin Edwards comfortably won the 2000 championship.[8]
After an eventful year, Haga left WSBK and joined the500cc World Championship for the2001 season.[9] Haga initially did not want to join the 500cc Championship as he wanted another chance to challenge for the WSBK crown. However, Yamaha had already announced that they were withdrawing from WSBK and focusing on the challenge to win the 500cc Championship.[10] Haga joined the factory-backedRed BullYamahaWCM team, riding theYamaha YZR500. Haga failed to adapt to the new bike and had a disappointing season, without a single podium. He finished fourteenth in the championship.
Haga returned to WSBK in2002 in a one-bikeAprilia team, on anAprilia RSV 1000. He had several podium finishes but no wins. He finished 4th in the overall standing, before moving back to MotoGP in thefollowing season. He was joined by his former teammate Colin Edwards to spearhead Aprilia's MotoGP campaign, riding the newly developedAprilia RS Cube. Both Haga and Edwards endured another disappointing season with the RS Cube performing poorly. Haga once again finished fourteenth in the championship without a podium.
After another failed attempt in MotoGP, Haga returned to WSBK in2004. He joined the RenegadeDucati Koji team and was in contention for the championship until the final round, despite several mechanical failures.
For2005 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'.
In2006, he was again Yamaha's leading man. After 7 rounds he was 2nd in the championship toTroy Bayliss, without having won a race. At round 7 inBrno he took pole, but finished third and fourth in the two races, having been passed byMichel Fabrizio on the last lap of both. At round 8 in the UK, he took his first win of the year. At Round 9 atLausitzring in Germany Nori picked up two second places after battling for the win in both races. The first race was won by his good friendYukio Kagayama of Alstare CoronaSuzuki and the second by Britain'sJames Toseland of Winston Ten KateHonda, who had been his main rival for 2nd place in the championship. For the third season in a row, Haga came third.
Troy Corser joined the Yamaha team for2007, and together they brought Yamaha the manufacturer's championship. Haga finished 2nd in theriders championship, 2 points behind Toseland - a double win in the final round atMagny-Cours being just not enough.
Haga continued to ride for Yamaha in2008. Haga won seven races during the season, with wins atValencia,Monza, andMagny-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 andXerox Ducati's title winner, Troy Bayliss.
In2009, Haga joined the factory-backedDucati Xerox Team to replace the retiring Bayliss, winning his first race atPhillip Island, and taking an early championship lead. However, a severehigh-side crash during Race 2 in Round 9 atDonington Park put his pursuit of the 2009 championship in doubt.[11] With Haga out of race 2,Ben Spies took victory and reducedHaga's points lead to 14. In the2011 Superbike World Championship Noriyuki Haga joined the PATA RACING TEAM APRILIA (Satellite Team) as a solo rider on the Aprillia RSV4 Factory bike.
Haga signed with the Swan Yamaha British Superbike Team for the 2012 season alongside reigning 2011BSB championTommy Hill. Haga marked his BSB debut at the first race of Round 1 atBrands Hatch with a 13th-place finish (Race 2 was cancelled due to extreme track conditions caused by pouring rain). In Round 8 atCadwell Park, Haga broke his collarbone in a big high-side during free practice and was ruled out for the weekend. After suffering with nagging injuries for most of the season, Haga eventually finished 8th overall. On 16 September 2013, it was announced that Haga would be returning to BSB with Paul Bird Motorsport riding aKawasaki ZX-10R for the final 3 rounds of the season.
| Years | Series | Poles | Races | Podiums | Wins | 2nd place | 3rd place | Fastest laps | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All time | World Superbike (SBK) | 7 | 286 | 110 | 43 | 38 | 29 | 55 | 0 |
| 2012 | British Superbike (BSB) | 0 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Bike | Rider | TC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 |  Yamaha Austria Racing Team | Yamaha YZF-R1 |  Steve Martin Igor Jerman Gwen Giabbani Noriyuki HagaKatsuyuki Nakasuga Tommy Hill | 6th |
| Year | Team | Co-Rider | Bike | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Yamaha Racing Team |  Colin Edwards Noriyuki Haga | Yamaha YZF750 | 1st |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position, races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 500cc | Yamaha | JPN 3 | MAL | ESP | ITA | FRA | MAD | NED | GBR | GER | CZE | IMO | CAT | AUS | ARG | 20th | 16 | ||
| 2001 | 500cc | Yamaha | JPN Ret | RSA Ret | SPA 12 | FRA Ret | ITA 10 | CAT 10 | NED 10 | GBR 4 | GER 12 | CZE 11 | POR Ret | VAL Ret | PAC Ret | AUS 8 | MAL 9 | BRA DNS | 14th | 59 |
| 2003 | MotoGP | Aprilia | JPN 12 | RSA Ret | SPA 11 | FRA 8 | ITA Ret | CAT 12 | NED Ret | GBR 7 | GER Ret | CZE 13 | POR 15 | BRA 14 | PAC 12 | MAL 12 | AUS 14 | VAL 15 | 14th | 47 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pos | Pts | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | |||||
| 2004 | BSB | Ducati | SIL | SIL | BHI | BHI | SNE | SNE | OUL Ret | OUL 10 | MON | MON | THR | THR | BHGP Ret | BHGP DNS | KNO | KNO | MAL | MAL | CRO | CRO | CAD | CAD | OUL | OUL | DON | DON | 29th | 6 |
| Year | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Pts | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R3 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R3 | R1 | R2 | R3 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R3 | ||||
| 2012 | Yamaha | BHI 13 | BHI C | THR Ret | THR 10 | OUL 2 | OUL 13 | OUL 6 | SNE 4 | SNE Ret | KNO 6 | KNO Ret | OUL 4 | OUL 5 | OUL 4 | BHGP Ret | BHGP 5 | CAD DNS | CAD DNS | DON Ret | DON 12 | ASS 5 | ASS 6 | SIL 16 | SIL 15 | BHGP | BHGP | BHGP | 8th | 139 | |
| 2013 | Kawasaki | BHI | BHI | THR | THR | OUL | OUL | OUL | KNO | KNO | SNE | SNE | BHGP | BHGP | OUL | OUL | OUL | CAD | CAD | DON | DON | ASS 5 | ASS Ret | SIL Ret | SIL 14 | BHGP 11 | BHGP Ret | BHGP Ret | 23rd | 18 | |
| Preceded by | Suzuka 8 Hours Winner 1996 (withColin Edwards) | Succeeded by |