A technical problem in race one at
Thruxton had a knock-on effect for
WSBK legend and 2012
BSB rookie Noriyuki Haga.
The new Swan Yamaha rider had been working his way up the order from a lowly 16th on the grid in the opening race, when a technical issue forced him to retire after just five laps.
Haga then climbed from 13th to sixth in race two, but began to pay the price for not going the full distance in the first outing. Suffering from a lack of grip, the Japanese slipped back to tenth at the flag.
“We had an unfortunate problem in the first race and I had to retire but for sure we could have been up there as we were improving all the time,” said Haga. “It did make it difficult for race two as I didn't have all the data from race one like the other riders, but we didn't make many changes and then I was pushing hard in the first laps.
“It was hard to catch the leading group as we were out of the slipstream but Josh [Brookes] came past and he was very fast, by then I was starting to lose grip with the rear tyre and I had a few on the grass moments which meant I lost places.
“I was attacking Scassa before that and I think if we had finished race one we would have known more how the Swan Yamaha would react at the end of the race. I think
Oulton Park should be a better result.”
Team owner Shaun Muir added: “Noriyuki had a really disappointing race one through no fault of his own as a technical problem ended his charge. He then didn't have the data from a full race and that cost him as he was looking like he could finish in the top six but then suffered with lack of grip towards the end of the race. He showed that he is moving forward so we expect to see more from him at Oulton Park.”
Haga is presently 15th in the
BSB standings with nine points.