Haga fired up for BSB at Brands.

Last time he visited the British Superbike championship it was rather a warm welcome that Renegade Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga received. Desport this, and team-mate Leon Haslam's off at Oulton Park, both will be at Brands Hatch to join the action.

Team Renegade Ducati has confirmed that both Noriyuki Haga and Leon Haslam will compete in the forthcoming round of the British Superbike Championship to be held at Brands Hatch from June 18th.

Having sampled the delights of the domestic series at Oulton Park earlier in the season, the riders will be hoping for better luck, both having narrowly escaped serious injury at the Cheshire circuit. Haslam walked away unhurt following a last lap collision, which saw him, hurtle into the trackside barriers at over 120mph. Haga also avoided injury when caught in a massive fireball as a result of another competitor's exploding machine.

However, with both riders well experienced on the fast and flowing Brands Hatch GP circuit, they will be putting their recent experiences behind them in focussing all of their energy on gaining valuable track practice.

With a round of the Superbike World Championship being held at the Kent circuit at the end of July, exclusive World Championship tyre provider Pirelli are despatching a special crew of technicians to assist the team at the event, as the manufacturer seeks data on an as yet unused track for the latest batch of development tyres, currently in production.

As team principal Mark Griffiths explains, the BSB event is crucial to the team's World Championship run-in.

"We are looking to finish the World Championship strongly, and the BSB round at Brands will give both riders very valuable track time at an important venue, and a good head start on the rest of the WSBK field," said Griffiths.

He went on to say, "We nominated Brands as one of our two official test circuits for the season, and it was always our intention to compete in the BSB event to be held there. The fact that Pirelli are sending their development team is a vital ingredient, and we will be using the race weekend to get dialled-in before we come back in July. But make no mistake, both riders are also entered to compete, and I can promise the fans that Nitro and Leon will be battling the same as ever!"