Yamaha: Why are we slower?

Last year's double Monza winner Noriyuki Haga is predicting a flat-out fight during Sunday's World Superbike races at the high speed Italian circuit, but is hoping for last minute set-up progress after failing to match his 2007 pace in qualifying.

The Japanese star set a new lap record in Superpole last season, but failed to match that time on Saturday. Nevertheless, Nori will still start from third on the grid, behind Troy Bayliss and Max Neukirchner and ahead of Carlos Checa.

"I am very happy for the time but am a bit disappointed because I could not improve last year's lap time, but that's OK," said Haga. "I get the first row and I think it's going to be a tough race and I try to do my best. I'm not sure how things will be tomorrow, especially on this track, I cannot think about race distance or even tactics, but we have 18 laps and anything can happen."

After a tough opening day, in which he was just twelfth fastest, Haga has been moving steadily towards the front - but says things are only 'a bit better'.

"We have had problems with the general set up but we have been working hard to improve them through qualifying," he said. "Things feel a bit better now. We still need to find a little bit on the main straights. We need to have a bit more top end speed. For tomorrow, we need to make the most of our good starting position and get away with the front group."

Yamaha Italia team-mate Troy Corser is also still trying to find the optimum set-up, particularly over the bumps. The Australian had been seventh heading into Superpole, but then slipped to twelfth position, 1.5 seconds from the Bayliss.

"The bike feels very nervous still, we shortened it a bit in free practice and tried a few other things," said the double world champion. "Our set-up is not very forgiving right now and the bike flicks you around a bit on the bumps. It's not too bad but we need to find a set-up to push for the whole race. We have one choice of tyre we can use, and the duration is OK. The bump into Ascari was about half the size last year, and I think that's because of the cars pushing it up under braking. We are struggling in a few places on the bumps. We need to get off the line clean tomorrow, stay with them, and see where we end up."

"For me, Noriyuki starting on the first row is really important. For sure we are checking and analysing the data to make some more improvements if possible," stated team manager Massimo Meregalli. "For Troy, starting from the third row is not so easy here, but with the slipstream it is less difficult here than some other circuits to pass.

"We cannot understand why we are slower than last year because the bike is even better this year," he admitted. "We must be positive and for tomorrow I am sure both Noriyuki and Troy will be racing to win."