Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) took his 1098R to the win in his first race for the factory Ducati squad in the opening round of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island, Australia.
The Japanese rider got the better of German Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare) on the final lap to score his 34th win.
Riders Quotes:Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) : “One thing that I have is great experience because in 2005 I was in 16th and won a race, so now everybody knows it doesn’t matter where the start position is, we don’t need qualifying! I’m very happy for the win, I have just switched to Ducati, I already had four crashes with the bike, but our team did a great job.
In the last two laps it started to rain a bit then on the last lap Max passed me but I put big pressure on him thinking where to pass him.
He made a mistake and I won.
”Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare) : “On the last lap I made a little mistake and that probably cost me the win.
The last five laps Nori was in front and I could see that he had a bit better traction on the last corner but I caught him on the last lap and I said ‘I win, I win’ but it was too much and I had a small slide and that was it.
”Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare) : “I’m happy to get the podium, my last one was in 2007! Both for Max and me our starting positions were not so good, and too many riders caught me in the early laps.
But I did a steady ride to third.
”Race 1 Results:1.
Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R 34mins 22.
631s2.
Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +0.
032s3.
Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +5.
347s4.
Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R +6.
587s5.
Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +8.
491s6.
Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +8.
523s7.
Regis Laconi FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +8.
766s8.
Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +11.
589s9.
Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +11.
721s10.
Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha Italia YZF R1 +11.
761s11.
Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +12.
609s12.
Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +19.
096s13.
Roberto Rolfo ITA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +24.
149s14.
Tommy Hill GBR HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR +27.
416s15.
Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +28.
173s 16.
Ben Spies USA Yamaha Italia YZF R1 +28.
235s17.
Brendan Roberts AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +37.
348s18.
Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +37.
401s19.
Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +42.
614s20.
Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1mi 03.
794s21.
David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +2 laps Not Classified22.
Matteo Baiocco ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R 14 laps completed23.
Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R 8 laps completed24.
Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 8 laps completed25.
Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 7 laps completed26.
Karl Muggeridge AUS Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 4 laps completed27.
Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 0 laps completed28.
Ayrton Badovini ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R Did Not StartBest Race Lap
