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Haga remains confident despite Portimao low score

Tuesday, 30 March 2010 08:55 GMT
Haga remains confident despite Portimao low score
Racing at Portimao proved to be difficult for Ducati Xerox rider Noriyuki Haga, who had to fight hard for points, having started the races from the fifth row of the grid. Whereas just six months ago the Japanese rider was fighting head to head for the title with Spies in Portugal, this time round the two races brought identical but much less positive results, two eighth place finishes. Despite this turn around in form and consequential low score, Nori remains upbeat for the next round in Spain.


"I tried to push as hard as possible but by the last five laps or so I was lacking rear grip and this meant that my traction was very much affected," explained Haga. "The second race was quite similar, the tyre performed better but I had a hard time getting past Guintoli, and again finished eighth. I apologize to the team, the fans and the sponsors for my poor results but at least I was able to make up a few positions and take some points. Now we look to start challenging for the podium every weekend from Valencia onwards. The important thing is not to crash, and to take as many points as possible each race. Biaggi and Haslam have demonstrated their strength both here and at Phillip Island and we hope we can be back up there on the podium at Valencia."