Ducati men on the make at Monza
The arrival of Aprilia in the championship last year, and with half the teams in the SBK championship based in Italy somewhere, has only intensified the focus of attention for Ducati at the first of three Italian-based WSBK rounds. By their own high standards, the Ducati Xerox team is keen to make much needed improvements in its race day results, starting from this race at Monza.
A recent test at Misano has been a help to the team in its preparations, and the good news for all is that both Haga and Fabrizio are proven winners at Monza.
Haga, winner of some 42 World Superbike races, said of his chances at Monza "This weekend will be tough; I like the Monza track but at the same time I know that my 1198 does not have the top speed of some of the other bikes and with Monza's long straights, it will be hard for us I think. Nevertheless, I'll be opening the gas and giving 200%."
Fabrizio only has to look to last year to find inspiration to have his best weekend of 2010 so far. "I had a good weekend here last year and am very happy that my first ever Superbike race win came in front of my home crowd, at Monza," said Fabrizio. "We've not had an easy run of things recently but testing went well at Misano last week and I'll be doing everything to put on a great performance this weekend. We need to start to make up lost ground."
