After a successful start at Phillip Island, earning three podium finishes, the Ducati Xerox team was eager for the second round of the World Superbike Championship at Portimao. But both Nitro Nori Haga and Michel Fabrizio suffered through the qualifying rounds and started from the fifth row on the grid. They did their best to make it through the pack, but weren’t able to finish any higher than 8th place. If history tells us anything though, the story will be different at Valencia. The Valencia track is the shortest on this years calendar, and has been traditionally friendly to the Ducati riders. Haga has 10 podium finishes at Valencia, and 5 race wins. At last years event, Haga managed to win both races, as well as break his own lap record.
"I had a great weekend at Valencia last year and scored the perfect results, it was my first double win at this track and of course I'd love to do that again this season,” said Haga. “We need to make up ground that we lost at Portimao so from Valencia onwards we'll be back on track and aiming for race wins. I'm confident that me and my technicians will come up with a good race set-up that will allow me to fight at the front."
Haga is fifth in the overall standings, with 43 points. Just ahead of
Haga is his Ducati Xerox teammate, Fabrizio, who has 46 points. Fabrizio hasn’t had the success that Haga has had at Valencia, but he managed two podium finishes at last years event. "We made a strong start at Phillip Island a few weeks ago but then Portimao didn't go according to plan and I didn't make the points that I'd hoped to,” said Fabrizio. “We're still near the beginning of a long season and Valencia is one of the tracks where I was on the podium twice last year so I'm confident that we'll be back on top in Spain."
