2002 World SuperBike Championship - Round 10 - Brands Hatch

After the test sessions of the last few days, in which Noriyuki Haga had come within a few thousandths of the circuit record and, after a Superpole which forced him back to the third row of today’s starting grid, the Japanese ace twice made two dramatic climbs up through the field. In both races, he achieved positions which better reflect his real potential. And he did this despite his ill-health - a vexing gastritis bothered him throughout Race 1, which he finished in fourth place. He was quickly assisted by the Mobile Clinic doctors, who got him back into shape for the second race, and this time he was able to move up to fifth place, which again makes him fourth in the World Championship ratings. Nori and his Aprilia RSV Mille managed to make their usual spectacular star turns: he battled, overtook, and went on "impossible" trajectories which had the 126,000 spectators at Brands Hatch at fever pitch. The next round of the World Championship: Oschersleben, 1st September. Third round from last in the 2002 season.

Noriyuki Haga (Playstation2 - FGF Aprilia Team rider) - "It’s a pity I started so far back, and it’s a pity I wasn’t in top form. I haven’t been well ever since I arrived in England, and halfway through the first race I was dog tired and felt sick. Indeed, just after I crossed the line and the tension was over, I really was sick. The doctors told me it’s a case of gastritis. There are still three races to go to finish the season in the best possible way."

Giacomo Guidotti (Technical Manager Playstation2-FGF Aprilia Team) - "What we really should have got today was two fourth places. We’ve never been fully at ease at Brands Hatch, and today’s results are the best so far since 2000, the year we first entered the championship. We could have done better if Haga had been feeling better. We’re a bit sorry because we’re convinced we didn’t make full use of the potential of the bike or of the Dunlop tyres which were just right for this circuit."