2002 World SuperBike Championship - Round 12 - Assen - SuperPole

Noriyuki Haga is to start on the second row in the Netherlands Superbike GP to be raced at Assen. The Japanese Playstation2-FGF Aprilia rider made sixth quickest time, slicing almost a second off his quickest time on Friday. The Dutch circuit was once again spared rain today, so the Italian team were able to carry out a number of tests on the set-up and on the tyres. The Aprilia RSV demonstrated its enormous potential and appears well able to fight for the podium with Ducati and Honda. Noriyuki Haga has a good track record at Assen: in 2000 he came first after a spectacular duel with the then reigning champion Troy Bayliss.

NORIYUKI HAGA (Playstation2 - FGF Aprilia Team rider) - “I tried out a number of set-up solutions, and suspension and tyre adjustments. It’s been a tiring day but I think we’ve worked out how to make sure we’re up at the top in tomorrow’s races. I just hope it doesn’t rain as we’re going to need the warm-up to make further checks on the duration of the tyres we’ve chosen. If all goes well, I think we should be able to get some good results.”

GIACOMO GUIDOTTI - “The Superpole time could have been much better: the circuit’s six kilometres long here and half-way through we’d lost grip on the right-hand side of the tyre. We’d used a special suspension setting for the race and with the soft tyre we were really on the borderline. It wasn’t Dunlop’s fault - I must say, they’re providing us with some highly effective material here. The bike’s fast - things aren’t too bad and I think we’ll be able to put on two great races.”