2002 World SuperBike Championship - Round 13 - Imola

Noriyuki Haga put on a spectacular show for 97,000 spectators in the closing event of the World Superbike Championship at Imola. The Japanese talent of the Playstation2 - FGF Aprilia Team came in fifth in the first race and fourth in the second, proving to be the best rider on Dunlop tyres.

Nitro-Nori concluded the championship in fourth place. After a brilliant 2002 season, the Playstation2 - FGF Aprilia Team will soon be preparing for 2003: in a week’s time, Noriyuki Haga will be testing evolution Dunlop tyres in Valencia (Spain).

NORIYUKI HAGA (Playstation2 - FGF Aprilia Team rider) - “I’m pretty pleased with this result: I could have done better if I hadn’t been held up in the first race. The duel with Neil Hodgson was great - my battle with him is not over yet: every time we meet we really fight it out.

GIACOMO GUIDOTTI (Technical Manager of the Playstation2 - FGF Aprilia Team) - “The stop in Race 1 did create some problems for us: the rear tyre we mounted for the second part was identical to the first but it didn’t give the same result. We changed the solution for Race 2 and changed the set-up of the suspension, and things went decidedly better. If we’d achieved more consistent results, we could have aimed for third place in the overall championship, but things are OK the way they are.”