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World
SuperBike 2002 - Round 4 - Sugo Friday - Qualifying 1 - Aprilia Report Apr 19th, 2002 |
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Noriyuki Haga and his Aprilia RSV were in top
form for the first qualifying sessions of the Japanese round of the
World Championship at Sugo. The Japanese ace of the Playstation2 - FGF
Aprilia Team made third quickest time, just 181 thousandths behind his
fellow-countryman Makoto Tamada (Honda), who dominated the 2001 event.
Noriyuki's performance is particularly significant considering that this
is the first time he has ever raced on an Aprilia RSV at Sugo. It took
just forty laps to reach the fastest speed the RSV made last year. The
Playstation2 - FGF Team successfully experimented new linkages for the
suspension which had been created in record time. NORIYUKI HAGA (Playstation2 - FGF Team rider) said: "I'd say we've started this weekend pretty well. I like Sugo, and won here both in 1997 and in 1998. But this is the first time I've been round on an Aprilia: I thought it would take longer to get the feel of things. After the free practice in the morning I was pleased, and after the afternoon qualifying sessions even more so! I need to gain lost ground in the Championship and this could be just the right opportunity." GIACOMO GUIDOTTI (Technical Manager, Playstation2 - FGF Aprilia) commented: "we've still got lots more work to do: there are some things which are fine on bike 1, while in other cases bike 2 performed better: we're going to have to make a cocktail to get the best out of both. Dunlop has come up with a couple of new solutions: at first sight they look good, but we'll need more tests to see what real advantages they offer. In any case, we weren't expecting to get such good results on day one: Haga worked really hard, but it must be said the potential of the Aprilia is also tremendous."
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