Noriyuki Haga

is a Japanese former professional motorcycle racer. He won 43 world championship superbike races during a 25-year racing career, making him one of the most accomplished competitors never to have won a Superbike World Championship. Haga was the runner-up in the championship three times and, four times finished in third place. His 43 victories rank him sixth all time in the history of the Superbike World Championship behind Jonathan Rea, Álvaro Bautista, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, Carl Fogarty and Troy Bayliss. Haga ranks fourth behind Troy Corser, Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea in career World Superbike race starts with 313. He last competed in the 2018 CIV Supersport 600 Championship, aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6.

Career

Early career Haga started his racing career by competing in the Japanese Superbike Championship in 1993, riding a Ducati bike. He then moved to Yamaha in 1995, and won the championship with Yamaha in 1997. During his stint with Yamaha in Japanese Superbike, Haga was chosen to represent Yamaha in the 1996 Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race. He teamed up with Yamaha's World Superbike rider Colin Edwards and won the race.

Superbike World Championship Before Haga began racing full-time in the World Superbike Championship in 1998, he had already been racing occasionally in WSBK since 1994. In , Haga received a wild card entry to race in the Japanese round of WSBK at Sugo. He surprisingly finished second in Race 1, collecting his first podium in WSBK at his first attempt. However, he failed to finish in Race 2. In , while still racing in his home championship, he was given another chance to race in WSBK. He was chosen to replace the injured Colin Edwards for the last two races of the season in Sugo, Japan, and Sentul, Indonesia. He performed well in both rounds, collecting his first win in WSBK along with 2 more podiums.

In , Haga began racing WSBK full-time. He also adopted the number 41 that he has used ever since. Haga joined Yamaha's Superbike team, replacing Colin Edwards who moved to Honda. He started the season brilliantly by winning 3 of the first 4 races. Unfortunately, his performance declined and he dropped out of championship contention. He won another two races in the season and finished 6th in the championship standing. During the year, Haga also received a wild-card entry to the 1998 500cc Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Haga scored an unexpected third place podium in his 500cc debut. This was his only podium in his brief 500cc/MotoGP career.

The following season, Haga finished seventh in the championship. He only managed one race win and one third-place finish on the new Yamaha YZF-R7. As a result, another Japanese rider, Akira Yanagawa finished fifth, above Haga. This marks the only time Haga was not the highest placed Japanese rider in every season in which he competed in WSBK.

Haga improved his performance to challenge for the title in . However, his season was disrupted when he was tested positive for a banned substance. Haga was tested positive for the substance Ephedrine after the race in South Africa, though it was later learned that Ephedrine occurs naturally in the herbs used in the Ephedra supplement that he'd taken during the off-season. He initially received a one-month ban beginning on June 5 and had his points from both South African races deducted. However, after a series of appeals the points from Race 1 in South Africa were reinstated and the ban was delayed and reduced to a two-week ban, resulting in Haga missing the final round at Brands Hatch, Great Britain. With Haga losing 25 points and sitting out a 2-race weekend, Colin Edwards comfortably won the 2000 championship.

500cc/MotoGP World Championship After an eventful year, Haga left WSBK and joined the 500cc World Championship for the 2001 season. Haga initially did not want to join the 500cc Championship as he wanted another chance to challenge for the WSBK crown. However, Yamaha had already announced that they were withdrawing from WSBK and focusing on the challenge to win the 500cc Championship. Haga joined the factory-backed Red Bull Yamaha WCM team, riding the Yamaha YZR500. Haga failed to adapt to the new bike and had a disappointing season, without a single podium. He finished fourteenth in the championship.

Haga returned to WSBK in in a one-bike Aprilia team, on an Aprilia RSV 1000. He had several podium finishes but no wins. He finished fourth in the overall standing, before moving back to MotoGP in the following season. He was joined by his former teammate Colin Edwards to spearhead Aprilia's MotoGP campaign, riding the newly developed Aprilia RS Cube. Both Haga and Edwards endured another disappointing season with the RS Cube performing poorly. Haga once again finished fourteenth in the championship without a podium.

Return to Superbike After another failed attempt in MotoGP, Haga returned to WSBK in . He joined the Renegade Ducati Koji team and was in contention for the championship until the final round, despite several mechanical failures.

For , Haga joined Yamaha Motor Italia, Yamaha's factory supported team. He finished third in the championship and became the first rider to win a dry weather race having failed to lap fast enough to qualify for 'Superpole'.

In , Haga was again Yamaha's leading man. After seven rounds he was second in the championship to Troy Bayliss, without having won a race. At round 7 in Brno, he took pole, but finished third and fourth in the two races, having been passed by Michel Fabrizio on the last lap of both. At round 8 in the UK, he took his first win of the year. At Round 9 at Lausitzring in Germany Nori picked up two second places after battling for the win in both races. The first race was won by his good friend Yukio Kagayama of Alstare Corona Suzuki and the second by Britain's James Toseland of Winston Ten Kate Honda, who had been his main rival for second place in the championship. For the third season in a row, Haga came third.

Troy Corser joined the Yamaha team for , and together they brought Yamaha the manufacturer's championship. Haga finished second in the riders championship, two points behind Toseland - a double win in the final round at Magny-Cours being just not enough.

Haga continued to ride for Yamaha in . Haga won seven races during the season, with wins at Valencia, Monza, and Magny-Cours, as well as doubles at the Nurburgring and Vallelunga. However, this was only good enough for third in the final standings behind (the winless) Corser and Xerox Ducati's title winner, Troy Bayliss.

In , Haga joined the factory-backed Ducati Xerox Team to replace the retiring Bayliss, winning his first race at Phillip Island, and taking an early championship lead. However, a severe high-side crash during Race 2 in Round 9 at Donington Park put his pursuit of the 2009 championship in doubt. With Haga out of race 2, Ben Spies took victory and reduced Haga's points lead to 14. In the Superbike World Championship Noriyuki Haga joined the PATA RACING TEAM APRILIA (Satellite Team) as a solo rider on the Aprillia RSV4 Factory bike.

British Superbike Championship Haga signed with the Swan Yamaha British Superbike Team for the 2012 season alongside reigning 2011 BSB champion Tommy Hill. Haga marked his BSB debut at the first race of Round 1 at Brands Hatch with a 13th-place finish (Race 2 was cancelled due to extreme track conditions caused by pouring rain). In Round 8 at Cadwell Park, Haga broke his collarbone in a big high-side during free practice and was ruled out for the weekend. After suffering with nagging injuries for most of the season, Haga eventually finished 8th overall. On 16 September 2013, it was announced that Haga would be returning to BSB with Paul Bird Motorsport riding a Kawasaki ZX-10R for the final three rounds of the season.

Career summary World Superbike career 1996: 22nd in World Superbike Championship with Yamaha (2 race as wild-card, 1 podium) 1997: 13th in World Superbike Championship with Yamaha (4 race as replacement rider, 1 win, 3 podiums, 72 points) 1998: 6th in World Superbike Championship with Yamaha WSBK Team (5 wins, 7 podiums, 258 points) 1999: 7th in World Superbike Championship with Yamaha WSBK Team (1 win, 2 podiums, 196 points) 2000: 2nd in World Superbike Championship with Yamaha WSBK Team (4 wins, 11 podiums, 334 points) 2002: 4th in World Superbike Championship with PlayStation 2-FGF Aprilia (7 podiums, 278 points) 2004: 3rd in World Superbike Championship with Renegade Ducati Koji (6 wins, 9 podiums, 299 points) 2005: 3rd in World Superbike Championship with Yamaha Motor Italia WSB (2 wins, 10 podiums, 271 points) 2006: 3rd in World Superbike Championship with Yamaha Motor Italia WSB (1 win, 11 podiums, 326 points) 2007: 2nd in World Superbike Championship with Yamaha Motor Italia WSB (6 wins, 15 podiums, 413 points) 2008: 3rd in World Superbike Championship with Yamaha Motor Italia WSB (7 wins, 11 podiums, 327 points) 2009: 2nd in World Superbike Championship with Ducati Xerox Team (8 wins, 19 podiums, 456 points) 2010: 6th in World Superbike Championship with Ducati Xerox Team (2 wins, 6 podiums, 258 points) 2011: 8th in World Superbike Championship with Pata Aprilia Team (0 wins, 4 podiums, 176 points) 500cc/MotoGP career 1998: 20th in 500cc World Championship with Yamaha Racing Team (1 race as wild-card, 1 podium, 16 points) 2001: 14th in 500cc World Championship with Red Bull Yamaha WCM (15 race, 59 points) 2003: 14th in MotoGP World Championship with Alice Aprilia Racing (16 race, 47 points) Others 1996: Won Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race with Yamaha (with Colin Edwards) 1997: Won Japanese Superbike Championship with Yamaha 2012: 8th in British Superbike Championship with Swan Yamaha (0 wins, 1 podium, 160 points) 2015: 7th in Asia Road Race SS600 Championship with Team Kagayama Suzuki ASIA (Suzuki GSX-R600) Years Series Poles Races Podiums Wins 2nd place 3rd place Fastest laps Titles All time World Superbike (SBK) 7 286 110 43 38 29 55 0 2012 British Superbike (BSB) 0 28 1 0 1 0 0 0

Career statistics

Superbike World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1994 Ducati GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA SPA SPA AUT AUT INA INA JPN21 JPN12 NED NED SMR SMR EUR EUR AUS AUS 50th 4 1995 Yamaha GER GER SMR SMR GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA AUT AUT USA USA EUR EUR JPN18 JPN19 NED NED INA INA AUS AUS NC 0 1996 Yamaha SMR SMR GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA CZE CZE USA USA EUR EUR INA INA JPN2 JPNDSQ NED NED SPA SPA AUS AUS 22nd 20 1997 Yamaha AUS AUS SMR SMR GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED SPA SPA JPN2 JPN1 INA5 INA3 13th 72 1998 Yamaha AUS3 AUS1 GBR1 GBR1 ITA9 ITA10 SPA10 SPA4 GER5 GER7 SMRRet SMRRet RSA7 RSA3 USARet USA1 EUR12 EUR7 AUT9 AUT12 NED8 NED8 JPNRet JPN1 6th 258 1999 Yamaha RSA4 RSARet AUS6 AUS5 GBR10 GBR6 SPA1 SPARet ITA6 ITA6 GERRet GER6 SMR8 SMRRet USARet USA10 EUR7 EUR3 AUTRet AUTRet NED7 NED8 GER5 GER9 JPN12 JPN4 7th 196 2000 Yamaha RSA2 RSADSQ AUS10 AUS2 JPN2 JPN4 GBR4 GBR4 ITARet ITA5 GER3 GER1 SMR7 SMRRet SPA3 SPA1 USA1 USA2 GBR5 GBR4 NED3 NED1 GER9 GER5 GBRDSQ GBRDSQ 2nd 335 2002 Aprilia SPA2 SPA2 AUSRet AUS6 RSARet RSA6 JPN3 JPN5 ITARet ITA3 GBR2 GBR10 GER4 GER5 SMR4 SMR3 USARet USARet GBR4 GBR5 GER7 GER4 NED3 NED6 ITA5 ITA4 4th 278 2004 Ducati SPARet SPA1 AUS8 AUS6 SMR4 SMR4 ITARet ITARet GER1 GERRet GBR1 GBR2 USA6 USA4 GBR1 GBR1 NED4 NED3 ITA4 ITARet FRA2 FRA1 3rd 299 2005 Yamaha QAT5 QAT11 AUSRet AUSRet SPA5 SPA4 ITA11 ITA9 EURRet EUR3 SMR6 SMR6 CZE7 CZE1 GBR2 GBR1 NED3 NED2 GER2 GER3 ITA3 ITAC FRARet FRA3 3rd 271 2006 Yamaha QATRet QAT3 AUS4 AUS4 SPA5 SPA5 ITA4 ITA3 EUR2 EUR2 SMR5 SMR3 CZE4 CZE3 GBR3 GBR1 NEDRet NEDRet GER2 GER2 ITA4 ITA6 FRA2 FRA4 3rd 326 2007 Yamaha QAT8 QAT4 AUS4 AUS3 EUR4 EUR1 SPA2 SPA3 NED2 NEDRet ITA1 ITA1 GBR2 GBRC SMRRet SMR2 CZE4 CZE4 GBR7 GBR2 GER1 GER2 ITA4 ITA3 FRA1 FRA1 2nd 413 2008 Yamaha QAT14 QAT13 AUS8 AUS7 SPARet SPA1 NEDRet NED2 ITA2 ITA1 USARet USA6 GER1 GER1 SMR10 SMR4 CZE6 CZE7 GBR19 GBR2 EURRet EURDSQ ITA1 ITA1 FRA1 FRA2 PORRet POR14 3rd 327 2009 Ducati AUS1 AUS2 QAT2 QAT2 SPA1 SPA1 NED2 NED1 ITA2 ITARet RSA1 RSA1 USA9 USA8 SMR5 SMR3 GBR3 GBRRet CZE8 CZE6 GER2 GERRet ITA1 ITA2 FRA2 FRA1 PORRet POR2 2nd 456 2010 Ducati AUS3 AUS5 POR8 POR8 SPA5 SPA1 NED10 NEDRet ITA11 ITA 6 RSA17 RSA10 USA3 USA4 SMR7 SMR9 CZE6 CZE5 GBR14 GBR13 GERRet GER1 ITA3 ITA2 FRA7 FRA5 6th 258 2011 Aprilia AUS9 AUS7 EUR6 EUR17 NEDRet NED8 ITA16 ITA4 USA9 USARet SMRRet SMR3 SPA6 SPA7 CZE12 CZE10 GBRRet GBRRet GER3 GERRet ITA2 ITA2 FRA7 FRA10 POR15 POR11 8th 176 2013 BMW AUS AUS SPA SPA NED NED ITA ITA GBR GBR POR POR ITA15 ITA15 RUS RUS GBR GBR GER GER TUR TUR USA USA FRA FRA SPA SPA 41st 2

FIM Endurance World Championship By team Year Team Bike Rider 2012 Yamaha Austria Racing Team Yamaha YZF-R1 Steve Martin Igor Jerman Gwen Giabbani Noriyuki Haga Katsuyuki Nakasuga Tommy Hill 6th

Suzuka 8 Hours results Year Team Co-Rider Bike Pos 1996 Yamaha Racing Team Colin Edwards Noriyuki Haga Yamaha YZF750 1st

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Pts 500cc Yamaha JPN3 MAL ESP ITA FRA MAD NED GBR GER CZE IMO CAT AUS ARG 20th 16 2001 500cc Yamaha JPNRet RSARet SPA12 FRARet ITA10 CAT10 NED10 GBR4 GER12 CZE11 PORRet VALRet PACRet AUS8 MAL9 BRADNS 14th 59 2003 MotoGP Aprilia JPN12 RSARet SPA11 FRA8 ITARet CAT12 NEDRet GBR7 GERRet CZE13 POR15 BRA14 PAC12 MAL12 AUS14 VAL 15 14th 47

British Superbike Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 2004 BSB Ducati SIL SIL BHI BHI SNE SNE OULRet OUL10 MON MON THR THR BHGPRet BHGPDNS KNO KNO MAL MAL CRO CRO CAD CAD OUL OUL DON DON 29th 6 Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 2012 Yamaha BHI13 BHIC THRRet THR10 OUL2 OUL13 OUL6 SNE4 SNERet KNO6 KNORet OUL4 OUL5 OUL4 BHGPRet BHGP5 CADDNS CADDNS DONRet DON12 ASS5 ASS6 SIL16 SIL15 BHGP BHGP BHGP 8th 139 2013 Kawasaki BHI BHI THR THR OUL OUL OUL KNO KNO SNE SNE BHGP BHGP OUL OUL OUL CAD CAD DON DON ASS5 ASSRet SILRet SIL14 BHGP11 BHGPRet BHGPRet 23rd 18