The Ducati Xerox squad to get back on track at Valencia

Valencia, Spain
Tuesday 6th April 2010

So far the Superbike circus has been half way around the world to Australia and back, to Portimao. Valencia is the third of the thirteen Superbike rounds and Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio will be back on board their 1198 bikes, ready to fight back and regain the ground they lost recently at Portimao.

After having successfully scored three podiums in Phillip Island, the Ducati Xerox Team unfortunately experienced a more difficult race weekend at Portimao just over a week ago. Factory riders Noriyuki and Michel had to contend with starting from the fifth row of the grid and although both battled hard throughout the races to recuperate, it was always going to be hard to reach the podium places. The two races panned out in a similar way, with Haga and Fabrizio replicating in Race 2 the eighth and eleventh place finishes they had scored respectively in the first race.

Now focus turns to Spain. This is the eleventh consecutive year since its inauguration in 1999 that Valencia, the shortest track on the calendar at just 4005 metres in length, hosts a World Superbike event. Last year the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana on his eighth outing at this track, stormed to victory in both races, smashing the long-standing lap record in the process, followed by team-mate Michel who closed in second and third, his first podium successes at this particular track. Noriyuki has a good history here, having scored 10 podium finishes over 16 races, 5 of which were race wins.

Michel Fabrizio - (4th in championship, 46 points)
Michel’s first Superbike podiums at this track were attained just last year when he picked up a solid second and third place finish on his 1198.

“Last year I had to battle hard against Spies and Laconi for the podium places but we were happy with the results, especially as my previous performances here were far from great! We made a strong start at Phillip Island a few weeks ago but then Portimao didn’t go according to plan and I didn’t make the points that I’d hoped to. Having said that, we’re still near the beginning of a long season and Valencia is one of the tracks where I was on the podium twice last year so I’m confident that we’ll be back on top in Spain.”

Fabrizio’s Superbike form at Valencia:

Year	Race one position	Race two position
2009	2nd	3rd
2008	DNF	13th
2007	7th	11th
2006	13th	10th

Noriyuki Haga - (5th in championship, 43 points)
Noriyuki did the double on his Ducati 1198 at the Spanish track last year and has also won races in 2008, 2004 and 2000, success that he hopes can be repeated again this year.

“I had a great weekend at Valencia last year and scored the perfect results, it was my first double win at this track and of course I’d love to do that again this season! We need to make up ground that we lost at Portimao so from Valencia onwards we’ll be back on track and aiming for race wins! I’m confident that me and my technicians will come up with a good race set-up that will allow me to fight at the front.”

Haga’s Superbike form at Valencia:

Year	Race one position	Race two position
2009	Winner	Winner
2008	DNF	Winner
2007	2nd	3rd
2006	5th	5th
2005	5th	4th
2004	DNF	Winner
2002	2nd	2nd
2000	3rd	Winner

CIRCUIT DATA:

Name: Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo
Country: Spain
Circuit length: 4.005 km
Pole position: Right
Corners left: 9
Corners right: 5
Length of race: 23 laps / 92.115 km

LAP RECORDS:

Best lap – Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1'34.618 (2009). Superpole: Spies (Yamaha), 1'33.270 (2009).

2009 Results

Race 1

Haga (Ducati Xerox)
Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox)
Neukirchner (Suzuki)

Race 2

Haga (Ducati Xerox)
Spies (Yamaha)
Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox)

In collaboration with Moto.it we are proud to present a video series dedicated to all of the World Superbike tracks, narrated by Michel Fabrizio. Go on a virtual lap of the track with Michel.

The latest Valencia video will be online from Friday 9th April.

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