Haga crashes out two laps into Ducati WSB debut

Noriyuki Haga crashed his new Xerox Ducati 1098 F09 on only his second flying lap after a collision with Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea.

Riding the Ducati for the first time, Haga was cruising and as he tipped into the final hairpin, Rea who was the fastest man on track at the time hit the side of the Ducati man and both riders went down.

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Fortunately Haga and Rea were un-hurt, but Haga was forced to sit out for over an hour whilst the team rebuilt the 2009 specification Xerox Ducati.

Speaking to MCN, a philosophical Haga said: “It was only the second lap, I was out wide and Jonathan ran into the side of me. I don’t know exactly how it happened, maybe I was going too slow, maybe he was going too fast!”

Rea was also relaxed about the incident, he said: “It was a bit of a stupid crash to be honest. Nori was cruising off the racing line but as he got to the hairpin he just made a straight line direct to the apex. I hit him and we both went down. Luckily we are both ok, it’s just a shame for the mechanics because now they have to work extra hard.”

Three hours into the first day of the three day test and Japanese rider Yukio Kagayama onboard the 2009 GSXR-1000 is leading the way.

Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki)
Ben Spies (Yamaha)
Michel Fabrizio (Ducati)
Troy Corser (BMW)
Max Neukirchner (Suzuki)
Noriyuki Haga (Ducati)
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda)
Shinya Nakano (Aprilia)
Jonathan Rea (Honda)
Andrew Pitt (Honda Supersport)
Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda Supersport)
Ruben Xaus (BMW)
Carlos Checa (Honda)
Tom Sykes (Yamaha)