WSB Miller: Consistent Haga hoping for cooler weather

Noriyuki Haga believes that the key to Ducati’s early success in qualifying at the Miller race is down to the cooler temperatures and not the three KG weight reduction. At the end of day one Ducati’s filled the top two places with a total of six Ducati’s in the top 12.

Although Haga was the slowest Ducati he set a string of consistent lap times, faster than what he achieved in the 2009 race, which he put down to the cooler temperatures. The reason that the air temperatures make such a difference to the cooling of the bikes is due to the 1358m altitude of the Salt Lake City track. With the air being thinner it has less efficient cooling properties.

“Last year in race two my bike was overheating, it was running at 128 degrees where as in qualifying it was at 80 degrees. I can not notice the 3kg, but when it is cooler my bike is faster.

“My times today were consistent. I did runs on two different tyres and although the left hand side of the tyre does not look so good the grip is still there. We made a change in the afternoon which did not really work so we definitely have something to try for final qualifying and Superpole.”