Ducati Xerox rider Noriyuki Haga is the clear points leader heading into the fifth round of the 2009 Superbike World Championship at the legendary Autodromo di Monza circuit, north of Milan, Italy. Eight of 28 races for the season have already commenced with Haga and Yamaha’s Ben Spies splitting four wins each. The 60-point advantage that the Ducati 1198 rider has amassed over Spies arose through consistent second-place finishes to the Texan, whereas the Yamaha YZF-R1 rider has crashed-out of three of Nitro-Nori’s winning races, including the last run in Assen.

The Monza circuit is like home for Noriyuki Haga. Former Ducati points-man and reigning Superbike World Champion Troy Bayliss will be in Monza stirring up excitement for Haga from the legions of Ducatisti. The Japanese rider also lives in Milan and has won three of the last four races held at Monza. Last year’s battle between Haga and Max Neukirchner saw the German take his first-ever SBK win by 0.058 seconds in Race 1, but Haga took revenge in Race 2 by setting the circuit’s lap record and beating the German by 0.009 seconds. This year Neukirchner and Suzuki have had a mixed start to the season but the Monza circuit could be the best opportunity so far to record Suzuki’s first win of the year. Haga’s Italian teammate Michel Fabrizio will certainly be another fan favorite. Michel’s strong ninth and fourth positions at Assen mean that he maintains his fourth-place on the overall leader board.

Ducati has not won at Monza since 2006 (Haga racing with Yamaha during his recent Monza domination), offering the Texan Ben Spies a chance to reduce the 60-point gap to Haga on the 3.6 mile circuit, the longest and fastest of the season. Monza is technically a new circuit for Spies and his teammate Tom Sykes in terms of racing, however, the Yamaha Team’s workshop is located right next to the track at Gerno di Lesmo so both riders have had the opportunity to test there recently. Both will start the weekend with a good idea of the base set-up needed and some understanding of the track layout. Sykes arrives at the Italian circuit having consistently improved over the season and taking points away from both races at Assen. The British rider currently sits sixth in the standings on 70 points, leading Aprilia’s Max Biaggi by 15 points.

Expectations will run high for Noale based Aprilia and its Italian rider Biaggi as they take to their home track. Despite recent teething problems the new RSV4 has demonstrated top speeds on par with its rivals, making the diminutive bike a real contender on a circuit where slipstreaming plays such a vital role. Biaggi will join Fabrizio in search of the first win for an Italian at Monza since Pierfrancesco Chili in 2000.

Honda is thankful to have Stiggy Racing’s Leon Haslam among its roster of racers this season as Carlos Checa, Jonathan Rea and Ryuichi Kiyonari have struggled to perform aboard the manufacturer’s flagship Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team. After going 3-2 in Assen the British rider could again emerge as a contender for the podium, or perhaps earn the first outright victory for Honda. Because of the hip injury suffered by Stiggy Racing’s John Hopkins in practice at Assen last round, Jake Zemke moves over from the AMA Pro Road Racing series to be Haslam’s temporary teammate, in what will be the American’s first World Superbike race and visit to Monza. Ten Kate’s Kiyonari took third-place in Race 2 last year in Monza and the Japanese rider will be looking to get his Dutch team’s CBR on the steps once again..

The opening rounds showed that BMW Motorrad are finding it difficult to make their S1000RR machine competitive on technical circuits as well as performing consistently on qualifying tires in the new Superpole. Troy Corser won at Monza in 2005 and Ruben Xaus also knows the track well, making Monza an ideal opportunity to get the new bike closer to the front-runners.

---

Other World Superbike Rider Quotations:

Michel Fabrizio – Xerox Ducati - 4th, 80 points
“I am in a hopeful mood ahead of Monza, the first of three “home” races so I want to do well of course. We’ve done some testing there and the results of those tests were very positive. The tires that Pirelli provided us with performed well and we hope this is the case during the race weekend too. A year ago I finished Race 2 here in fifth place, let’s say that this time around I hope to dramatically improve on that result in front of the Italian fans.”

Tom Sykes – Yamaha World Superbike – 6th, 70 points
"I'm looking forward to Monza, overall I'm feeling confident. We've learnt a lot recently so moving forward I think we can do well. When we tested at Monza recently I was able to run very consistent times so I think we're on the pace for it. We've got a couple of changes in mind for the bike and we'll be on for good result. It's going to be a really exciting race as there are half a dozen riders able to do similar lap times there so it'll be good for great battle!"

Jonathan Rea – Ten Kate Honda - 9th, 53 points
“Assen was much more positive for the whole team after a difficult first few rounds. Monza is very fast, which should suit the bike quite well. I didn’t have much luck last year in Supersport and lost the clutch in the race, but it’s an amazing circuit – unlike anywhere else in the world – and it has some really nice features. I’ll be going there hoping to reward my crew for all the hard work they’ve put in over the last few weeks.”

Carlos Checa – Ten Kate Honda – 11th, 40 points
“Last year at Monza was not so good for me so I am very confident that things will be better when we visit this season. It’s a very historic circuit and has a great name in Motorsport and it has its own special character. Our main rivals tested there before Assen but, by Saturday, I hope we’ll be up there. Everyone in the team has been working really hard and there’s a good atmosphere. I don’t think we’ll have an issue with the bike’s power so I aim to be fighting at the front in Sunday’s races.”

Troy Corser – BMW Motorrad – 14th, 35 points
At least we have tested at Monza this year, so we will not be trying to play catch-up as much as we have to do normally. Monza has some fast straights and is a track where slipstreaming can play an important part. It’s possible to be in fourth place exiting the Ascari chicane on the last lap and still win if you can take advantage of the draft. But, before we even get to that stage, we have to be in a good qualifying situation. Superpole has not worked out well for us so far and considering that, I think we’ve done well to get the top tens we have. I hope that we can qualify better at Monza and get even better results.

Ryuichi Kiyonari – Ten Kate Honda – 15th, 33 points
“The last round in Assen was not so good for me. Everything was fine on the first day but after I crashed in free practice on Saturday, I lost some confidence in the front end of the machine. It returned in the second race but then I had a technical problem so was unable to use it. I like Monza and had a good result last year. It requires three days of very intense concentration but the three long straights should suit my bike, which is very fast. If I ride OK and have some luck, I think I will make a good result.”

Ruben Xaus – BMW Motorrad – 17th, 24 points
Each time out we learn something new about the bike and get ideas about what to do to make it better. The other teams have a big history compared to us and so I feel we have done very well so far. But that doesn’t mean that we all don’t want more, because of course we do. Our top tens are very good, but Troy and I are racers and we are always want to higher finishes. If we can get a good set-up early on (and I can get rid of my ‘black Fridays’), and do well in Superpole, then we might have a better chance of good results.”

Jake Zemke – Stiggy Racing Honda – Replacing John Hopkins
“I am extremely excited to race for the Stiggy Racing Honda team this weekend. They have a first-rate team and have had some excellent results. The Monza track has a deep history of racing, and I know how passionate the Italian people are about racing. I know the odds will be against us, learning a new bike, new track, new tires, but I will give it my all at Monza for the Stiggy Racing Honda team."

---

 World Supersport Championship

The Supersport class in shaping-up to be an old fashion knock-down drag-out fight with an aggressively close competition developing between the top three contenders. Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow comes to Monza having extended his lead in Assen to six points over second placed Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda).
 
Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) trails the leader by only nine points and is followed by a pack of other strong Honda riders, including reigning champion Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), Anthony West (Stiggy Racing Honda), and Mark Aitchison (Honda Althea).

Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) and Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Provec) also have the potential to be race winners. Italian fans will be rooting for Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini) who seems to have bounced back to form following a fall in Assen. The balanced field will likely be racing too close for comfort at Monza, where the fast circuit layout makes it hard to pull out a commanding lead.

Eugene Laverty – Parkalgar Honda – 2nd, 68 points
“I’m really looking forward to it even through it will be a new track to me. The good thing is that it doesn’t seem to be of the toughest to learn; I think some others on the calendar will be harder to learn. It is a fast track and horsepower is needed as well, so we should be OK in that regard. It’s probably the fastest circuit on the calendar and with the slipstream to help we will be approaching 300kph on a Supersport bike down the straight, which is incredible really.”

Kenan Sofuoglu – Hannspree Ten Kate Honda – 3rd, 65 points
“I was very disappointed with the result from Assen because I was so confident going into the race from the front row. But there was one section of the circuit where I lost a lot of time and I had to push very hard everywhere else, so it was difficult. Monza is nice, though, and we will start again with some extra power, which the crew has been looking for after Assen. I like Monza very much and I won in my last Supersport race there, in 2007. I want to do the same again on Sunday, but there is a lot of work to do before then.”

Anthony West – Stiggy Racing Honda – 4th, 52 points
“I was struggling throughout the weekend in Assen with some small issues and mistakes I made in qualifying. I had set my goal on winning the race, after coming so close to it in Valencia. I still lack some corner exit speed, which held me back from catching up with the front group. The team has been working hard on making some technical improvements to my bike, and I will be testing some new parts in Monza as well. Hopefully, this will give me what I need so I can fight for a top position again.”

Andrew Pitt – Hannspree Ten Kat Honda – 5th, 43 points
“My injured hand is pretty good now, although it felt tight for a while after the last race. I’ve been doing some hours on the pushbike so I should be in good shape for the weekend. It wasn’t a great result in Assen but at least I was at the front after some problems in qualifying. There was a much better feeling with the front end from warm-up and I’m hoping we can find it a bit earlier than that in Monza. It’s a circuit that has its own special place on the calendar and I aim to be up there on Sunday.”