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Haga has eyes on the prize
With the new World Superbike season kicking off in Qatar this weekend, Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga has his eyes firmly locked on the title.
Encountering development problems with his Yamaha R1, it took Haga until round seven to get on the pace, but once he did seven podium appearances in the last nine races propelled him to a the third place finish in the championship.
As a result the little Japanese is feeling up-beat as he waits for this season's first green lights.
"It is still my target to win the title. Every year I am close: second position, fourth position, third position... but never number one," bemoaned Haga.
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"I will always try my best at each race but only when we race with the others can I know how strong we are. All I can say now is that the championship is the one thing that I have never achieved. Every year I always go in with the attitude and focus to win it and this year is no different."
The 2000 WSBK runner-up is happy with the progress that Yamaha has made in the last 12 months.
As well as giving Haga another chance to win the title, Yamaha has also retained the services of Andrew Pitt offering further continuity.
An equally happy Pitt explained: "I'm happy with the bike, he R1 is really feeling more comfortable now and it's about evolution as much as anything else."
First qualifying gets underway on Thursday.
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