NORIYUKI HAGA SULTAN OF Slide

Rare in-depth interview with Nori-chan himself explains how the Sultan of Slide rode the bike - and the crucial differences between Superbike and 500 GP

- Alan Cathcart

The trackside banner displayed at Brands Hatch in front of 102,000 ardent spectators in August 2000 said it all: Nori-chan = Foggy #.2! The massive British World Superbike crowd had taken the Sultan of Slide to their hearts, as no Japanese rider had ever been so acclaimed by European race fans before. It came thanks to the 25year old Yamaha star’s all-action, crowd-pleasing riding style, in which nothing less than 100% was ever on display, matched to a warm, fun-loving personality as far out of keeping with the cliché of the inscrutable Oriental as it's possible to be. Imagine their disappointment when he was forbidden by FIM mandate to take to the track before them….

With paid attendance at the corresponding British 500GP round just a few weeks earlier barely exceeding 15% of the Brands Hatch WSBK crowd, Haga's switch to Grand Prix racing in 2001 as part of the Red Bull Yamaha team was a major coup for then-struggling GP promoters Dorna, together with Yamaha's corporate decision to shut down their WSBK factory race team in favour of focusing completely on developing their OW-M1 four-stroke MotoGP project for the 2002 season, which Haga was being groomed to ride. There was some feeling that the protracted appeal process surrounding Nori-chan’s controversial race ban for taking a health preparation found to contain Ephedrine, which both Haga himself but most significantly Yamaha had fought all the way down the line, played a part in this decision - but whatever the case, one of the strongest trump cards in rival World Superbike promotor Octagon's hand had been wrested from them, after a thrilling season in which Haga and Yamaha - and Dunlop - were in constant contention for the World SBK title, right up until the final round in which he was eventually prevented from taking part.