Rebuild for Haga's bike after Xaus collision

Noriyuki Haga's hopes of challenging for victory at Phillip Island have taken a knock after a collision with Ruben Xaus during warm-up left his Ducati Xerox team working flat out to rebuild his bike.

Tangling at turn one, while both riders were unhurt in the incident, Haga's Ducati suffered considerable damage, prompting the Xerox team to begin a full rebuild with just two hours to go before the opening race of the day.

For Xaus, the fall marks his fourth of the weekend thus far and rumours circulating that he will not take part in the races due to a lack of confidence with the bike. Other reports suggest a shortage of spare parts will rule him out.

Haga will start from tenth position on the grid.