Haga's return confirmed.

Noriyuki Haga has been confirmed as a fully fledged Aprilia rider for the 2002 World Superbike Championship aboard a factory prepared Aprilia RSV Mille run by the FGF Corse operation.

It had been known for some time that Noriyuki Haga would be returning to the World Superbike scene in 2002 in an effort to clinch the crown that he so cruelly lost in 2000 and it was confirmed this weekend that the immensely popular Japanese rider would be aboard a factory prepared Aprilia RSV Mille when the WSB field line up next March in Valencia.

Such is Haga's popularity and drawing power with the fans, a season that looked as if it would be something of a shadow on the past two years now looks as bright as ever with Nori-San back in the saddle.

Haga's bike will be run not by the Aprilia Axo factory that has housed the marque's works efforts since 1999 but by FGF Corse, basically the same three people behind Aprilia Axo. Frenchman Regis Laconi seems certain to be on a factory Aprilia Axo machine in 2002 but with Troy Corser's move into the world of four wheeled racing it is not known yet whether Laconi will have a teammate or whether he and Haga will operate as two separate teams aka Ducati Corse/Ducati L&M.

Although he has now split with long-time employers Yamaha after a 2001 season where he was clearly not happy aboard the two-stroke Red Bull Yamaha with which he finished 14th in the 500cc Grand Prix standings this year, Haga now has a chance to finish the business he started in 2000 when he came within a whisker of winning that year's title only for a season-long drugs row to scupper his chances mere days before the final round of the series at Brands Hatch.