Swan Yamaha new recruit Noriyuki Haga is hoping that a ride in the British Superbike Championship will re-start his career after spending most of his working life in the WSBK series.

The Samurai of Slide finally signed on the dotted line at the weekend and will replace the injured Ian Hutchinson in Shaun Muir's outfit. It is the second time Haga has raced in BSB after spending time with the Renegade squad in 2004 alongside Leon Haslam.

"It is a new challenge for me to race in BSB and I am now ready for the new season with Swan Yamaha. I feel that after many years in the same series this will be a kind of restart to my racing career. BSB has grown a lot and I have big support from the fans in the UK, so I liked the idea of racing in the Championship," said Haga.

" It will also be a return to Yamaha, where I spent so many years taking many wins and now I feel like I am going back to my family. I have won races with Yamaha before in the World Championship and now I hope that we can do it again in BSB. I don't know several circuits in England and the BSB Championship but I will do my best to get results this year for the fans, myself and for Yamaha. We will start testing soon and I am very excited to get back on track as we have big ambitions for this season. Finally I hope that Ian Hutchinson can recover soon from his injury.”