Noriyuki Haga has ridden in WSB races in most seasons since his very first start at Sugo in 1994. In fact, he is now in third place in terms of how many races he has started, with 235 to his name. He has never had a start to a WSB season like this one in 2009, however.
His current points total of 135 is remarkable, only 15 shy of perfection, after three wins and three second places, and this is his best ever championship start.
The table below shows Haga's WSB points totals at the equivalent stage of all his full-time WSB seasons - with six races gone. As you can see, Haga is normally a slow starter, and has only led the championship at this stage in one previous season, his first full-time year, 1998.
2009 - 1st (135)
2008 - 6th (47)
2007 - 3rd (88)
2006 - 4th (64)
2005 - 7th (40)
2004 - 5th (69)
2002 - 6th (60)
2000 - 2nd (79)
1999 - 6th (50)
1998 - 1st (104)
Source:
http://www.worldsbk.com