CAPIROSSI VISITS ITALY’S AMERICA’S CUP SAILING TEAM On the eve of the final MotoGP race of the season at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit the Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi paid a visit to the base of Luna Rossa Challenge, the Prada and Telecom Italia-backed team that will represent Italy in the 32nd America’s Cup sailing event at the Spanish city. Located in the America’s Cup port area, the Luna Rossa base was designed by the architect Renzo Piano and it recycles 50 sails used in the last edition of the trophy: 12 mainsails and 38 jibs make up the 485 panels that cover the external façade of the base. Around 100 people from 16 different countries are involved in the different areas of the Luna Rossa base (sailing team, design team, sail-loft, ground staff and management). Loris was greeted by Francesco de Angelis, the skipper and head of the Luna Rossa team, visited the base and went on board Luna Rossa ITA 86, one of the two 26-metre boats with which Luna Rossa will take part in the world’s oldest and most prestigious sailing trophy. “I am delighted to have been able to visit the Luna Rossa Challenge base,” said Loris. “It is really great and impeccably organised. All the members of the team are doing a fantastic job and they have been enthusiastically training for the America’s Cup for years. I was also honoured to visit the boat with Francesco De Angelis and I have to say that the level of technology is incredible. It was really exciting to be there today”. Sport in its various disciplines succeeds in uniting athletes and fans worldwide and never more so will this be evident than during the final MotoGP race of one of the most exciting GP seasons ever. Today Loris visited the base of the team that will defend Italy’s colours in the America’s Cup and on Sunday the members of Luna Rossa Challenge will be in the Valencia circuit cheering him on. More, from a press release issued by Pramac D’Antin MotoGP: THE PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP TEAM MEETS THE AMERICA’S CUP TEAM SHOSHOLOZA A particular and emotional day for ALEX HOFMANN and JOSE LUIS CARDOSO. The two riders of the Team PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP met the South African Team SHOSHOLOZA, the youngest of the twelve teams that will compete in the upcoming and prestigious AMERICA’S CUP. The SHOSHOLOZA basecamp, situated in the Valencia Port, is where HOFMANN and CARDOSO lived the great experience of sailing on the RSA 83 Yacht of the South African Team. The two riders, at Valencia for the last race of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship this weekend at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, were welcomed in an exceptional manner by Sports Director Tommaso Chieffi, who introduced them to the whole Team. Both teams exchanged their official shirts before taking part in a race simulation on the official yacht of Team SHOSHOLOZA. HOFMANN and CARDOSO both had a specific duty onboard and experienced unforgettable emotions during this race simulation. ALEX HOFMANN, who already has sailing experience and a license, took the chance to talk about technical details with the Boat Captain Tim Kroeger, the only German on the Team, in his second AMERICA’S CUP. ALEX HOFMANN: “I am very impressed! The Team welcomed us in a very nice way and it has been fascinating to watch these 17 people work on the boat. Everything is totally different from our sport : I need technicians before and after the race, but during it, I’m alone out there! Meeting these athletes, it was very interesting to share and compare details about our different sports. Besides, it also has been great and absolutely impressive how easily the boat can surf the waves. I had a lot of fun and it has been a great pleasure to get the chance to experience this”. JOSE LUIS CARDOSO : “It’s great to know that the AMERICA’S CUP will take place in Valencia next year! I’ve always wanted to come and see that whole impressive organisation and how the teams are training and sailing. Today, with Alex, we had the great opportunity to watch everything from the inside and I was very happy to meet team SHOSHOLOZA. The sailing and the race simulation were fantastic; these are sensations that I won’t forget. I want to thank the whole South African team for their invitation and their welcome”.