DANVILLE, VA. – VIRginia International Raceway joined forces with Racing2SaveLives and raised a total of $20,000 donated to local charities. As part of the AMA Big Kahuna Suzuki Superbike Nationals, VIRginia International Raceway hosted a charity event that raised $20,000 for local and national charities. As a prelude to the AMA races, VIR donated the use of its racetrack and staff to Racing2SaveLives, the organization which staged training sessions for motorcycle riders. Riders donated money to receive training on their motorcycles at VIR’s South Course, gaining track time experience and ride with some of AMA’s star road racers. Racing 2 Save Lives raises funds supporting children’s charities while giving riders an inexpensive opportunity to gain track time at tracks across the country. VIR was able to direct one-half of the $20,000 raised to two local charities: $5,000 to the Halifax-Charlotte County Red Cross chapter, and $5,000 to the Virginia Make-A-Wish Foundation. The remaining $10,000 went to the Ethan Gillim Foundation and the Glycogen Storage Disease Foundation. “We are always actively looking for ways to support local charities, and it is a basic VIR philosophy to give back to the community,” said VIR’s managing partner Connie Nyholm. “We are very pleased we were able to combine a great track day and support these important charities at the same time.” Racing 2 Save Lives is a fairly new charity organization, made up of motorcycle riders who make donations enabling them to ride on race tracks under close supervision and with instruction from expert riders. AMA star racers donate time to allow lucky fans a day of one-on-one instruction and riding, with Eric Bostrom, Jessica Zaluski and Jason DiSalvo among them. Ralph Forsythe, R2SL founding member and Operations Director, described the organization: “We started this thing in 2004, just a few racers that wanted to get together and give something back to the community. We started out at a little track near Denver Colorado, named Second Creek and I think we had maybe 70 people show up for an entire week of riding. Word of mouth caught on and we’ve been going ever since. Last year was at PPIR and then Miller Motorsports Park after that. “We’ve just been getting bigger and better every year and raising more and more money for charity. We support children’s charities. For this event here, we supported Halifax Red Cross, Make-A-Wish in Virginian, the Ethan Gillim Foundation and the Glycogen Storage Disease Foundation.” Ginger P Weaver of the Halifax-Charlotte County Chapter, American Red Cross, commented: “VIR has given so much back to the community and this is just another example of their generosity.” Lyn M. Benson, of Make-A-Wish added: “this will help meet one of our 134 pending wishes.” Make-A-Wish Foundation has been granting wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions since 1980 through its work with children, families, referral sources, donors, sponsors and entire communities. Since its founding, the Make-A-Wish organization has grown to become a worldwide organization, reaching more than 144,000 children around the world. Although one of the world’s best-known charities, the Make-A-Wish Foundation remains faithful to its grassroots origins with more than 25,000 volunteers. These volunteers network their efforts, enabling Make-A-Wish to serve children with life-threatening medical conditions. Volunteers serve as wish granters, fundraisers, special events assistants and in numerous other capacities. For information on the track and other event schedules, call 434-822-7700 or check our web site at www.virclub.com.

Since Miguel Duhamel was seriously injured in a high-speed crash during testing at Road Atlanta August 8 Roadracingworld.com has received numerous requests from the French-Canadian’s fans asking how they can send get well wishes to him. This information was passed on to Duhamel’s management company, Professional Sports Management, which has responded by establishing a dedicated email account that Duhamel will have access to. Messages may be sent to Duhamel at [email protected]

MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA AND SCRAMP WIN BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARD MONTEREY, Calif. (Aug. 24, 2007) – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca took top honors in the Non-Profit division at last night’s 21st Annual Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. The awards were created in 1987 to increase public awareness of the vital role business plays within life on the Monterey Peninsula and to bestow recognition on those Peninsula businesses that have achieved excellence in their field. In accepting the award, Ken Lofink, president of Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), the operators of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, thanked the Chamber and its members. He also stated “For 50 years, SCRAMP has had as its mission to promote world-class racing events to benefit the Monterey County area. That mission could only be accomplished with tremendous cooperation from the entire community.” Gill Campbell, CEO/general manager of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, expressed her pleasure in the recognition from the local business community. “Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is synonymous around the world with world-class racing,” she said. “But we are especially proud to be recognized by our peers in the community.” Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2007. The world-renowned raceway has been operated since its inception by SCRAMP, a not-for-profit 501C(4) corporation. Each race season, SCRAMP donates its net proceeds to the volunteer groups that help put on the races. Last season, SCRAMP donated over $400,000 to those local charities and civic organizations.

MICHELIN IN POSITIVE MOOD FOR MISANO Michelin’s MotoGP men go into this season’s second Grand Prix on Italian tarmac in positive mood following an important two-day test session following the recent Czech Grand Prix. Michelin riders tested a new profile front and new construction rear during the tests and some of Michelin’s seven riders will use those tires at Misano. Michelin riders have triumphed at two of the last four races, with Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) winning at Assen and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin) scoring a runaway victory at the Sachsenring, but both men are now a long way from the championship points lead after difficult weekends at the US and Czech GPs and need more victories if they are to have any chance of fighting for the 2007 MotoGP crown. Misano will be a particularly challenging weekend for the tire companies because the circuit is entirely new to the MotoGP paddock. Misano last hosted a GP in 1993 and the circuit now runs in the opposite direction. To allow MotoGP riders and teams to get the best out of the circuit they have been allowed an extra hour of practice on Friday, and each rider’s tire allocation has been increased by one front and two rears, taking the total to 15 and 19 tires respectively. MICHELIN AND THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGE OF MISANO “We do have some data about the Misano surface because we have ways of measuring the character of the asphalt, but new tracks and new surfaces always make the tire companies’ job more complex,” says Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing. “The new surfaces at the Sachsenring and at Laguna made those events challenging weekends for everyone, and I’m sure Misano will be the same. Misano will be especially interesting because no one has tested there. It’s good that we have been allowed an extra hour of practice on Friday, plus three extra tires in each rider’s allocation, that should help us find the right way for our riders and their bikes. “We found some interesting directions during the post-race tests at Brno. We had our riders evaluate a new construction rear slick, which we had been working on during the summer break. This is the fourth step we’ve made with our rear since we started on this tire during tests following the Turkish GP in April. The new construction gives our riders a better feeling when they’re on the edge of the tire, plus more stability and better warm-up. We got some good feedback during the tests which confirmed the direction we’ve taken with tire construction and this makes us quite confident for the next few races. Riders who want this new construction will be able to choose it for Misano. Maybe the compounds we used during the Brno tests were slightly too hard for that track but Misano has a new surface which will probably be quite aggressive, so riders may need quite hard compounds for this race. “We also tested a new profile front at Brno. The tire seems to be an improvement for some but not all of our riders ? it gives a better feeling and works better entering the corners. The riders who liked this tire will be able to have it in their allocations for Misano, though maybe not in a wide range of compounds just yet. “Our development work will continue after Misano, with some of our riders staying on to test on Monday. We will try some more new compounds of the tires we confirmed during the Brno tests.” TRACK DATA: 4,180 Km New MotoGP circuit, no MotoGP lap record MICHELIN IN ITALY Michelin employs about 6000 people in Italy and has been present in the country since the turn of the last century. Michelin’s first Italian production facility, the Torino Dora in Turin, began producing tires in 1907 and was one of the first plants to manufacture tires for scooters after WW2. Motorcycles have always been popular in the country, 750cc and 1000cc naked bikes currently selling very well. The overall motorcycle market grew by an impressive nine percent from 2005 to 2006. Michelin’s 2007 MotoGP riders Carlos Checa (Honda LCR RC212V-Michelin) Colin Edwards (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin) Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V-Michelin) Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC212V-Michelin) Kurtis Roberts (Team Roberts KR212V-Michelin) Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin)

Cupertino, California Ducati North America announces today the winners for the online round of the Superbike Concorso, a celebration of Ducati Superbikes. The highly anticipated and successful online round of the Ducati Superbike Concorso came to a close last week. As the final stage of selecting winners, the judges poured over votes submitted by people from across the nation and around the world. With well over 1,000 votes and a constant stream of viewers, the online display spanned four decades of incredible Ducati Superbikes and drew motorcycle fanatics and curious onlookers alike. As in the previous in-person rounds of the Superbike Concorso, the bar was set extremely high. The online round, however, gave anyone with an internet connection the ability to participate as a contestant, voter and viewer. An independent vote counter looked at voting patterns and each individual vote to ensure authenticity as best as possible. Shortly after voting ended, the counter’s report along with the raw data were passed along to judges Rich Lambrechts, Jeff Nash, Brian Slark and guest judge Gianni Fabbro, designer of the 1098 Superbike, to select the two bikes which would move on to the finals. The online voting showed an appreciation for Ducati Superbikes past and present, as the top five vote recipients spanned from the 1970’s to 2007, and included a 900SS, TT2, 916, 996 and a 1098. In the end, the winners chosen by the judges to move on to the final round were Dan Bockmier’s 1977 900SS and Dwayne Frye’s 1995 916. Gregory Rathe’s 1982 TT2 was awarded Peoples Choice and was a clear favorite among voters. The competition was incredibly close and there were many worthy bikes, all which can still be viewed online. There is still one more in-person round at Road Atlanta and two wild-card spots to be awarded by the judges from any of the 5 rounds””anything can happen, so stay tuned and keep you eye on how the final is shaping up. Full contest details and additional information can be found at www.ducatisuperbikeconcorso.com.

FIM OFFICIALS HAPPY WITH PROGESSS OF IMS MOTORCYCLE COURSE INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007 Officials from the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme were pleased with the progress of construction of the 2.601-mile motorcycle road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during a visit Aug. 22-23. The FIM is the sanctioning body of the MotoGP World Championship. IMS will play host to MotoGP at the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 14, 2008. FIM Safety Director Claude Danis, FIM Race Director Paul Butler and Franco Uncini, the 1982 500cc World Champion and MotoGP rider safety representative, walked the track with IMS engineers and officials Aug. 22. “The goal of this visit was to finalize the last drawing (of the course) we are laying for the race,” Danis said. “The visit before, we had some ideas, but the (existing) fence was wrong, (existing) wall was wrong. It was very difficult to be sure our ideas were good. The circuit is now working (on construction), and they’ve removed the wall, removed the fencing so now we’re sure that when we leave tonight, the layout will be the final one. The next visit, we’ll decide the exact position of the walls, the openings, the curbs, things like that. “More and more I’m coming here, more and more I think the race will be very good because we found (a) good layout.” Danis already has made numerous visits to the Speedway as far back as seven years ago when the idea of motorcycles at the modern IMS facility was in its infancy. This was Butler’s first visit to IMS. The site inspection was successful, he said. With the new circuit, the intensity of the MotoGP riders and the high performance of the 800cc prototype motorcycles, Butler is thrilled about the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP. “We know Indianapolis is the heartland of motorsport,” Butler said. “We are so excited about it because of the tradition of automobile racing, and we’re coming in with a completely new sport to the Speedway, although the first race was a motorcycle race. “Two things, the expertise of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and our exciting show, are going to blend perfectly and make a great day for the fans.” Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: Ticket orders are being accepted now for the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 14, 2008. Orders can be placed either online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com or by mailing an order form to IMS. The order form is available at the IMS Web site or by calling the IMS Ticket Office at (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or (317) 492-6700 locally. Ticket Office hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday. All tickets for this event are three-day tickets, with both reserved and general admission seating available. Ticket orders will be fulfilled at a later date.