After fighting at the front of the pack at Mallory Park three weeks ago, Rizla Suzuki’s Chris ‘Stalker’ Walker and Cal Crutchlow are planning for a repeat performance at this weekend’s 10th round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Croft in North Yorkshire. Stalker finished with a fourth and sixth last time out and is upbeat about what he can achieve this weekend – now as a happily married man. He said: “I was married to Rachael just over a week ago and everything in my life is really good. It was a great wedding and it came after a strong showing at Mallory Park when we made steps forward with the Rizla Suzuki – I think that sets us up for the rest of the season; there is a positive momentum that we all want to maintain. “At the official Croft test last month I suffered a crash. That won’t have any effect on my performance this weekend because I think the bike is now better and my riding has improved since then. I want to be competing for the podium again and think we have the package to do it.” Crutchlow equalled his best ever BSB finish with fifth and also posted the second fastest lap of the entire race at Mallory Park on his Rizla Suzuki Superbike. He said: “There’s no doubt the Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 is getting better every time I ride it and a lot of credit must go to the team and my crew chief Pete Jennings for all their hard work. “I’ve also learnt a lot this season and it’s all coming together for me and making sense. I desperately want to achieve a podium in my first season and may well have done that at Mallory Park if the second race hadn’t been red flagged. As it stands Croft is my next chance and I’ll be giving it my all.” Superbike racing starts at 1320 at the 2.13-mile long flat but twisty circuit near Darlington in North Yorkshire on Sunday, August 12th.

Championship contenders to meet again at Oschersleben 24 Hours on 1112 August in Germany The Oschersleben 24 Hours is shaping up to be a decisive encounter in the race for the QMMF Endurance FIM World Championship. With 35 points on offer for the winner, the overall classifications could be turned on their head at this the fourth leg of the Championship, next weekend in Germany. Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, who are leading the QMMF World Championship, 25 points ahead of closest rivals Team Kawasaki France, will have an important part to play at Oschersleben. The Suzuki riders Vincent Phillipe, Matthieu Lagrive and Julien Da Costa, will be joined by Guillaume Dietrich, the newly-crowned 2007 French Superbike Champion and replacing rider on the n° 1 Suzuki. Lining-up to take on the Suzuki trio, Kawasaki will field its victorious team from Albacete of Steve Plater and Julian Mazuecos alongside Gwen Giabbani who is also in top form following the final round of the French Championship. Giabbani finished in second place behind Dietrich in the final race of the French Championship at Magny Cours at the end of July. Thomas Metro is the pilot who has made way on the Kawasaki ZX10R. Yamaha Austria Racing Team will welcome back Sébastien Scarnato, who was injured at the beginning of the season, to team-up with Igor Jerman and Damian Cudlin. Yamaha Phase One Endurance have recruited Jakub Smrz, the former 125 and 250cc rider, to partner Warwick Nowland and Stefan Nebel. Last year in Germany Damian Cudlin and Warwick Nowland, then team-mates at Yamaha Phase One, finished in second place at Oschersleben. Jakub Smrz finished in seventh position in the Superbike class at the Suzuka 8 Hours, riding for Honda RMT 21 Racing. In Germany this weekend RMT 21 Racing will field a 100% German team with, among others, Matti Seidel and Henrik Meyer who finished in seventh last year at Oschersleben. Bolliger Team Switzerland will line-up with its regular trio of riders David Morillon, Patric Muff and Horst Saiger, with Eric Mizera as the replacement. Diablo 666 Bolliger Kawasaki also keep its regular pairing of James Hutchins and Alexander Cudlin, and have brought back Olivier Ulmnann for this German race. Also riding a Kawasaki are the Qatar Endurance Racing Team who have added a Spanish flavour to the race with Ivan Silva partnering the Spanish Supersport rider Jordi Almeda, alongside Mishal Al Naimi. Suzuki Sweden will start in Germany with a 100% Swedish team of Tobias Anderson, Mikael Nilsson and Lars Carlbark. There is uncertainty for the FCC TSR Eurosport Benelux team. After their third place in the Superbike class at Suzuka courtesy of two Japanese riders, Honda FCC TSR have announced that Arno Visscher and Heinz Platacis will be at the controls of the Honda at Oschersleben. Amadeus X-One welcomes back its American rider Will Gruy who has recovered from his injuries and will join Italian riders Paolo Tessari and Riccardo Ricci in their starting line-up. The other teams taking part in Germany are the same as lined-up at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Endurance Moto 38 will rely on Erwan Nigon, Julien Millet and Joao Contente Fernandes on the Yamaha Superproduction. RT Racing Team Moto Virus will have Frédéric Jond, Eric Monet and Jean-Louis Devoyon on the Suzuki. Maco Moto Racing Yamaha will start with Tomas Miksovsky, Damian Rowley and Leroy Verboven. The best-placed of the Superstock teams, LTG 57 – 13th in the overall classifications, will be looking to consolidate its lead with Amaury Baratin, Anthony Dos Santos and Louis-Alexandre Tachon at the controls. The first testing session for the 10th ever Oschersleben 24 Hours takes place on Thursday. The race itself begins on Saturday at 15:00.

Jensen, Batey and Palmer Win During WERA Nationals at Summit Point SUMMIT POINT, W. Va. Robert Jensen and Tray Batey each won two Expert races during Sunday’s WERA/Michelin National Challenge Series sprint races at Summit Point Raceway. Round six of the WERA National Series also featured a six-hour WERA/Bridgestone Endurance race on Saturday. Both of Jensen’s victories came after a challenge from Lee Acree and were the closest races of the day. In the 750 Superstock race, Jensen had a narrow 0.044-second margin of victory over Acree. The 600 Superstock race was just as close, with a gap of only 0.014 separating the two riders. Batey was able to get an edge over Jensen in Open Superstock. His second win came in the final race of the day, Formula 1. In the other Expert races, Jimmy Wood won 750 Superbike and Tommy Aquino took the 600 Superbike trophy. Dennys Passeto got his first Heavyweight Twins Superstock win of the season, while Dane Westby won Lightweight Twins Superstock and Arnold Hastings won Formula 2. In the Novice ranks, the National Challenge Series races belonged to Jason Palmer, who took home first place in 600 and 750 Superstock in addition to 600 and 750 Superbike. Palmer got the advantage over dominant Novice Russell Wikle in most of his races. Wikle took the Open Superstock victory in another close race, finishing 0.149 seconds ahead of Brian Laws. Allan Edwards had nearly as many wins as Palmer, taking the top spot in Heavyweight and Lightweight Twins Superstock as well as Formula 2. During Saturday’s six-hour endurance race, which had no red flags, Vesrah Suzuki took the overall victory and Heavyweight Superbike class win with a whopping eight-lap margin of victory. Mark Junge, Tray Batey and John Jacobi shared the Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000. Team Moe’s/TVR finished second overall and first in Heavyweight Superstock with Chuck Ivey, Josh Day and Reuben Frankenfield. Team Maxxis Racing beat Brand X by just 0.01-second to take third overall with Billy Ethridge, Tripp Nobles and Tim Bemisderfer riding. In Mediumweight Superbike, bp Concepts’ Brandon Parrish, Bo LeMastus and Chris “Opie” Caylor won by two laps. The Mediumweight Superstock win went to Team Westby, which featured Dane Westby and Dustin Meador. On the Edge Powersports completed the class victors, taking top honors in Lightweight Superbike. Clint Brenizer, Dan Schmick and Steve Kleinfelter. Round seven of the WERA National Series will be August 17-19 at Talladega Gran Prix Raceaway. More information about WERA can be found at www.WERA.com. More, from a press release issued by Team EMGO USA: Team EMGO USA just returned home from a challenging weekend at Summit Point Raceway in Summit Point, West Virginia where round six of the WERA National Challenge Series just wrapped up. “What a weekend!”, Caylor said. On Friday, after reacquainting himself with Summit Point Raceway after 6 years, Caylor turned a 1:13.7 in Formula One qualifying that was good enough for second on the grid and was only .6 off of the track record. In 750 Superstock qualifying, Opie rode his Dunlop-shod Team EMGO USA GSXR750 to his fifth pole position of the year in that class, with a 1:14.8. Afterwards, Caylor had one more session to get in and went right back out on his GSXR 750 for Open Superstock qualifying. With the timing and scoring beacon halfway down the front straightaway, Opie’s first lap which started on pit road, a 1:17.8, would be his only complete lap in that session as Opie highsided exiting turn one. The one completed lap however put him in 9th position on the grid. Team EMGO USA mechanic Shane Giguere, worked hard all day on Saturday during the Endurance race putting the 750 back together. Opie took the bike out first thing on Sunday morning and found the bike to feel perfect! “Shane did a great job putting her back together! Honestly, if feels like nothing even happened to it in the first place!” In that session and on used Dunlop N-tec tires, Opie went half a second faster than he qualified! Open Superstock was the first race of the day and Opie would start from row 4. Not familiar with Al Wilcox’s start procedure, Opie “slept” at the line and got left behind as the green flag waved. Opie quickly went to work on regaining the positions he lost off of the start plus try to move up a few more and he did just that! Coming from 12th on lap one all the way up to 5th by the end. The 750 Superstock race would be a dogfight! From the start, Opie, Robert Jensen and Lee Acree set a torrid pace and quickly gapped the field. The battle ensued and spectators were treated to an excellent dice. Corner after corner, lap after lap, the three riders moved around each other carefully yet aggressively. Ten laps later, Jensen would come out on top over Acree and EMGO’s own Caylor. The gap at the finish line from Jensen in first to Opie in third was only .094 of a second! Afterwards, Caylor had this to say: ” That was a terrific race! The pace wasn’t all that fast, I actually went just as fast this morning in warmup on used Dunlop N-tec tires! But, what a battle. More than just a couple of times, we were three wide going into turn one, or turn three or turn five or turn ten. I hate I ended up third! It’s so frustrating! It’s like what do I have to do to win one of these races! Lee and Robert are riding really well – I just need to dig a little deeper in my bag of tricks.” The last race of the day was Formula One and rain was not to far away. In fact, it started to drizzle on the warmup lap. Summit Point has a reputation for being a bit slippery in the wet even with rain tires! Before the race, Opie let Shane know that if it started raining, he would pull in. The race got underway and within two laps, it started to drizzle harder. At the end of lap two, Opie decided to pull in. “It’s unfortunate, but that was the decision I made. As it turned out, some other riders pulled in on lap three and then on lap four bikes started hitting the ground. I’ve already done that once this weekend and I wasn’t going to do it again!” In closing out the weekend, Opie had this to say: ” It was a bit of a roller coaster ride but overall, a decent weekend. Even after the bad qualifying and bad start, I still got a decent finish on the 1000. The 750 race was a blast and I made some points up. Which by the way, I couldn’t have done without Mark Junge. He loaned me a pipe, a radiator and a fuel tank shroud. I want to say a big thanks to him. Plus a big thanks to Komodo Leathers, boots, and gloves and Arai helmets! If I didn’t were great gear, I couldn’t have gotten back out there and raced after Friday’s crash. Lee Schwartzentraub from Komodo was there for me with a second Pit Bull designed suit and Bruce from Arai always sends me two helmets. Those guys know we make mistakes sometimes and Lee and Bruce see to it that we get what we need!” Team EMGO USA will be back in action at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway for Round 7 of the WERA National Challenge Series on August 17-19th.

SunTrust MOTO-ST Series to Streamline Advisory Board DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 7, 2007) With only one race remaining in the first full season of competition of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series, officials of the series announced today that a revised and streamlined Board of Advisors will be introduced to guide the new motorcycle racing series through its next phase of growth. After making a one-race debut in 2006 with the inaugural 8 Hours of Daytona at Daytona International Speedway, the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series launched a schedule of six races this year. The calendar kicked-off with the opening event of Daytona 200 Week by Honda at Daytona last March and continued with four more 500k races that brought SunTrust MOTO-ST to debut events at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Virginia International Raceway, Road America and Iowa Speedway. The season will include with the second annual 8 Hours of Daytona at the “World Center of Racing,” October 19 20. “The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series began not too long ago as just an idea but it has quickly developed into an exciting and viable motorcycle championship full of potential,” said Roger Edmondson, President of Grand-Am, the operating organization of MOTO-ST. “This success has been achieved due to some great teams and riders on the track and to the tireless efforts of a lot of hard-working people behind the scenes. This includes our initial Advisory Board that was established to help us launch MOTO-ST and lay the ground work for the future. With that mission accomplished, we thank them for their efforts and are grateful for the lasting impression that they made on the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series.” Announced in conjunction with the unveiling of MOTO-ST during the 2006 Daytona 200, the Advisory Board included MOTO-ST and Canadian Superbike official Colin Fraser, AMA Hall of Fame members Steve McLaughlin and Don Emde, the late Brumos Porsche President and General Manager Bob Snodgrass, Grand-Am Director of Competition Mark Raffauf, experienced motorcycle tuner and road racing journalist Kevin Cameron, Roadracing World founder and editor John Ulrich, Grand-Am Deputy Director of Competition Scott Spencer and Edmondson. A new SunTrust MOTO-ST Series Board will be established in the future. The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series features three classes of sport twin motorcycles in team-based races requiring multiple riders at a variety of different venues in North America. The series and events are organized and sanctioned by Professional Motorsports Productions (PMP) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the Grand American Road Racing Association (Grand-Am), based in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides the series with administrative and commercial support. Learn more about MOTO-ST at www.moto-st.com.

Interview to Gianluca Montiron KONICA MINOLTA Honda Team Manager Why does the team always include a Japanese rider? My challenge was to show to the Japanese manufacturers that with good management it is possible to support the riders from the Land of the Rising Sun! It is a very ambitious project, but it can be very difficult to sell, from a commercial point of view. The MotoGP category is the top formula and for this it is very expensive. In general, the European and American riders bring with them sponsors’ interest and/or receive the attention of the manufacturers for the markets they represent, in our case the situation is completely different because autonomously I need to find the economical help to support the project; for this I have to thank KONICA MINOLTA which has believed in this adventure for the past three years. In the near future do you intend to proceed with this project? I’m in the racing world because I’d like to obtain first-rate sport results. If we evaluate the short period I believe our rider Shinya Nakano represents the latest generation of competitive Japanese riders. The competitive level of the Japanese championship is now not so high; this problem is an objective one. I hope the manufacturers understand its seriousness for the good of the sport of motorcycling in Japan. I’m interested in creating a valid sport programme in the medium to long term; if these conditions are not present then I’ll have to revise my original plan. Which is the sponsor situation? If you just look at the fairing of our machine you will understand the identity of the sponsors we have and see that they are joining us for the third consecutive year. From the management point of view this represents a great success because we have obtained the trust of a worldwide company such as Konica Minolta; furthermore from this year my team is the promoter of the 2008 Road Cycle Championship and thanks to this opportunity two other giant companies have joined us for a period. In the new MotoGP era, I think innovation in all areas, including that of sponsorship, is necessary as well as creating sport and commercial interests together with all the Team Partners. Which is your opinion about the future of the 250cc category? I believe that at the beginning, the two different types of engine, two-stroke and four-stroke should have the possibility to race together. It’s important to give stability to the technical regulations without forgetting the cost, because the maintenance of a four-stroke powerplant is more expensive than a two-stroke. Today the bike rental fee for an entire 250cc season is extremely onerous therefore it would be necessary to encourage new manufacturers to enter the category in order to have a high competitive market instead of a monopoly situation. The 250cc category must be the entry category for the future riders that want to be in the MotoGP class, you just need to see that the main championship protagonists of the MotoGP class come from this category. The reason is very simple, the two-stroke 250cc machines are more dynamic than the four-stroke 600cc vehicles, the 250cc class teaches how to ride and to set up a bike; the 125cc and 250cc classes are very constructive categories. At the same time we have to go on also with the four-stroke as it is what is mainly sold on the market; this also another good reason we have to think about, here is why I think that the two categories competing together would be beneficial for the sport as a whole.

NO RACES FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI AT MID-OHIO Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki faced a less-than-satisfying conclusion to the Mid-Ohio weekend as the AMA Superstock race was ultimately cancelled. Sunday showers delayed the action late into the day and by the time the conditions finally allowed for the AMA Superbike race to be completed, it was assessed by the sanctioning body that darkening conditions and water in turn one made it impossible to fit the support class races into the revised schedule. It was especially frustrating that the cancellation occurred at one of Chris Ulrich’s best circuits, the scene of a 2002 Superstock victory and 2000 250GP podium finish for the Californian. Ulrich came into the round with his sights set on a top-five result. The squad showed impressive speed during the lead up to Sunday, with Ulrich leading the way. He qualified on the second row aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000, circulating the 2.4-mile circuit in 1:27.222, eighth best in the session. Venezuelan Robertino Pietri was also in the top ten in qualifying, posting the tenth fastest lap at 1:27.660. The team’s latest addition, Red Devil Roadracingworld.com’s Gary Mason, was competitive at Mid-Ohio as well, qualifying 13th fastest at 1:28.433. Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will look to make up for this lost opportunity in the series’ next round, which takes place at Virginia International Raceway on August 17-19 in Alton, VA. More, from a press release issued by Jordan Suzuki: BACK-TO-BACK FOURTH PLACE FINISHES FOR JORDAN SUZUKI’S AARON YATES Rider Moves Up To Sixth Place in Overall Points Lexington, OH Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki rider Aaron Yates took back-to-back fourth place finishes in the AMA Superbike doubleheader weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Yates qualified his Dunlop-shod Suzuki GSX-R1000 with a time of 1:25.030, earning his third front row start for his Jordan Suzuki crew. In a very exciting AMA Superbike battle Saturday, Yates was momentarily relegated to sixth position and moved into fifth place when one rider lost his grip and low-sided out of contention. Yates battled for 13 laps and was able to move his motorcycle into fourth place, narrowly (.027secs) missing the last slot on the podium. After a long rain delay on Sunday, the riders took to the track at 7:15 p.m. for the abbreviated 18-lap event. Yates got a good start and fought several other factory riders to move into fourth place, where he finished. He earned 27 points for each of his finishes, moving him into sixth place overall in the AMA Superbike Championship. However, weather conditions forced officials to cancel the Superstock race this weekend, which was a disappointing turn of events for the Jordan team as Holden and Yates qualified for the event second and third respectively. The next stop for the Jordan Suzuki team and the AMA Superbike Series is Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, August 17-19, 2007. For more information on the team, visit the race team website at www.23race.com. Legendary NBA star Michael Jordan formed Michael Jordan Motorsports in 2004 as a result of his passion for motorcycle racing. His mission is to bring a new level of excellence and style to the motorcycle racing industry. More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Honda: CORONA EXTRA HONDA IN THE MIX WITH TENTH AND ELELVENTH FINISHES AT MID OHIO Corona Extra Honda rider James Ellison put in a solid effort over the past weekend at rain plagued Mid Ohio, posting tenth and eleventh place finishes, up amongst the factory teams. James qualified eleventh, a little lower than he had hoped but still nearly a second faster then his times at the track during testing. An electrical gremlin lost him some key time at the end of the qualifying session, preventing him from trying what would be the best tire for the session. His comment was; “It would be worth half a second”. This would have put him right in the middle of the factory group. In race one, James lost a position at the start, twelfth after the first lap but quickly got his head down and moved up to ninth by lap eighteen, passing the factory Suzuki of Tommy Hayden. Hayden stayed with James however and just got back him at the line by half a bike length. The second race day looked to be a repeat of the October 2006 event with heavy rain deluging the track. The race was finally started at 7.15 PM after a long day staring at the skies and keeping fingers crossed the weather would change! Riders had a fifteen minute practice session and then straight into the race. James held his starting position but took time getting up to speed. He said; “The track was slippery and you had to be careful to stay on the line. I just did not get into the rhythm quick enough!” James traded positions with the factory MV’s eventually splitting them for eleventh. The weekend leaves Ellison tenth in the SuperBike championship series.