HANNspree Ten Kate Honda arrives in the UK this weekend for the tenth round of the 2007 World Supersport Championship. Kenan Sofuoglu continues to dominate the series and holds a massive 70-point lead ahead of the final British race of the season at Brands Hatch. The Turkish rider has proved his talent in the ultra-competitive championship by securing eight podium finishes, including six race wins in nine rounds. Another win this weekend at Brands Hatch could secure Sofuoglu’s first championship title and HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s sixth consecutive series victory. However, the main focus for the team remains firmly on the race result. Defending World Supersport Champion Sébastien Charpentier favours the 4.22km Brands Hatch circuit and hopes to turn his fortunes around this weekend. The Frenchman has achieved some impressive results at the Kent race track in the past and is aiming to get back on the podium for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “Although we are coming to Brands Hatch with the first opportunity to win the title with Kenan, we will treat this weekend as any other. The goal is to fight for a podium and if possible win the race. So from a team point of view, we don’t want to be too excited about the potential championship crown at the moment. Of course, we are only human, so it will be a special weekend for us anyway. Brands Hatch is almost a home round for Kenan because he has such a massive fan base in England so I am sure he will have enough suport from the crowd. For Sébastien we are really hoping that everything comes together again. It’s one of his favourite circuits so let’s hope we can have him on the podium.” Kenan Sofuoglu: “I am really looking forward to Brands Hatch. As a rider, there are tracks you like and tracks you don’t like and for me, Brands Hatch is very special. This race is so important for me because I know that if I win, I have the title. I am trying no to look at it this way – I am just doing what I usually do and aiming for the podium with the race win being a bonus. I came third here last year so I know that the podium is possible. We still have Germany, Italy and France to go, so I am not focusing on anything more than winning this race.” Sébastien Charpentier: “I really like Brands Hatch and my results here have always been good – in 2005 I got the pole position and the race win so I know it is not impossible for me. The team have all been working really hard to find a solution to the problems I had at Brno so hopefully this weekend we can start to move forward and put the frustrations of this year behind us.”

DUBLIN, Ohio The top-flight AMA Superbike riders will once again return to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, August 3-5 for the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire and the Wiseco Superbike 100 Doubleheader. The AMA Superbike Championship Series will compete on the 2.4-mile, 15-turn Lexington, Ohio road course for top honors in one of the Wiseco Superbike 100 Doubleheader races featured on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. “We’re pleased to join the American Motorcyclist Association in bringing the AMA Superbike Championship Series back to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the 25th consecutive year,” said Michelle Trueman Gajoch, president of TrueSports, Inc., owner and operator of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. “It’s a track record we are very proud of, and we appreciate the part that American Honda Motor Co. Inc., Dunlop Tire, Wiseco, Budweiser and our many other corporate sponsors continue to play in making it possible.” “It’s exciting to note that AMA Superbike Championship racing has been part of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course’s history for 25 years,” said AMA Road Race Director, Keith Kizer. “Mid-Ohio has consistently brought in some of the most enthusiastic crowds in our series and we look forward to another great edition of the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire this year.” Rounds 13 and 14 of the AMA Superbike Championship Series presented by Parts Unlimited will be complemented for the seventeenth year by the NationwideÃ’ Dealer Ride to Mid-Ohio. 120 dealers from eight states will be represented by over 1,200 motorcyclists who will get their shot at traversing the Mid-Ohio circuit on Sunday. Additionally, for the first time, two AMA District 12 amateur motocross events will commence on Friday and Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Motocross Park presented by Toyota Trucks. The Superbike spectators will be the largest crowd these amateur motocross riders have ever seen. Weekend support races will include AMA Supersport, Superstock and Formula Xtreme presented by Budweiser. AMA District 12 motocross will also take place on Friday and Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Motocross Park presented by Toyota Trucks. A comprehensive motorsports facility, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course features a permanent road-racing circuit with two primary configurations: a 2.4-mile, 15-turn, and a 2.25-mile, 13-turn circuit. The park-like, 330-acre complex in Lexington, Ohio also features an amateur motocross venue. Located 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield, the track has been called the most competitive in the U.S. and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally sanctioned racing events for amateur, club and professional riders and drivers. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, TrueSports, Incorporated is a privately held motorsports entertainment enterprise. The company owns and operates Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and The Mid-Ohio School, and promotes a wide variety of motor racing, driver instruction, corporate, and family entertainment events throughout the year. More, from another press release issued by Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: TWO-WHEEL MADNESS BACK AT MID-OHIO AS SUPERBIKE RIDERS ARRIVE FOR THE HONDA SUPER CYCLE WEEKEND PRESENTED BY DUNLOP TIRE DUBLIN, Ohio Rounding out a three-weekend-in-a-row stint at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the AMA Superbike Championship Series will be visiting the Lexington, Ohio road course for the 25th consecutive season, competing in the Wiseco Superbike 100 Doubleheader during the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire, August 3-5. The hunt for the AMA Superbike Championship is in full swing, as defending champion and Texas native Ben Spies looks to continue his stunning mid-season surge by again sweeping the Wiseco Superbike 100 Doubleheader at Mid-Ohio. Valiantly trying to prevent a repeat crown is Spies’ Yoshimura Suzuki teammate and all-time winningest AMA Superbike rider Mat Mladin. Mladin, who has tasted victory six times in 2007, sits in second place, 24-points back from leader Spies. Spies has also six wins to his credit this season, as the Yoshimura young gun will look for his fifth-straight win during the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire. “I’m looking forward to the race at Mid-Ohio. We won both races there last year and it doesn’t hurt that we’re coming off of Laguna Seca, where we got the pole position and won the race,” said Ben Spies. “The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 has been working well right off the truck, though we’ve had to make a few changes here and there to help us find a little more time. Mat’s riding great and, right now, he and I are running at the same pace. We had a good test at Mid-Ohio earlier this year and I’m comfortable with the track. I just have to get a good start and then put my Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 out front early.” While Spies and Mladin are locked in one of the greatest rivalries in AMA Superbike history, Honda will have vast experience at Mid-Ohio in their stable with Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke, both of whom will seek to close the gap on the two Suzuki front-runners. Duhamel is second on the all-time AMA Superbike win list and is aiming to come out strong at Mid-Ohio, a track where he’s seen success in the past. With a win worth 36 points and two rounds at Mid-Ohio, plenty could change in the championship chase this weekend. Weekend support races for the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire include AMA Superstock, Supersport and Formula Xtreme presented by Budweiser. AMA District 12 amateur motocross will also take place on Friday and Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Motocross Park presented by Toyota Trucks. AMA Superbike Championship Series presented by Parts Unlimited Point Standings 1. Ben Spies, Suzuki 420 2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki 396 3. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 306 4. Jake Zemke, Honda 293 5. Tommy Hayden, Suzuki 292 6. Jason Disalvo, Yamaha 276 7. Aaron Yates, Suzuki 272 8. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki 260 9. Eric Bostrom, Yamaha 225 10. James Ellison, Honda 215 A comprehensive motorsports facility, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course features a permanent road-racing circuit with two primary configurations: a 2.4-mile, 15-turn, and a 2.25-mile, 13-turn circuit. The park-like, 330-acre complex in Lexington, Ohio also features an amateur motocross venue. Located 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield, the track has been called the most competitive in the U.S. and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally sanctioned racing events for amateur, club and professional riders and drivers. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, TrueSports, Incorporated is a privately held motorsports entertainment enterprise. The company owns and operates Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and The Mid-Ohio School, and promotes a wide variety of motor racing, driver instruction, corporate, and family entertainment events throughout the year.

BATTLE COMES DOWN TO THE LAST FOUR ROUNDS The legendary status of London’s closest racetrack in the collective memories of the SBK world is quite simply unsurpassed. The natural restrictions which make Brands Hatch one of the more difficult venues in which the teams have to work are also what make it one of the most entertaining and rewarding short circuits imaginable. By and large nature has dictated the shape and layout of the 4.197km Brands long circuit, and, as is often the case, nature has proved the best designer of all. From the impossibly challenging Paddock Hill Bend to the high-speed turns of Hawthorn’s; from the uphill/downhill Druids Hairpin to the main straight – which is not in fact straight at all – Brands Hatch is a natural amphitheatre to the deities of the internal combustion engine. Other tracks, such as Assen and Monza, have had longer Motorsport lives, but for SBK racing Brands Hatch is its own true place of devotion. This is, in large part, thanks to the endless enthusiasm for SBK racing shown by the British spectators, and the close proximity of Brands to Britain’s most populous city. TOSELAND IN CONTROL FOR HIS LATEST HOME EVENT James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) has already won a race on British soil this year, at Donington Park, but after a race two technical breakdown there, and a subsequent near-washout at Silverstone, he is more than keen to extend his impressive championship lead with an even greater haul of victories than the six he currently has. After a pivotal Brno race two weeks ago, where Toseland scored a win and a second place, the 2004 champion enjoys a 43-point lead over his nearest challenger, once more the enigmatically brilliant Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Biaggi also scored a second place and then a win at Brno, but at Brands Hatch, he faces the toughest challenge of his ‘rookie’ year. He has never even seen the place before, and Brands holds many pitfalls to trap the unwary newcomer, from its frequent on-and-off camber corners to its blind approaches to the bumps and surface changes below the canopy of trees that line the furthest reaches of the circuit. On Biaggi’s side, however, is the fact that he demonstrates the most methodical approach to qualifying and racing imaginable, making it a bold pundit who would write him off before the qualifying results are all in. HAGA A CLOSE THIRD WITH BAYLISS SET TO STRIKE BACK In the most recent round Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) was the class act in qualifying and Superpole, but his raceday performances did not quite match up. He is, nonetheless, only two points from Biaggi, 45 from Toseland, even if he does have 2001 and 2006 champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) a mere 11 points behind him in the current standings. Both Haga and Bayliss have won races at Brands, but in terms of recent success, Haga is the man to beat, having scored four wins in the last six races. Including Brands there are some 200 points up for any rider who can win all eight remaining races, so despite Toseland’s impressive lead, there is still everything to gain, not only for the top four riders, but the top four manufacturers they represent – Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Ducati. BRANDS EXPERT CORSER A LONELY FIFTH Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) has speared many a Brands Hatch victory in the past but this year he is still waiting for his first win of the season, despite looking poised to score full points on many occasions. The 1996 and 2005 World Champion is a master of Brands and has won on a four-cylinder machine to boot. That machine was a Suzuki GSX-R 1000, in 2005, and the latest 2007 version may well do some serious damage to the podium places at Brands, thanks to podium placer at Brno and recent Suzuka 8-Hours race winner, Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Currently tenth overall, Kagayama way be another good bet for Brands success, especially have spent two years racing in the BSB Championship. XAUS WITH LANZI IN HIS SIGHTS The midfield fascination this season has included the battle between the second factory Ducati of Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) and Valencia race winner, Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati). Lanzi’s sixth place is under threat from the shadowing Xaus, only some ten points back. Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) has had flirtations with the podium this season, but scoring one at Brands would not only be his best SBK result ever, it would be a just reward for missing out on early top threes through simple bad luck. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany) is looking to make up the 20 points he needs to catch Rolfo. Behind them all, the real threat is the rejuvenated Kagayama, who seems to be growing in stature every week. FABRIZIO LOCKED IN BATTLE WITH LACONI Before the last round at Brno both Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda) and Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) felt they have not had particularly clear runs at the podium places in 2007, but Fabrizio finally joined the podium throng this year with third place in race two in the Czech Republic. Laconi and Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) have been unable to turn the speed of their Kawasaki engines into a significant reward in terms of overall points, with Laconi 12th and Nieto 13th. STEVE MARTIN JOINS THE WILD BUNCH FOR BRANDS RODEO The fight for the places in the overall top 15 is as closely contested and vicious as ever, with any mistake punished particularly harshly, due to the relatively low points totals enjoyed by the private entries. Jakub Smrz (Caracchi Ducati SC 999) heads the main privateer pack, but this weekend a new player re-enters the fray, Steve Martin (Yamaha YZF). The highly experienced Australian will have yet another new experience this weekend, as half his team will be regulars in the Yamaha YZF team camp, but the others will be from the British Championship Yamaha squad. Thus each machine will have different set-ups and equipment packages. Martin will be joining class regular Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha YZF) in Martial Garcia’s team. Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda) will be back in a one-man structure, with regular private entries Luca Morelli (DFX Honda Corse) and Dean Ellison (Pedercini Ducati) now being joined by the replacement for injured Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki), Stefano Cruciani. WORLD SUPERSPORT – KENAN READIES THE GIFT WRAPPING It is still arithmetically possible for Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) to not become the 2007 World Supersport Champion, but it would take something of a late season miracle for Fabien Foret (GIL Kawasaki) to eat into Sofuoglu’s current 70 point lead sufficiently to depose the long-time championship leader. Should Sofuoglu win at Brands, irrespective of where Foret finishes, he would be crowned champion there and then. Even a growth of five points or more in his lead over Foret would also see him crowned champion. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda) is looking to enhance his third place before the season elapses, and he has won a race at brands Hatch before, in 2002. Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) was knocked out of contention for another podium at Brno, but is still well capable of finishing third by making up the gap of 17 points Fujiwara enjoys over him right now. In what has been a colourful and sometimes chaotic WSS season so far, Joshua Brookes (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) is now back looking for podium finishes, while Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) is looking for his first top three of the year. Barry Veneman (Pioneer Hoegee Suzuki) is looking to stay ahead of Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) and the Aussie rider has a new team-mate this weekend, British Superbike regular for Yamaha, Tommy Hill. British interest is also very clearly focused on Craig Jones (Revè Ekerold Honda) who finished second at Brno and wants to go one better at Brands Hatch. Graeme Gowland (Team Benjan Motoren) is a local wildcard entry for this race. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP – BAIOCCO IN THE DRIVING SEAT Matteo Baiocco (Umbria Bike Yamaha) now enjoys a 15-point advantage over Mark Aitchison (Celani Team Suzuki Italia) even though another new race winner in 2007, Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki) left the most recent race at Brno victorious. Simeon is now third, only four points behind Aitchison, with Donington race winner Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox 1098) tied on 80 points with winless Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia). Michele Pirro (Team Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha) and Brendan Roberts (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) are the other two race winners on show, while the local wildcards run to Victor Cox (STP Racing MV Agusta) and Jon-Boy Lee (GR Motorsport Yamaha). SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – BERGER ON TOP Maxime Berger (Trasimeno Yamaha) is now five points ahead of Michele Magnoni (Bevilacqua Yamaha) and some 20 points ahead of Andrea Antonelli (Team Italia Megabike Honda AX) but at Brands the positions could all be changed, as there will be two races this weekend, not the usual one. The cancellation of the Silverstone event brought about the second Brands race and now the 600 ‘stockers’ will finish the track action on both Saturday and Sunday in England. THREE STEPS TO FINAL HAVEN FOR CHAMPIONSHIP HOPEFULS After Brands, there is a five-week break, before action returns at EuroSpeedway Lausitz on 9 September, and the final back-to-back weekends finish off the season at Vallelunga (30 September) and Magny-Cours (7 October).

Barber Motorsports Park wants to host the FIM Superbike World Championship on April 18-20, 2008. Does the deal make good business sense is the question the track and its management company hope to answer by next week. “Barber Motorsports Park wants to be the host to a World Superbike event in 2008,” Gene Hallman, President of Zoom Motorsports, the company that manages the track, told Roadracingworld.com Monday. “It’s been our goal for the last six to nine months to land this particular event. Maurizio (Flammini, President of FGSport Group, the company that manages the Superbike World Championship) has been very accommodating during the process as far as access, discussion. He has made some concessions, we have made some concessions, and we’re very close. We’re running out of time for the ’08 calendar. That’s the biggest thing. “We have just a few items left to resolve, and we, Zoom, want to have all things resolved by no later than early next week. I think we need about one more full week to complete our due diligence. “I think it’s still a little premature to say one way or the other which way it’s going. There’s a couple of substantive issues that we need to work through. But we have made tremendous progress over the past two months in our discussions, and we’ve whittled the list down to just a handful of items.” The items to resolve are not related to the facility or track safety. Although it has not been homologated, the track has been deemed good enough by FIM Safety Inspector Claude Danis to be put on the World Championship schedule pending a few, minor “modifications,” according to Hallman. Those modifications are pushing back barriers and increasing available run-off room at Turns One and Seven/Eight, “all which would be addressed by next spring with really no major capital expenditure on the park’s behalf,” said Hallman. “The biggest challenge we’re dealing with, there’s not been a World Superbike event in this country in years. Now you have two MotoGP events coming onto the scene and potentially a third event with World Superbike at Miller [Motorsports Park]. So all that factors into our decision. How far can the industry dollars go? “I think it’s [decision] really in our court at this point. Maurizio has laid out the terms and negotiated as far as he will go. And now we need to decide if we will accept the terms that are on the table. We have a little bit of due diligence to do with some of our community partners, and once we have done that and completed that, we will be making that decision. “We feel strongly Barber Motorsports Park is one of the finest road racing venues in this country. It is the perfect setting for an international event of this magnitude. We like the spot on the calendar, being the first, potentially, for global motorcycle events in this country. We like the fact that we’re the only one in the southeastern United States, which I think manufacturers and fans will love. Of course, the southeastern United States is one of the fastest growing areas in the country for motorcycle enthusiasts. The museum adds another dimension that no other circuit in this country has, with the world’s largest private collection of motorcycles. It’s near a major metropolitan area with the hotels and airport in very close proximity. And the beauty of the facility is second to none. It’s just a beautifully-landscaped environment and very spectator-friendly. So all of the ingredients are there. We really want to make this happen, [but] we’ve got to make sure these final business issues are issues that we can live with.”

The FIM Superbike World Championship may race at both Miller Motorsports Park and Barber Motorsports Park in 2008. Officials at Miller Motorsports Park, located near Salt Lake City, Utah, are expected to make an announcement soon that their track will host a World Championship Superbike event on June 1, 2008. Officials representing Barber Motorsports Park, located in Birmingham, Alabama, have told Roadracingworld.com they anticipate making a decision early next week whether or not to host a World Superbike race April 20, 2008. Both deals are expected to include only the World Superbike class running with selected AMA Superbike series classes (probably two) instead of the Supersport World Championship. The Superbike World Championship last visited America in 2004 and raced at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Speed Tech Racing continued their winning ways this weekend at Blackhawk Farms CCS Regional Event while also lowering the 600cc track record with a 1:10.11. Brian Hall, Jason Farrell & A.J. Krause put in great finishes throughout the weekend riding their Kawasaki ZX6R’s. Taking wins in the Expert GTU / Expert GTO / Expert Middleweight Supersport / Expert Middleweight Superbike and Expert Unlimited GP races winning by a long stretch in each race. Teammates Jason Farrell & Brian Hall (a.k.a. “Green Hornet”) put on a great show battling each other for wins in each of their races with both running at the 600 track record & beating their times from the last event in May at Blackhawk. With the track being at less than ideal conditions on Saturday they still managed to run just .5 seconds off their previous record. “The track has gotten worse since our last visit here and the bus stop turn 3a was in bad shape on Saturday. With dirt on the surface & new sealer laid down in the turn it was hard to find any traction through there which slowed our times a bit. Plus it rained on Friday & the track was very green. By Sunday we felt better about it since some rubber got laid down for us. Brian & I tucked the front tire so many times through there all weekend. We were shooting for some times in the 9’s but just couldn’t pull it off; maybe next time as long as the rest of track holds up for us. If you run the race line you’re good but if you run wide you’re basically off the track since the track is pretty chopped up from the cars” said Jason. The team had recently freshened up their engines prior to the weekend and was breaking in engines at the track. “The bikes got faster & faster over the weekend and we were basically dead even everywhere around the track. It was a great weekend for both of us as it helped our riding skills for the upcoming AMA round at Mid-Ohio next weekend. We ran so close together and the only time one could pass is when a mistake happened or we ran into lappers. Jason pushed me hard and I did everything to keep him behind me. I made a couple mistakes and he got by to take the win in a couple races. We were shooting for 9’s this weekend & I thought is was possible we just ran into traffic within 3 laps every race. I think I put in my best time of a 10.2 while chasing Jason down and he did a 10.1 while chasing me down. We were dead even and I look forward to the rest of the season riding with him” said Brian. “Brian rode so good this weekend and kept me trying so hard. I really never get nervous before a race but this weekend was the first in a long time that I was kind of nervous I guess. Our bikes are identical, I mean you could just switch the bodywork & tires and we’d be on the same bike. These ZX6R’s are so fast & handle great. We have a great combination of performance products from our sponsors this season and its been working out very well. Kawasaki has given us huge support this season on the tech side. They are a dedicated company to making sure their bikes are finishing up front. The guys back at the shop have built us some consistent, powerful & reliable engines to get us through the season on. Another cool thing to mention is that we are still running on stock front forks from the factory with absolutely no changes but the preload settings! The handling is great right out of the box!” said Jason. Brian & Jason will be contesting in the AMA Series at Mid-Ohio next weekend for the 600cc Supersport & Formula Xtreme races then head to Barber for ASRA and back to Blackhawk Farms again for CCS in August. Its going to be a long 4 weekends in a row but we should really get to know our bikes by then pretty good!.