FIRST PERSON/OPINION: A staffer for a commercial website who lifted original material off Roadracingworld.com as well as other sites continues to deny that she has done anything wrong, and has asserted her right to take formatted postings off our site including original headlines written by Roadracingworld.com staffers. Patti Smith posted on the AFM BBS, when an AFM BBS poster asked if she was the person named in a Roadracingworld.com post earlier this week, “We have NEVER posted any copyrighted, original content material from THEIR site…My guess is that they simply do not like the competition. We will continue to post what we think are relevant press releases and original content stories that our readers are interested in on the site.” In fact, 27 original headlines appearing on the site she works for were written and posted on Roadracingworld.com by Roadracingworld.com staffers before she cut and pasted them onto the site she works for. In additional, Smith posted a complete original test impression on a GSX-R1000 written by Danny Coe for superbikeplanet.com, and lifted original material–not available in press release form–from amasuperbike.com as well. Smith has a history of lifting other peoples’ work for unknown reasons; maybe she dislikes writing her own headlines, test impressions or interviews. But, she will soon have her day in court, and a chance to spend money on making her case regarding her “right” to take and use the work of others on the site she works for. As will her boss, who she told Roadracingworld.com’s David Swarts was “Ben Sallis,” but who is listed as former MRA racer Dan Sallis in the site’s ISP registration.

Insider Training “meet and greet” at Fontana this weekend Insider Training principals Mat Mladin and Simon Sostaric will be on hand at California Speedway, Fontana this Sunday, for an informal “meet and greet” opportunity for WERA racers and team officials. Insider Training will be located in the riders meeting room following the riders meeting at Noon. Insider Training provides motor racing competitors with guidelines of “evidence based” best practice in physical and racing preparation, including endurance, power, strength, nutrition, recovery, mental imagery and insight into what it takes to be a true professional – from two of the best in the business. “We have had a terrific year so far, with a few of our riders on the podium regularly, including numerous wins, in the current AMA series. We have a policy to be as inclusive as possible, and look forward to being available to assist ambitious amateur riders as well as the pros,” says Sostaric. “I have been pleasantly surprised how well our training advice has been embraced. Being prepared to race a motorcycle or to be the best in business takes an approach that is very similar. Good organization and hard work is the key to success. Many racers in our care are achieving great results, which gives me tremendous personal satisfaction,” Mladin said.

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH MOTOGP, BENEFITTING RIDERS FOR HEALTH Motorcycling fans can get a behind-the-scenes peak at the MotoGP World Championship on Thursday, July 19 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in the run up to the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. This unique experience is also raising money for Riders for Health to save lives in Africa. To give fans this exclusive opportunity to go behind the scenes, a limited edition ticket is on sale, with all proceeds going to Riders For Health. This special ticket includes: · A half-day motorcycle tour on the backroads of Monterey County, including Carmel Valley (9a-1p); · Catered lunch in the Turn 4 Paddock Suite; · An exclusive behind-the-scenes MotoGP paddock and pit lane tour; · VIP paved 3-day motorcycle parking or 3-day on-site auto parking; · Motorcycle parade lap of the circuit (or a van ride for those not on motorcycles); · Meet-and-greet with MotoGP riders past and present, including MotoGP legends Wayne Rainey and Randy Mamola; · A live auction of exclusive items. Those who purchase a ticket but don’t wish to ride a motorcycle will be given a shuttle tour of Carmel Valley, including wine tasting stops along the way and a tour on-track of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Riders for Health is the official charity of the MotoGP World Championship and all proceeds will go to supporting their award-winning African programmes, which train health workers to ride and maintain motorcycles so that they can reach even the most remote villages regularly. Thanks to their supporters in MotoGP, and the wider motorcycling community, Riders is helping nearly 11 million people across Africa to have the basic health care we take for granted, giving them the chance to fight disease and look forward to a healthier future. Riders for Health co-founder Randy Mamola on the work of Riders for Health: ‘You can spend all the money for vaccines, condoms and mosquito nets, but unless you can actually get them to the people who need them, they’re useless. That’s where motorcycles come in. It’s the same tool that helped me get to where I am today that’s helping save people’s lives.’ To purchase a ticket for Behind the Scenes of MotoGP, benefiting Riders For Health, call the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca ticket office at 1-800-327-SECA. The ticket does not include admission to the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. Those tickets may be purchased at the above number, or online at www.laguna-seca.com.

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM READY FOR THE ‘RING The Ducati Marlboro Team commences the second half of the 2007 MotoGP season at the Sachsenring with the remarkable Casey Stoner leading the riders’ World Championship on five wins and two further podium places from the first nine GPs. Team-mate Loris Capirossi has had a less lucky run of races in recent weeks and currently holds ninth place in the points chase, but the Bologna-based squad still heads the teams’ championship, with Ducati also ahead in the constructors’ points table. The German Grand Prix follows a busy sequence of four races over five weekends and is immediately succeeded by the United States GP on July 22. MotoGP then gets a well-deserved four-week break before the Czech GP on August 19. LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project director “We start the second half of the season still leading the championship and very much looking forward to the next nine races. During this period there are several circuits that suit our machine package, so that is a positive for us. The Sachsenring is quite a strange circuit, quite tight in places and with no big straights, but we have always gone quite well there, so we go into this race feeling fairly confident of a good result.” CASEY STONER, World Championship leader on 185 points “Every race we are still learning about the set-up of the bike, especially when we go to different types of circuit. The Ducati and the Bridgestones have been working well at pretty much every circuit, so when we get to Germany we’ll just concentrate and keep doing what we’ve been doing. I got my first-ever podium at the Sachsenring, the track is fun on a 125 but it’s a little bit more difficult to negotiate some of those turns on a MotoGP bike. You definitely need good side grip because through a lot of those long corners you need to keep the gas open as long as possible. You also need to get your head around those uphill and downhill corners – coming down the hill into those fast lefts gets a bit scary, you have to make sure your suspension doesn’t bottom out, then you head back up the hill and then down again. As you come over the top at turn 12 the rear gets very light and wants to wriggle around, so you really need some traction over the top there.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 9th overall on 57 points “I really like the Sachsenring, even if it always feels a little strange on a MotoGP bike, because there are so many slow and tight corners. I think the track will be more fun on the 800 than it was on the 990 because the new bikes are a bit more nimble, so they are a bit faster into the corners and through the corners. The first part is too slow, but from turn six or seven it gets quite interesting. Turn 12 is a very exciting corner, because it’s blind and you throw the bike in there at over 200 km/h, then you go steeply downhill on the run to turn 13. We go into this race after a couple of difficult weekends at Donington and Assen. But this is racing, sometimes things don’t go your way and the only answer is to keep cool and keep working to make things better. We have been making some improvements to the bike over the last few races but so far we haven’t been able to turn these improvements into a good result.” THE TRACK The Sachsenring first appeared on the World Championship calendar way back in 1961. The high-speed street circuit quickly became one of racing’s most popular venues, regularly attracting a quarter of a million sports-starved East German fans. The lethal street circuit hosted its last GP in 1972, an all-new short circuit returning the venue to the world calendar in 1998. At that time the new circuit was the slowest in GP racing, with a lap speed of just 143km/h-89mph. Revisions for 2000 upped the pace to 150 km/h-93mph and the addition of an extra loop in 2001 increased lap speeds to the current 158km/h-98mph record. Nevertheless the character of the anti-clockwise circuit is still tight and twisty, putting the emphasis on delicate mid-range engine performance rather than brute top-end horsepower. SACHSENRING DATA Lap record: Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 1m 23.355s, 158.546km/h-98.516mph Pole position 2006: Pedrosa (Honda), 1m 21.815s DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM RIDER DATA LOGS LORIS CAPIROSSI Age: 34 (born 4 April 1973) Lives: Monaco Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP7 GP starts: 257 (87xMotoGP, 59×500, 84×250, 27×125) GP victories: 28 (6xMotoGP, 2×500, 12×250, 8×125) First GP victory: Britain, 1990 (125) First GP: Japan, 1990 (125) Pole positions: 41 (8xMotoGP, 5×500, 23×250, 5×125) First pole: Australia, 1991 (125) World Championships: 3 (125: 1990, 1991, 250: 1998) Sachsenring 2006 results: Grid: 5th. Race: 5th CASEY STONER Age: 21 (born 16 October 16 1985) Lives: Monaco Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP7 GP starts: 86 (25xMotoGP, 31×250, 30×125) GP victories: 12 (5xMotoGP, 5×250, 2×125) First GP victory: Valencia, 2003 (125) First GP: Britain, 2001 (125) Pole positions: 6 (2xMotoGP, 2×250, 2×125) First pole: Netherlands, 2003 (125) Sachsenring 2006 results: Grid: 8th. Race: DNS

A plethora of road racing stars will take to the Isle of Man once again but this time for the Southern 100 which runs from 9th to the 12th July, just four weeks after the end of the Centenary TT. The event is run on the Billown Course which is a 4.25 mile pure road circuit on bumpy, tight, and twisty roads. The Southern operates a mass start like a short circuit race but has the excitement of the riders nearly touching the walls, trees, and fences at the side of the “track.” It is nearly as big a challenge as the TT itself! The Billown course is ridden at full speed for almost the entire lap which comprises of just four corners. There is a famous S-bend which crosses the churchyard at Castletown but even it is taken at full throttle on a sidecar. The famous sidecar pairing of Klaffenböck and Parzer will take part in two sidecar races. This is their first race event at Billown as on their last visit they only did a number of demonstration laps. They will have a lot to learn and stiff competition from Crowe and his partner Sayle, both of whom are from the Isle of Man and know the circuit very well. Solo star, Martin Finnegan will also compete on his Klaffi Honda Fireblade in the two Superbike races. Finnegan can’t wait to get on track along side great riders like, Guy Martin, Chris Palmer and Paul Hunt. The Southern is known as the “Friendly races”and it gives fans the perfect opportunity to get close to the riders. There is an open air prize giving after the races on Thursday evening in the centre of Castletown, and a party that everybody is invited to where they can mingle with the riders.

Centurion Racing are keen to announce that at round eight of the Maxxis British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park, Cheshire, riders Dan Cooper and James Westmoreland will be riding 07 Honda’s as opposed to the 06 bikes which they have ridden up to this point in the season. The two riders will undertake a testing session before the next round next weekend, 13th 15th July and the pairing also enjoyed a day at Croft on one of the machines to get a feel for the bike. Despite the wet conditions both riders achieved a number of successful laps on it and found a good set up. General Manager Paul Rees commented “After some minor problems with wiring in the last couple of rounds on Westy’s bike, being able to use and run the new bikes will be like a ‘breath of fresh air’ for everyone concerned. We are not looking for immediate results with the new bikes but a gradual improvement for the remaining part of the season. Our riders are very mature and very professional on and off the track and really welcome the opportunity to ride the 07 Honda’s.” Harvey Beltram and Neil Tuxworth from Honda have been in close liaison with Centurion regarding these new bikes offering invaluable advice and sorting out spares. “The back up, experience and advice from Harvey and Neil is very much appreciated” added Race Manager, Gary Stubbington. It is planned that Centurion Racing will take delivery of another two 07 Honda’s before the close of the 2006 season, which will allow each rider to have a spare bike if they so require one.

HIGH SUMMER IN ROME BRINGS OUT HIGH NUMBERS OF RIDERS PREPARATIONS BEGIN FOR THE RUN-IN The World Superbike and World Supersport Championships face five more rounds before the last podium places and points have been allocated, but for the immediate future testing is the next hurdle to be overcome. The Pirelli tyre development teams have already tested at Brno since the last competitive weekend at Misano, but now another Italian circuit beckons – the new to SBK venue of Vallelunga – and for all SBK and WSS riders. The 4.110km Vallelunga circuit, less than 30kms from the centre of Rome, will be stiff test for all, and thus most of the teams in the championships have decided to make best use of the available track time this coming weekend. A SORT OF HOMECOMING FOR BIAGGI Max Biaggi tested his Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra machine for one of the first times at this track last October, but for a rider brought up in Rome, Vallelunga is still hardly a well-known circuit. Having moved to international racing early in his career, Biaggi will find more relevance in his most recent outing at Vallelunga than any previous track time in his youth. Few other rider have any recent experience of the Vallelunga circuit in its current guise, but that will not stop the likes of championship leader James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) from going for it from the outset on Saturday 7th July. Toseland now has reigning World Champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) closest to him in the overall championship fight and each rider is expected to be in the running for the best time of the test, in both race and qualifying trim. HAGA AND CORSER ALSO READY TO GO Yamaha Motor Italia riders Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser have already shown the might of their new R1 machines this year, and each will be at Vallelunga to test. Corser currently holds onto fifth place over, with multi-race winner Haga third and ahead of Biaggi, but behind the big five there are more than a few riders capable of pushing into the highest reaches – especially at such a relatively unknown quantity as Vallelunga. After a great test at Brno recently, Biaggi’s team-mate Yukio Kagayama will be a force to be reckoned with on the 2007 Suzuki, and on a year-old factory Ducati Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati) has already won a race in 2007. The official Ducati Xerox team has a home-grown hero who will test at Vallelunga, another regular rider with SBK wins under his belt, Lorenzo Lanzi. Other top Italian riders in the mix for the next test include Roby Rolfo, the team-mate of Toseland, a true Roman local boy Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda), his team-mate Luca Morelli, Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki) and Vittorio Iannuzzo, who will ride once more as a third element in the PSG-1 Kawasaki team. FACTORY KAWASAKI MEN GOING FORWARD Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) and Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) hope to beat a trail back to full competitiveness on their now seasoned ZX-10Rs, and may well start this test on a good footing after recent improvements in overall set-up at the Brno tests. Other top names to look out for at the Vallelunga tests are Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda), Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha), Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany) and Jakub Smrz (SC Caracchi Ducati). SUPERSPORT TIMES EXPECTED TO BE CLOSE Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) approaches the latest test of the 2007 season with great confidence and he can also expect great things from his own team-mate, Sebastien Charpentier. The Yamaha World Supersport Racing team will run Broc Parkes at the test for sure, while Fabien Foret (GIL Kawasaki) is getting ready to push Sofuoglu the whole way to the final flag, starting at this Vallelunga test. Joshua Brookes will join Robbin Harms in the Stiggy Motorsports team from this test on, but with 25 WSS riders set to show at Vallelunga, he will have stiff competition to measure himself against after his swap from the Superbike class. After Vallelunga the next competitive outing will be at Brno, for round nine of 13, on 22 July.

Bridgestone MotoGP: British/Dutch GP Debrief Q+A with Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Sport Thursday 5 July 2007 MotoGP concluded a second successive round of back-to-back races in the Netherlands last Saturday as the Dutch TT was contested in Assen just six days after the British GP in Donington Park. Inclement weather conditions played their part in proceedings after rain influenced the UK round before returning in time for Friday’s qualifying session in the Netherlands. Ducati’s Casey Stoner triumphed in the wet-drying conditions in Donington before finishing as runner-up to Valentino Rossi in Assen to lead the championship by 21 points with half the season gone. Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen was also a star of this double-header, taking third place in Donington and pole position in Assen. Halfway through the 2007 season, Mr. Yamada, what is your assessment of these recent two GPs? “I think the last two races have offered everyone a big challenge with variable weather conditions throughout both weekends. We were obviously extremely pleased with Casey’s victory in Donington, a circuit that has traditionally been one of our least suited tracks, and his very good second place in Assen. The fact that we are now halfway through the season with a Bridgestone-supported rider leading the championship is very satisfying indeed.” Donington race was held in wet-drying conditions and Assen qualifying was also wet, do these conditions play into Bridgestone’s hands? “The competitiveness of our riders in Donington showed that our wet weather tyres perform very well in a wide range of wet conditions from full wet to the damp-drying situation that we had during the British GP. Assen qualifying was also wet and we obtained our best ever qualifying results with the top five on the grid all on Bridgestone tyres. It is unfortunate that the wet weather is following us around this season, but I am very happy that the technical development on wet tyres has proven to be so successful. Before this year, we had never had a Bridgestone-shod winner of a wet race, but now we have two after Chris’s win in Le Mans and Casey’s win in Donington.” What technical areas is Bridgestone focussing at this midway point of the season? “Assen was the first race this season that we have used our new 16” rear tyre which is one area of technical development we continue to look at. After encouraging early tests, we brought the 16” tyres to Donington and some of our teams had planned to use them in the race, had it been dry. For some teams, these tyres give more grip and stability, so we believe it can be a beneficial alternative at certain tracks. Other teams, however, prefer to stick to the tried and tested 16.5” rears which have shown such good performance this season. Bridgestone’s priority is to give our teams and riders the best service possible and their feedback has been instrumental in our recent development.” Reviewing the first half of the season with Stoner at the head of the championship, six wins on Bridgestone tyres in nine races and a total of 14 podiums, you must be very happy? “Of course, I am very pleased with the results that have been achieved with our teams. This season was always going to be a big challenge for us with new tyre restrictions, new teams and riders, and a greater level of competition with the new 800cc machines, but I feel we have stepped up to a new level. We will do all we can to continue our early momentum into the second half of this season as all of our teams look to strengthen their respective championship positions.”