AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited Honda Superbike Classic Supplemental Regulations Updated 03/26/07 Date: April 20-22, 2007 Location: Barber Motorsports Park 6030 Barber Motorsports Parkway Birmingham, AL 35094 www.barbermotorsports.com Promoter: ZOOM Motorsports, LLC 100 Grandview Place, Suite 110 Birmingham, AL 35243 Contact: Brett Collins 205-262-2827 [email protected] Shipping Address: 6040 Barber Motorsports Parkway Birmingham, AL 35094 (Include team name on deliveries) WET RACE: Yes REGISTRATION Follow signs after entering track property. PADDOCK PARKING & PIT LANE ASSIGNMENTS Pro-Team parking begins at 8am on Wednesday 4/18. Pro Team pit lane spots are assigned and marked on pit wall. Removal of a pit lane designation will be grounds for a fine. Paddock is open 24 hours a day for credential holders. RENTAL AND PERSONAL VEHICLES Rental and personal vehicles must park in the designated P1 or P2 parking areas on the 4th parking tier. Tow vehicles will be issued a Paddock parking pass. Parking passes will be provided when you register at the event. Team vehicles displaying a team issue hanging P1 pass may make deliveries to the paddock from the 6 am to 11am daily. The driver of the vehicle must surrender his/her credential to the guard at the entrance on the east end of the paddock and will be allowed 30 minutes to complete deliveries and return to retrieve his/her credential. Anyone abusing this policy risks the revocation of his/her credential and/or the team parking pass. MOTORHOMES Motorhomes must park in the designated area on tier 3 of the paddock, unless it is the teams primary tow vehicle. CAMPING Camping will be permitted in self-contained vehicles inside the paddock. No hook-ups are available in the paddock. Dump tank waste removal will be available. CANCELLATION POLICY All entry fees are non-refundable once the pre-entry closing date has passed. Exceptions may be made if notified 5 days prior to the event. PADDOCK AND PIT LANE All tires, batteries, fuel drums and any other materials deemed to be hazardous waste must be removed from racetrack property at the conclusion of the event. Race bikes may not be run before 8:00am or after 8:00pm. Paddock PA announcements will be broadcast on FM 106.3. Only licensed vehicles are allowed on the road outside the paddock. Helmet use is mandatory on any motorcycle or scooter used outside the paddock. Climbing over the fence separating the hot pit from the cold pit is not allowed. No tent stakes in the paddock. Barber Motorsports Park will bill for any damage caused by tent stakes. Report any fuel or oil spills in the paddock immediately to track personal so they can initiate cleanup. A charge for damages may be assessed if a spill is not reported immediately. The dress code for pit road will be enforced. Approved team uniforms must be worn by team members. The following requirements apply to any rider, team, manufacturer or service provider involved in the display or sales of products or services of any kind in the paddock area: “¢ Any parties that intend to display or sell products or services in the paddock may do so only by prior arrangement with the promoter of the event. “¢ Promoters will be notified of the normal, necessary technical and tire service providers for the events. Others will be considered on a case-by-case basis. “¢ Signage of all sponsors is allowed in the paddock area on trucks and transporters unless such signage is determined to be unwholesome or otherwise inappropriate by the AMA Pro Racing Manager on site or the event promoter. “¢ Only race transporters, team vehicles and service provider vehicles are allowed in the paddock area. No rental cars, buses, team or rider motor coaches or other vehicles not actively participating in team support, team hospitality or service support will be permitted in the paddock without prior approval of AMA Racing. “¢ A team vehicle is defined as a vehicle other than the primary race transporter used to transport equipment, personnel, riders, tools, food, etc. to each event and must be actively involved in team support or team hospitality during the event. “¢ A team vehicle must be similar to the following type of vehicle: Tractor trailer, toterhome & trailer, pick-up truck & trailer, toy hauler, motorhome, cargo van, etc. Exotic and luxury vehicle are not considered support vehicles and are prohibited in the paddock. “¢ Team vehicles must have prominent team logos and graphics, similar to the race transporter, on them so that it is integrated with the appearance of the team. “¢ AMA Racing will provide each team with a Paddock Pass for any team vehicle(s). “¢ All service provider vehicles (i.e. helmet companies, rider apparel companies, suspension trucks, tire trucks) will be placed in designated parking areas. “¢ The AMA reserves the right to determine whether any vehicle may or may not be allowed in the paddock area. PARTICIPANTS Every participant, by entering an event, declares to respect the AMA Pro Racing 2007 Rules and these Supplementary Regulations. INSURANCE You are provided coverage by the AMA Pro Racing Rider Excess Medical Policy if you are a properly credentialed rider, crew member, official, announcer, news person or photographer. The excess Medical Deductible per rider is $1,000 with a $50,000 Excess Medical Reimbursement (Excess over all valid and collectible insurance). The actual excess medical insurance benefits available for a particular claim are governed by the terms and conditions contained in the insurance policy and are subject to all exclusions contained in the policy. LICENSES A 2007 AMA Pro Racing license or a current FIM International License issued by their FMN is required for all participants in the classes covered by these Supplementary Regulations. Foreign participants are required to submit a letter issued by their National Federation confirming insurance coverage and giving permission to participate in this AMA event. FUEL All fuel must meet the requirements of the 2007 AMA Pro Racing Rule Book. Racing fuel will be available for sale by the promoter in the paddock. The promoter does not accept credit cards or personal checks for fuel. AMA Pro Racing does not warrant or guarantee in any way that race fuel sold at the event meets applicable AMA Pro Racing fuel requirements or is legal for competition. AMA Pro Racing’s technical inspection personnel offer free on-site specific gravity testing of participants’ fuel. Complete chemical analysis of fuel is not performed on-site. All fuel Drums brought in by participants must be removed from racetrack property at the end of the event. RIDER EQUIPMENT Sparking metallic toe and knee sliders are not allowed. SCORING TRANSPONDERS Once a rider is issued a scoring transponder it must be correctly attached to their motorcycle at all times when on track. Teams owning hard-wired scoring transponders must have the transponder mounted correctly and connected to power at all times when on track. Riders will be responsible for the loss of or damage to transponders, unless the loss or damage is the result of a verified on track crash during official practice, qualifying or a race at the event. RIDER COMPETITION NUMBERS The riders assigned competition number for all classes must be correctly displayed at all times when on track. RIDERS BRIEFING All riders must attend the riders briefing in person. The Friday riders briefing will start promptly at 12:15 unless there is a published change to the schedule or other event which causes a considerable delay to the program. Random rider names will be called. There will be a $250 fine for any rider who fails to attend a riders meeting and has his/her name called. TIMING BEACONS Timing Beacons should be placed at a minimum of 10′ intervals in a safe and secure manner on riders right between the exit of the last corner and no closer than 100′ from the start/finish line. PRACTICE & QUALIFYING All practice will be as per the Official AMA Pro Racing Schedule. It is forbidden to take a machine onto the racetrack other than during practice, qualifying sessions, heat races or finals for the class in which that machine has been entered. Motorcycles must be legal for any class entered at all times when on track. Should a practice or qualifying session be stopped with less than 50% of the designated time remaining, the session may be considered complete at the discretion of the Race Manager. Any practice or qualifying session stopped with 5 minutes or less remaining will be considered complete. The maximum number of riders for Supersport, Superstock and Formula Xtreme final events is 44 and 36 for Superbike. Pole position is right side. Riders may only continue to practice in classes that they have earned a grid position for. TRACK CUTS Cutting the track from turn 5 to turn 11 is not allowed at any time. Any rider cutting the track during practice or qualifying will no longer be scored from the time of the cut to the end of the session. Any rider cutting the track during a race will be assessed a ride-through penalty after their first cut. Any subsequent track cuts during a race will result in the rider no longer being scored. PROCEDURES FOR QUALIFYING a) Qualifying procedures listed in the 2007 rulebook will be followed. b) The Race Manager will make every attempt to run a qualifying session for all classes. Should, circumstances prevent the scheduled qualifying session(s) for one or more classes from being run, the next scheduled timed practice for the affected class(es) will be deemed a qualifying session. c) If no further timed practice is available or is unable to be run, the grid will be set based on the timed laps from all previous practice sessions run by the affected class(es). No pole position point will be awarded in this circumstance. d) Should no timed laps be available to set the grid, the grid will be set as follows: Pre-entered riders based on current point standings Post-entered riders based on current point standings Pre-entered riders without points by date of entry Post-entered riders by order of entry No pole position point will be awarded should circumstances require the grid to be set by either procedure 2. c) or 2. d). At the option of AMA Racing, past Champions, and/or riders from FIM World Superbike, Moto GP and other International or National series my be added to the field. Barber SR’s v03.29.07 UMBRELLA GIRLS Apparel for Umbrella Girls must be tasteful and meet the standards for the hot pits as outlined in the 2007 AMA Superbike Championship Rulebook. Final approval of any Umbrella Girl apparel is at the discretion of the AMA. A valid credential must be displayed at all times. Umbrella Girls not holding a hot pit pass must get a Race Start wristband from registration. This wristband, when combined with a cold pit credential, will allow access to the hot pits and grid 20 minutes before a race start, based on the race start minute by minute schedule as distributed by AMA officials, until 5 minutes after the start of a race at which time they must leave the hot pits. One Umbrella Girl Race Start wristband per rider is available at registration. The Umbrella Girl must be accompanied at registration by the rider or riders chew chief in order to obtain the Race Start wristband. While in the hot pits, Umbrella Girls using a Race Start wristband, must be escorted by a member of the team they represent at all times. RACES An optional sighting lap behind a pace vehicle may be taken by participants prior to the warm-up lap. Riders must start that lap no later than 1 minute from the opening of the track for that purpose. Competitors must be present in their grid position following the sighting lap. Competitors choosing not to participate in the sighting lap must, under the direction of AMA officials, move their motorcycle into it’s designated grid position prior to the return of the field from the sighting lap. Once the sighting lap has begun, all refueling must be completed either in the competitors pit area or on a section of the pit road next to the pit wall behind the last row of the starting grid. Refueling is not allowed following the warm-up lap. RESULTS Provisional results will be posted at AMA Pro Racing’s Tech Garage as soon as possible following the completion of each race. Officials will remain available for 30 minutes for questions or protests. Official results will be posted when all questions or protests are settled. FINAL VERIFICATION The motorcycles credited with the first three finishing positions in all races must be taken to AMA Pro Racing’s Tech Garage for verification by AMA Pro Racing’s Technical Inspectors immediately following any prize ceremonies. In addition, any machine may also be called for at random or by intent by the Race Manager.

2007 SBK CORONA EXTRA SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP® DONINGTON PARK – 3rd ROUND – 30th, 31st MARCH and 1st APRIL SUPERPOLE Donington Park, Saturday 31st March 2007 BAYLISS THE RECORD BREAKER AGAIN WITH SUPERPOLE WIN 14 TROY WINS AS THE OTHER TROY CRASHES Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) made dramatic inroads into the best practice laps in the Superbike category at Donington and topped it off with the very best for last in what was a dramatic Superpole. His Superpole winning lap was a remarkable 1’30.370, beating even the previous best lap he set in final practice, shortly before Superpole. His only real rival to take the pre-race honours was Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) but Corser fell from his machine on turn one, blaming a gust of wind, and thus he now starts from the back of row two, in eighth place. FRONT ROW FOUR FEATURES FOUR DIFFERENT MACHINES With Corser eventually out of the running for top honours, his team-mate Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) salvaged a superb second place in Superpole, with a 1’31.084. After some difficult rounds so far Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) scored a magnificent third place on the big ZX-10R in Superpole, having been eighth in regular qualifying. The local crowd at Donington can expect great things from James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) on raceday, as he qualified on the front row, despite consistently losing time in the last sector of each lap. Track temperatures for Superpole dropped just before the start of the session and thus three riders in total either crashed or ran into trouble. LANZI INTO THE TOP FIVE WITH XAUS JUST BEHIND Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) clearly liked riding a Superbike around Donington and went fifth on the grid, one up on consistently fast private entry, Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati). A relatively sedate weekend so far for Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) placed him seventh in Superpole (6th after regulation) keeping him on row two. Corser, as mentioned before, completes row two. MUGGERIDGE LEADS THE THIRD ROW CHOIR Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda) found a good set-up from his machine for the first time this season and finally ended up qualifying ninth after Superpole, and thus the best of the true privateers. Behind him Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki) was a disgruntled tenth, and slow in the slow sections of the track, while yet another private rider on a mission, Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany) slotted into 11th place in the final pre-race reckoning. ‘Guest Qualifier’ Giovanni Bussei (Sterilgarda Ducati) went 12th. The last row featured only two qualifiers who actually completed Superpole, Michel Fabrizio and Steve Martin (both DFX Corse Honda), in 13th and 14th respectively. Neither Josh Brookes (Alto Evolution Honda) nor Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) completed their laps, with Brookes falling at high speed and Rolfo running wide at the Melbourne loop, and therefore proving unable to continue. WORLD SUPERSPORT – RIBA QUICKEST ON DRY SECOND DAY On a dry but cold track surface Pere Riba (Gil Kawasaki Motorsport) secured pole position with a new track best of 1’34.066, despite a fast crash in the morning session. Simone Sanna (Racing Team Park Algar Honda) was second best rider on show, in the only dry 45-minute qualifying session, while championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) went third quickest. Last rider on the front row proved to be Pioneer Hoegee Suzuki pilot Barry Veneman, making for a very cosmopolitan top rank. 2006 WSS Monza race winner Yoann Tiberio (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) was fifth fastest, one place up on a rider on a 2006 machine, Lorenzo Alfonsi (Althea Honda) and two ahead of late crasher Fabien Foret (Gil Motorsport Kawasaki). SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP – PIRRO AGAIN THE FASTEST Michele Pirro (Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha) scored a fabulous rookie pole position in the big Superstock class, thanks to a best time of 1’34.690. He outpaced the Ducati Xerox 1098 of Niccolo Canepa to score his early psychological victory, with former champion Didier Van Keymeulen (TTSL MGM Racing Yamaha) finally third. Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta) was again the best MV rider in the pack, fourth fastest. SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – MAGNONI MAGNIFICENT Michele Magnoni (Bevilaqua Yamaha) headed up a close qualifying session at Donington, taking his Yamaha to a 1’37.263. He was only 0.059 seconds ahead of Sylvain Barrier (Coutelle Junior Team Yamaha) and 0.092 up on Maxime Berger (Team Trasimeno Yamaha). Local fans were behind the fourth place push of Briton Greg Black (Politas Racing Team Yamaha), fourth. Andrea Antonelli (Team Italia Megabike Honda) was fifth, still only 0.380 seconds down. More, from a press release issued by HAHNspree Ten Kate Honda: World Superbike Championship Round three: Donington Park, UK Saturday 31 March 2007 Superpole Toseland on front row for home round HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s James Toseland will start from the front row at Donington Park tomorrow following an eventful Superpole session in which three riders crashed out. Despite making a slight mistake through the Craner Curves section of the 4.02km track, Yorkshireman Toseland secured the fourth fastest time of 1.31:399. It was a frustrating end to the day for the 26-year-old as he had hoped to celebrate the circuit’s 20th anniversary by equalling the achievement of manager Roger Burnett who scored the first ever Superpole at Donington Park. However, he is confident that he will still be able to put in two strong race performances for the home crowd at the opening UK and European event of the 2007 Superbike World Championship. His team-mate Roby Rolfo was less fortunate and starts the 23-lap races from 15th on the grid after failing to start his fast Superpole lap. The Italian rider endured a slight problem with the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR on his warm-up lap, which caused him to run onto the grass and end Superpole prematurely in the gravel. Rolfo is hopeful that he can turn his fortunes around tomorrow to demonstrate his top six potential in the ultra-competitive championship. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “We are feeling mixed emotions today. Roby had to retire from Superpole on the warm-up lap due to a braking problem. I just hope that tomorrow he will have a good race. For James, we had a small hiccup at the end of free practice and we couldn’t test the qualifier. It’s always a bit strange for the rider to go out on the Superpole lap without testing the tyre so this dented his confidence a little. He did a good lap and we are happy to be on the front row. We know that in the race James is always a different rider. We hope for good weather and with the extra boost of the home crowd support he should have a good race.” James Toseland: “I made a mistake on my Superpole lap through Craner Curves and nearly lost the front end. I needed an advantage going into the Melbourne loop section of the track because that has been my weak point. The mistake meant that I didn’t get that advantage and that is disappointing. I’m on the front row and I will give it my all tomorrow to please the home crowd.” Roberto Rolfo: “I worked really hard during the free practice and tried to find a better balance on the bike. At the end of the session I felt ready and I was confident for the Superpole lap, but unfortunately I had a problem with the brake and had to run onto the gravel during the warm-up. It was disappointing but I will try my best to do well tomorrow.” Superpole: 1. T. Bayliss, 1.30:370 2. N. Haga, 1.31:084 3. R. Laconi, 1.31:377 4. J. Toseland, 1.31:399 5. L. Lanzi, 1.31:504 6. R. Xaus, 1.31:686 7. M. Biaggi, 1.31:689 8. T. Corser, 1.31:132 9. K. Muggeridge, 1.32:077 10. F. Nieto, 1.32:178 15. R. Rolfo, 1.32:877 More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: DISAPPOINTING DAY AT DONINGTON FOR SCUDERIA SC CARACCHI (Donington Park 2007, March 31) A light sun welcomed today the SBK Circus at Donington, but the temperature remained quite cold, as well the thermometer recorded about 10°C more as yesterday. However the dry track allowed the riders to push at the best, giving also some difficult because the racing lines, with all the track wideness available are, of course, different as that forced to follow in a narrow, dry strip. No lucky today for Gianluca Nannelli; after a crash during the morning’s session, more painful as bad, Nannelli did not find a good set up for his 749R, and, more, in the final qualifying lap with soft tyres, after a good time at the second split that pot him in seventh position, in the final split he found a group of riders that slowed him action. Nannelli finished 12th fastest and will start from the third row tomorrow. “Actually it hasn’t been a good day today!” related Gianluca Nannelli at the end of practice session “On the dry track we found some handling problems that we haven’t been able to solve completely. The morning’s crash happened in a very sliding point, where several other riders did crash; I’ve been lucky that everything finished with any serious damage, for me and for the bike too, but we lost some precious time. The team is already working to find a set up that could put in order today’s troubles and we’ll test it during tomorrow’s warm up. Tomorrow the race will be hardly conditioned by the weather. I start from the third row, we’ll see what it could be possible to do; it comfort me to see, as often happens, that our bike is the fastest in the speed trap.” Also Jakub Smrz in Superbike had problems with the handling, missing the access to Superpole at the last moment of final qualifying session. Also for the young Czech rider however the challenge of tomorrow is quite hard. “The dry track changed the conditions.” said Jakub Smrz at the end of qualying. “The bike package today wasn’t perfect and I’ve been not performing as I would to be. The problems went on also during the free practice session in the afternoon, so I don’t know we could be competitive tomorrow for a good race. Unfortunately I fault the Superpole because during the decisive lap I’ve done some mistake during the last split; that’s a pity because at the second split I recorded the 12th fastest and in the final section Bussei overtook me for some hundred of second.” Superbike The grid Pl., Rider, Nat., Bike, Qualifying, Superpole 1. BAYLISS Troy, AUS, Ducati 999 F07, 1’31.052, 1’30.370 2. HAGA Noriyuki, JPN, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’32.360, 1’31.084 3. LACONI Regis, FRA, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 1’32.199, 1’31.377 4. TOSELAND James, GBR, Honda CBR 1000RR, 1’31.695, 1’31.399 5. LANZI Lorenzo, ITA, Ducati 999 F07, 1’31.655, 1’31.504 6. XAUS Ruben, ESP, Ducati 999 F06, 1’31.479, 1’31.686 7. BIAGGI Max, ITA, Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K7, 1’32.182, 1’31.689 8. CORSER Troy, AUS, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’31.132, crash 9. MUGGERIDGE Karl, AUS, Honda CBR 1000RR, 1’32.847, 1’32.077 10. NIETO Fonsi, ESP, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 1’32.188, 1’32.178 17. SMRZ Jakub, CZE, Ducati 999 F05 Scuderia SC Caracchi, 1’33.484 Supersport The grid Pl., Rider, Nat., Bike, Time 1. RIBA Pere, ESP, Kawasaki ZX6RR, 1’34.066 2. SANNA Simone, ITA, Honda CBR 600RR, 1’34.195 3. SOFUOGLU Kenan, TUR, Honda CBR 600RR, 1’34.382 4. VENEMAN Barry, NED, Suzuki GSX600R, 1’34.470 5. TIBERIO Yoann, FRA, Honda CBR 600RR, 1’34.609 6. ALFONSI Lorenzo, ITA, Honda CBR 600RR, 1’34.670 7. FORET Fabien, FRA, Kawasaki ZX6RR, 1’34.737 8. FUJIWARA Katsuaki, JPN, Honda CBR 600RR, 1’34.953 9. CHECA David, ESP, Yamaha YZFR6, 1’34.959 10. GIMBERT Sebastien, FRA, Yamaha YZFR6, 1’35.038 12. NANNELLI Gianluca, ITA, Ducati 749 R Scuderia SC Caracchi, 1’35.220 More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra: 2007 Superbike World Championship Round 3, Europe, Donington, GB Final qualifying, 31st March 2007 Circuit: 4.023 kms Conditions: Mostly dry, cold. ROW TWO FOR MAX, NO START FOR YUKIO. Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi will start from the second row of the grid at tomorrow’s third round of the Superbike World Championship at Donington. Max had struggled a little in qualifying, but then put in a blistering lap of 1:32.182 in the afternoon practice, over two seconds quicker then his previous best time! He then followed that by going even faster in Superpole, but many of his rivals also went quicker. At the end of the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out, Max finished seventh. His team mate Yukio Kagayama underwent a further examination this morning before practice and, although he was eager to race, the medics declared him ‘unfit’ and so he took no part in today’s proceedings. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) took Superpole with a lap of 1:30.370, nearly a second quicker then his nearest rival Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha). Third quickest is Regis Laconi (Kawasaki), with James Toseland (Honda) completing the front row of the grid. MAX – 7th, 1:31.689 I was happier after my performance in the untimed session this afternoon, but I knew Superpole would be hard. I managed to go a bit faster on my Superpole lap, but so did some other riders and so I ended seventh. But the second row of the grid is not so bad, especially if I can make my usual good start. There are two very long races tomorrow and anything can happen, so we’ll just have to see how it goes. I’ll be aiming for two good starts and two good results – hopefully podiums. YUKIO (non-starter) I wanted to race today, but the doctors said ‘NO!’ This morning my back was a bit sore but that was all. I could remember everything form yesterday, no problem. But if the doctors tell you not to race, that is that! Now I’m looking forward to the next race at Valencia and putting these disasters behind me. Final qualifying 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:30.370, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:31.084, 3 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:31.377, 4 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:31.399, 5 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:31.504, 6 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:31.686, 7 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:31.689, 8 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:31.132, 9 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:32.077, 10 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 1:32.178. More, from another press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra: 2007 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup Round 1, Europe, Donington, GB Final qualifying, 31st March 2007 Circuit: 4.023 kms Conditions: Mostly dry, cold. MORE DISAPPOINTMENT FOR XAVI Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon suffered severe tyre problems today and could only manage the 19th fastest time in qualifying. In final qualifying his rear tyre started moving on the rim and that caused the bike to be unbalanced and suffer a lot of vibration. Xavi ended with a best lap of 1:36.613, two seconds slower then pole-setter Michele Pirro (Yamaha) and knows that he has his work cut out if he is to get a good result tomorrow. XAVI – 19th, 1:36.613 This is not the way I wanted to start my debut in this class at all! I am very disappointed with what happened today and I have to get myself into a positive frame of mind for tomorrow. I know that the fifth row of the grid is a long way from the front and that I am going to need the best start of my life, if I am to have any chance at all of catching the leaders. There’s going to be a lot of traffic to get through and that’s the kind of thing that wears tyres out more quickly. But I want to do the best I can and see what happens. I cannot say what position I will be in at the end, but I’d like to think I could be in the top ten at the least. Final qualifying 1 Pirro (I-Yamaha) 1:34.690, 2 Canepa (I-Ducati) 1:35.035, 3 Van Keymeulen (NL-Yamaha) 1:35.193, 4 Badovini (I-MV) 1:35.302, 5 Corti (I-Yamaha) 1:35.368, 6 Dello’Omo (I-MV) 1:35.475, 19 Xavier Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:36.613. More, from a press release issued by Team YZF Yamaha: Difficult practice On a track that was new for him, Shinichi Nakatomi was handicapped by bad weather and he had to be careful not to crash, which made the beginning of this weekend difficult. The first day of practice was hard for Shinichi Nakatomi, the Japanese rider discovering the track in cold (7° C) and wet conditions. It was important not to crash and get hurt for the following two days. It was a little bit easier on Saturday when the track was dry. The wind was sometime quite strong, making it harder for the riders. Nakatomi concentrated on the setting of his Yamaha so he could hope for good results on Sunday. Shinichi Nakatomi: “We progressed with the set up. I am riding here for the first time. I like this track, even if it is difficult. We worked as much as possible during the practice sessions and we will continue to do so during the warm up tomorrow.” Martial Garcia (team-manager): “The rain during the practice made it hard and did not allow us to solve our rear tyre grip problem. Our rider discovers this track which is very special. We chose not to take too many chances as long as the motorcycle is not yet perfectly set up.” Qualifying results: 1-Troy Bayliss (Ducati), 2-Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha), 3-Régis Laconi (Kawasaki), 4-James Toseland (Honda), 5-Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati)…22-Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha) World Championship standings: 1-Toseland (Honda) 90 points, 2-Biaggi (Suzuki) 74, 3-Bayliss (Ducati) 64, 4-Haga (Yamaha) 50, 5-Corser (Yamaha) 45 …15-Nakatomi (Yamaha) 10 More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Saturday Mar 31 2007 Superpole TROY BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX) POWERS TO 14TH CAREER POLE WITH RECORD-BREAKING LAP AT DONINGTON Donington (UK), Saturday 31 March: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox Team) set a record-breaking lap time of 1m30.370s at the Donington Park circuit to power to his 14th Superbike career pole. The Australian, who turned 38 yesterday, was seven tenths clear of second-placed Yamaha man, Noriyuki Haga and a full second quicker than Régis Laconi (Kawasaki) and James Toseland (Honda), who make up the front row of the grid. Lorenzo Lanzi made a massive improvement today to shoot up to fifth place after qualifying fourth in today’s final session. “There seemed to be a lot of wind out there, I didn’t do the first section well and went a bit wide on the left down through Craner but tried to keep cool for the rest of the lap” declared Troy. “I was a little bit disappointed as I thought I could do a 29.9 because, although most of us are pretty even on the first two splits, I’m really strong on the last section of the track. That could come in handy tomorrow because it’s a long hard race and that’s a good place to pass up the inside. We tried a long-run this afternoon but times started dropping off after about thirteen laps, so we tested another tyre, the lap times were a bit slower but we’re very confident for the race. It’s looking good for us, hopefully there’ll be some good weather and some good racing for everyone.” “Fifth place is not bad but I thought I could get onto the front row” commented Lorenzo. “I said yesterday that I had to improve in the final split but instead of improving I made a mistake on my Superpole lap. At the penultimate corner I came in too fast and didn’t open the throttle quick enough. I thought I could have done a low 1.31 lap which would have been enough for the front row. However it’s OK, the feeling with the bike is good, race set-up is not bad either so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. From Friday to Saturday we have changed quite a lot to improve the feeling even though I had a crash today. I’ll try and get a good start tomorrow. I’m right behind Troy on the grid so for both of us to get away from the rest would be great!” Starting-grid: 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m30.370s; 2. Haga (Yamaha) 1m31.084s; 3. Laconi (Kawasaki) 1m31.377s; 4. Toseland (Honda) 1m31.399s; 5. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1m31.504s; 6. Xaus (Ducati) 1m31.686s; 7. Biaggi (Suzuki) 1m31.689s; 8. Corser (Yamaha) 1m31.132s; 9. Muggeridge (Honda) 1m32.077s; 10. Nieto (Kawasaki) 1m32.178s. TV Coverage : Eurosport (Europe): Sunday 1 April, 1100 GMT race 1 (live). British Eurosport (UK): Saturday 31st March, 2000 Superpole (delayed). Sunday 1 April, 1200 race 1 (live), 1530 race 2 (live). Eurosport 2 (Europe): Saturday 31 March, 1500 Superpole (live). Eurosport (Italy): Sunday 1 April, 1300 race 1 (live). La7 (Italy): Saturday 31 March, 1650 Superpole (live), Sunday 1 April, 1250 race 1 (live), 1620 race 2 (live).

DUCATI NORTH AMERICA ANNOUNCES SUPERBIKE CONCORSO COMPETITION The Contest highlights Ducati Superbike history and performance; one Ducatisti will take home a 2007 1098 Superbike Cupertino, California Ducati North America announces the Ducati Superbike Concorso; a competition celebrating over 30 years of Ducati Superbikes. From Cook Neilson’s 1977 Daytona win to the recent introduction of the dramatic 1098, Ducati Superbikes have dominated racing circuits and become style icons worldwide. The Ducati Superbike Concorso highlights the history and spirit of these motorcycles and celebrates the passion of their owners. The Concorso is open to all 1972-2007 Ducati Superbikes and will recognize performance and history as well as beauty and craftsmanship. The contest consists of four regional rounds, which will coincide with AMA Superbike Championship races. The fifth round will be featured online at www.ducatiusa.com. This will culminate in six finalists and four Ducati-selected wild-cards to be chosen to compete on Ducati Island during the final AMA Superbike Championship round at Laguna Seca in September, 2007. The Grand Prize winner will take home a new Ducati 1098 Superbike. The top winners in “Modified/Performance Superbike” and “Original/Restored Superbike” categories will each win once-in-a-lifetime trips to Italy, where they will visit the Ducati factory and the Milan Motorcycle show as VIP guests. “The Superbike Concorso is a celebration of motorcycles that have put Ducati on the map since the 1970’s,” said Michael Lock, CEO of Ducati North America. “Many Ducati enthusiasts don’t realize just how many significant Superbikes we have built over the years, and how timeless and beautiful the designs are.” The Superbike Concorso begins at the Fontana, California round of the AMA Superbike Championship on April 27-29, 2007. The event will also make stops at Laguna Seca (July 20-22, 2007), Mid Ohio (August 3-5, 2007) and Road Atlanta (September 1-2, 2007). Full contest details and further information can be found at www.ducatiusa.com. More, from a press release issued by NCR: On its own Squadra Corse Racing Team (http://www.ncrcorse.com/us/) NCR pubblished some very interesting videos which capture great moment in Daytona, where Valter Bartolini captures a great win aboard the NCR Millona. The video also highlights a duel between Larry Pegram and Nick Ienatch aboard NCR New Blues and finally also a historic moment where Cook Neilson flies along the high bank of Daytona aboard New Blue, which was made in his and Phil Schilling’s honor. The moment solidifies the hard work of the continuous development of the pursuit of the passion of NCR but also the culmination of development that lead to the win in the predominant class of Sound of Thunder where Walter set a lap record of 1:45.4 which was one full second faster than his competitor Guareschi on his Moto Guzzi. Given that this was Valter¹s first time at Daytona, it shows the potential of NCR’s development of the 1200cc version of the Ducati 1000DS 2 valve engine. The base engine develops 77 hp at the wheel and it is magically worked on by NCR’s know how to develop an astonishing 115 hp at the wheel, almost a 40 hp increase while surviving the rigors of Daytona. Given that the 1200cc version is just a the beginning of the development cycle, it is still very impressive that it was able to hit 182 mph at 10,000 rpm. The combination of the excellent power to weight ratio and simplicity of the air cooled 2 valve engine gives the edge to NCR to be able to achieve an incredible motorcycle weight of 270 lbs combined with an incredible torque of 87 lb-ft at the rear wheel. www.ncrcorse.com

World Supersport Championship Round three: Donington Park, UK Saturday 31 March 2007 Qualifying report two Front row start for Sofuoglu at Donington Park World Supersport Championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu will start tomorrow’s 22-lap race at Donington Park from the front row for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda. The young Turkish rider finished second in this morning’s session and then led for most of the afternoon session in cloudy yet sunny conditions at the 4.02km Leicestershire track. Sofuoglu recorded consistent times throughout the second session – setting the fastest lap five times before eventually settling for third position behind Pere Riba and Simone Sanna. His best time of 1.34:382 is more than three seconds inside the existing lap record for the circuit – an impressive feat for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider on his debut race weekend at Donington Park. The series leader is hoping to extend his seven-point lead at the top of the championship standings tomorrow in a weekend that has already brought mixed fortunes for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda. Team-mate and defending champion Sébastien Charpentier did not take part in today’s sessions. He will not compete in tomorrow’s race as a result of injuries sustained in Friday’s practice session. The Frenchman has stretched ligaments and a slight fracture in his pelvis but hopes to be back in action at round four in Valencia, Spain on 15 April. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “Third on the grid is good for Kenan. Of course with Sébastien not here, it has been a bit more difficult because we couldn’t get the usual feedback and data comparisons between the riders. He has done a very good job; it is the first time he has ridden at Donington so to be leading for nearly the entire session is really good. He tried to go for a fast lap right at the end but unfortunately he got held up by some slower riders, which pushed him back to third. We know that Kenan is a racer, not a qualifier so to be on the front row is great. Not having Sébastien around it a setback for the team. The latest news is that his collarbone is fine but he has a very slight fracture at the bottom of the pelvic bone. It is very painful for him but it should heal quite quickly and we are confident that he will be back for Valencia.” Kenan Sofuoglu: “I am feeling OK after today. This morning I took it easy because there were so many crashes during the practice. I was fastest for most of the qualifying session this afternoon – it was just on the last lap that I got caught in traffic and didn’t secure the quick time I had hoped to. I am on the front row though and that is always the main aim. I’m feeling confident about the race and with Curtain, Parkes and my team-mate now out of the running it will feel very different up at the front. I think I have a good chance of finishing on the podium.” Qualifying times: 1. P. Riba, 1’34.066 2. S. Sanna, 1’34.195 3. K. Sofuoglu, 1’34.382 4. B. Veneman, 1’34.470 5. Y. Tiberio, 1’34.609 6. L. Alfonsi, 1’34.670 7. F. Foret, 1’34.737 8. K. Fujiwara, 1’34.953 9. D. Checa, 1’34.959 10. S. Gimbert, 1’35.038 S. Charpentier, DNS

FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: STOLEN RACE RIG! The Harley-Davidson of Bloomington race team is in Phoenix for the AHDRA races. While the team was in a restaurant eating dinner, the entire race rig was stolen. The stats on the equipment are listed below. If you could help me get the word out, maybe the thieves are ignorant enough to try to sell it. As a matter of fact, if anyone sees them and wants to beat on them a little, feel free, but don’t kill them, leave some for us”¦ 2001 White Ford V10 Four Winds RV Indiana License No. 118132 VIN 1FDXE45S01HA35122 2007 Black Pace Race trailer (unmarked, a few weeks old), Indiana License No. 494679 VIN 40LWB20247P139433 2005 VRXSE VIN HDR7RC71A6K975719 2006 VRXSE VIN HDR7RC71K6K976993 2002 yellow/black Aprilia SR50 scooter VIN ZD4RLC1012S000972 Also stolen; all personal items, laptops, Vanson Destroyer racing leathers, tools, Yamaha scooter, Handy Air lift, H-D pop-up, and many other items too numerous to list. The incident happened late Wednesday evening. Jeff Stevens (owner) and the rest of the race team are working with police as the search warehouse and industrial areas and of course the road. If dealers keep and eye out, you never know. Thanks for helping me get the word out. I will be back in the office tomorrow, but I can be reached on my cell at 812-585-0117 if something comes up today. Jim Markland General Manager Harley-Davidson of Bloomington (Indiana) 800-667-7939 www.IndianaHarley.com

Rich Oliver’s Mystery School is proud to announce SHIFT RACING as their “Official Riding Apparel Supplier” for 2007 and 2008. Based in Morgan Hill, CA, SHIFT stormed onto the motorcycling scene in 1997 and has grown into an international brand, producing innovative riding apparel for markets around the world. SHIFT has always been the choice for those looking for something unique and fresh and they focus on fusing the creative influences from the world of motocross/sportbikes, lifestyle and fashion into all of their stylish performance products. No matter what, where or how you ride, SHIFT’s progressive designs, premium materials and advanced construction methods will give you the confidence to take your ride to the limit. SHIFT Brand Manager Brett Nicholas comments, “We’re extremely excited to be working with Rich Oliver through his School programs, as it’s a great way to showcase our riding gear with his students and allows them to experience first hand the performance, quality and style that SHIFT offers.” Rich Oliver adds, “We are really pleased to have SHIFT as our official apparel supplier, as SHIFT provides riding gear that is safe, comfortable and performs perfectly. This allows our students to spend time learning to ride properly and not worry about ill fitting or uncomfortable riding gear. SHIFT gear is so comfortable that it feels like it’s not even there, but it protects and ventilates to insure our riders confidence.” SHIFT provides Rich Oliver’s Mystery School students over the boot RECON pants and ASSAULT Racepants, PROFILE chest/back/shoulder protectors, ASSAULT gloves and jerseys, SHIFT knee/shin guards and REFLEX kidney belts. Sizing covers a complete range of apparel for kids, women and men from small to XXL. You can find out more information about the complete SHIFT line: www.shiftracing.com Information about Mystery Camps with Rich Oliver: www.richoliver.net 559-855-3089 More, from a press release issued by Komodo: ESLICK CHOOSES KOMODO GLOVES FOR 2007 Danny Eslick announced today that he will be wearing KOMODO race gloves for the 2007 AMA racing season. Eslick stated he first tried KOMODO products last year, and found that the gloves gave him exceptional feel during a race and proved to provide superior protection in the event of a crash! Eslick explained that KOMODO not only builds great products, but the top management show a genuine love for racing, and respect for the rider. For additional information, log on to www.komodogear.com.

2007 SBK CORONA EXTRA SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP® DONINGTON PARK 3rd ROUND 30th, 31st MARCH and 1st APRIL FIRST QUALIFYING PRACTICE Donington Park, Friday 30 March 2007 BAYLISS AND CORSER THE EARLY LEADERS AT DONINGTON – BAYLISS TAKES NEW CIRCUIT BEST LAP IN SBK DESPITE COLD WEATHER Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) pocketed the new circuit best lap on an SBK weekend with a stunning 1’32.333, with possibly more to come if the weather conditions improve for day two of qualifying tomorrow. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) also went under the previous best with his 1’32.817 lap time, but he fell towards the end of the session, without significant injury. The wet morning untimed session saw Corser fastest while in the afternoon a narrow dry line, around almost the entire circuit, allowed all riders to improve on their early marks. Both track and air temperatures failed to rise into double figures, with the air temperature only 8°C and the track 7°C. XAUS BACK IN THE TOP LEVEL ON 2006 FACTORY DUCATI Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati) proved that he still has all the speed of his factory years on his year-old Ducati 999 machine, scoring third fastest lap of the session in tricky conditions. He was just ahead (by only 0.046 seconds) of current championship leader James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). Toseland’s old Ducati team-mate Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) was the quickest rider on a Kawasaki, and his inclusion in the day one top five put four different manufacturers into the top five places. PRIVATEER MUGGERIDGE BACK TO FITNESS AND GOOD PACE Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda) has only recently recovered from a left ankle and foot injury but he still posted sixth fastest time on the opening day. Another rider who was involved in a race to be fit for Donington (Yukio Kagayama from the Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra Team) went seventh quickest before falling and having to visit the medical centre. He was finally declared unfit to ride after examination. His best time was just ahead of the final top ten riders, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia), his team-mate Max Biaggi (who experienced clutch problems with his GSX-R near the end) and a fast rider in the wet morning session, Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). BUSSEI GETS A TOW TO GO 11th FASTEST Giovanni Bussei (Sterilgarda Ducati) was an impressive 11th fastest at Donington after towing his motorcycle to Donington behind a car, in the old-fashioned way. He was just up on countryman Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda), with the top 16 rounded out by Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse), Steve Martin (DFX Corse Honda), Muggeridge’s team-mate Joshua Brookes and German privateer Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany). WORLD SUPERSPORT – SOFUOGLU USURPED BY WET WEATHER SPECIALISTS In a wet qualifying session, also held in cold conditions, surprising results were the order of the first day when Matthieu Lagrive (Intermoto Czech Honda) qualified fastest with WSS rookie rider Davide Giugliano (Kawasaki Lightspeed) second. World championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was third fastest, with replacement rider Arnaud Vincent (Tati Team Beaujolais Yamaha) fourth, just up on local rider and WSS regular Craig Jones (Reve Ekerold Honda Racing). Of great significance in the championship fight, three top riders fell and suffered injuries in the wet morning session. Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes both fell at the same Goddards corner in different incidents, and each injured their left collarbones, ruling themselves out the Donington race. Reigning champion Sebastien Charpentier hurt his previously injured collarbone and pelvis in another crash, and was finally declared unfit. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP – PIRRO FASTEST AFTER ONE DAY Superstock new rider Michele Pirro (Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha) was the fastest rider on show at the first session of the opening round of the 2007 season, with his own team-mate Claudio Corti second quickest, from 39 entered riders. Didier Van Keymeulen (TTSL MGM Racing Yamaha) the former champion of this class, was third fastest, with the first Suzuki proving to be that of Ilario Dionisi (Cruciani Moto Suzuki Italia). Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta) was the best MV rider, fifth fastest. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox 1098) made an impact in his first sessions on the 1098 Ducati, going seventh in the first practice rankings. SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – BERGER FOR FRANCE Maxime Berger (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) made the best of a drying track to score a 1’38.313 in the 600cc division, and take fastest time of the day. Michele Magnoni (Bevilaqua Yamaha) was next fastest, with local rider Greg Black (Politas Racing Team Yamaha) third. Sylvain Barrier (Coutelle Junior Team Yamaha) rounded out the top four, while Andrea Antonelli (Team Italia Megabike Honda) was the first CBR600RR rider on show. More, from a press release issued by HAHNspree Ten Kate Honda: World Superbike Championship Round three: Donington Park, UK Friday 30 March 2007 Qualifying report one HANNspree Ten Kate Honda performs well in the wet A cold and wet Donington Park played host to the first European leg of the 2007 World Superbike Championship today. The initial qualifying session of the weekend saw HANNspree Ten Kate Honda riders James Toseland and Roberto Rolfo secure some impressive lap times despite the bad conditions. Yorkshireman James Toseland started his first home race of the season as he means to go on. He secured a succession of fast lap times during the 45-minute session before taking a tactical decision to save his supply of dry tyres and continue on wets to the end. After spending much of the time in the top two, he finished fourth fastest with a best lap of 1’33.692. Roberto Rolfo proved that he is determined to claim a top six place in the standings as he put in a brilliant display of wet-weather riding. The Italian completed this morning’s free practice in fourth position overall and remained in the top five for the majority of the afternoon’s qualifying. The end of the session saw Rolfo unable to pass a group of slower riders that forced him back into tenth place. His final best lap stands at 1’35.363. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “I am quite happy with the start of the weekend for both riders. With conditions like this and the added pressure of a home round, it was even more difficult for James today. He was fastest for most of the session until the end when we decided not to go for a fresh tyre. We are expecting that the weather will be fine for the rest of the weekend so we want to preserve the tyres for that. Roby has made huge progress today compared with Phillip Island. He was running in the top six for the majority of the session. We have done a lot of work with Roby in the break between Phillip Island and Donington and his riding style has really improved as a result of that. He has changed his mindset and I praise him for that. So, let’s see what tomorrow brings – we have to shave off at least a second to be on the front row so we have some work to do overnight but I’m sure we can do it.” James Toseland: “The session was pretty good for me. It was drying up at the end there but even in the damp conditions I was second quickest at one point and that’s unusual for me so I was pretty pleased. The new package we have on the bike is giving me a lot of confidence even in these conditions. We were going to put on new tyres towards the end to go for pole position but we know the weather forecast is OK for tomorrow and Sunday so we’ve held some back. We’ve got plenty of tyres for the weekend so hopefully we can get the best out of them and I can concentrate on winning.” Roberto Rolfo: “It was not bad today. In the rain this morning I had a good feeling on the bike immediately. We tried to improve my riding style during the session and by the end I was much quicker than the beginning. In the qualifying I started with a rain tyre then changed to intermediate, then dry. My lap times improved and by the end I was confident that I could secure my fastest time, but I hit some traffic and lost about five tenths of a second. This was not so good because I know I could have gone faster but it’s not a problem – tomorrow it will be better.” Qualifying times: 1. T. Bayliss, 1’32.333 2. T. Corser, 1’32.817 3. R. Xaus, 1’33.646 4. J. Toseland, 1’33.692 5 R. Laconi, 1’33.729 6. K. Muggeridge, 1’34.203 7. Y. Kagayama, 1’34.549 8. N. Haga, 1’34.553 9. M. Biaggi, 1’34.593 10. R. Rolfo, 1’35.363 More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Friday Mar 30 2007 Qualifying BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX) SETS THE PACE AT DONINGTON Donington (UK), Friday 30 March: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox Team) set the pace in first qualifying for the European Round of the World Superbike Championship at a cold and damp Donington Park today. The Australian’s time of 1m32.333s was well inside the long-standing best lap set by Neil Hodgson in 2000 although it is the first time World Superbikes have raced at Donington since 2001. Team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi was less fortunate, crashing in the one-hour session and ending up outside the top 16. “It’s a pretty good start to the weekend” declared Troy. “This morning we had very mixed conditions, around 6°, and the track was quite wet. We did OK but were a little bit hesitant and had to work our way into it. This afternoon the track finally arrived dry towards the end of the session and the times were quite good considering we hadn’t had any dry track time. I’m confident tomorrow if we get some good conditions we can go quite a bit faster, but overall the bike’s feeling good and I’m happy on it so we’ll move on to tomorrow.” “I could have done without that crash at the entrance to Coppice when I lost the front”, commented Lorenzo. “I haven’t been here for six years and I’m finding the conditions quite difficult. Tomorrow the forecast looks better and today I just didn’t want to take any risks. However I feel that potentially I can go a lot quicker because the bike set-up is pretty good. The crash led us astray a bit because we then made the wrong choice of front tyre, the softer one, and the track started to dry out and I was unable to set a quick time. Tomorrow I’ll try and improve, especially in the last part of the circuit from the chicane to the final hairpin.” Times: 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m32.333s; 2. Corser (Yamaha) 1m32.817s; 3. Xaus (Ducati) 1m33.646s; 4. Toseland (Honda) 1m33.692s; 5. Laconi (Kawasaki) 1m33.729s; 6. Muggeridge (Honda) 1m34.203s; 7. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m34.549s; 8. Haga (Yamaha) 1m34.553s; 9. Biaggi (Suzuki) 1m34.593s; 10. Rolfo (Honda) 1m35.363s; … 17. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1m36.735s. More, from another press release issued by HAHNspree Ten Kate Honda: World Supersport Championship Round three: Donington Park, UK Friday 30 March 2007 Qualifying report one First Supersport qualifying session takes place in the wet The first European round of the 2007 World Supersport Championship kicked off at a cold and wet Donington Park today. It was a mixed day for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda with Kenan Sofuoglu putting in an impressive performance on his debut at the 4.02km track. Meanwhile, his team-mate Sébastien Charpentier was forced to sit out of the first qualifying session following a crash during the wet morning practice. Kenan Sofuoglu once again proved that he is a rider to watch in 2007. Despite having never ridden at Donington Park before, the young Turkish rider battled the far-from-perfect conditions to secure the third fastest time of the day. After putting in the fastest laps for much of the 45-minute session, he finished with a best time of 1’41.621. Sébastien Charpentier started the free practice well, but the conditions got the better of him as he slid off the track 35 minutes in. The Frenchman suffered damage to his pelvic ligaments and is under observation to determine whether he will participate in tomorrow’s second qualifying session at the Derbyshire circuit. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager: “Today didn’t start well with Sébastien crashing out in what was actually a very low speed incident. He has stretched some of the ligaments in his pelvis and we are investigating if there has been any movement of the metal plate in his collarbone injury from 2006. We still think he will be OK to ride tomorrow but for today he needed to rest. Kenan took to the track for the team and he found his way around a wet Donington Park pretty quickly. He was the fastest man out there for much of the session. We decided to keep going with wet tyres when other riders moved to intermediates or even dry tyres because he was doing so well and our aim is to be on the front row. We hope that tomorrow will be dry and we hope even more that Sébastien will be back with us and we will be a full team once again.” Kenan Sofuoglu: “I am happy with today. This morning it was completely wet and we had to make a lot of adjustments to the new CBR600RR to try to get the right set-up. For the qualifying session this afternoon, the conditions were much better – the track was starting to dry out. I actually like it when some parts are dry and some parts are wet, so it was not as bad for me as it was for the other riders. A lot of my main competitors were far behind in the timings. Having said that, I hope that tomorrow brings completely dry conditions! I think if it is dry tomorrow we will be able to make good progress on the set-up and I can do a lot better.” Qualifying times: 1. M. Lagrive, 1’40.239 2. D. Guigliano, 1’41.208 3. K. Sofuoglu, 1’41.621 4. A. Vincent, 1’41.639 5. C. Jones, 1’42.465 6. P. Riba, 1’42.539 7. M. Roccoli. 1’42.556 8. V. Kallio, 1’42.967 9. G. Nannelli, 1’42.989 10. L. Alfonsi, 1’43.04 More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: COLD AND RAIN FOR THE FIRST DAY AT DONINGTON (Donington Park 2007, March 30) Rain and cold gave a bad welcome to the third round of World Superbike at Donington for this that should be a cheerful day to celebrate the 20th anniversary of World Superbike. Temperature just over the 0°C and a persistent and frozen rain did transform the Donington track into a hidden trap where run several of the favourites, out of the race just from the first free practice session in the morning. For this reason most of the riders stay quiet today and so the today’s result should be totally changed tomorrow. Gianluca Nannelli, at his debut on the severe Derbyshire circuit, recorded the 9th fast in Supersport qualifying. “That isn’t the best way to learn a track!” confessed a frozen Gianluca Nannelli at the end of the practice “The track, already famous for his sliding grip, owing the vicinity of East Midlands airport and the fuel drops that airplanes release during take off and landing. Also the set up of the bike is clearly not correct, however I’m quite satisfied for today’s result. But of course tomorrow, for the final qualifying, also who stay hided today for prudence, will come out and, if the track will be dry, the lines followed today will be modified.” Also Jakub Smrz in Superbike must fight against the cold; on the wet track in the morning he has been one of the fastest, then when during the afternoon the track dried he lost positions, but more important, he could not work systematically for the machine’s set up. “I know Donington circuit, as well I rode here before always in Summer, and for my forst time on a Superbike it would be better to find different weather conditions..” said Jakub Smrz after qualifying session. “During the morning’s session, in wet condition, I’ve been quite quick, 7th fastest, but then in the afternoon the rain stopped and we rode on a this, dry line. But in such condition it would be exit the dry line to fall or lose time. The handling is quite good, at least in such conditions, but the track is very cold, so it’s easy make a mistake and I don’t want it.” Superbike Friday Qualifying Pl., Rider, Nat., Bike, Lap Time 1. BAYLISS Troy, AUS, Ducati 999 F07, 1’32.333 2. CORSER Troy, AUS, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’32.817 3. XAUS Ruben, ESP, Ducati 999 F06, 1’33.646 4. TOSELAND James, GBR, Honda CBR 1000RR, 1’33.692 5. LACONI Regis, FRA, Kawasaki ZX 10R, 1’33.729 6. MUGGERIDGE Karl, AUS, Honda CBR 1000RR, 1’34.203 7. KAGAYAMA Yukio, JPN, Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K7, 1’34.549 8. HAGA Noriyuki, JPN, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’34.553 9. BIAGGI Max, ITA, Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K7, 1’34.593 10. ROLFO Roberto, ITA, Honda CBR 1000RR, 1’35.363 18. SMRZ Jakub, CZE, Ducati 999 F05 Scuderia SC Caracchi, 1’36.796 Supersport Friday Qualifying Pl., Rider, Nat., Bike, Lap Time 1. LAGRIVE Mathieu, FRA, Honda CBR 600RR, 1’40.239 2. GIUGLIANO Davide, ITA, Kawasaki ZX6RR, 1’41.208 3. SOFUOGLU Kenan, TUR, Honda CBR 600RR, 1’41.621 4. VINCENT Arnaud, FRA, Yamaha YZFR6, 1’41.639 5. JONES Craig, GBR, Honda CBR 600RR, 1’42.465 6. RIBA Pere, ESP, Kawasaki ZX6RR, 1’42.539 7. ROCCOLI Massimo, ITA, Yamaha YZFR6, 1’42.556 8. KALLIO Vesa, FIN, Suzuki GSX600R, 1’42.967 9. NANNELLI Gianluca, ITA, Ducati 749 R Scuderia SC Caracchi, 1’42.989 10. ALFONSI Lorenzo, ITA, Honda CBR 600RR, 1’43.004 More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra: 2007 Superbike World Championship Round 3, Europe, Donington Park, UK Friday qualifying, 30th March Circuit: 4.023 km Conditions: Cold, mostly damp 6-8 C. Conditions during the first day of the third round of this year’s Superbike World Championship were difficult so Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Yukio Kagayama and Max Biaggi started cautiously. The morning session was cold and wet and, although conditions improved marginally in the afternoon, the track still had several damp patches. It was one of these that Yukio hit towards the end of the qualifying session and which caused him to suffer a heavy fall, knocking him out for a few minutes He was taken to the Medical Centre for a check up and X-rays, but luckily suffered no broken bones or any other injuries apart from a sore back. His team mate Max Biaggi took today very carefully, using the two sessions to find a good base set-up for his GSX-R1000 K7, before beginning to push hard. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) posted the day’s fastest lap, over a second under the lap record. Second is Troy Corser Yamaha), with Ruben Xaus (Ducati) third and series leader James Toseland (Honda) fourth. YUKIO – 7th, 1:34.549 The conditions today were not easy and then I crashed! It happened at Craner Curves, when I hit a small damp patch on the track and lost control. I hit my head and knocked myself out for a little while, but there were no other injuries. My back is very sore, but I’m sure it’ll be OK after a good sleep. I would like to race this weekend, but it is not up to me. We shall see what happens in the morning. MAX – 9th, 1:34.593 Today was not so easy and I used the time to try and find a good base set-up for my bike. We had no data from here, so we had to start at the beginning and work our way through quite a few things. In these conditions it is difficult to try and choose tyres for the race because conditions could be very different tomorrow or Sunday. This afternoon, when the track was half wet and half dry was tricky and I didn’t want to push too hard and crash. A few times today I made small mistakes breaking too hard and having to run a bit wide. That was probably because we had some clutch problems and that was probably why I couldn’t go any faster at the end of the qualifying session. Friday qualifying 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:32.33, 2 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:32.817, 3 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:33.646, 4 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:33.692, 5 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:33.729, 6 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:34.203, 7 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.549, 8 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:34.553, 9 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.593, 10 Rolfo (I-Honda) 1:35.363 More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Injuries mean an early return home for Yamaha World Supersport Team The third round of the World Supersport Championship got off to a bad start for the Yamaha World Supersport Team, with both Curtain and Parkes sustaining injuries during crashes in the free practice session on Friday. The crashes ended the team’s hopes of success for the weekend. Kevin Curtain was the first to fall early on in the wet session, high-siding the bike at Goddard’s corner in front of his team mate resulting in a clean break to his collar bone. It is not known yet whether Kevin will be fit enough to race at Valencia in two weeks. Broc spent the session focusing on putting some distance on the tyres and re-acquainting himself with the track not having ridden here since 2001, when he rode for Ducati in the World Superbike Championship. Unfortunately, in the closing stages of the session he high-sided the bike at the same corner as Kevin, leaving him with a small fracture to his collar bone. Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) “The track conditions were too cold today especially the last corner, which was really slippery. I was hoping for the track to dry quickly to really put in some good laps. It is frustrating to work so hard for the first two rounds and then this to happen here. Right now, it is hard for me to say when I’ll be back; I will do my best to be there.” Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World Supersport Team) “I’m all right. I now just want to concentrate on getting my collar bone fixed before Valencia in two weeks time. It is a good break at least, if there is such a thing. The conditions just weren’t good out there today. I aim to be back for Valencia, we will have to wait and see if that is realistic or not.” Despite the misfortunes of the Yamaha World Supersport team there was good news for other Yamaha-shod riders in the championship. Former French 125 GP World Champion and current entrant in the French Supersport Championship – Arnaud Vincent put in a best lap of 1’41.208 to take provisional fourth place in the afternoon’s qualifying session, while Massimo Roccoli set a best time of 1’42.556, placing him in seventh position. Yamaha GMT94 team members Sébastien Gimbert and David Checa finished the day in 12th and 13th places respectively. The fastest man in today’s qualifying session was Matthieu Lagrive (Honda), followed by Davide Giugliano (Kawasaki) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda). Arnaud Vincent completes the provisional front row going in to tomorrow’s final qualifying session. Arnaud Vincent (4th – 1’41.639 – Tati Team Beaujolais Racing) “In today’s qualifying I started with a wet rear tyre but then switched to a slick after ten minutes as the track was starting to dry. I hope tomorrow is wet because the wet conditions will even out the playing field and also I often ride well in the wet.” Massimo Roccoli (7th – 1’42.556 – Yamaha Motor Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) “During the qualifying session I mainly rode with wet tyres. During one pit stop I saw that the tyre was pretty much finished so I opted for an intermediate. Just before the session ended I managed to put in a good lap placing me in seventh overall. We have a good wet race set up now so I’m confident I will start from the second row on Sunday if it continues to rain. We will see how final qualifying goes tomorrow.”

ROUND 3 DONINGTON, GREAT BRITAIN 29th MARCH 2007 RACE PREVIEW March 2007, Donington (Great Britain) After the first two races outside the European arena, SBK is coming back to its normal scene, doing things in its usual way. And it is an amazing way. Ready to start from this weekend are the Superstock 600 and Superstock 1000 championships, which are joining the paddock, upping the total amount of riders to more than 130. This round is definitely something special, and there are many interesting issues to peruse. First of all we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the series, with a special party and a special ceremony held on the circuit that hosted the first ever SBK race 20 years ago and has now come back to the SBK calendar this season. Pirelli is proud to say that it has been a protagonist in SBK since the beginning, and many of the racing stars of yesteryear who are joining-in the fun this weekend used to race on Pirelli, as all riders in the contemporary championship do. Donington on April 1 will be quite unpredictable. Both the general temperature and the weather can be really changeable, so this has complicating the job for the Pirelli technicians charged with the task of bringing the right tyres to an almost ‘new’ racetrack. Once again they have to rely on the experience of the past and on the experience given by participation in National racing. Superbike riders will have at their disposal 3 choices of front tyres and options for 5 rear tyres plus a qualifier, together with intermediate and rain tyres. For Supersport the DIABLO SUPERCORSA will come in 3 different solutions, both for front and rear again to be added to the intermediate and rain tyres. Superstock 1000 is racing with DIABLO SUPERCORSA SC2 in the sizes 120/70 and 190/55 17″, and last but not least Superstock 600 is going to use the same impressive DIABLO SUPERCORSA SC2, but in sizes 120/70 and 180/55. The total amount of tyres to appear at Donington will be almost 6,000, and in the paddock the Pirelli working area is unmistakably large, creating a colorful yellow and red island.

WORLD SUPERBIKE CELEBRATES TWENTY YEARS AT DONINGTON Donington (UK), Thursday 29 March: Donington Park will roar to the sound of World Superbikes this weekend for the first time since 2001 as the European Round of the championship takes place at the East Midlands circuit. Six years on, the event holds special significance because it was 20 years ago, almost exactly to the day, that the World Superbike championship began. Despite winning the first of his two WSBK titles that very same year, the Ducati Xerox Team’s Troy Bayliss had a difficult time at Donington in 2001 and the Australian could only manage to string together a 13th and a 9th place in the two races after struggling with tyre problems. Troy goes into the third round of this year’s championship with one race win under his belt as he attempts to make up the 26 points on the current series leader and local favourite, James Toseland (Honda). Troy Bayliss, 3rd in championship (64 points) Troy Bayliss has been to Donington numerous times in British Superbike, World Superbike and in MotoGP and rates it as one of his favourite circuits. “The last time I rode there was in MotoGP in 2005 and it was a new surface but I crashed out in the rain. I’ve got fond memories of Donington and I do like racing there, especially the Old Hairpin part of the circuit, but I’ve never had the results I’d like to have had – like a double win! We’re going to go there and give it a shot and all we can hope for is we get a lucky break with the weather in England. This time of year we could have anything, there was even snow a few years back! Last year at this point in the championship, I only had one win, so I’m pretty much on track. It’s a tough schedule ahead with five rounds in Europe in the next two months, but I’m in good shape, everyone’s working well in the team and we’re looking forward to kicking on.” Lorenzo Lanzi, 6th in championship (44 points) Lorenzo Lanzi has only raced once at Donington, back in 2001 with a 250 GP team, but is confident that he can continue his positive start to the season this weekend. “I have already raced at Donington once, in 2001 with 250 GP but I haven’t been there for six years. That’s a long time and the conditions will undoubtedly be difficult at this time of year. I quite like the circuit, it’s very technical, very quick the first part and just plain slow the second so for sure we will give the brakes a good workout at Donington. As for the championship, it’s a pity about the electrical problem I had in Superpole at Phillip Island because we could have had another good race. However as a start to the season goes, it hasn’t been bad, now we’re going to Donington to try and make up for points we lost in the race in Australia.” 20 Years Ago The World Superbike championship got underway with a round at Donington twenty years ago on April 3rd 1988. The two winners on the day were current Ducati Xerox team manager Davide Tardozzi on a Bimota and Marco Lucchinelli (Ducati), but the overall win went to ‘Lucky’ as race results were combined for the first, last and only time in World Superbike history. In the nineteen editions since then there have been a total of 11 champions and 55 different race winners, with Carl Fogarty (4 titles and 59 wins) topping the lists ahead of double champions Troy Bayliss and Troy Corser (35 and 33 wins respectively). To celebrate the anniversary an array of stars, including former champion Fred Merkel (Honda) and 2003 winner Neil Hodgson (Ducati), will be riding their original race bikes on parade laps on Saturday and Sunday. The Circuit Name: Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit Length: 4.023 km Pole Position: left Finish line length: 564 m Corners left/right: 5/7 Race distance: 23 laps/92.529 km Statistics : Best lap: Fogarty (Ducati) 1m32.121s (1999). Lap record: Corser (Ducati) 1m33.470s (1996). Superpole: Edwards (Honda), 1m32.559s (2000). 2006 Results : no race 2001 Results : Race 1 – 1. Hodgson (Ducati); 2. Chili (Suzuki); 3. Hislop (Ducati). Race 2 – 1. Chili; 2. Hodgson; 3. Corser (Aprilia).

Bridgestone MotoGP: Jerez GP Debrief Q+A with Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Sport The sheer competitiveness of the MotoGP field at last weekend’s Jerez GP made it extremely tight at the top of the timesheets with just half-a-second separating the top twelve in qualifying and less than five seconds splitting race winner Valentino Rossi from fifth-placed Bridgestone-shod rider Casey Stoner. The top Bridgestone rider was Honda Gresini’s Toni Elias who spectacularly charged up to fourth place having started from eighth on the grid. How satisfied are you with tyre performance during the Jerez GP weekend? “In terms of the performance of our tyres, I think we can be very pleased, even if the end results from the weekend are somewhat disappointing. After the three free practice sessions over Friday and Saturday morning, we had five of our riders in the top seven of the combined standings and the tyres had shown good consistency over many laps. Qualifying was incredibly competitive and we only missed out on pole by just over a tenth-of-a-second, but that time, set by Casey Stoner, was only good enough for fifth place. In the race itself, our tyres were quick and consistent over the full 27 laps of the race and in the closing stages Toni and Casey were lapping over half-a-second quicker than everyone else. Although we missed out on the podium, we derived great satisfaction from the level of performance from our tyres in the race.” Do you think that qualifying performance was the key to success in Jerez? “I certainly think that our riders faced a bit of an uphill challenge by not being on the front row, but this is no reflection on them or the tyres. Several of our riders could have staked a claim for the front row and the top fifteen riders were separated by less than one second. Starting from further back on the grid allowed the guys at the front to pull out an all important lead, which was just slightly out of reach by the chequered flag. Toni and Casey’s advantage in the final laps reduced the deficit from almost ten seconds to just one second by the end of the race. I am sure a few extra laps would have made all the difference. Since winter testing, we have worked hard to improve our qualifying tyre performance and I was pleased to see a reduction in the gap to the front in Qatar and Jerez GPs. However we know that there is still work to do and we are always seeking continuous improvements in this area.” How influential were weather conditions over the weekend? “We enjoyed a dry weekend, but the track and ambient temperatures fluctuated a lot over the weekend. The track was as cool as 15°C on Friday morning, but as high as 40°C during qualifying. We provided our teams with medium and soft compound tyres in Jerez, both of which had performed well during practice sessions. The slightly cloudier, cooler temperatures we experienced on Sunday allowed us to run the softer specification of tyre which was still giving optimum grip on the final lap of the race. Toni posted his quickest lap of the race on the third lap, 1m41.395s, and set a 1m41.916 on the penultimate lap of the race, just half-a-second slower. Casey’s best of 1m41.443s came on lap seven, but his final lap of the race was under four-tenths slower, 1m41.825s.” What developments did Bridgestone make during the post-GP test session? “The weather even played a role after the race because the post race test with all five of our teams on Monday was hit by rain. We used the opportunity to evaluate the latest generation of Bridgestone wet weather tyres, since many of our teams have not had the chance to run their new 800cc machines in wet conditions. Although Tuesday’s weather was better, the rain-interrupted day on Monday meant that we did not have sufficient time to carry out much of our test programme. Concerning qualifying tyres, we were able to try one specification front and rear qualifying tyre. We worked with Honda Gresini, Kawasaki and Ducati on this second day and we saw some interesting lap times. Marco Melandri was quickest with a time of 1m39.484s which was 0.082s from Dani Pedrosa’s pole time on Saturday afternoon.” Will Bridgestone introduce front qualifying tyres in time for Turkey? “We hope that our front qualifying tyre development work will prove advantageous in the long-run, but we still need more time to evaluate the front spec, so it will not be introduced in Turkey. I believe that the rear tyre is where we will derive most benefit and improvement in qualifying performance. The initial test results from Tuesday were certainly promising and we are quite pleased with the progress made so far.”