FIRST ROUND SET TO OFFER THRILLING START – LOSAIL ONCE MORE THE VENUE FOR FIRST ROUND OF SBK SEASON As the build-up to the 20th year of World Superbike competition hardens into actual competition for points at the 5.4km Losail circuit on Saturday 24th February, anticipation is already at fever pitch for what is expected to be one of the most competitive seasons ever. Three former champions, and half a gridful of potential race winners, will line up for first practice at Losail on Thursday 22 February, all hoping to make strong starts to the season. BAYLISS SET TO RESIST PRESSURE FROM WITHIN AND WITHOUT Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) may have swept to victory in his comeback year in 2006 but few observers feel that he will have as clear a path this season. With his team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) making serious strides in winter testing, and the riders of the latest generation of four-cylinder 1000cc powerhouses from Japan showing strongly over the winter months, Bayliss faces threats to his supremacy on many fronts. Ducati will field another proven SBK race winner in the shape of Ruben Xaus (Team Sterilgarda 999F06) plus the exciting new SBK talents of Jakub Smrz (Team Caracchi Ducati SC 999F05) and Dean Ellison (Team Pedercini 999RS). Ellison has competed in SBK races before, as a wildcard at previous British rounds, but this is his first full season. BIAGGI STARTS HIS SBK CAREER AT QATAR ROUND Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) will have his first ever SBK race, at Losail, on February 24th, with the four-times 250GP champion looking make as strong a start as possible in the tough SBK world. Sometimes fast in testing, Biaggi will be looking to Losail to get good early points on the board, before the championship moves onto another of his favourite circuits, Phillip Island in Australia, right after Qatar. His team-mate, Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) cannot be thinking of anything less than a podium place for the Qatar meeting, as his past record at the track is one of tremendous achievement, interspersed with simple bad luck when in leading positions. Suzuki’s participation in 2007 includes the limitlessly talented Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany) and the reigning Superstock 1000FIM Cup champion, Alessandro Polita (Celani Team Suzuki Italia). HONDA SIX RIDE POTENT FOURS The list of potential 2007 champions features all three previous SBK champions still active in the series, and as runner up on 2006, James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) is in with a real chance to repeat his championship win in 2004. Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) will possibly be looking to the future rounds to try and take his first win in SBK, but his move from privateer Ducati to factory Honda machinery will have helped his cause no end. Honda are impressively armed with talent in 2007, with Steve Martin and Michel Fabrizio on DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR machines, while a very welcome new name in SBK racing, Alto Evolution Honda, field 2004 World Supersport Champion Karl Muggeridge and former WSS race winner Josh Brookes to complete a powerful Honda line-up. HAGA AND CORSER READY FOR THE OFF A total of four full-time Yamaha riders will be in attendance at the 13-rounds of World Superbike this year, with the Yamaha Motor Italia team featuring one old hand (Noriyuki Haga) and one two-time SBK champion (Troy Corser) on the all-new Yamaha R1s. Further Yamaha entries come from Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha YZF team) and Jiri Drazdak (Yamaha Junior Pro SBK team). ZX-10R TOP TEAM TRIMMED AND READY TO GO Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) and Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) return to their 2006 team and the latest version of the ZX-10R, each with high hopes of their best ever season on four-cylinder machinery. Laconi has the better long-term SBK formbook but the ever-improving Nieto is tipped by some to be not far away from race-winning pace this season, with increased support from Kawasaki as a manufacturer. MV AGUSTA IN FOR A FULL SEASON ON A MODEST SCALE Austrian Christian Zaiser from the LBR team has the honour of becoming the first full-time MV Agusta entry to the SBK championship, although he will be running in a one-man privateer team. SBK CIRCUS MAKES A BREATHLESS DASH TO OZ FOR ROUND TWO A mere eight days after the first round of the World Superbike championship gets underway at Losail on 24th February the second round will take place on Sunday 4 March, at the spectacularly-appointed Phillip island circuit in Australia. SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Few seasons in the World Supersport Championship are ever set to be as closely contested as the forthcoming one, despite Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) making history last year by becoming the only man ever to retain the title. His own team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu is mounted on the same new CBR600RR as Charpentier in 2007, and is in superb form after testing, while Yamaha R6 competitors Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes (Yamaha SSP Racing) are as formidable foes as any that could be imagined. A whopping 36 riders will compete in this class this year, and adding to the strength in depth, the GIL Kawasaki team will field former champion Fabien Foret and Pere Riba, while the Lightspeed Kawasaki squad from Italy will run rookie Davide Giugliano. Gianluca Nannelli (Team Caracchi Ducati SC 749R) will no doubt ride the best-placed Ducati in the opening two rounds, while Suzuki can count on Barry Veneman and Vesa Kallio from the Hoegee Suzuki team.

Read about it here: ~http://www.duemotori.com/news/a1gp/10861_A1GP_to_regionalise_management_focus.php~

Safety First Suzuki to ride on Michelin Tires in 2007 AMA Series When the Safety First Suzuki GSXR 600’s take to the track this year, they will be astride Michelin tires. Team Owner Kevin Hanson indicated, “I am really looking forward to this year, both riders have been on Michelin in the past, and we’ll be able to test and develop some compounds for Michelin as the year goes along. Michelin is excited to be on board with Safety First with our kids safety program due to their bicycle tire production. It’s the purest reflection of a win-win relationship.” Rider Bobby Fong commented, “I am very pleased and excited to be offered the opportunity to compete on the Michelin tires for my first professional year in the AMA FX and Supersport racing season. With Michelin’s help in 2006, I was able to achieve 2 AFM championships as well as high point scorer in the AFM series. I am proud to know that Michelin Tires will once again provide me with the finest tires available.” “I am also really excited to be working with Michelin again this season” quoted rider Scotty Ryan. “I always know that Ron Wood, Tommy Mason and Walt Schafer are going to point me in the right direction. I think that the familiarity that Bobby and I have with the Michelins combined with Jim and Kevin’s expertise with the Suzuki’s – we will have a really strong team this season.” Ron Wood, Michelin’s Manager of Road Racing and Sales added, “Michelin is proud to be associated Safety First Racing for 2007. The 2007 AMA race season should prove to be interesting with the addition of exciting new riders, Bobby Fong and Scott Ryan. We are also excited and anxious to work with Kevin on the kids program. Michelin is a family oriented company and the kids program fits well with our company.” Safety First Suzuki was formed in 2004 by police officer/racer, Kevin Hanson, based out of Chicago, IL. For 2007, Safety First Suzuki will be competing in the AMA Superbike series in the Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes. Checkout www.SAFETYFIRSTRACING.com to see the Safety First Suzuki line of apparel and casual wear. Kevin Hanson continues to educate elementary school aged children nationwide about the importance of helmet usage.

Team NB, team boss Norris Farrow, yesterday announced support from both Pirelli UK Tyres Ltd and Maxima Racing Oils (UK) Ltd, for the commencement of the Teams testing schedule, and the duration of the 2007 British Superbike season. Farrow made comment “both myself and the crew are really looking forward to working with two such premier brands and are looking forward to a good working relationship with both parties. We believe, we have a unique opportunity to evolve and develop both the Pirelli tyres within the British Superbike Championship, and the excellent range of lubricants supplied by Maxima Racing Oils, we look forward to good success with both parties during our testing schedule and for the 2007 season”. The Boston based team, leave for a three day test at the Almeria circuit in Spain at the end of February, followed by a further three day test at the Gaudix circuit in Spain during the first week in March. Both riders, Ollie and Tommy Bridewell, commented, “we can not wait to get back on the bikes, after what seem’s to have been a very long winter, we are both looking forward to working with Pirelli Tyres and Maxima Racing Oils, and are very keen to impress during the upcoming tests”. Farrow, once again, made comment ” we at Team NB continue to support the youth of the industry, and by doing so, hopefully enhance their future opportunities within the British Superbike Championship”. Team NB, would also like to take this opportunity to thank, their title sponsors ‘Naturally Best’, for its continued support for the 2007 season.

DVS Honda’s 2007 Superbike campaign kicked off this weekend with round 1 of the YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship taking place at Eastern Creek. The round also marked the teams first official race with Adam “Krusty” Fergusson wasting no time in putting the team’s CBR1000RR on its first race podium and finishing the round one point away from 3rd position in the championship. Shane Trovato Team Principal DVS Honda “We’re really pleased with the weekend our first competitive run. This was only our second outing on Dunlop tyres, our first here at Eastern Creek. The team concentrated on getting a good race setup and got the job done, as our race lap times showed. More time on these tyres and we’ll be further up the front chasing Jamie.” “We really need make a special mention of Garry and Aaron from Dunlop for their awesome support. This weekend they were just like extra team members and were always there when we needed them. I also want to thank James and Dave for putting together a terrific bike the DVS shock is already performing above expectation.” Adam “Krusty” Fergusson (Race 1 7th, race 2 3rd, 4th overall) “I need to work on my starts! Either that or I secretly love making life harder for myself. We had some “excitement” in qualifying – firstly a 240km/hr tank slapper when a steering damper failed and then having the red flag come out when Jamie went down cutting the session short just as we were on a flyer. This left us stuck back in 8th on the grid, but I struggled getting off the line – I must have been back in 20th in race 1 and 10th in race two!” “The bike had good speed and we had a pretty good setup in the end, I think I set the 2nd fastest race lap in race one, but just started from too far back. Race two wasn’t as bad and I was closing in on Shawn when he went down and from there it was a straight forward ride to 3rd.” The team are now looking ahead to the next round, a double header at Winton (March 22/25) a track that Krusty has always performed strongly at. The 2004 dual championship winner added “Winton should be an even better round for us we’ll now have a bit more time to get the bike setup properly for these new Dunlops. They’re a very different tyre to what we’ve previously had and we just need to learn how to use their extra grip.”

Good hope for Nakatomi After a learning season in the Superbike World Championship last year, Shinichi Nakatomi is able in 2007 to give his best as he knows better the circuits and the series. Negotiations are still going on for a second rider to join the team after the first two races. Nakatomi, only rider in the team after Norick Abe went back to Japan and Sebastien Gimbert moved to Supersport, had recently a satisfying test session at the Valencia circuit. It was the opportunity for him and the team to tune the Kayaba suspensions that will be used this year on his new Yamaha YZF R1. The Team YZF Yamaha (formerly known as Team Yamaha Motor France) is managed by Martial Garcia and his company MG Competition. The French squad is also responsible for the development and testing of YEC (Yamaha Engineering Company) customer racing kit parts, available through www.yamaha-racingparts.com. Martial Garcia (team manager): “For the first two races, we have only one rider, Shinichi Nakatomi. But we hope to be able to find the financial possibilities for a second rider to join our team. There are important negotiations going on right now with two important sponsors.” Shinichi Nakatomi The Japanese rider is born on October 30, 1978 in Fukuoka. Champion of Kyushu in the 250cc class in 1996, he wins two years later the 250 Western Japanese title. In 2000, he is All Japan Champion in the 250 category, then finishes third of the Superbike All Japan Championship four years later. For his first World Championship season last year, he ended up 17th in the final standings, earning points 11 times and with an 8th position for best result. The track The circuit features 16 bends (10 right, 6 left) and is 5380 m long, 12 m wide. The main straight is 1068 m long. This will be the third time the WSBK championship comes to this circuit, which was opened in July 2004. It was built in about two years at a cost of around $58 million. December 2006 tests: 1-Bayliss (Ducati) 1:58.1, 2-Corser (Yamaha) 1:58.9, 3-Biaggi (Suzuki) 1:58.9, 4-Toseland (Honda) 1:59.1, 5-Laconi (Kawasaki) 1:59.2, 6-Lanzi (Ducati) 1:59.3, 7-Nieto (Kawasaki) 1:59.5, 8-Haga (Yamaha) 1:59.7, 9-Kagayama (Suzuki) 2:00.1, 10-Rolfo (Honda) 2:01.7 February 11 and 12, 2007, tests: 1-Corser (Yamaha) 1:59.1, 2-Biaggi (Suzuki) 1:59.3, 3-Haga (Yamaha) 1:59.9, 4-Kagayama (Suzuki) 2:00.3 2006 final World Championship standings: 1- Bayliss (Ducati) 431 points, 2- Toseland (Honda) 336, 3- Haga (Yamaha) 326, 4- Corser (Suzuki) 254, 5- Pitt (Yamaha) 250…13- Abe (Yamaha) 112, 17- Nakatomi (Yamaha) 48, 19- Gimbert (Yamaha) 23 Losail stats Track record (December 2006): 1:58.1 Troy Bayliss (Ducati) Lap record (best race time 2006): 2:00.061 Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) 161.318 kph 2006 Yamaha Motor France practice times: Nakatomi: 2:03.741 / 24th; Abe: 2:03.026 / 19th; Gimbert: 2:02.710 / 18th Race 1 results 2006: 1- Toseland (Honda), 2- Bayliss (Ducati), 3- Pitt (Yamaha), 4-Corser (Suzuki), 5-Fabrizio (Honda) 2006 Yamaha Motor France race 1 results: Nakatomi: 16th; Abe: 11th; Gimbert: 14th Race 2 results 2006: 1-Corser (Suzuki), 2-Bayliss (Ducati), 3-Haga (Yamaha), 4-Toseland (Honda), 5-Pitt (Yamaha) 2006 Yamaha Motor France race 2 results: Nakatomi: 17th; Abe: 11th; Gimbert: 15th 2nd round of the Superbike World Championship: March 4th at Phillip Island (Australia)

FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Fortunately or unfortunately Fastrack Riders has provided the AMA Privateer Promoter Practice at California Speedway since 2003. The first year Fastrack went it alone and lost well over $10,000 that day doing it. Larry Pointer, my partner, and I decided to “not do that again” as we were trying to help the privateer rider that got limited practice time get up to speed and get their bikes dialed in before the National event. Any racer knows it can take all day to sort out a new track both for the rider and bike which is what the Privateer Practice was set up to do. It was about rider safety and giving the privateer a chance to be somewhat competitive since most factory teams got two to three days of testing on a track that a privateer would only have a few sessions to get up to speed. The next year California Speedway offered the date to Fastrack Riders again and we declined and informed John Ulrich of our decision. He made some calls and we got help from California Speedway and Mr. Ulrich wrote Fastrack Riders a large check to help offset the cost of doing the Privateer Promoter Practice at California Speedway. No one from Team Hammer–including Mr. Ulrich–benefited from Fastrack Riders staging this event. Even with all of his help and the track’s Fastrack Riders lost money. Again, it was not done to make money because that was not the intent as the ultimate goal was to give privateers a chance to get in a full days practice the day before the national event. Now I read this article written by Mr. Abrams and I am left scratching my head and getting a little angry. I am a racer so I understand how unfair and unsafe it can be if a rider new to a track, no matter how great their riding skills might be, is attempting to learn something new to them with limited practice time that the AMA allows during the event. I give credit to John Ulrich for making it possible that at several tracks around the country the privateer racer if they chose can have an entire day to dial their bike in and learn the track. I do not know how Mr. Abrams was able to conclude Mr. Ulrich profited from this because Mr. Abrams did not contact me to determine how much profit was made doing an Promoter Practice nor to ask how much Mr. Ulrich benefited from it. If he had, he would know as already stated there is no profit being made doing these events and Mr. Ulrich was in fact making a financial contribution so the event could take place. Why is it most club racers go to a track day before a club race weekend? To be competitive! I don’t want to comment on my thoughts about the AMA and how they do things as anyone who is a racer each has their own opinion but most would go along the same party lines. However I do want to strongly suggest that Mr. Abrams’ comment stating that Mr. Ulrich is “conflicted” is incorrect. A basic rule of journalism as I was taught was to get your facts correct before writing an article. Obviously this is not the case here. I do not agree with Mr. Ulrich on everything but I certainly respect everything he does for the sport. Last count, the RoadRacing World Action Fund was at $523,644 providing soft barriers for all disciplines of racing around the country. Anyone ever think how much time and man power it takes to manage that program? John does it because he has a passion for our sport and the safety of the sport. Maybe he is “conflicted” because he attempts to do good things for the sport and then reckless articles such as Mr. Abrams’ stab him in the back for reasons unknown to me because they did not take the time to make a call or two to verify if they had made the right assumptions. We all know what happens when you assume something! David Pyles Fastrack Riders Alta Loma, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: As a new road racer, I treasure the Thursday practice for so many reasons. It is the real only chance us privateers have to pick up what the factory boys are putting down. We do not get special days just for us etc etc…And we are lucky to have one person help us race our streetbikes. I work 5-7 days a week depending on work load at my business so doing track days for me alone is tough. Getting to be able to warm up to a track at all or worse a track I have yet to go to is totally needed. Last year I rode the Laguna USGP weekend in the AMA FX class and only got 20 minutes warm-up and a 20 minute qualifying session. Mind you I NEVER rode Laguna. I got close really close to racing the final, but I know a Thursday promotor’s practice would have made all the difference in the world. And as far as Team Hammer making money running a track day the day before… Who cares if you’re the one making it happen and that is what it is all about. I am pumped again to just be riding that weekend and the promotor’s practice is totally needed. Keep doing what you’re doing, I love your site!! Craig Mason AMA RR, SM #181 WSMC #781 AMBA #8 Fast50s.com Auburn, California

The FIM Superbike World Championship is up for sale in an auction being conducted by Merrill Lynch, with an expected price tag of about $97.5 million, according to a report appearing today on England’s Times Online (~http://business.timesonline.co.uk~). The 2007 FIM Superbike World Championship is owned by FGSport Group, which is owned by Italian brothers Maurizio and Paolo Flammini. The series kicks off its 20th season this weekend at Losail International Circuit, in Qatar. The sale of the Superbike World Championship comes less than one year after the FIM MotoGP World Championship was sold. Read more here: ~http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article1403539.ece~ And here: ~http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article1403543.ece~

Roadrace Southwest, a CCS affiliate, went into the weekend on the tight and technical west track at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona and Mark Ledesma once again proved he was King of Firebird. The turnout was excellent with large grids and a guest round for the joint RRSW/SMRI Vintage racing series. A newly added Supermotard class drew more of the dirt-orientated crowd who ultimately spent much time dicing it up with the SVs of the Lightweight classes. The premier race of the afternoon was the Roadrace Southwest Expert Unlimited GP with a purse of $2000 and a large turnout that has promoter Jack Frost considering some changes. “If we keep getting larger grids for this race, we may be upgrading the purse to $3000 or more. The reason is to hopefully drag some faster guys from nearby regions and make our region more competitive.” The competition was already hot this weekend though with some true local heavy hitters on the grid. RRSW #1 plate holder Ivan Garza was looking good all afternoon on his Evan Steel-built Suzuki GSX-R1000. He had some real good battles all day with former ASMA Champion Mike Shreve and his YZF-R6 and Rory Palmer’s Euro Motorsports Triumph 675. The highly anticipated race, which had been talked about for weeks on a local forum, came under an overcast sky with virtually no wind. The first lap had Garza in the lead with Ledesma following very closely and doing scary looking power slides coming out of the keyhole. Shreve was in third battling hard with the disadvantage of being on the only 600 in the top five. A three-rider battle for fifth between Dale Keiffer, Davie Stone and Palmer was overshadowed by the dramatics at the front. Garza set a new lap record of 57.580 earlier in the day but was more concerned with Ledesma on his tail who was studying the lines of the 2006 Champion Garza. It came down to a mistake in turn one by the Champ which let Ledesma and his North Valley Honda Superbike skim into the lead–Garza simply got into one too hot and ran wide. That mistake also allowed Shreve to get by. Shreve who has really picked up his game attributed his newfound tenacity to two things- training with Doug Chandler for hours and his switch to Dunlops that seem to suit his loose style better. He was showering the track with sparks as he ground titanium bits from his machine while chasing Ledesma. Since Firebird West is a tight course with short straight, Ledesma had to get the best drives he could to keep at bay young Shreve, who had the highest mid-corner speed. Ledesma later admitted that if Shreve had passed him he probably would not have gotten around him again. Ledesma used lapped traffic to his advantage at the end to put Shreve down a second and take the win with Garza in third. On the podium, Shreve commented on trying to pass Ledesma. “I would build up corner speed and look for a way around and all I could see is the entire side of Mark’s bike as he powered out of the turns!” The lap record set by Garza was not topped during the premier race, but Shreve did come within 0.2-second of it on his Middleweight machine! Full results and lap times, as well as the 2007 schedule, is available at www.roadracesw.com so get yourself entered today for next month’s speed fest at Firebird East!