Meetings were organized by the FIM with the organizers of all the events mentioned in the calendar below yesterday and with the first 18 permanent teams who took part in the 2006 Championship today. The FIM will maintain the system of permanent teams. Following the meeting, eleven teams have already announced their participation in the 2007 Championship (see list below). The final date for application from the other teams is January 15 next; the maximum number of permanent teams admitted for 2007 will be 17. The permanent teams commit themselves to take part in all the rounds of the World Championship. The provisional calendar of the 2007 Endurance World Championship is the following: Dates/Country/Event April 21/22 France Le Mans (24 H.) May 5 (TBC) Spain Albacete (6 H.) July 29 Japan Suzuka (8 H.) August 11/12 Germany Oschersleben (24 H.) (TBC) September 16/17 France Bol d’Or (24 H.) November 10 (TBC) Qatar Doha/Losail (6 H.) Belgium Zolder (6 H.) – Date and venue TBC TBC : to be confirmed The eleven teams who already announced their participation in the 2007 Championship are the following: Suzuki Castrol Team (FRA); Yamaha Phase One Endurance (GBR); Yamaha Austria Racing Team (AUT); Bolliger Team Switzerland (SUI); Primo Racing (BEL); Suzuki Sweden (SWE); Raffin Motos Kawasaki (FRA); No Limits Racing Team (ITA); Acropolis Zone Rouge (BEL); EWC Team Endurance Eurosport Benelux (NED); X-One Yamaha (ITA).

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP travels back to Europe for its final test of 2006, determined to continue with the promising start shown by the new Suzuki GSV-R800 at recent tests. The new 800cc has already produced promising performances at Valencia and Sepang, with John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen filling the top-two places at the Malaysian test just over a week ago. Suzuki has worked on the information gathered at those tests and will be bringing new engine control strategies and mapping information developed on the dyno in Japan to the test at Jerez in Spain on the 28th-29th-30th November. Nobuatsu Aoki will be joining Hopkins and Vermeulen at Jerez, in what looks like being a completely different type of test due to the colder air temperatures that will give less grip on the 4.4km circuit. The conditions will enable the riders and the factory to see how the bike performs in different circumstances and will assist Bridgestone in evaluating its new generation of tyres at lower track temperatures. The Jerez test will be the final time that Rizla Suzuki MotoGP is in action this year as the winter test ban comes into force on December the first. The testing veto will not mean a break for the team though, because it will be working hard in the factory to make sure that the GSV-R800 is as competitive it can be for when Rizla Suzuki MotoGP begins its assault on the 2007 MotoGP World Championship, starting with the first round at Qatar in March. John Hopkins: “I didn’t really want the last test at Sepang to end as we were making great progress with the bike. I hope that we can continue to do that at Jerez and we will also get the chance to see where we stand against other teams, as most of our competitors will be present. Suzuki has so far lived up to its promise of giving us a bike that will be on the pace for next year and this test will see how far we still have to go!” Chris Vermeulen: “This test should be interesting because we are expecting the temperatures to be a lot lower than the recent tests. It will give us an opportunity to see how the 800 and the Bridgestones perform in these sort of conditions. The Factory has worked on the info that John and I gave them from Sepang and Valencia so hopefully we will have some new things to help us move forward in readiness for next season. We really need to have a good test at Jerez so we can look forward to 2007 with continued optimism.”

AHRMA has posted a statement on its website regarding the organization’s recent bankruptcy and continuing legal battle with AHRMA founder, expelled AHRMA member and Team Obsolete owner Rob Iannucci. The statement can be found here: ~http://www.ahrma.org/legal/board_statement.htm~

CHAZ Davies, the former 125 and 250 Grand Prix star, who caused quite a stir when he finished fifth in his AMA Supersport debut at Mid-Ohio in October, has signed to ride for Celtic Racing in 2007. Davies will ride Celtic Racing Yamaha machinery in next season’s AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme championships and the highly progressive and ambitious New York based team will be hoping that the 19-year-old Welsh wizard will have a sensational first full year in America. Davies will begin his 2007 preparations by travelling from his UK home to Florida in early December to participate in the Daytona tyre tests. Mid-Ohio is the only American track that Davies has experience of, but he proved at the venue that he is a quick learner as it was also his debut on a four-stroke machine. Davies ran the whole Mid-Ohio Supersport race in the company of champion Jamie Hacking, their duel remembered by thousands of television viewers.

Current British Superstock Cup Champion Bob Collins is set to make his TT debut in 2007. The 24 year old Londoner had planned to tackle the Mountain Circuit for the first time this year, but sponsorship commitments with the British Championship series ended those hopes. However he is now totally focused on making his debut next May. Bob is a maverick talent and a crowd favourite in BSB. He shot to prominence in the televised Virgin Mobile Yamaha R6 Cup series around the same time as close friend and winner of the 2006 TT Newcomers Award Conor Cummins. After a year in the wilderness, Bob made his mark in the Superstock Cup Championship this year winning five of the 13 rounds and finishing on the podium in the remaining rounds all bar three. He also made his real road race debut at the Cock o’ The North meeting at Scarborough where he took several top six finishes in the Superbike class, beating numerous experienced road racers. Bob will concentrate his 2007 season around the TT, taking in road race events as preparation as well as selected National Superstock rounds. Assisting him in his efforts will be three time TT winner Ian Simpson who will be on hand for the majority of the fortnight. Speaking about the prospect of a TT debut in Centenary year, Bob said: “I am really excited about the TT. It is in my blood as my mum and dad are big fans of the event and used to come across to watch it before I was born. I am not getting the same enjoyment out of the BSB scene anymore and need a new challenge. The TT is the ultimate, and although I am slightly daunted about taking on the Mountain Course for the first time, I am getting lots of help from people like Milky Quayle and Guy Martin as well as Ian Simpson who is coming to the TT next year to give me a hand. All in all I can’t wait!” Rider Liaison Officer and former TT winner Richard Quayle added: “Bob is just the sort of rider we are looking for to come to the TT. He is fast and safe, with bags of natural talent and somebody who knows how to enjoy himself which is what it is all about. I have no doubt that he can develop into an excellent TT rider and podium challenger of the future. If he listens to the advice from people like Guy (Martin) and Ian (Simpson) he shouldn’t go too far wrong and I’m looking forward to seeing him in action in May next year.” Minister for Tourism and Leisure and Chairman of the TT Steering Committee David Cretney commented: “In recent times there has been a decline in the number of talented young English riders from the British Championship looking to the TT and Manx Grand Prix as another option. I am delighted that, that trend has ended and Bob Collins is the latest in a long line of up and coming riders from the British Championship paddock to commit to the TT. I am sure he will enjoy the same sort of success as the likes of Les Shand, Paul Shoesmith, James Edmeades and our own Conor Cummins who have all made a successful transition over the past two years and I personally would like to wish him all the best for his TT debut next year”

Championship Cup Series (CCS) and American Sportbike Roadracing Association (ASRA) have announced tentative 2007 racing schedules on the official website for both series, www.ccsracing.com . The ASRA National schedule includes seven rounds. Among the changes for 2007, the event at Heartland Park Topeka has been moved from June to April, and the event at Road America has been moved from April to July. No ASRA round has been scheduled at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Illinois. To see the complete tentative schedules, go to: ~http://www.ccsracing.com/schedules/2007/schedule.html~

OMRRA FURTHER EXPANDS SUPPORT OF JUNIOR ROAD RACING This past Saturday at the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association (OMRRA) awards banquet, OMMRA club President Mike McDonough confirmed to the gathered crowd that the OMRRA board has approved the creation of an 85GP class for the 2007 season. This new class is intended as a stepping stone for OMRRA’s junior riders moving up from various MiniGP bikes. Final rules are still being worked out but the general picture is drawn and the 85GP class will be run with the 250 Vintage (160) class. “By creating an 85GP class it gives the kids that have come up through our pocketbike program a way to get on the big track before throwing a leg over the 125s.” commented McDonough. “We have some really fast kids here that we expect to make a good showing when they are big enough to run with the USGPRU.” McDonough knows that age isn’t a prerequisite to being a good racer. He was the OMRRA Novice School instructor that graduated then 11-year-old Elena Myers. He then watched from the seat of his RS125 as she won the first race she entered the next day. The 85GP class will also allow adult riders and will not have an age restriction of any kind. Riders that want to participate in the class will be required to go through the same Novice program that larger displacement riders do currently. Junior riders that complete the OMRRA Novice School will hold a restricted license (which initially limits them to running in the 85cc class). Parties interested are encouraged to plan ahead and attend the first of two Novice Schools offered during the 2007 competitive season. More information on OMRRA and its race program can be found at http:// www.omrra.com

Three-time AMA Champion Aaron Yates and rising star Jake Holden will race in the 2007 AMA Superbike and Superstock Championships for Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki, according to a knowledgeable source. Yates, who has won nine AMA Superbike races during his career, will ride a true Superbike in the premier class, while Holden will continue to ride a Superstock-spec GSX-R1000 in the Superbike class. Both men will use Dunlop tires in both classes. Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki is expected to debut its 2007 line-up at the Dunlop tire test at Daytona in December.