New Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi set the fastest time at this week’s two-day World Superbike test at Valencia in Spain with a time of 1:33.9, as team mate Yukio Kagayama was close behind in third. Despite having brand new GSX-R1000 Suzukis to work with, Biaggi and Kagayama knuckled down to the business of starting to learn about the new bike and its characteristics. The pair was ably assisted by the whole Alstare crew and work progressed at a good rate. Conditions throughout the two days were perfect for the squad plus other WSBK top runners that included Troy Bayliss, Lorenzo Lanzi, James Toseland, Robbie Rolfo, Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga. Max Biaggi – 157 laps. Best lap 1:33.9, 1st: “Valencia is a very twisty track and there is not much opportunity to catch your breath because you are always working hard. The chicanes seem to just come one after another and although it is not my favourite track, I enjoyed trying to make the bike work with me round it. This championship is full of specialist riders and I am new to it, so I know I have to adapt to the way of riding a Superbike. Today we had many things to test and I concentrated on two areas – the first was to get the bike to steer into the turns the way I wanted and be smooth and the second was to see how the tyres behave after quite a few laps. Today I wanted to push the bike to the maximum so that I could give lots of information to the Japanese technicians so they can work well and improve the bike. I think I did that.” Yukio Kagayama -141 laps. Best lap 1:34.2, 3rd: “I had a small crash today when I lost the front on the brakes but I didn’t hurt myself, so that was ok for me! But there was a lot of work for my mechanics to do and that lost quite a bit of time. So, sorry to my mechanics for giving them extra work. Today, I worked with the new bike and there were many settings to try and many adjustments to make during the day. “Later in the day I tried a qualifying tyre but I didn’t go any quicker than when I was on race rubber! I am pretty satisfied with these tests and we did a lot of good work on the new bike and gave a lot of information to the team so that we can improve next time out.” Best lap Times (over two days) on race rubber: 1 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:33.9, 2 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:34.1, 3 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.2, 4 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:34.2, 5 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:34.6, 6 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 1:34.8, 7 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:34.9, 8 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:35.1, 9 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:35.3, 10 Rolfo (I-Honda) 1:36.7.

Editorial Note: This press release does not clarify exactly which gaming consoles are supported by the new video game or if the game will come to the United States. Roadracingworld.com has requested more information from FG Sport Group but has not received a reply at post time. The public were in true festive spirit this afternoon at the Paddock Show in the Motolive area of the Eicma bike show in Milan. The big attractions for the occasion were the champions of the Superbike World Championship, and first and foremost Troy Bayliss, generally acclaimed not only for winning the 2006 Superbike world title, but also for his splendid performance in the last race of the Moto GP championship in Valencia. Troy was togheter with his team mate Lorenzo Lanzi from Ducati Xerox Team. Troy and Lorenzo, just back from riding in the Pirelli tests at Valencia, showed their usual willingness to meet Superbike fans and answer questions from journalists and members of the public. As a testimonial for the new “Superbike 2007″ videogame, Bayliss and Lanzi also took part in the game launch press conference at 4 p.m.. The “Superbike 2007″ game is the result of collaboration between Black Bean and FGSport at an extremely exciting moment for production derived motorcycle racing. The press conference to present the game saw representatives of both companies sitting down together to explain how the joint project got under way. As soon as it was launched, the new game was officially inaugurated on the Play Station by Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi. The “Superbike 2007″ video game is brand new in every sense of the word, and far faster and more complete than previous versions. So what better way could there be to begin Superbike activities at the Eicma Paddock Show where, from tomorrow top riders will take it in turns to sign autographs and meet fans, against the backdrop of animation by Giovanni di Pillo and D.J. Ringo. Virgilio Bixio, President of the Leader Group, declared: ” We are very proud of this agreement, it’s a prestigious results that will allow us to value and to promote the videogame, but also to build awarness for the Superbike World Championship. The video games “Superbike 2007″ will be developed with the experience of Milestone, previous developer of the celebrated Superbike series of games, it will be synonymous with great quality and it will further strengthen Black Beans International distribution.” Paolo Flammini, CEO of FGSport, added: “Videogames fans have been waiting a long time for a new edition of the game based on the Superbike World Championship. This new product arrives at a magic moment for our Championship so I’m sure it will be one of the best sellers in 2007.”

Ten Kate Honda Racing wants to thanks Winston for these two successful seasons which saw the conquer of two Supersport World Championship with French rider Sebastien Charpentier. The partnership has surely also helped the Team and the Superbike World Championship to grow his level of professionalism and for this we really appreciated Winston and JTI. For the 2007 season the Ten Kate Honda Team will continue to participate to the Superbike and Supersport World Championship thanks to the new partnership with LCD Monitor & TV producer HANNspree. The line up for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Team will be James Toseland and Roberto Rolfo in the Superbike World Championship with the Honda CBR 1000 RR, and World Champion Sebastien Charpentier and Kenan Sofuoglu in the Supersport World Championship with the brand new CBR 600 RR. More, from a press release issued by Honda Motor Europe: Hannspree BV support Honda Europe racing teams for 2007 season. Honda Motor Europe, Motorcycle Div. give a warm welcome to LCD Monitor producer Hannspree BV as the 2007 main sponsor of our supported racing teams participating in the following Championships: Team Honda Ten Kate (Super Bike World Championship and Super Sport World Championship) Team Honda Martin racing (World Motocross Championship Class M1 and MX2) Hannspree will also be a major partner in the RS125 GP Trophy organized by Honda Italy. Honda Motor Europe, Motorcycle Div. take this opportunity to thank also Winston for their passionate support during the last two years to our satellite team Ten Kate: the result of this cooperation was two World Champion titles in World Super Sport and two brilliant achievements in World Superbike Championship. Our best wishes to Hannspree and our Teams for the 2007 racing season. Honda Motor Europe Motorcycle Division

Chasing a record, six-time Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Champion Michael Rutter topped the first qualifying round and trumped his 2005 qualifying time by 2.591-seconds, 2.204-seconds in front of his teammate Ian Hutchinson followed by Steve Plater in third, American Jeremy Toye in fourth and John McGuinness rounding out the top five. “I feel good, thing’s flowing, the bike is f–king fast. The Lee’s Cycle motor is the key to that lap for sure,” said Toye. “Even my fastest lap, I was still through traffic, three people passed on that lap and I probably would have gotten at least a couple more 10ths out of it; so I feel good. I know I can get out there and run with those guys. I really want to put an American up on the box again this year.” The other two Team USA riders didn’t fair as well as Toye. KWS Racing’s John Haner wasn’t able to turn a fast qualifying lap after a braking issue sidelined him for more than half the session. “We’re having issues with the front brake system and don’t exactly know what’s going on,” said Haner. “They worked on the bike for about 35-minutes of the 45-minute session. We got six good laps in and they weren’t nearly good enough.” And after encountering front braking problems in free practice, Mark Miller swapped out his rotors and pads, but continued to suffer brake fade during qualifying. “I’m just getting up to speed, but the brakes aren’t working still,” said Miller, who was only able to turn six laps before qualifying. “It’s coming together, I’ve never ridden on these Pirelli tires before, these 17-inch Pirellis before. It’s a total different bike than I’m used to. It would have been nice to have a test before I came here, but we’ll sort it out.” The second qualifying and only on track session for the riders will be Friday morning, with the 40th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix scheduled for Saturday. 40th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Macau, China November 16, 2006 First Qualifying: 1. Michael Rutter (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:27.994 – Qualifying Record 2. Ian Hutchinson (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:30.198 3. Steve Plater (Yam YZF-R1) 2:30.738 4. Jeremy Toye (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:30.964 5. John McGuinness (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:31.189 6. Thomas Hinterreiter (Yam YZF-R1) 2:31.815 7. Guy Martin (Yam YZF-R1) 2:32.475 8. Stephen Thompson (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:32.499 9. Stuart Easton (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:33.234 10. Les Shand (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:34.166 11. Steve Allan (Kaw ZX-6RR) 2:34.557 12. Martin Finnegan (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:34.636 13. Frank Heidger (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:35.284 14. Keith Amor (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:36.099 15. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:36.245 16. Mark Miller (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:37.791 17. Paul Hunt (Kaw ZX-10R) 2:38.514 18. Pete Jennings (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:38.516 19. James McBride (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:38.523 20. Callum Ramsay (Kaw ZX-6RR) 2:38.588 21. Rico Penzkofer (Yam YZF-R1) 2:38.612 22. Michael Weynand (Kaw ZX-10R) 2:38.636 23. Rui Reigoto Yam YZF-R1) 2:38.815 24. Ian Lougher (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:39.057 25. Sandor Bitter (Yam YZF-R1) 2:40.169 26. Gerarl Muteau (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:40.871 27. Cheung Wai On (Yam YZF-R6) 2:40.976 28. Jose Leite (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:41.044 29. Sou Se Hong (Hon CBR600RR) 2:43.139 30. Joao Fernandes (Suz GSX-R600) 2:43.220 31.Jason Broome (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:43.736 32. Luis Carreira (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:44.417 33. Craig Atkinson (Hon CBR600RR) 2:47.061 34. Andi Notman (Hon CBR600RR) 2:47.871 35. Wong Man Kwong (Suz GSX-R750) 2:54.312 36. Peter Edwards (Yam YZF-R6) 2:57.616 37. Chui Wai Kwong (Yam YZF-R6) 3:05.783 38. Leong Iok Choi (Yam YZF-R6) 3:45.531 More, from a press release issued by Stobart Honda: Rio Hotel Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix 40th Edition 16th to 18th November 2006 STOBART RIDERS FIRST AND SECOND IN MACAU Stobart Motorsport riders Michael Rutter and Ian Hutchinson made their intentions clear by posting first and second fastest times after today’s first qualifying session for the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix. Aboard the Vent Axia and VK backed Honda Fireblade which he has campaigned all season in the British Superbike Championship, 33-year old Rutter came within a fraction of beating his own qualifying lap record as he topped the timesheets in the one-hour session earlier today as he aims to become the first man to win the Far East classic seven times A mammoth 2.2 seconds behind Rutter was Honda new boy, Ian Hutchinson, who is riding in Paul Bird’s colours for meeting. The Yorkshireman is making his debut on a superbike in Macau after claiming second place in the Supersport race around the 6.12km Guia circuit last year. Isle of Man TT lap record holder John McGuinness claimed fifth fastest on the third of the Stobart bikes, just three seconds down on Rutter with Scotsman Stuart Easton making in four riders in the top ten for Stobart team with a ninth place qualifying position. Michael Rutter “I’m happy with that and slotted straight back into the groove without any problems. We have a few small changes to make for tomorrow so that should improve my times also but I’m feeling confident. I’ll just go out on race tyres again and get a good set up for the race”. Ian Hutchinson “Over two seconds is a lot to make up on Michael but I’m pleased to be second fastest in what was a very busy session. The bike is fantastic and it was a real eye opener on a Superbike round here but I’m confident we can go faster.” John McGuinness “Fifth isn’t where I wanted to be today but there was so much traffic around, a fast lap was impossible. I overshot a corner on my quick lap and still ended up fifth so we need to get our finger out and take the fight to the other riders tomorrow.” Stuart Easton “After the season I’ve had, I guess ninth isn’t too bad but I’m sure I can improve tomorrow. Either way, I’m just glad to be back with a good team on a competitive bike on Dunlop tyres” Paul Bird “First and second isn’t a bad start and it will be good if we can maintain that through to the race. I’ve said to Michael that there’s little point in using qualifying tyres as he’s so far ahead and I’ve been impressed by Hutchy’s performance, he’s a real dark horse. John and Stuart have work to do but I’m confident they can improve” The final qualifying session takes place at 07.30hrs (local time) tomorrow with the race scheduled for 14.50hrs on Saturday.

40th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Macau, China November 16, 2006 Free Practice Times: 1. Michael Rutter (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:36.068 2. Ian Hutchinson (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:37.812 3. John McGuinness (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:40.902 4. Frank Heidger (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:40.989 5. Jeremy Toye (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:41.167 6. Steve Plater (Yam YZF-R1) 2:42.205 7. Martin Finnegan (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:42.333 8. Thomas Hinterreiter (Yam YZF-R1) 2:42.931 9. Steve Allan (Kaw ZX-6RR) 2:43.753 10. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:44.095 The motorcycle class was first on track this morning, braving the damp street circuit at the 40th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix in Macau, China simultaneously hosting its 53rd year of car racing around the narrow 3.8-mile Guia Circuit. The 2006 Team USA, organized by CCS Florida Race Director Henry DeGouw, is made up of three Macau veterans, including Lee’s Cycle Racing’s Jeremy Toye, returning for his third visit, KWS Racing’s John Haner, back for his second visit after a mechanical last year prevented him from finishing the 15-lap race, and his KWS teammate Mark Miller, returning for his sixth visit after his inaugural run in 1998. Toye and Haner made the top 10 of the 37-rider field after Thursday morning’s free practice session. Miller suffered a mechanical after completing just four laps of the 45-minute session. “Being 8-seconds off in the first session really isn’t that far off at a place like this. All it is, is getting into a rhythm and getting it to feel right,” said Haner after the first and only free practice session before qualifying. “We worked on gearing. We changed one tooth and knocked off 6-seconds. Little adjustments equal big time around here.” Toye earned a fifth place finish even though he and Haner are both fighting colds. “We didn’t have any problems with the bike at all. The thing runs bitchin’. But we can definitely make it better,” said Toye. “As far as going out first session, first time in the morning, track’s wet; I’m pretty happy with being where we’re at. It’s a good start for the weekend. I plan on moving up a bit more once we get everything dialed in.” Team USA will prepare for the first of two qualifying sessions this afternoon.

Recent court filings show that now-bankrupt AHRMA has spent $877,571.24 in continuing litigation involving Team Obsolete/Rob Iannucci and several Team Obsolete riders who were blocked from participating in AHRMA events on machines owned or sponsored by Team Obsolete or on machines even displaying Team Obsolete stickers. The same filings show that AHRMA estimates that it would need another $300,000 in legal fees to prepare for trial on the case, with no estimate of the cost of the trial itself. And AHRMA’s bankruptcy filing shows that the organization owes its trial lawyers $151,000, its lead attorney Ted Bendelow $20,528.47, its litigation specialist Jeff Smith $10,000 and its treasurer Fred Mork $10,000. AHRMA’s liabilities total $207,112.72 and its assets total $83,262.98 according to the bankruptcy filing. While AHRMA has not posted its actual bankruptcy filing on the official AHRMA website, the filing can be seen in its entirety on the Team Obsolete website, here: ~http://teamobsoleteforum.com/AHRMABankruptcyFiling.pdf~ Sources close to Iannucci said yesterday that Iannucci’s litigation plans include pursuing each Officer and Trustee of AHRMA as an individual due to a lapse in AHRMA’s corporate status during part of the long-running dispute. Read more here: ~http://teamobsoleteforum.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=4f236841a4decc32bffbd36643ffa2a7&topic=52.0~ ~http://teamobsoleteforum.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=4f236841a4decc32bffbd36643ffa2a7&topic=70.0~ ~http://www.ahrma.org/whatsnew.htm~

SBK test Valencia Spain: 14th, 15th November 2006 Day2 The second day has just finished, and Pirelli technicians are already talking about next moves. “This is only the first of a series of three appointments, so we did just part of the job” explains Giorgio Barbier, Pirelli racing manager “The important thing is that we had some answers today, and now we will have the chance to test on two very different racetracks, in Qatar and Australia, that will help us both to test different conditions and different solutions.” The target is to be ready with new solutions at the beginning of the 2007 season that will be immediately perceived as a big step of development compared to the last spec of 2006. After the first two races the Championship we will come back in Europe, and for those races the time available for the shipment of the tyres is in our favour and it will be possible for Pirelli to provide the brand new tyres we have developed during the tests, in a bigger quantity. Here in Valencia the WSBK riders proved to like most of all 2 of the 10 new fronts and 3 of the 9 rear tyres, and also the new sizes. Pirelli has developed a new rear and a new front tyres, the sizes of which are designed to exploit the racing rim dimensions to the maximum and offer the widest contact patch, yet maintaining the same characteristics of the standard dimension tyres, and thus the capabilities of the road going fitments. The development remains focused on the race tyres, the performance of which are getting closer and closer to the qualifiers, whose turn for development will soon follow. Pirelli brought for this test: SBK 10 New Front tyres 9 New Rear tyres SSP: 8 New Front tyres 6 New Rear tyres Adding the solutions already tested or used for racing during last season the total amount is 2.200 tyres Riders testing at Valencia: WSupersport (Pirelli DIABLO SUPERCORSA) Charpentier Honda Ten Kate 1’36.4 Sofuoglu Honda Ten Kate 1’36.8 Nannelli Ducati SC Caracchi 1’36.9 Parkes Yamaha Motor Germany 1’37.0 Foret Kawasaki Gil Motorsport 1’37.7 Veneman Suzuki Hoegee 1’38.6 Riba Kawasaki Gil Motorsport 1’39.3 Race ’06: Best lap 1’38.66 Pole ’06: 1’36.91 WSBK (Pirelli DIABLO SUPERBIKE) (Race tyres – Qualifiers) Biaggi Suzuki Alstare 1’33.9 nn Lanzi Ducati Xerox 1’34.1 1’33.9 Kagayama Suzuki Alstare 1’34.2 1’34.7 Bayliss Ducati Xerox 1’34.2 nn Toseland Honda Ten Kate 1’34.6 1’34.2 Nieto Kawasaki PSG-1 1’34.8 1’35.1 Corser Yamaha Motor Italia 1’34.9 nn Laconi Kawasaki PSG-1 1’35.1 1’34.8 Haga Yamaha Motor Italia 1’35.3 1’35.1 Rolfo Honda Ten Kate 1’36.7 nn Race ’06: best lap 1’35.37 Superpole: 1’34.9 At this first appointment Pirelli is also testing some new materials with some teams racing in National Championships. SBK Borciani (ITA) Team Ducati Sterilgarda 1’35.5 Daemen (DE) Honda Alpha Tecnik 1’38.4 Hafenegger (DE) Honda Alpha Tecnik 1’39.0 Waldmann Honda Alpha Tecnik 1’39.7 SS Vizziello (ITA) Yamaha Team RG 1’38.5 Velini (ITA) Yamaha Team RG 1’39.2 Giugovaz (ITA) Yamaha Bike Service 1’39.3 Roccoli (ITA) Yamaha Lorenzini 1’39.4 Laverty (UK) Suzuki TAS 1’40.1 Pellino (ITA) Yamaha Bike Service 1’40.1 Harding (DK) Suzuki 1’40.4 STK Badovini(ITA) Team MV Unionbike 1’38.6 Corti (ITA) Yamaha Lorenzini 1’39.0 Tode (DE) Honda Alpha Tecnik 1’40.1 Cermak (CZ) Team MBB Racing 1’41.0 Weather conditions: dry Track Temperature from 16 to 27° C More, from a press release issued by FGSport: 2006 SBK CORONA EXTRA SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP® PIRELLI TEST VALENCIA 14 and 15 NOVEMBER SECOND DAY Valencia, Wednesday 15th November 2006 BIAGGI FASTEST AT VALENCIA TESTS – MAX MAKES AN EARLY IMPRESSION Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) made an impressive first impact on his SBK peers, after setting the fastest time during the first off season Pirelli Development tests. His best of 1’33.9 was a clear indication of his intent in his first SBK season, and his fast time came thanks in part to the good track and weather conditions at Valencia, with temperatures of over 20 degrees centigrade evident on both days. LANZI SECOND AND BACK TO FINE FORM Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) was a force to be reckoned with on both days, finishing the test with an equal time to Biaggi, albeit using qualifying tyres, while Biaggi only used race versions. A good last day of testing, on a hybrid 2006/2007 machine, was also experienced by Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), who got to know his new team-mate Biaggi at Valencia, Kagayama rode right to the very end of the test, evaluating new parts for the 2007 machine, and finishing third fastest. BAYLISS FOURTH ON THE TIME SHEETS Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), running the same spec of machine he used to score the world championship itself, and on a circuit he recently won a MotoGP race on, was fourth fastest, his 1’34.2 being set on race tyres. Fastest man on day one, James Toseland (Ten Kate Honda) was using a new style of rear swingarm, updated software for his machine’s PI traction control system, new front fork internals and wheel rims compared to his 2006 machine. He was marginally faster on day two than day one, and fifth quickest overall. NIETO FASTEST OF THE KAWASAKIS ON HIS HOME TRACK Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki) was sixth fastest after trying out new front suspension on his ZX-10R, setting a 1’34.8 on race tyres, even faster than he could do on a qualifier. His team-mate Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) went eighth fastest. IMPRESSIVE START FOR CORSER AND THE NEW R1 Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) had his first taste of the 2007 R1 Yamaha on day two at Valencia, and was happy with its performance, running to seventh quickest at the first attempt. His team Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) was running the 2007 version of the R1 for long periods at Valencia and was marginally slower than Corser, as he made the transition from his well-known 2006 version. Roberto Rolfo (Ten Kate Honda) had a steady two days of testing on the machine he hopes he will be riding in 2007, finishing with a time of 1’36.7. SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Ten Kate Honda) scorched to a new best at Valencia, with a 1’36.4, bouncing back from an early morning crash on his 2006-spec CBR600RR. Second fastest was his team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu (Ten Kate Honda) on 1’36.8, with the amazing combination of Gianluca Nannelli and the SC Caracchi Ducati ending up third, only a tenth behind. Running on his own in the Yamaha Motor Germany team, Broc Parkes was fourth fastest, concentrating on machine improvements and a new quickshifter system. Fabien Foret (Gil Motorsport Kawasaki), running standard front forks on his brand new ZX-6RR, was immediately impressive, rating his machine as a great base to build on. His team-mate Pere Riba (Gil Motorsport Kawasaki) was not quite as fast, as he took some time to get used to the roadbike spec forks. He thus finished a little behind Barry Veneman (Hoegee Suzuki) who was sixth fastest. SBK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Biaggi Suzuki Alstare 1’33.9 nn Lanzi Ducati Xerox 1’34.1 1’33.9 Kagayama Suzuki Alstare 1’34.2 1’34.7 Bayliss Ducati Xerox 1’34.2 nn Toseland Honda Ten Kate 1’34.6 1’34.2 Nieto Kawasaki PSG-1 1’34.8 1’35.1 Corser Yamaha Motor Italia 1’34.9 nn Laconi Kawasaki PSG-1 1’35.1 1’34.8 Haga Yamaha Motor Italia 1’35.3 1’35.1 Rolfo Honda Ten Kate 1’36.7 nn Race ’06: best lap 1’35.37 Superpole: 1’34.9 SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Charpentier Honda Ten Kate 1’36.4 Sofuoglu Honda Ten Kate 1’36.8 Nannelli Ducati SC Caracchi 1’36.9 Parkes Yamaha Motor Germany 1’37.0 Foret Kawasaki Gil Motorsport 1’37.7 Veneman Suzuki Hoegee 1’38.6 Riba Kawasaki Gil Motorsport 1’39.3 Race ’06: Best lap 1’38.66 Pole ’06: 1’36.91 More, from a press release issued by Alstare Suzuki: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra News Valencia tests – November 14th and 15th Conditions: Dry, sunny MAX IN CHARGE!. New Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi and team mate were in good form at Valencia, with Max officially setting the quickest time of the two days, with a lap of 1:33.9. Yukio ended with the third fastest lap and this was a very big achievement as both Max and Yukio were using the new GSX-R1000 Suzukis for the first time in earnest. Despite having brand new bikes to work with, Max and Yukio knuckled down to the business of starting to learn about the new bike and its characteristics. There was masses to do, but Max and Yukio were ably assisted by the whole Alstare crew and the work progressed at a good rate. Conditions throughout the two days were just about perfect for Max and Yukio, plus the other WSBK top runners Troy Bayliss, Lorenzo Lanzi, James Toseland, Robbie Rolfo, Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga etc. MAX – 157 laps, best lap 1:33.9, 1st Valencia is a very twisty track and there is not much opportunity to catch your breath because you are always working hard. The chicanes seem to just come one after another and although it is not my favourite track, I enjoyed trying to make the bike work with me round it. This championship is full of specialist riders and I am new to it, so I know I have to adapt to the way of riding a Superbike. Today we had many things to test and I concentrated on two areas – the first was to get the bike to steer into the turns the way I wanted and be smooth and the second was to see how the tyres behave after quite a few laps. Today I wanted to push the bike to the maximum so that I could give lots of information to the Japanese technicians so they they can work well and improve the bike. I think I did that. YUKIO -141 laps, best lap 1:34.2, 3rd I had a small crash today when I lost the front on the brakes, but I didn’t hurt myself, so that was OK for me! But, there was a lot of work for my mechanics to do, and that lost quite a bit of time. So, sorry to my mechanics for giving them extra work. Today, I worked with the new bike and there were many settings to try and many adjustments to make during the day. Later in the day, I tried a qualifying tyre but I didn’t go any quicker then when I was on race rubber! I am pretty satisfied with these tests and we did a lot of good work on the new bike and gave a lot of information to the team so that we can improve next time out. Best lap times (over two days) on race rubber 1 MAX BIAGGI (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:33.9, 2 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:34.1, 3 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.2, 4 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:34.2, 5 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:34.6, 6 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 1:34.8, 7 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:34.9, 8 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:35.1, 9 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:35.3, 10 Rolfo (I-Honda) 1:36.7, More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Positive day for Yamaha at Pirelli test News Valencia, Spain 15/11/2006 Positive day for Yamaha at Pirelli test Pirelli Test Session: Spain Circuit: Valencia Date: 14-15 November 2006 Temp: 23ºC Weather: Sunny Positive first outing for Haga and Corser on the All-New R1 After working hard to make the first race version of the 2007 YZF-R1 ready for a two day Pirelli Development Teams’ test at Valencia, the Yamaha Motor Italia team enjoyed two positive days of work under clear Spanish skies. Troy Corser set a best of 1:34.9 with a race set-up, with Noriyuki Haga on a 1:35.1, on qualifying tyres. Both existing team rider Haga and new signing Corser made back-to-back evaluations of the 2006 and 2007 models, and despite the ’07 model being in its very first stage of development and testing, each rider found real improvements in the performance of the new machine. Haga spent his time on the new machine, while Corser moved on to the ’07 machine after riding most of day one on the previous model. The fastest rider in the test was Max Biaggi (Suzuki) who set a fastest lap of 1:33.9 on race tyres. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia): “We started yesterday just making a shakedown test on the new ’07 bike. Compared to the ’06 bike it was a good start. It’s already quite a good bike and of course we are only at the first step. We have understood what we need from this test and I am sure it will be even better in Qatar. The feeling from the bike is different, front and rear, and it turns a little bit better than the ’06 bike. The ’07 engine is easier to control because the feeling from the engine is good, although right now we only have one specification of race engine. We need to make some adjustments to the mapping and the take it from there”. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia): “We tried some new swingarms and experimented with the length of the bike, but even considering that, out lap times weren’t so bad. This was our first day with the new bike because on day one I hardly touched the new bike. For a first full day on the new bike I think we have got some good info to take away and prepare for the Qatar test. I think the new bike overall is maybe already a little bit better than the fully developed ’06 bike. And we have only just started. The ’06 bike feels a bit more nervous, and the new one feels easier to ride overall. It feels more stable under braking, even thought he ’06 bike was good in that respect too. The ’07 just feels even more stable again. We are still working on the throttle but already the ’07 engine pulls right through the midrange to the higher revs. It just feels more linear. We tried some new versions of the development tyres and found an improvement with both front and rear. I’m pretty happy.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) “We can only think of this test as a positive one. To do so many laps and have so few problems was great. In the end we used the new bike all day on the second day and Troy was faster on the new bike when compared to the old one. We are quite optimistic because we didn’t expect this. Because the bike is new we can expect to experience a few problems. The bike was finished only on Saturday night and after we had run in the engines and checked that everything was working we put them in the trailer and drove straight to Valencia. So we were expecting a few small problems, as usual when all is new. When we go home will have a lot of data to check and we go to the next test with good experience from this first one ” OFFICIAL SBK TESTS Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005km Lap Record: 1:35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1:33.758 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Temp: 23ºC WSB – fastest time over two days Biaggi, Suzuki 1:33.9 Lanzi, Ducati 1:33.9 Kagayama, Suzuki 1:34.2 Bayliss, Ducati 1:34.2 Toseland, Honda 1:34.2 Nieto, Kawasaki 1:34.8 Corser, Yamaha 1:34.9 Laconi, Kawasaki 1:34.8 Haga, Yamaha 1:35.1 Rolfo, Honda 1:36.7 Pirelli Test Session: Spain Circuit: Valencia Date: 14-15 November 2006 Temp: 23ºC Weather: Sunny Parkes flies solo at Valencia Yamaha Motor Germany rider Broc Parkes was on form once more in testing, posting competitive times despite having a heavy workload of machine and tyre evaluation duties to perform, in the absence of his team-mate Kevin Curtain. His absolute best lap on day two was a 1:37.0, putting him fourth fastest overall. Parkes rode most of the test alone, aided at some points by Yamaha Motor Europe test rider, Jeffry de Vries. Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) was the fastest rider on display, setting a 1:36.4. Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) “It would have been good to have another day and I had a lot of work to do as it was. We wanted to get through a lot of new things on the bike and we had to get those worked out properly, so we didn’t devote so much time to testing tyres to start with. We went through a lot of stuff anyway and the bike is working well. I think I did a 1:37 flat, and that was only half a second off the fastest guy, so that was pretty good. We have new quick shifters now and the bike is lighter, so we can move the weight around the bike if we want.” Pirelli Valencia Test WSS Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4.005km Lap Record: 1:38.664 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1:36.4 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006 – this test) Temp: 20ºC WSS – fastest time over two days S. Charpentier, Honda 1:36.4 K. Sofuoglu, Honda 1:36.8 G. Nannelli, Ducati 1:36.9 B. Parkes, Yamaha 1:37.0 F. Foret, Kawasaki 1:37.7 B. Veneman, Suzuki 1:38.6 P. Riba, Kawasaki 1:39.3 More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY POSITIVELY HAPPY After just over a day on his new R1 Yamaha, Troy left Valencia circuit in a happy mood and is already looking forward to the next test in December. Despite spending really only one full day on the bike, Troy didn’t take long to begin to get comfortable and understand its characteristics. Although the 2007 R7 Yamaha looks virtually identical to the old bike, the new bike is almost 80% different. TROY – best lap 1:34.9 Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time on the 2006 bike and only did a few shakedown laps on the new bike, whereas today I got down to the business of working with the new bike. I think that to finish the day and be so close to the fastest guys with a new bike is very good and I’m pretty happy about that. We didn’t have any real problems and I just tried out some different settings and adjustments to get the feel of the bike. But already, I can tell you that I feel more comfortable on this bike then the old one. It feels a bit more stable on the brakes, the engine feels as if it has a bit more power – and that power is linear, not peaky. I really hadn’t expected to be as close at the end as I was especially as I think lots of the guys in front did their times on qualifying tyres. We didn’t do much work on the suspension today because it felt pretty good from the start, so we didn’t change it while we were trying other stuff. Overall, I’m pretty happy and I feel very positive about being competitive by the time the season starts. See ya. Troy

Camel Yamaha Team Test Sepang, Malaysia Wednesday 15th November 2006 EDWARDS’ 800 DEBUT INTERRUPTED BY RAIN AT SEPANG Colin Edwards got his first chance to try out Yamaha’s brand-new 800cc MotoGP bike today, but his debut on the bike was cut short due to bad weather at Sepang. Torrential rain fell on the Malaysian circuit from 1pm, flooding parts of the track and bringing about scenes reminiscent of September’s Grand Prix, when a similar storm led to the cancellation of Qualifying. The rain did begin to ease up as the afternoon wore on but parts of the track remained underwater and Edwards, along with all other MotoGP riders present, chose to stay in his garage. Nonetheless Edwards and his crew made the most of a dry morning and the American was able to complete 32 laps before it began to rain, forming a positive initial opinion of the new bike in the process and setting the fastest time of the day with a lap of 2’03.56. Second fastest was Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen with a time of 2’03.90. COLIN EDWARDS (1st 2’03.56, 32 Laps) “The weather has been a pain but actually we’d already accomplished more or less everything we wanted for the first day. The aim of today was to get on the new bike, do a few laps and just generally get a feel for it. I went out on one tyre for about 15 laps and then on another for 12 and my initial impression was pretty good; in fact the bike feels great for this stage of its development. Obviously power-wise it feels different, but other than that it just feels like it’s rounded-off a bit; not such a knife-edge and a little bit more forgiving. We didn’t change anything drastic from the set-up that Valentino’s been running, but just made a few tweaks here and there through the morning to get things working better for me. Hopefully we’ll be a bit luckier with the weather tomorrow and then we can start to really work on it and see where we get to.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “Today the weather didn’t allow us to use the day to our full advantage, but anyway we completed quite a few laps and this was very important to get Colin’s initial comment on our new bike. This is the first taste for him and his information is going to be very important for our engineers. Unfortunately the weather this afternoon was just too bad and it was impossible to carry on, but now we hope for better conditions tomorrow so we can continue what we began today.” Unofficial Lap Times (800cc Bikes) COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, 2’03.56 Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 2’03.90 John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 2’04.06 Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, 2’04.69 Toni Elias (SPA) Honda, 2’04.98 Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha, 2’05.11 Tadayuki Okada (JPN) Honda Test Rider, 2’05.90 Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda, 2’11.05 Sepang Lap Record: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 2’02.127 Sepang Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2’00.605 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: MotoGP test Sepang November 15, 2006. Day one of three-day test. Torrential rain curtails action on opening day of Sepang MotoGP test MotoGP winter testing resumed at the 5.548 km Sepang circuit in Malaysia today, the opening session of the scheduled three-day test. Three Honda riders tested the RC212V 800cc V-four four-stroke over the three days under the guidance of the RC212V project team. Nicky Hayden, Hondas newly crowned 2006 MotoGP World Champion plus Toni Elias and Carlos Checa put the new generation Honda MotoGP machine through its paces round the Malaysian GP circuit.. However, only Hayden managed to complete a serious test session today as any meaningful testing was impossible after lunch due to a tropical downpour that flooded the track. The American rider put in 30-laps on his RCV and was relatively happy with the new machine recording a best lap time of 2m 04.60s. Gresini Honda rider Toni Elias rode the RC212V for the first time and immediately felt at home on the new machine. The RC212V is a more compact package than its predecessor with a riding position closer to a 250cc machine than the 990cc V5 RC211V he raced in the 2006 MotoGP world championship. Elias made two runs on the bike before the rain set in, a five-lap shake down stint to get a feel for the bike and make positional adjustments then a seven-lap outing with a best lap time at a respectable 2m 05.020s. In addition to unravelling the intricacies of the new machine the Spanish youngster has to evaluate the performance of the Bridgestone rubber Gresini Hondas new tyre supplier for 2007. Spaniard Carlos Checa has signed for the LCR Honda Team and will race their RC212V in the 18-round championship in 2007. Checa took the 800cc V-four four-stroke out on track for the first time today at Sepang today. The 34-year old made a late start to his first day with LCR and was almost immediately sidelined by the weather, completing just five laps before the heavens opened. Honda rider lap times and quotes. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 2m 04.60s – 30 dry laps. “Today was not as productive as we hoped it would be. We started running but had a small problem with the electronics but once we changed the mapping it was OK and we were rollin again. But then the rain came and that was it for the day. I hung on hoping to get in some wet tyre testing but it didn’t happen there was just too much water in turn three. Still we are set up for tomorrow ready to try out a few things based on what we did today. I just hope the next two days are dry.” Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 2m 05.020s – 12 dry laps. “It has not been a perfect day for us the weather didn’t help at all we lost over three hours to the wet track. Everything is new for me I only got in 12-laps before the rain came so I need time before I can really say anything definite about the new generation MotoGP machine. But the first impression is that it feels good. The bike is slower than the 990cc RCV but it is more agile than the old bike – it changes direction very fast and I also like the riding position, its more like the riding position of a 250cc bike. We are also working with Bridgestone tyres for the first time so we start with a clear mind on machine and set up for this test. Both the team and I are very motivated this is a completely new start for us. All I can say is that I need to get as many laps practice on the bike as possible at this test to see the direction we need to take.” Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 2m 10.88s – 5 dry laps. “We started late because Tady (Tadayuki Okada – HRC test rider) had to take the bike out for a shake down test before I could ride it. When I got on the bike I only managed five full laps before the rain started and was in and out of the pits setting the machine to suit my riding style. Nothing is really clear, we didn’t get any useful information because we did so few laps we also had a small problem with power delivery, something to do with the electronics but HRC fixed that.” Overall lap times: Colin Edwards, Yamaha: 2m 03.50s. Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki: 2m 04.03s. John Hopkins, Suzuki: 2m 04.06s. Olivier Jacque, 990cc Kawasaki: 2m 04.08s. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 2m 04.60s. Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 2m 05.020s. Makoto Tamada, 990cc Yamaha: 2m 05.110s. Nobuatsu Aoki, Suzuki: 2m 06.60s. Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 2m 10.88s. More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: TONI ELIAS’ DEBUT ON THE RC212V SPOILED BY RAIN AT SEPANG Toni Elias got his first chance to ride the new Honda RC212V today at Sepang but the test session was interrupted by heavy rain that fell on the Malaysian circuit from 1.00 p.m. Despite the torrential rain, the Spanish rider of the Gresini Honda team felt at home on the new machine. His team mate, Marco Melandri is not attending the test session as he is still recovering from the surgery at the left arm he had on November the 7th. Marco will be fit for next test session scheduled at Jerez (Spain) at the end of the month. TONI ELIAS (2’05″02, 12 laps): “I’m happy of this first day even if I could make only a few laps because of the heavy rain. Everything is new for me, the bike, the set up and also tyres. In fact, for the first time today, we started working with Bridgestone tyres. I only got 12 laps on the bike but the first impression is very good: the RC212V is small, more agile than the old bike. In particular I like the riding position that is more like a 250 position on the bike than Motogp. It’s too early to say anything definite about the new machine, I need to get as many laps practice on the bike as possible to see the direction we need to take. Both the team and I are very motivated, this a completely new start for us.”

SAILLANT PROMOTED, BROADHEAD HIRED AS PART OF ONGOING AMA STAFF RESTRUCTURING PICKERINGTON, Ohio (Nov. 14, 2006) The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and AMA Pro Racing are pleased to announce that Ken Saillant has been promoted to Flat Track Director and Morgan Broadhead will join the company as Road Race Manager. Saillant will oversee Flat Track racing activities in both the AMA’s professional and amateur racing programs. Flat Track Manager Bruce Bober will report to Saillant. Responsibility for the AMA Hillclimb Championship will also fall under Saillant. Saillant is a 17 year AMA member. A racer, Saillant promoted flat track events in the 1990s throughout the Midwest, including promoting the AMA Dirt Track Grand Championships and co-promoting an AMA Grand National Championship event. Race Director for AMA Sports Dirt Track Grand Championships since 2000, Saillant was hired as AMA Sports Track Racing manager in March of 2005. “I’m looking forward to working with our committees to determine a strong direction for the future of flat track and hillclimb,” Saillant said. “Flat track racing is one of the most traditional and exciting forms of racing in motorcycling and we need to continue to try and find innovative ways to help that form of competition thrive. We’ll also work hard to ensure that hillclimb competition is properly managed.” Broadhead will report to Road Race Director Keith Kizer and will manage the AMA Superbike Championship. Broadhead replaces Ron Barrick who will continue with the company. Broadhead joins the AMA from American Suzuki Motor Corporation where he has overseen Suzuki’s road racing and drag racing contingency programs since 2002. He has served as Suzuki’s representative on the AMA Road Racing Advisory board and has extensive experience in the industry having also managed motorsports programs for Freddie Spencer’s High Performance Product Line and Phillips Motorsports Group. “It’s a new AMA racing department and I’m excited to be a part of it,” said Broadhead. “I’ve worked with Keith for five years while at Suzuki. He has promised me the support will be there for us and I’m confident that we’ll make a good team that can help AMA championship road racing continue to grow.” Broadhead will continue at his current position with Suzuki until Dec. 1, in order to facilitate as smooth a transition as possible for both companies. His first day on the job for the AMA will be at the Daytona tire test on Dec. 5. The AMA announced in February of this year changes to the organization’s structure designed to increase the Association’s effectiveness in its core mission of promoting motorcycle “rights. riding. racing.”