Yoshimura Suzuki is testing today on the 2.5-mile, nine-turn road course at Willow Springs International Raceway, a former AMA Superbike race venue located in Rosamond, California, about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. Present and testing are 2006 AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies, six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin and Tommy Hayden, who has not been officially announced to the team but will be racing in Superbike and Supersport for Yoshimura Suzuki in 2007 and 2008. The test is closed to the public and the media, according to Team Manager Don Sakakura, and is only meant to be a shakedown run for the team’s new 2007-spec GSX-R1000s before they are packed up and shipped off to tests overseas, possibly at Sepang in Malaysia.

Suzuki World Champion Kevin Schwantz and Grand Prix legend Randy Mamola took to the track yesterday on a pair of Rizla Suzuki GSV-Rs, and the years rolled back as the two stars of yesterday completed some high-speed demonstration laps. Both riders showed that they had lost none of their racing hunger as Schwantz first followed Mamola around the 4km circuit and then Suzuki’s 1993 World Champion led the way for Mamola to follow him round. The pair were involved in Rizla Suzuki MotoGP’s journalist test event and the opportunity for the two to be on the track together was something that neither of them could resist. The ‘competitive’ side of the demo laps was also evident as both riders unofficially recorded times within three seconds of the average race laps from Sunday’s final Grand Prix of the season. Kevin Schwantz: “Any time you are out on the track and riding around with Randy it is entertaining, and it can turn into a competition almost immediately. I had just left the pits and I followed him around the track which was real interesting for me. Then I noticed he wasn’t really going anywhere and I thought jeez I guess I just gotta try and run with him. It was nice to have both of us on the same bike the GSV-R responded well to everything I wanted it to do. Most of all though it was fun to be out there again with Randy because both of us have raced together in the past, he still looks like the same Randy that I battled against on the track all those years ago.” Randy Mamola: “It’s more than just Kevin and I out there – it is more the history of Suzuki. One of my first podiums was on a Suzuki and I have great memories from that, so it was great to be on the Suzuki bike nearly three decades later. When I saw Kevin on the track I thought this will be cool. Then we started to play and I looked round and he went past me. That was the best bit because I followed him and he still has that aggressive Schwantz style, and he can get the bike to turn right in the middle of a corner so differently to anybody. For both of us to be on Rizla Suzukis at the same time was just fabulous!”

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has announced that its Board of Directors has selected Robert M. Dingman to be the Association’s next President. Dingman succeeds Robert Rasor, who is retiring as AMA President and will serve as AMA Director of International Affairs. Dingman previously served the AMA for nearly five years as its Washington (D.C.) Representative, and is returning to the Association from the position of Assistant Commissioner for Transportation Safety for New York State’s Department of Motor Vehicles, where he headed the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. “Every AMA member, along with everyone in the American motorcycling community, can look at Rob Dingman and say, ‘He’s one of us’ — a true enthusiast with a genuine passion for the work we do,” said Dal Smilie, Chairman of the AMA Board of Directors. “We’re fortunate to have found a person of his professional experience and personal commitment to guide the AMA into what promises to be a bright and successful future.” “I’m honored to have been chosen by the Board of Directors to lead the AMA at this time of change and growth,” said Dingman. “I believe in the Association’s mission of ‘rights, riding, racing,’ and for me there’s no greater privilege than to serve the AMA’s 280,000 members.” Before joining the AMA staff in 1994, Dingman was a Government Relations Specialist for the Motorcycle Industry Council, and a Legislative Aide and Research Associate in the New York State Assembly. A 13-year AMA member and an avid street rider and off-highway enthusiast, he holds a Master of Arts in political management from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and journalism from the State University of New York at Albany. Dingman’s first day as AMA President will be November 27, 2006. Based at the Association’s headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio, he’ll report to AMA Chief Executive Officer Patricia DiPietro on an interim basis during a transition period.

The Formula 1 World Championship ended over a week ago and the MotoGP series finished on Sunday, so what would MotoGP star John Hopkins and F1 racer Tonio Liuzzi do for a bit of post-season fun? Why, get back on a race track of course! Today, the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer and the Scuderia Toro Rosso driver, both of them part of the Red Bull family, took part in a special seat-swap event, riding and driving each other’s machines around the Valencia circuit that hosted the MotoGP finale on Sunday. “I’ve been looking forward to today for weeks now,” said Hopkins, who admitted his only other experience of a four wheeled race vehicle took place in a go-kart. “Ever since I had the seat fitting, this experience could not have come soon enough and today was a dream come true. At first it was a bit overwhelming, looking at all the buttons on the steering wheel, but once I understood the most important thing is to keep the heat in the tyres under braking then it all got easier. It’s easy to say you can do this but when the time actually comes, it’s quite a challenge and I spun it a couple of times. Then I began to get the hang of braking very late and on my final run I got a feeling for the car moving around underneath me. I could feel it drifting and I could sense the front end pushing coming out of the corners. I was trying my hardest and going for it without being reckless.” Before today, Hopkins admitted his target was to get his car lap time down to what he did on his Rizla Suzuki MotoGP bike this weekend. He wasn’t messing around: 1’31.65 on two wheels and a very impressive 1.19.8 on four, which is only around five seconds off a competitive F1 driver’s time at this track! “By the end of the run, it began to feel natural to me,” added Hopkins. “I think I’d consider racing one of these in the future. I always knew it would be easier for me to get into four wheels than for Tonio on two, but with his lack of experience I think he did real good. He popped a wheelie and got his knee down!” So what did Liuzzi think? “It was an orgasm! It was amazingly cool! It was really great!” Did we mention Mr. Liuzzi is an excitable Italian? “I’ve always loved bikes but after today, I love them even more, because the guys who race these are unbelievable and not human. The bike is like a crazy horse and it is really difficult to keep the front end down. I was trying, but I kept something in reserve because I could feel the shadow of Franz and Gerhard (Toro Rosso team bosses Tost and Berger) telling me to be careful as I am testing in two weeks! I think you just need to take more risks than I was prepared to take today. The way you tackle the lap is very different on two wheels, as the most important thing is to have the balls to keep the throttle open. It was a fantastic adrenalin rush. The most amazing thing about the bike was the grip, as you can lean right over. Unbelievable! I would love to have a race on this bike.” And an assessment of his fellow Red Bull racer? “The Formula 1 car is a much more complicated technically to drive than the bike,” reckoned Tonio. “But once John got the hang of the car and how it handled, he was very impressive and very fast.”

PICKERINGTON, Ohio The fourth annual AMA Sports Awards Banquet will be held Nov. 17, 2006, at The Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. Nearly 400 national champions in more than a dozen forms of motorcycle and ATV competition will be honored for their achievements in 2006. The 2006 Awards of Excellence also will be presented to the year’s top riders, promoters and members of the media. The banquet will take place at a new venue in 2006, The Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, which will be the center of activity during the AMA Las Vegas Invasion weekend. Other weekend events include the AMA Pro Racing Championship Awards Banquet, also at the Rio, and the Maxxis EnduroCross at The Orleans Arena. The AMA Sports evening includes a reception at 6:30 p.m., dinner beginning at 7:30 p.m., and the awards presentations starting at 8:30 p.m. SPEED TV host Greg White and MX Sports’ Tim Cotter will share the master of ceremonies honors at this year’s banquet. In addition, a number of the 2006 AMA Sports Awards will be presented to the stars of tomorrow by today’s motorcycle-racing superstars. Reserve your seat or table at the banquet by registering online or by downloading a mail-in registration form. For additional information, contact Sue Mason at (614) 856-1900, extension 1244, or [email protected]. Nominees for major 2006 AMA Sports Awards: AMA Sports Athlete of the Year Geoff Aaron, Bailey, Colo. – Observed Trials Cory Burleson, Harrison, Ark. – Road Racing Greg Hancock, Costa Mesa, Calif. – Speedway Josh Hill, Yoncalla, Ore. – Motocross Juha Salminen, Finland – GNCC AMA Sports Veteran/Senior Rider of the Year Thomas Carringer, Salinas, Calif. – Dirt Track Charlie Coleman, Courtland, N.Y. – Road Racing Jimmy Evans, Riverside, Calif. – Motocross AMA Sports Female Rider of the Year Louise Forsley, Bernardston, Mass. – Observed Trials Tarah Geiger, Vero Beach, Fla. – Motocross Shayna Texter, Willow Street, Pa. – Dirt Track AMA Sports Youth Rider of the Year Walker Fowler, Rogers, Ohio – GNCC ATV and Bike Hayden Gillim, Owensboro, Ky. – Dirt Track / Road Racing Josiah Mizell, Cleveland, Texas – Observed Trials Jessy Nelson, Templeton, Calif. – Motocross ATVA Athlete of the Year Bill Ballance, Bowling Green, Ky. – GNCC Joe Byrd, Union City, Tenn. – Motocross Tim Farr, Massillon, Ohio – Dirt Track Wayne Matlock, Lakeside, Calif. – Hare & Hound Frank Wilson, Delbarton, W.V. – Hillclimb ATVA Amateur Rider of the Year Tyler Lenig, Shamokin, Pa. – GNCC Mitch Reynolds, Greenbrier, Ark. – Dirt Track / Motocross Josh Upperman, Louisville, Ohio – Motocross ATVA Veteran/Senior Rider of the Year Ken Marcou, Millston, Wis. – Dirt Track Dave Simmons, Painesville, Ohio – GNCC Tommy Tantillo, Manorville, N.Y. – Motocross ATVA Female Rider of the Year Angela Butler, Laveen, Ariz. – Motocross Traci Cecco, Shamokin, Penn. – GNCC Candace Lee, Four Oaks, N.C. – Dirt Track ATVA Youth Rider of the Year Walker Fowler, Rogers, Ohio – GNCC Richard Lindsey, Atco, N.J. – Motocross Kendall Webb, Branson, Mo. – Dirt Track / Motocross ATVA Organizer of the Year Pine Lake, Ashtabula, Ohio Racer Productions, Morgantown, W.V. Victory Sports, Blountville, Tenn. AMA Sports Broadcast Journalist of the Year Xtreme Speedway Action – Mark Williams Rodney Tomlin Jason Weigandt AMA Sports Photojournalist of the Year Harold Martin Shan Moore Tony Scavo AMA Sports Print Media Journalist of the Year Steve Berkner DeWanna Comer Charlie Williams AMA Sports Website of the Year www.atvriders.com www.flattrack.com www.sponsorhouse.com AMA Sports Motocross Organizer of the Year Millcreek Motocross / Bama Cycle Park, Pell City, Ala. Raceway Park, Englishtown, N.J. Red Bud, Buchanan, Mich. AMA Sports Off-Road Organizer of the Year Cycle City Promotions, Stillwater, Okla. Racer Productions, Morgantown, W.V. Trials Training Center, Sequatchie, Tenn. AMA Sports Track Racing Organizer of the Year Indianhead Cycle Club, Red Wing, Minn. Sideways Promotions, Westminster, Mass. USA Speedway, Mt. Vernon, Ohio About AMA Sports AMA Sports is the amateur and pro-am competition arm of AMA Racing. AMA Sports sanctions over 4,000 events in 24 different disciplines each year and supports over 80 thousand active members. For more information about AMA Sports, visit ~www.amadirecklink.com/amrace/amasports.asp~.

The Tech 3 Team is pleased to announce that the Yamaha-Dunlop project will continue in 2007 with a two-rider line-up. After signing Makoto Tamada last week, Tech 3 Yamaha has completed its 2007 squad with the addition of French 250cc rider and current Tech 3 test rider Sylvain Guintoli. Herve Poncharal, Team Principal of Tech 3 Yamaha, said “I am very grateful to Yamaha for supporting us for one more season and enabling us to have two riders on the new 800cc motorcycle. Furthermore, I am very happy to announce that Sylvain Guintoli will be our second rider alongside Makoto Tamada. The Tech 3 Yamaha Team will be the only team to run Dunlop tyres in MotoGP and we are delighted that we will have such a talented line-up to continue with the great work that we’ve done in 2006.” “It’s a dream come true for me to finally step up to the MotoGP class,” added French star Guintoli. “Herve and I have known each other for years and to be given the chance to ride with a Yamaha factory team is a fantastic opportunity for me. I want to thank Herve Poncharal and Yamaha for this chance and I can’t wait to begin working with them.”

Tickets Available At (800) 327-SECA, www.laguna-seca.com MONTEREY, Calif. Tickets for the 2007 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix July 20-22, 2007 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will go on-sale this Wednesday, November 1. All general admission tickets, grandstand seats, paddock passes and general camping will go on sale at 8:00 a.m. (PST) on-line at www.laguna-seca.com or by phone at (800) 327-SECA. For the fan wishing to upgrade their Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix experience, a very limited number of special access tickets, including the Flagroom and Laguna Club hospitality areas, are available by telephone only at (800) 327-SECA. Those tickets will go quickly on the first day of ticket sales, so those wishing to purchase these tickets are encouraged to call early to ensure they don’t miss out. In addition, a very limited number of Premier and Reserved weekend camping passes are available for the 2007 event. Those who aren’t able to get the Premier or Reserved camping but still want to camp on-site during the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix will find plenty of general camping passes available. A complete description of camping tickets is available at www.laguna-seca.com/tickets. A three-day general admission ticket for next year’s event remains $90. A weekend paddock pass, which admits the holder to both the MotoGP (with the exception to limited times prior to and just after on-track World Championship sessions) and AMA Superbike paddock, is $50 and must be purchased in conjunction with an admission ticket. Grandstand seats are $15 on Saturday and $25 for Sunday’s MotoGP World Championship Race. The 2006 Red Bull Grand Prix saw American rider Nicky Hayden capture his second consecutive home Grand Prix win, which propelled him to his first world championship. Over 144,000 fans witnessed the 2006 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. Due to an expected high-volume of sales, orders will be taken only via telephone or internet on November 1. No orders will be taken on-site at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during the first day of sales. More information on the ticket process is available by calling (800) 327-SECA or logging on to www.laguna-seca.com. Information on the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix is also available at www.RedBullUSGrandPrix.com.

The next generation of MotoGP machine is here in the shape of the Honda RC212V racing prototype. Built to conform to the new-for-2007 Grand Prix rules, the bike features an 800cc, V4 engine and a stunning all-new chassis built with mass centralization and ultimate handling in mind. Welcome to the future. Basic Concept: “Reading the rider’s mind” Takanori Okuma, the Honda R&D RC212V Large Project Leader, explains the principles behind the RC212V: “When we started development of the 800cc machine, effectively the “second generation” of Honda MotoGP bike, we gave top priority to the pursuit of excellent handling and drivability. For the newly-reduced engine capacity of 800cc, we decided a V4 was the most efficient layout. Rather than focusing solely on top end power, we also concentrated on producing good power delivery characteristics, which can have a significant effect on lap times. Using enhanced control systems, the result is an engine with good drivability in the low and mid ranges, and excellent power under acceleration when the engine is at the top of its range. “On the chassis side, we further enhanced the “mass concentration” package developed for the RC211V to improve the agility and quick handling characteristics of the bike. The outward appearance is aggressive and appropriately innovative for a new generation of bike, affording both drivability and aerodynamic efficiency. We will continue to evolve the bike before the season opener and throughout next season.” Technical Specifications Overall length : 2050mm Overall width : 645mm Overall height : 1125mm Wheelbase : 1440mm Road clearance : 125mm Weight (kg) : over 148kg Engine type: liquid-cooled four-stroke DOHC 4 valve V-4 Displacement : 800cc Maximum power : N/A Frame type : twin-tube Front Wheels (inch) : 16.5 Rear Wheels (inch) : 16.5 Front Suspension : Telescopic fork Rear Suspension : New Unit Pro-link Fuel tank capacity : 21 litre DANI PEDROSA’S FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE RC212V Following the Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi in September, Dani Pedrosa rode 30 laps on the RC212V prototype as the machine was revealed for the first time in public. Though the test was primarily for initial evaluation purposes, Pedrosa managed a highly respectable lap time of 1m 48.210s. Here he gives his thoughts on the bike he and newly-crowned World Champion Nicky Hayden will ride next year. What are your first impressions of the RC212V prototype? It’s a little bit difficult to make a good analysis of the bike because I’ve only had the possibility to ride a few laps. But my first impression is that the bike feels right which is very important when you check the first prototype. We didn’t work on the settings – only making some changes to the gearing – but it was clear that the package feels quite similar to the RC211V. Can you assess the handling characteristics? Definitely the bike is smaller, so for me it’s better because I can control the bike more easily. I could touch my knees with my elbows while sitting on the bike and that’s something I cannot do now with the RC211V. This is helpful when you ride a race bike. What can you say about the power delivery? The engine character feels a little different to the RC211V, but as I said it was just my first test and development is still going on so this feeling will continue to change. And also I didn’t push so much. Is it easier to ride than the 990cc? Yes, it seems easier to ride because some things about the bike feel smaller and the rear seat is much shorter which makes the whole bike look more compact. The bike has some characteristics which are a little more like a 250cc but it’s still a MotoGP bike. I don’t know if it will be faster in the corners because there are many hairpins in Motegi and the corner speed is very low. Which characteristics do you find better than the 990cc? For me, the dimensions. I’m not tall and this machine suits my size a little better than the 990cc. Even though the height and the weight are the same as the RC211V, the bike is smaller, more compact and this is good. SATORU HORIIKE – Managing Director of HRC “We are satisfied with the progress of the RC212V prototype. Under the leadership of Takanori Okuma, the project team has remained well on schedule with the development and testing programme set by HRC. We are confident that winter testing will be positive and look forward to being competitive in this exciting new era for MotoGP.”