GIBERNAU TO UNDERGO FURTHER MEDICAL TREATMENT The Ducati MotoGP team’s Spanish rider Sete Gibernau is to undergo further special medical treatment in an attempt to recover from his injuries as soon as possible. Following first medical checks on Gibernau yesterday in the Clinica Mobile as a result of his crash during the Estoril race, the Spanish rider left Portugal to undergo a further medical visit. This visit confirmed the fracture of the fifth metacarpal bone in his right hand and damage to one of the plates previously inserted in his left collarbone. In the last four months Gibernau has undergone two operations to repair the collarbone break following his crash in the GP of Catalunya and now, following medical indications, he has opted for a more conservative treatment under the care of Dr Angel Villamor of the San José Hospital in Madrid. At first another operation was considered, but it was finally decided to opt for a non-invasive technique under local anaesthetic. This consists of the application of cells extracted from the hip of the patient himself which will then be injected into the two injured areas. Tomorrow the results will be analysed to establish a period of recovery and verify whether or not Sete Gibernau can take part in the Gran Premio de la Comunidad Valenciana next weekend.

Triple Australian Superbike Champion, Shawn Giles is set to make his racing comeback for Team Yoshimura Suzuki at Winton Raceway, Victoria this weekend following the longest injury lay-off of his career. With three Australian Superbike Championships and one national Supersport title to his credit, Giles is the most successful rider in Australian road racing history. A high-speed crash while leading at Barbagallo Raceway in May saw Giles slam into a concrete wall at over 100 kph leaving the Suzuki rider with shattered bones in his right foot, a cracked pelvis and a life-threatening blood clot in his right calf. A veteran of the sport and a stalwart of the Australian Road Racing Championship since 1992, Giles has never spent so much time off a motorcycle in his long and prestigious career. Now with a clean bill of health, he is delighted at the prospect of racing his Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Winton Raceway for round six of seven in the premier road racing class. “It’s great to be able to get back on the bike again. I’ve really missed the racing; it’s been a long, tough season watching from the sidelines,” said Giles. “I went testing with Team Yoshimura Suzuki two weeks ago and I was off the pace and struggling on the first day, but on day two I was able to find a lot more speed. “I’ve been training hard and working on my fitness, but the best way for any rider to get race-fit is by going racing and I expect to be able to go faster again this weekend. “The trouble is these other guys have been on the bikes all season and are fully up to speed so I’ve really got my work cut out for me. But we’re hoping to grab a top-five finish at Winton and then end the season on a high in Sydney.” Giles’ Suzuki team-mate Robbie Bugden is looking to improve upon the privateer success he achieved in 2005 at Winton Raceway. “As a privateer, Robbie won a race and came second overall at Winton last year, so it is a track that he likes a lot,” Giles said. “Robbie was really quick in testing at Winton and he’ll be pushing hard for the round win that he just missed in 2005, and he’ll keep me honest this weekend. “For me the championship is over, but these next two rounds are about getting some strong results for Suzuki to finish the year on a positive. “I’m looking forward to getting back in the swing of racing, regaining my confidence and re-focusing for another championship attack next season.”

Michelin riders dominated this afternoon’s incident-packed Portuguese Grand Prix, taking the top five finishing positions. With one round remaining only two riders can now win the 2006 MotoGP crown and they are both Michelin men ­ Valentino Rossi (Camel Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), who finished second today, and Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), who DNFed. The race was won by first-time MotoGP winner Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V-Michelin) who beat reigning champ Rossi by two thousandths of a second. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Team Roberts KR211V-Michelin) finished third a further 0.174 seconds behind. All three riders chose different compound Michelin slicks, Elias choosing a medium rear, Rossi a hard rear and Roberts Jr. a soft rear. “Our riders were able to dominate this weekend,” said Nicolas Goubert, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing. “We had the top five places in qualifying and the top five in the race, well ahead of our rivals. Our tires’ performance and consistency were very good, Toni riding his fastest lap on lap 20, and the race for the lead was one of the most entertaining this year. Toni rode some great races earlier this season but then he got injured at Assen. We didn’t expect him to win here after he qualified 11th. But it’s funny, at Sepang one of the TV channels did interviews with some of our riders, all of them wearing Michelin podium caps. After Toni had finished his he gave back his cap and told me he wanted me to give it back to him when he got his first MotoGP podium. He really deserved the win and the cap too! “The race wasn’t easy for anyone because conditions were much cooler today, though Kenny was the only top guy to change his tire choice after morning warm-up. I feel very sorry for Nicky. Today’s race proved once again that anything can happen at any time in bike racing. The last race at Valencia will be very exciting, the title won’t be decided until the checkered flag.” Former 125 and 250 GP winner Elias was ecstatic after passing Rossi just a few meters before the finishing line for one of the closest-ever finishes in premier-class racing. The 23-year-old Spaniard came through from eighth on the first lap to battle for the lead with Rossi, Roberts and Colin Edwards (Camel Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) who finished fourth, just 0.864 seconds behind Elias. Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V-Michelin) finished fifth, his best result of the year. “This is a dream I have dreamed many times,” said Elias. “I had never led a MotoGP race before, so I was a little nervous in the last laps with two World Champions right behind me. When Valentino passed me at the chicane on the last lap I concentrated very hard on the last corner and I had good grip, so I could pass him on the way to the finish line. My thanks to Honda and to Michelin.” Today’s race will also be remembered for a lap five incident in which Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin) crashed at Turn Six, taking teammate Hayden with him. Hayden had gone into this race 12 points ahead of Rossi, now he goes to the final round at Valencia eight points in arrears. This is the first time since 1992 that the premier-class crown has gone down to the final race. Top five Michelin riders’ tire choice Elias: wide-profile, medium compound front; medium compound rear Rossi: narrow-profile, medium compound front; hard compound rear Roberts Jr.: narrow-profile, medium compound front; soft compound rear Edwards: narrow-profile, medium compound front; hard compound rear Tamada: wide-profile, medium compound front; medium compound rear

Dalke Motorsports scores two podium finishes in WERA National Endurance Finals at Road Atlanta. Dalke Motorsports showed up at the WERA Grand National Finals (GNF) for the 10th and final round of the National Endurance series. The team purchased a motor to replace the one that broke in round 9 and again had 2 bikes entered in the race. Dalke recruited Matt Lynn and Andy Feuersthaler to ride with team regulars Josh Smith-Moore and Wrenn Smith on the second Pirelli shod Suzuki GSXR-600 and put the weight of the championship on Giovanni Rojas and Keith Marshall while team owner Brian Dalke ran the show from the pits. With all the points calculated, and Dalke needed to win the race to defend their 2005 title. Keith and Gio had a race long battle that came up 20 seconds short of eventual race winner TVRII. Both Keith and Gio lead the race for the class win and had the #6 Pirelli shod Suzuki GSXR-600 up as high as 3rd overall at points in the race but multiple red flags kept the race for the class win extremely close. A late race battle between Keith and one of the heavyweight competitors allowed TVR II to extend its lead just enough to take the win and prevent Dalke from repeating the Class championship. Dalke Motorsports II started Matt Lynn from 38th position, the last row of the grid, on the teams #16 bike and by the end of his fuel Matt had the bike in the top 15 overall and 3rd in class. Andy took over for Matt and kept the move up to put the #16 bike in the top 10 overall. Wrenn and Josh each took their turn to bring home the final class podium spot and 10th overall. Team owner Brian Dalke also used the double podium presentation to propose to girlfriend Kim Trogdon who teary eyed said yes. Dalke Motorsports would like to thank all of its sponsors and crew and family for their support this year and is already looking to get the Championship back for 2007. More, from a press release issued by Shani Cobb: Cobb wins 2 National Championships at the WERA GNF Thursday saw the return of Cumming, Georgia’s Ted Cobb to the 2006 WERA GNF at Road Atlanta. Under sunny skies, racing a Yamaha YZ450F, Cobb won the combined Super Motard/D Super Stock overall, the D Super Bike, and finished 2nd to race winner Kris Wall in Clubman Expert. Cobb said, “Man, that race with Kris was awesome! Kris built a sleeved down Suzuki SV650 that was a rocket. I got the holeshot and led through turn 7 on the 1st lap, only to have that SV pass me in 9. Kris pulled me to my fastest lap of the race, a 1:38.564. We went back and forth a couple times, however Kris was riding really well and I ran out of motor, finishing just over 1 second behind him at the finish. Thanks to WERA for putting on a good show.”

Tray Batey, Dane Westby and Jeff Wood each won a Suzuki Cup Final Sunday at Road Atlanta, in Braselton, Georgia, but the star of the show was Lee Acree, who won two of the prestigious races on his Vesrah Suzukis. After having his pole-winning qualifying time thrown out for being over on horsepower and underweight, Batey (Acree’s teammate) detuned his SV1000 severely to be safely within the class limits and, as a result, had to work hard to beat Ghetto Custom’s Cale Swiger in the SV1000 Cup Final. BEI Racing’s Jeff Walker said he also detuned his Suzuki too much, relegating him to third. Acree’s first win of the day came in a race-long, four-rider battle in the GSX-R600 Cup Final. Acree beat Lester Racing’s Ben Thompson, Butler Machinery’s Robert Jensen and Arclight Suzuki’s Jeff Wood in the 10-lap race, with less than 0.5 second covering the four riders at the finish line. T. Westby Corporation’s 19-year-old Dane Westby held off Chris Parrish to win the SV650 Cup Final by 0.2 second. Parrish, the pole-sitter, rode with injuries he sustained in a crash during qualifying Saturday. Walker held off Zac Chapman to place third for the second time Sunday. Wood came back to defeat Jensen in a 10-lap duel in the GSX-R750 Cup Final. Vesrah Suzuki Team Owner Mark Junge was right behind Wood and Jensen when he was slowed by fuel-injection issues. Junge cruised home to take third. Acree closed out his day with another hard-fought victory in the GSX-R1000 Cup Final, beating Jensen, Thompson and Team Stargel Castrol’s Brian Stokes, fourth. Batey had taken an early lead and appeared to be pulling away in the GSX-R1000 event when he crashed out of the race in turn six. 46-year-old Batey was uninjured in the fall. In addition to a check worth $3000 for the GSX-R750 Cup win, Wood was presented a brand-new GSX-R750. For his two wins, Acree collected $6000, a brand-new GSX-R600 and a brand-new GSX-R1000. Batey and Westby won $1500 each for their SV Cup wins but no motorcycles. Suzuki Cup Finals Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia October 15, 2006 Provisional Race Results (listed in chronological order): SUZUKI SV1000 CUP FINAL: 1. Tray Batey, 8 laps, $1500 2. Cale Swiger, -3.538 seconds, $1250 3. Jeff Walker, -20.132 seconds, $1000 4. J.B. Layman, -31.926 seconds, $750 5. Van Salt, -32.441 seconds, $600 6. Russell Masecar, -32.490 seconds, $500 7. Louis Schalow, -56.403 seconds, $450 8. Steve Webster, -95.824 seconds, $400 9. Taylor Knapp, DNS 10. Mark Junge, DNS SUZUKI GSX-R600 CUP FINAL: 1. Lee Acree, 10 laps, $3000 2. Ben Thompson, -0.104 second, $2500 3. Robert Jensen, -0.304 second, $2000 4. Jeff Wood, -0.492 second, $1500 5. Keith Marshall, -8.688 seconds, $1200 6. John Jacobi, -10.896 seconds, $1000 7. Chad Hermann, -17.706 seconds, $900 8. Byron Barbour, -20.772 seconds, $850 9. Brandon Parrish, -21.882 seconds, $800 10. Bradley Adams, -31.165 seconds, $750 11. Telly Steimel, -32.924 seconds, $700 12. Randy Sherman, -33.868 seconds, $650 13. Dustin Dominguez, -34.323 seconds, $600 14. Mark Crozier, -38.061 seconds, $550 15. Cory Burleson, -41.254 seconds, $500 16. Matt McCord, -53.863 seconds, $500 17. Josh Smith-Moore, -55.692 seconds, $500 18. Andy Feuersthaler, -1 lap, $500 19. Daniel Parkerson, -1 lap, DNF, $500 20. Scott Jackson, -6 laps, DNF, mechanical, $500 21. John Marable, -8 laps, DNF 22. David Weber, DNS 23. Taylor Knapp, DNS 24. Mark Junge, DNS SUZUKI SV650 CUP FINAL: 1. Dane Westby, 8 laps, $1500 2. Chris Parrish, -0.201 second, $1250 3. Jeff Walker, -2.187 seconds, $1000 4. Zac Chapman, -2.552 seconds, $750 5. Cale Swiger, -3.928 seconds, $600 6. Dustin Dominguez, -4.025 seconds, $500 7. Arnold Hastings, -9.263 seconds, $450 8. Kris Wall, -9.383 seconds, $425 9. Ricky Ford, -18.067 seconds, $400 10. Philip Fortune, -18.167 seconds, $375 11. Max Norton, -18.883 seconds, $350 12. Russell Masecar, -21.047 seconds, $325 13. Steve Green, -25.303 seconds, $300 14. Steve Brunton, -29.909 seconds, $275 15. Josh Smith-Moore, -30.320 seconds, $250 16. Wayne Handley, -31.012 seconds, $250 17. Thomas Williams, -56.012 seconds, $250 18. Russel Stoddard, -8 laps, DNF, crash, $250 19. Craig Montgomery, DNS SUZUKI GSX-R750 CUP FINAL: 1. Jeff Wood, 10 laps, $3000 2. Robert Jensen, -0.124 second, $2500 3. Mark Junge, -9.191 seconds, $2000 4. Keith Marshall, -14.325 seconds, $1500 5. Justin Marm, -21.069 seconds, $1200 6. Byron Barbour, -23.895 seconds, $1000 7. Cory Burleson, -24.472 seconds, $900 8. Andy Feuersthaler, -24.996 seconds, $850 9. Troy Meikle, -32.641 seconds, $800 10. Zac Chapman, 33.744 seconds, $750 11. Lyles Sanders, -34.554 seconds, $700 12. Robert Campbell, -42.828 seconds, $650 13. Brad Parkerson, -50.712 seconds, $600 14. Bob Henderson, -63.929 seconds, $550 15. Josh Smith-Moore, -65.839 seconds, $500 SUZUKI GSX-R1000 CUP FINAL: 1. Lee Acree, 10 laps, $3000 2. Robert Jensen, -0.185 second, $2500 3. Ben Thompson, -0.280 second, $2000 4. Brian Stokes, -0.423 second, $1500 5. Chad Lewin, -6.871 seconds, $1200 6. John Jacobi, -10.946 seconds, $1000 7. James Stroud, -12.836 seconds, $900 8. Mark Crozier, -15.154 seconds, $850 9. Justin Marm, -17.917 seconds, $800 10. Dominic Jones, -21.707 seconds, $750 11. Scott Carpenter, -27.842 seconds, $700 12. Brandon Parrish, -29.452 seconds, $650 13. Troy Meikle, -30.361 seconds, $600 14. Andy Caldwell, -37.753 seconds, $550 15. Billy Ethridge, -39.008 seconds, $500 16. Mark Brereton, -88.544 seconds, $500 17. Tray Batey, -8 laps, DNF, crash, $500 18. J.B. Layman, -9 laps, DNF, crash, $500 19. David Weber, DNS 20. Taylor Knapp, DNS 21. Chris Normand, DNS

Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Walker led from start-to-finish to win The Race of the Year at Mallory Park today and was followed home in second place by his team mate Cal Crutchlow. Riding with the aim of securing a permanent seat in the Rizla Suzuki team for 2007, Walker started from second place on the grid to take the holeshot and was never challenged during the 20-lap race. Crutchlow, on his debut ride for Rizla Suzuki, dominated practice and despite a crash late in qualifying took his maiden Superbike pole position. His number one bike was repaired but he pulled in after his warm up lap to switch to his spare GSX-R1000 for the race. He enjoyed a battle with Yamaha’s Billy McConnell before eventually pipping him to the post for runners-up spot. The Race of the Year was the final race for Rizla Suzuki in 2006. The team’s next outing is at Valencia in Spain on November 1st and 2nd when it will debut test its all-new 2007 GSX-R1000 race bike. Crutchlow will be joined by his team mate for next season and they will test alongside an exclusive group of MotoGP riders. An announcement on who will partner Cal Crutchlow in the Rizla Suzuki team in 2007 is imminent. Chris Walker: “Hats off to the Rizla Suzuki team for working so hard to give me a bike I could win with today. It’s a lot to ask to jump on a new bike with unfamiliar tyres at a circuit that I haven’t visited for six years and to win; and much of the credit for the result must go to the quality of the team supporting me. “It’s great to be back in Britain and winning again. The crowd has been brilliant and I want to thank all the fans for turning out to cheer me on. I hope I have done enough to prove to Rizla Suzuki that I am the right person for the job in 2007.” Cal Crutchlow: “During the warm-up lap something felt a little off with my bike, perhaps caused by my crash earlier in the day during qualifying. I switched to my spare bike and despite it being set up exactly the same, it felt slightly different and that was the difference between Chris and me today. “I am disappointed not to have won, but overall I am happy because on my debut Superbike ride for Rizla Suzuki I have scored a pole position and second place – you can’t be bad to that. Being a Superbike rider is simply brilliant, I’m loving every minute of it and the Rizla Suzuki team is fantastic to work with. I can’t wait until we start testing in earnest.” Simon Buckmaster – Team Manager: “It’s been a good day for Rizla Suzuki and I’m delighted with the performance of the riders and the team as a whole. It’s great for the new staff to win on their first weekend racing and it’s an encouraging start for Cal to take a podium on his step up from Supersport to Superbike. Well done to the whole Rizla Suzuki team. “Chris did a great job today and we will be reviewing who will partner Cal in the team for 2007 over the next week. “This is the first step in Rizla Suzuki’s preparations for the 2007 season and we will be taking the next one at Valencia in just over two week’s time when we start our winter test programme.” Mallory Park Race of the Year Results: 1: Chris Walker (Rizla Suzuki) 17:29.314, 2: Cal Crutchlow (Rizla Suzuki) +7.764, 3: Billy McConnell (Yamaha) +8.009, 4: Peter Hickman (Kawasaki) +14.126, 5: John McGuinness (Honda) +20.419, 6: Ian Hutchinson (Kawasaki) +34.176.

MotoGP at Estoril confirmed for two more years On a weekend where Estoril welcomed the bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal, the penultimate race of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship, the Circuit Administration took the opportunity to proudly announce the renovation of their contract with the series’ commercial rights-holders Dorna Sports. The agreement extends their existing deal to hold MotoGP races by another two years until 2008, and is the second renewal for the Estoril Circuit. Present at the event were Secretary of State for Tourism Dr. Bernardo Trindade, President of the Circuit Administration Council Domingos Piedade, CEO of Dorna Sports Carmelo Ezpeleta, ITP President Dr. Luis Patrão and ITP Vice President Dr. Frederico Costa. Appropriately enough, the handshake for the deal between Messrs. Trinidade, Piedade and Ezpeleta took place on the starting grid of today’s MotoGP race at the Portuguese track. Carmelo Ezpeleta – CEO Dorna Sports “We are happy to renew the contract with the Estoril Circuit for two more years. The circuit have worked hard to make this event as popular as it is today, and work has been ongoing to bring it up to the necessary standards. There have been some great races over the years at this famous venue, and we hope that this can continue.” Domingos Piedade – Chairman, Estoril Circuit “This contract renovation represents Dorna’s recognition of the maginficent work carried out by the fantastic team here at the Estoril Circuit for MotoGP, including the excellent job undertaken by the government and Dorna itself. It is a great reward for everybody who has tried their utmost to bring this race up to the highest standard in the World Championship. Most importantly, it means that this magnificent race, which this year has welcomed 70,000 spectators, has sealed its place as an key event on the MotoGP calendar.”

Michelin has welcomed new regulations designed to maintain competition between tire manufacturers in the MotoGP World Championship. The two sets of rules, concerning tires and testing, come into effect on January 1, 2007. The tire regulations, the first such restrictions to be introduced to Grand Prix motorcycle racing, were formulated following discussions between the three tire manufacturers involved in MotoGP. “We are happy with the new rules,” says Nicolas Goubert, Michelin’s director of motorcycle racing. “The tire agreement is a very good agreement, especially if you look at what is happening in other major motorsport championships, particularly in Formula One switching to a single tire maker rule.” “The most important aspect of the new rules is that they ensure we will be able to continue competing with other tire companies. Carmelo Ezpeleta (CEO of Dorna, the MotoGP rights holders) played a major role in this. He asked the tire companies to come up with a compromise that would be acceptable to all of us because he wanted different tire brands to continue fighting on the racetrack. The major motorcycle manufacturers also pushed hard to keep different tire brands involved because they understand that the technology derived from MotoGP can be used on streetbikes, so this agreement is also very good for the end-user. “Once the objective to keep everyone involved was clear, the second most important point was to ensure that we don’t have too much cost inflation, because costs can escalate when you have major manufacturers competing in a highly prestigious series. In this respect, the most important factor was to reduce the possibility of test teams to test tires. From next year test teams can only run at official IRTA tests plus one track during the season and one track during the off-season. “The third point was to ensure that there wouldn’t be more and more testing for the MotoGP teams, so Dorna has limited winter testing to seven sessions, organized by IRTA. This is good, especially for safety, because there will be full medical backup at these tests. During the season the only testing will be done immediately after GPs, with the teams staying on to test at the same track. This is something we suggested a few years ago and is very efficient results-wise, safety-wise and cost-wise. It’s another good move. All these restrictions ensure there will be more equal competition across the grid because the factory teams won’t be able to test more than the non-factory teams. “The fourth and final point was limiting the amount of tires riders can use during a race weekend. The limit will be 31 tires per rider, which isn’t much of a reduction from what we currently use but will prevent any increase, especially with regard to qualifying tires. The new rules don’t require all the tires we supply to be the same so we can work even harder than we do now at tailoring tires to suit each rider, because riding style is so crucial to tire choice. Our riders will be heavily involved in the process of having tires tailored to their individual needs. “As always, we will support the MotoGP series as much as we can, supplying tires to a respectable number of teams as long as they want to keep working with us. We are ready to supply up to 50 percent of the grid. “The tire regulations take effect from the start of next year and there is no time limit to the rules, but if the tire manufacturers decide that a certain aspect of the rules needs to be fine-tuned, we can agree to change them for the following year.” Michelin has scored more than 350 victories in premier-class motorcycling racing since 1973 and has won 25 500/MotoGP World Championships over the past 30 years, including a clean sweep of the last 14 titles. During the past decade the French company has enjoyed a race win rate of almost 95 percent.