Roadracing World advertising rep Bob Dragich was injured when he hit a car that pulled out in front of his Yamaha Zuma scooter in San Francisco this morning. Dragich was knocked out and suffered a broken collarbone in the incident. He regained consciousness shortly after the crash and was transported to a local hospital via ambulance, calling Roadracing World headquarters on his cell phone en route. Update: Dragich is now back home recovering. We wish him well!

FIM Supersport World Championship Eurospeedway Lausitz, Germany September 8 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Kevin CURTAIN (Yam YZF-R6), 1:41.167 2. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR600RR), 1:41.862 3. Johan STIGEFELT (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.569 4. Sebastien CHARPENTIER (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.571 5. Robbin HARMS (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.613 6. Yoann TIBERIO (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.706 7. Kai Borre ANDERSEN (Suz GSX-R600), 1:42.712 8. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Yam YZF-R6), 1:42.866 9. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.921 10. Gianluca NANNELLI (Duc 749R), 1:42.956 11. Christian ZAISER (Duc 749R), 1:43.039 12. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.106 13. Stephane CHAMBON (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:43.171 14. Fabien FORET (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.239 15. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.239 16. Maxime BERGER (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:43.688 17. Mauro SANCHINI (Yam YZF-R1), 1:43.705 18. William DE ANGELIS (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.713 19. Tatu LAUSLEHTO (Hon CBR600RR), 1:44.018 20. David CHECA (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.227 23. Chris PERIS (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.701 24. Vesa KALLIO (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.771 More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: SOFUOGLU SECOND QUICKEST WITH CHARPENTIER FOURTH Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) kicked off his Lausitz weekend in fine style with the second fastest qualifying time of the official afternoon session, while his team-mate Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) went fourth quickest, some 0.709 behind. Fastest rider was Charpentier’s principle championship rival, Kevin Curtain, on 1’41.167. After a recent test at Lausitz, and an early career spent racing in the German championship, Sofuoglu’s track knowledge was a boon to him as he goes for consecutive race wins in what is his rookie year. Charpentier had to take time to get used to the Lausitz circuit again, but finished on a provisional front row position nonetheless, with another qualifying session available to him on Saturday. Ronald Ten Kate Team Manager “I am happy to have both riders on the provisional front row. Kenan is doing very well around here and matching his best time at the test. We will see more from him tomorrow as we are still having some difficulties with his set-up. For Sebastien, who didn’t have the three-day test here, the time is OK, even if we have not quite decided on the gearing of the machine. To be this fast on the first day is OK, but we can still improve quite a bit. We will work hard overnight, but I have to say that overall I am quite satisfied with our performance today.” Kenan Sofuoglu Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (2nd Fastest – Fastest Lap 1’41.862 – 18 Laps) “All OK because we had a test here and I have made a better lap times than I did then. Second position is good, but the problem will be the Yamaha rider in front of us, with a gap of almost seven tenths. We still have tomorrow to work on things. The bike is really OK, I just have to improve myself a little bit more. Hopefully I can find half a second or so, and then I can be closer. So I have a mission to improve my lap time and start the race from the front row.” Sebastien Charpentier Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (4th Fastest – Fastest Lap 1’42.571 – 16 Laps) “It is the first day so we will have to see how it goes tomorrow. The bike is not perfectly set-up at the moment, and it is necessary to lift it up again, and tomorrow is a new day. There was no test here for me earlier this year, so I have to get used to the track which is slow and not in perfect conditions.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: XAVIER POISED! Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon was held by traffic in qualifying and had to setle for second place at the end of the first qualifying for European Superstock 600 today. During the day, he had small problems with the gearing and set-up of his GSX-R600, but towards the end he and the team had good ideas about which direction to take. Simeon’s nearest rival Nicola Canepa (Ducati) took provisional pole today with a time of 1:46.723. Behind Xavier in third place is Antonelli (Honda), with Ten Napel (Yamaha) fourth. XAVIER – 2nd, 1:47.370 We changed the sprocket and a few minor things today, to make the bike work better. I had a little problem getting it to change direction, but it’s something we’ll work on in tomorrow’s qualifying session. I probably could’ve gone quicker, but I hit loads of traffic when I was trying for a fast lap. But, as long as I am on the front row, that’ll be OK for the race. Of course, that will not stop me from trying to get pole position! More, from a press release issued by Millet Racing Yamaha: GOOD PRACTICE SESSION FOR SAVARY AND MILLET Superstock 600 European Championship Round 8 EuroSpeedway (Germany) Michael Savary and Franck Millet do lap times, for their first time in Lausitz, only one second away from the 10th position. This is a good sign for the second timed session tomorrow. In the first free practice session, Michael Savary was 16th in 1’51.286 and Franck Millet 22nd in 1’52.229. This is an honourable result for two riders and a team who are discovering the track, facing many opponents who raced here last year. In the timed practice session, they were quicker with 1’50.370 for Savary and 1’50.475 for Millet. Their positions (18th and 20th) can be explained by the fact that the times are very close. Jean-Louis Millet (team manager): “It is a good session. I am happy with the times, if not with the positions. We discover the track. We need to be motivated to go 0.5 seconds quicker. We also have to make better some little details.” Michael Savary: “I started with a good rhythm. We need to change the sprocket to use lower revs. Then in the final quick laps, I had trouble with some slower riders.” Franck Millet: “I have good sensations and a nice feeling with the front. We are not very far regarding the times. We already have some good settings. We can gain 5 to 6 positions with some details working a little bit better.” Results: 1- Canepa (Ducati) 1’46.723 ; 2- Simeon (Suzuki) 1’47.370 ; 3- Antonelli (Honda) 1’47.647 ; 4-Ten Napel (Yamaha) 1’47.997 ; 5- Giugliano (Kawasaki) 1’48.004″¦18- Savary (Yamaha) 1’50.370 ; 20- Millet (Yamaha) 1’50.475 Championship: 1- Simeon (Suzuki) 160 points, 2-Canepa (Ducati) 126, 3-Giugliano (Kawasaki) 100, 4-Antonelli (Honda) 68, 5-Colucci (Ducati) 55, 6-Jezek (Kawasaki) 51, 7-Savary (Yamaha) 41″¦12-Millet (Yamaha) 27 More, from a press release issued by Beowulf Racing: HUGE LEAP FORWARD FOR BEOWULF RACING IN GERMANY 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Rd 8: Eurospeedway, Germany Qualifying session 1, Fri 8th September The confidence of Guildford racer Pat McDougall (20) aboard the Beowulf Racing GSXR-1000 Suzuki continues to grow on a day-by-day basis. At the Eurospeedway circuit in Germany today, McDougall ended the opening timed session of qualifying for Sunday’s eighth-round 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race in 19th position. It’s a huge jump forward for the young hotshot in just his third outing for the Somerset-based team this year, having spent the first half of his season in the British R6 Cup. Pat McDougall hasn’t enjoyed the best of luck during 2006. When he had to retire early from this morning’s free practice session with suspension problems, he probably thought his run of misfortune had followed him all the way east to Germany. Thankfully, the turnaround he was so desperately looking for came in the afternoon. Visibly more at ease aboard his machine the young ace lapped the 2.7-mile track in a time of 1:45.820. Significantly, this represents the first time McDougall has bettered one of his 2005 lap times, when he rode for Beowulf in the junior FIM European Superstock 600 Championship. “I’m dead chuffed with that,” grinned McDougall afterwards. “The bike’s not quite as intimidating as it was at Brands Hatch or Assen and I’m really starting to enjoy throwing it around. It’s still hard work, but I’m getting there.” Team Boss Andy Stone was similarly impressed with his protégé’s performance. “Pat’s a real tryer and his efforts are starting to pay off. Following the events in this morning’s open practice session, we softened up the suspension of the Beowulf Suzuki and that seems to have done the trick,” he said. Tomorrow brings an additional session of practice and a further 25-minute qualifying period ahead of Sunday’s 14-lap race. On a roll at last, McDougall’s intention will probably be just to ensure that he keeps today’s rate of progress going. To learn more about Pat McDougall and Beowulf Racing visit www.beowulf-racing.com FIM SUPERSTOCK 1000 CUP, RD 8: GERMANY Qualifying Session 1 Results 1. Claudio Corti (Ita) Yamaha 1:42.580 2. Ayrton Badovini (Ita) MV Augusta 1:43.404 3. Luca Scassa (Ita) MV Augusta 1:43.416 19. Pat McDougall (GBr) Suzuki 1:45.820

FIM Superbike World Championship Eurospeedway Lausitz, Germany September 8 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06), 1:38.331 2. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:38.550 3. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:38.869 4. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1), 1:38.871 5. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:38.948 6. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06), 1:39.048 7. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:39.101 8. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:39.347 9. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:39.572 10. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:39.591 11. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:39.609 12. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:39.709 13. Steve MARTIN (Foggy Petronas FP1), 1:39.771 14. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05), 1:40.041 15. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.149 16. Marco BORCIANI (Duc 999F05), 1:40.330 17. Ivan CLEMENTI (Duc 999RS), 1:40.416 18. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.732 19. Craig JONES (Foggy Petronas FP1), 1:40.964 20. Pierfrancesco CHILI (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.973 21. Stefan NEBEL (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:41.178 22. Didier VAN KEYMEULEN (Yam YZF-R1), 1:41.181 23. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:41.235 24. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Duc 999RS), 1:41.334 24. Kurtis ROBERTS (Duc 999RS), 1:41.577 26. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), 1:41.786 27. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05), 1:41.890 28. Josh BROOKES (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:42.702 29. Jiri DRAZDAK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:43.459 More, from a press release issued by Ducati Xerox: BAYLISS (DUCATI XEROX) SCORCHES TO PROVISIONAL POLE AT LAUSITZRING Lausitz (Germany), Friday 8th September: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) smashed all existing lap records at the Lausitzring circuit as he scorched to a provisional pole position for Sunday’s tenth round of the World Superbike championship in Germany. The Australian’s time of 1m38.331s was over one second quicker than the 2002 lap record, well inside Lorenzo Lanzi’s Superpole time from last year and two-tenths quicker than fellow countryman Troy Corser (Suzuki). Team-mate Lanzi also got his weekend off to a good start, setting sixth quickest time but lapping within two-tenths of a second of Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) in third place. “It was a good start to the weekend” declared Troy. “Luckily we got some reasonable weather but it was a little bit cooler than when we tested here in July and the track is in reasonably good condition. The tyre I did the long-run here in the test doesn’t seem to be working well now so we used a harder one and still did some pretty good lap times. Already we’ve got a pretty good solution for the race and just hope to get some good weather again. I did 17 laps on the one tyre and some really good laps towards the end of the run. Then I put a new tyre on before the end of the session and went a little bit faster than what I’d done before. So far it’s looking good but we’ll take it day by day”. “I am quite pleased with today but seeing as I dominated the weekend last year I thought I could come here and be right there with the leaders this time as well” commented Lorenzo. “However we are in sixth place, which is not bad, two-tenths of a second off third place. We did a lot of work today and tried a number of solutions on the bike. There’s still space for improvement tomorrow and that’s important. We were able to get a good idea of which tyres to use for the race, both front and back, but tomorrow and Sunday maybe it’ll be hotter so the strategies will change. Let’s see if we can stay up at the front and not mess up the Superpole this time”. TIMES: 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1m38.331s; 2. Corser (Suzuki) 1m38.550s; 3. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m38.869s; 4. Pitt (Yamaha) 1m38.871s; 5. Muggeridge (Honda) 1m38.948s; 6. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1m39.048s; 7. Haga (Yamaha) 1m39.101s; 8. Toseland (Honda) 1m39.347s; 9. Barros (Honda) 1m39.572s; 10. Walker (Kawasaki) 1m39.591s; etc. More, from a press release issued by FG Sport: BAYLISS AND CORSER THE CLASS OF THE FIRST DAY BAYLISS FASTEST WITH NEW TRACK BEST Running on Pirelli race tyres, on a cool dry circuit, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) came close to replicated the race tyre times he set in a three day mid-season Lausitzring test session, and in doing so scored the fastest lap of the opening day at Lausitz, 1’38.331. It beat the previous best lap of 1’39.019, set during last year’s race weekend. Bayliss, who could wrap up the title this weekend, found no shortage of challengers in a field of 29 runners, and closest to him was Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), only 0.219 seconds down. PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW COMPLETED BY YANAGAWA AND PITT Corser’s team-mate Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) underlined his recent speed with third quickest time on day one, with Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) a minuscule 0.002 seconds behind. The spread of machines in the top echelons was swollen by the Winston Ten Kate Honda of Karl Muggeridge, fifth fastest. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox), a race winner at EuroSpeedway Lausitz last season, was in fine form in sixth place, ahead of Pitt’s team-mate, Noriyuki Haga. The second row of the provisional grid was completed by the second placed rider in the current series, James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) who experienced gearbox problems early in the day. BARROS NINTH AS HE PUSHES HARD DURING THE TITLE RUN IN Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) slotted into ninth place on the opening day ‘grid’ just ahead of recent race victor, Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse), who was the best of the green men on day one. Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) went 11th fastest, with Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) 12th. MARTIN IMPRESSES AS EVER AS JONES STARTS IN FINE FORM Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas FP-1) was in strong starting form at Lausitz, running the 900cc Petronas machine to 13th from 29 riders, with his team-mate Craig Jones making great strides in his rookie season, scoring 19th best time today. The top 13, from Bayliss to Martin, were all within 1.5 seconds. Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) ran out 14th, one place ahead of Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse). Last man in the provisional Superpole 16 was Marco Borciani (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati). Yamaha Motor France riders Norick Abe and Shinichi Nakatomi scored 18th and 26th fastest places respectively. PRIVATEERS AIMING FOR SUPEPROLE ON DAY TWO If Saturday proves as dry and warm as expected, then many of the privateers in the current ‘exclusion zone’ outside the Superpole qualifying places will have another opportunity to join the pre-race elite. Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Treme Honda) is currently 20th, with top wildcard rider Stefan Nebel (Kawasaki Docshop racing) 21st, ahead of another wild card, Didier Vankeymeulen. Max Neukirchner is 24th on his first real run out on home soil on the Alstare Engineering Suzuki. One place back in 25th was Kurtis Roberts SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) ripped up the tarmac around EuroSpeedway Lausitz with a new track best of 1’41.167 in first qualifying at Lausitz. The championship leader was untouchable, with the next nearest rider proving to be Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda), some 0.695 seconds down. Johan Stigefelt (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) went third fastest, with Curtain’s closest challenger Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) fourth. Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) slotted in fifth, ahead of Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda). Carrying on his good turn of speed at Assen to another race weekend, Kai Borre Andersen (Hoegee Suzuki) was seventh. No fewer than 36 riders attempted to qualify for the Supersport race on day one, with top Ducati rider being Gianluca Nannelli (Team Manila Grace SC Caracchi). His team-mate, Stuart Easton, was 28th. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) staked a strong early claim to the Lausitz weekend with a first session lap time some 0.824 better than Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta). Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni Racing) was third and holds a significant time advantage over championship leader Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki Racing), who was fully 1.230 seconds down on Corti’s best, with one session remaining. SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Ducati Xerox rider Niccolo Canepa enjoyed a highly fruitful first day in qualifying, with his 1’46.724 clearly better than the next qualifier, championship leader Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Andrea Antonelli (Junior Team Italia Honda) went third quickest, setting up a thrilling battle for the next qualifying session. More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: MUGGERIDGE AND TOSELAND ON PROVISIONAL SECOND ROW But for late session traffic on the Lausitz circuit Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) may have ended day one of qualifying on the provisional front row, and not the second, but fifth overall on the first official time sheets demonstrated the pace at which Muggeridge has adapted to the tight and twisty Lausitz circuit. James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) experienced some technical obstacles in the early stages, but still qualified eighth fastest on his number two machine. Championship leader Troy Bayliss headed the timesheets, with 2005 champion Troy Corser behind. One more qualifying session, and then Superpole, takes place on Saturday, with the dry but cool Friday conditions expected to improve overnight. Ronald Ten Kate Team Manager “Fairly happy with the results of today, and Karl is doing great around here, especially on his race set-up. He seems to be consistently fast and improving continuously. That’s good to see. James was having a good time earlier this morning but later on he had a bit of a setback. We still have some issues to resolve on the bike but I am sure the crew will be capable enough to fix it for tomorrow. It is quite important here to be at least on the second row, minimum, but even better on the front row. It’s just so tight and twisty around here so you need to be in the front at the very start. We need to work hard on the settings, as always, but we should be OK for tomorrow.” Karl Muggeridge Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (5th Position Fastest Lap 1’38.948 23 Laps) “We’re just trying to improve the handling characteristics. Our outright speed is OK and our lap-by-lap is pretty good, we’re just trying to get some more life out of the tyres. The climate change tomorrow, when it is supposed to be warmer, should help. If it doesn’t, then we will keep working away. It was frustrating today sometimes, because very time you wait to the end to try and go quicker you find traffic, and some guys just sit in the middle of the track. It was difficult to find a clear section but things are generally going the way we want them to.” James Toseland Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (8th Position Fastest Lap 1’39.347 23 Laps) “We didn’t have a perfect setting at the beginning of the timed session, and then right at the end we tried something now, so no big problems. This morning we had a problem with the gearbox, which is now solved. We are slowly getting the bike to where we wanted it to be and now it’s pretty good.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: SECOND AND THIRD FOR TROY AND YUKIO ON DAY ONE Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama finished the first day of qualifying at the Eurospeedway Lausitz well placed in second and third positions. Both will use tomorrow morning’s timed qualifying to improve their GSX-R1000 K6 Suzukis and then go all-out in Superpole in the afternoon. The 4.265 kilometre circuit, with its mixture of fast straights and slow turns, always means that the best combination of set-up and gearing is vital for consistent fast laps. Series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) set the quickest time of the day, with a lap of 1:38.331, right in the closing stages of the session. Completing the provisional front row is Aussie Andrew Pitt (Yamaha). TROY – 2nd, 1:38.550 Well that’s the happiest I’ve been for a long time – on a Friday afternoon. I was the quickest out there today, but then I think that Bayliss stuck in a softer tyre right at the end of the session. The grip was definitely up since this morning and that made quite a difference to our set-up. We tried some different gearings this afternoon and it was better in some places and not so good in others, so now we’ll change the internals and we should be able to improve quite a bit. But, as I said, I’m pretty happy this afternoon. YUKIO – 3rd, 1:38.869 This morning my body felt a little tired but I think that’s because I was fighting a cold or maybe ‘flu. But, in the afternoon, I felt much better and I was more comfortable on the bike because I was able to concentrate harder. The lap times this afternoon are not so bad, but I prefer a higher position! I had a problem with one tyre today, but apart from that nothing serious. Tomorrow we’ll change the rear suspension a little to see if I can get the power down better exiting the turns. More, from a press release issued by Team Klaffi Honda: BARROS QUALIFIES 9TH AT EUROSPEEDWAY LAUSITZ Brazilian Alex Barros (Team Klaffi Honda) rode to 9th position in the first SBK qualifying session at EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany. Barros completed a total of 24 laps on Friday afternoon and reached a personal best of 1:39,572. After heavy rains during night the circuit got dry early in the morning. Still track temperatures were quite low with 27 degrees. Barros currently lies in 6th place in the championship with 175 points. Alex Barros: “At the moment we still have to improve the bike at both, the front and the rear suspension. Still it is not enough. I need a better feeling for the bike, especially, when I push really hard. Tomorrow it should be a little bit warmer than today. That will put us into a new situation.” Klaus Klaffenböck, Team Manager: “Our target in the championship is at least 4th position. Alex knows the track from our two days of private testing here in June. Temperatures, on the track and in the air, today were much lower, than in June. At the moment I am not completely satisfied, as we should be able to be higher up in the ranks, like we were in the sessions at Assen.” More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: ROLFO HAS TIRE GRIP PROBLEMS ON DUCATI, QUALIFIES 27TH At Eurospeedway first practice day for the WSBK German round. Some difficult for Roberto Rolfo in Superbike where, despite the very good top speed recorded by the 999F05 Ducati, any fast lap time has been recorded for the chronic difficult to out the slow corners that Rolfo declares. “Also on this track the package problems that we have from the most part of the season went on.” said Roberto Rolfo at the end of the qualifying session. “Most is the rear outing the slow corners that gives us problems, it looks that the bike has too much grip and I’m not able to slide for helping the corner. The guys worked hardly and we made some setting: thanking that the bike improved a lot in the first sector of the track, but the main problem goes on. The engine is great and pushes very well.” It is still the Supersport and the 749R Ducati to carry on some satisfaction to the team, despite some trouble that slowed Easton. Nannelli ended at tenth position and Nedog has done better as more experienced riders. Just quite satisfied Luka Nedog, his bike is still very fast and the young Slovenian rider is getting an always better confidence on his machine. “Yes, I’m getting an always greater confidence.” confirms Luka Nedog after the qualifying practice. “However we join always circuits unknown for me, so I still have to learn a new track to do my best. I’m however rather satisfied, the bike has a good top speed and I feel always more confident.” A bit disappointed is on the contrary Stuart Easton. The Scot in the warmest moment of the session suffered some gearbox trouble and he has not been able to earn grid positions. “Also the Eurospeedway circuit is one of the new track that I must contest this year.” – said Stuart Easton rejoining the pit. “During the morning free practice session I tried to learn it at my best, then during the afternoon, when we started to push for a good grid position, the gearbox had some trouble and I’ve been forced to rejoin the pit.” Gianluca Nannelli has been the fastest of the Supersport’s riders trio, recording a good tenth fastest in today qualifying. “We must look for a better top speed.” commented Gianluca Nannelli at the end of practices. “The bike runs well, I have a good traction as well a good handling, I just need some chilometer faster in top speed. I have some trouble for the position on the pit wall of my team, very clese to the braking point, so I’m engaged and I cannot read on the board the signals that the team convoys to me, and maybe I could lose the right moment as in the afternoon, when I’ve been late to rejoin the pit for a new tyre.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Engineering: THE LEARNING PROCESS CONTINUES Max Neukirchner carried on his steep learning curve on the first day of qualifying at the Eurospeedway Lausitz this afternoon. Although he only finished 24th quickest, he was happy because he had improved his time by over two seconds from the morning untimed session. Max and the team know a lot of work has to be done in a very short time and race conditions are not particularly conducive to rapid results. Nevertheless, after last week’s tremendous result in Assen, Max is confident that further improvement will be made tomorrow and is looking forward to carrying on learning to set up and ride the Alstare Engineering GSX-R1000 K6 bike. MAX -24th, 1:41.334 There’s always lots to learn when you jump onto a new bike and we’re having to do all our learning during a race weekend, so there’s lots to do and not so much time to do it. Certainly the set-up of the bike felt better in the afternoon and now we’ll make some changes tomorrow and I’m sure we’ll improve some more. More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing: Encouraging opening day for FPR in Germany Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Craig Jones and Steve Martin produced a solid opening day’s performance at the tenth round of the Superbike World Championship in Germany. Craig made giants strides forward in the afternoon session, bouncing back from a freak early crash to better his morning time by three seconds and finish in 19th place. Steve also improved on his time set at the recent test at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz circuit to finish the day in 11th position, with championship leader Troy Bayliss once again setting the pace. Craig said: “I knew what times I could do on my settings from the test here and I came close to that in the afternoon. I took three seconds off my time from the morning just by circulating, because my confidence was knocked by the crash in the morning. There was a problem with the rear tyre, which looked brand new even after two laps and felt greasy. The rear wheel speed shot into the air when I got onto the gas onto the start-finish straight and I was thrown over the top. I landed on my knee, which I have injured before, so that was sore for the afternoon. But, if that does not get worse overnight, I think I have a good chance of going faster and challenging for Superpole.” Steve said: “It has been a good day and everything has gone smoothly. I was happy to do a 1:39 for the first time here and I am pretty sure that I will be able to go quicker tomorrow morning. We lowered the bike in the afternoon to slow the weight transfer down a bit and that worked well. We only really tried one tyre, which also puts us in a good position for tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha Motor Italia riders Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga gave a strong showing in Friday’s qualifying for this weekend’s world superbike round at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, ending the day fourth and seventh after the first qualifying. Having attended July’s Pirelli test at the same venue, the squad arrived in Germany with good base settings for their YZF-R1s and spent the day working to further refine the machine performance for Sunday’s two 24 lap races. Pitt’s best time of 1:38.871 was just half a second down on provisional pole sitter Troy Bayliss (Ducati), who was over a second quicker than Ruben Xaus’ four year old lap record. Suzuki team-mates Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama complete the provisional front row. The Australian was largely satisfied with his day’s work. With lower temperatures and higher winds requiring a slightly different machine setting from last July’s test, Pitt and his crew made subtle changes to his machine throughout the sessions. The team will make a few more changes, including revised gearing, tomorrow in a bid to give their man the best possible machine for Sunday’s races. Haga spent the day’s two one hour sessions switching between his two machines, completing more laps than any other rider in the afternoon session. The Japanese rider has often ran with two differing specification machines on a race weekend but, with the team now certain of their best set-up, Haga worked on fine-tuning his ‘spare’ machine to give the same feeling as his number one bike. As always, the Japanese stuck worked on finding a good race tyre and suspension setting but still managed to set a lap time less than eight tenths of a second behind Bayliss. Norick Abe was the leading Yamaha Motor France rider in 18th place, while team-mate and countryman Shinichi Nakatomi ended the day 26th on his competitive debut at the twisting Lausitz circuit. Yamaha Motor France’s Sebastien Gimbert misses the Lausitz race after injuring his back in Assen last weekend, however the R1 ranks are boosted by the inclusion of last year’s FIM Superstock 1000 Cup winner Didier van Keymeulen. The Belgian is entered as a wildcard on board the YZF-R1 he normally campaigns in the German championship and ended first qualifying in 22nd position. Final practice and the grid deciding superpole session takes place tomorrow (Saturday) with the races scheduled for Sunday. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “Not a bad day. The bike feels a little different from when we tested here, which I think could be down to the higher winds today. We’ve got a few things to try out for tomorrow. The bike’s working well so we are just trying to make it a little easier and more consistent to ride. The rear tyre is the critical thing just now. The temperatures are lower today than when we tested and as a result we’re seeing much higher wear today.” Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “The feeling with the bike is good but the lap time could be better, so maybe I must ride faster! I did a lot of long runs today and also did quite a lot of laps on my number two bike. We came here with a good setting and now both bikes have the same feeling, so I am happy. I have a few things to try tomorrow and I am confident that we can be in good condition before superpole.” Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) “We still have a few things to try and make the bike better for tomorrow but overall it’s not too bad. The times are all very close so if we can make a small improvement then we can make it into superpole.” Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) “This is a very tight circuit so I am learning all the time. Normally I can expect to make an improvement for Saturday and I think that the more I learn the faster I can go.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) “Both riders had a good practice today. The riders are all working on finding a good race setting and they are quite happy with how it went. We will make a few small adjustments to the settings for both riders tomorrow but today we did a good job and hope to continue that tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY WELL PLACED TO ATTACK AND HAPPY For the first Friday afternoon in ages, Troy was happy with how his opening day had gone. He ended the day just behind series leader, and fellow countryman, Troy Bayliss (Ducati), but that only happened in the closing stages of the qualifying session this afternoon. Up until then Troy had been the quickest rider round the 4.265 kilometre circuit. Troy’s team mate Yukio Kagayama finished third quickest, with Andrew Pitt (Yamaha) completing the provisional front row. TROY – 2nd, 1:38.550 I’m happy today – and it’s been a long time since I said that on a Friday afternoon. No real problems at all today and I felt that the bike was working well and I was enjoying riding it. The morning was not as good as the afternoon, when it was hotter and the grip level improved. We made some changes to the gearing and it was good in some parts of the track and not so good in other parts of the track. Now we’ll try some different gearbox internals and see if we can improve further. I was the fastest until the end of the session, but then I think that Bayliss stuck in a softer tyre right at the end and managed to go quicker. This place is a bit of a one-line track, so a front row grid place is vital. But I’ll be going all-out for Superpole – as it’s about time I won another watch!

FIM MotoGP World Championship Sepang, Malaysia September 8, 2006 Friday’s Best Combined Practice Times: 1. Loris Capirossi (Duc GP06), 2:01.711, Bridgestone 2. Dani Pedrosa (Hon RC211V), 2:02.021, Michelin 3. Kenny Roberts (KR211V), 2:02.563, Michelin 4. John Hopkins (Suz GSV-R), 2:02.719, Bridgestone 5. Casey Stoner (Hon RC211V), 2:02.847, Michelin 6. Makoto Tamada (Hon RC211V), 2:02.918, Michelin 7. Valentino Rossi (Yam YZR-M1), 2:02.970, Michelin 8. Sete Gibernau (Duc GP06), 2:02.981, Bridgestone 9. Marco Melandri (Hon RC211V), 2:03.049, Michelin 10. Shinya Nakano (Kaw ZX-RR), 2:03.100, Bridgestone 11. Nicky Hayden (Hon RC211V), 2:03.174, Michelin 12. Colin Edwards (Yam YZR-M1), 2:03.355, Michelin 13. Randy de Puniet (Kaw ZX-RR), 2:03.418, Bridgestone 14. Chris Vermeulen (Suz GSV-R), 2:03.432, Bridgestone 15. Carlos Checa (Yam YZR-M1), 2:03.706, Dunlop 16. Toni Elias (Hon RC211V), 2:03.908, Michelin 17. Alex Hofmann (Duc GP05), 2:04.706, Dunlop 18. James Ellison (Yam YZR-M1), 2:05.403, Dunlop 19. Jose Luis Cardoso (Duc GP05), 2:05.958, Dunlop FIM 250cc GP World Championship Sepang, Malaysia September 8, 2006 Provisional Qualifying Results: Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Hector Barbera (Aprilia), 2:08.266 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia), 2:08.404) 3. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM), 2:08.556 4. Roberto Locatelli (Aprilia), 2:08.902 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda), 2:08.945 6. Alex de Angelis (Aprilia), 2:09.104 7. Shuhei Aoyama (Honda), 2:09.414 8. Martin Cardenas (Honda), 2:09.415 9. Yuki Takahashi (Honda), 2:09.583 10. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia), 2:09.769 FIM 125cc GP World Championship Sepang, Malaysia September 8, 2006 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia), 2:12.846 2. Mika Kallio (KTM), 2:13.974 3. Mattia Pasini (Aprilia), 2:14.121 4. Joan Olive (Aprilia), 2:14.681 5. Hector Faubel (Aprilia), 2:14.711 6. Nicolas Terol (Derbi), 2:14.964 7. Lukas Pesek (Derbi), 1:15.043 8. Fabrizio Lai (Honda), 2:15.078 9. Tomoyoshi Koyama (Malaguti), 2:15.394 10. Sandro Cortese (Honda), 2:15.402 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: CAPIROSSI CONTINUES TO SHINE AS PEDROSA SUFFERS INJURY BLOW The humid Sepang Circuit opened for business today for the MotoGP World Championship, as they started the first practice sessions of a decisive three-race run. Loris Capirossi knocked more than one second off his morning time (the fastest of the first free practice session) to continue one step ahead of the pack in Malaysia. Ducati Marlboro’s Italian star carried on from his victorious Brno masterclass on day one with a 2’01.711 lap, ahead of Dani Pedrosa in second. However the young Spaniard’s participation in this weekend’s Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, and perhaps even in the following race in Australia, has been cast into serious doubt after he suffered a crash in the second free practice session at the Sepang Circuit. Repsol Honda’s Spanish rookie, who lies second in the championship, opened up a gash in his right knee after flying off his RC211V at the midway point in the session, and the awkward location of the injury means that the rider’s movement in his leg is severely limited. A small fracture in his left big toe adds to Pedrosa’s woes. He will be examined tomorrow morning by the Clinica Mobile team and his chances of competing in the 13th race of the 2006 season will be assessed. Third place went to Kenny Roberts Jr, ahead of countryman John Hopkins and last year’s 250cc race winner Casey Stoner. Makoto Tamada rounded off the top six ahead of Valentino Rossi, who lies around a second off Capirossi’s flying lap. The returning Sete Gibernau was eighth, with Marco Melandri and Shinya Nakano completing the fastest ten. Championship leader Nicky Hayden languished in eleventh place as he desperately aims to come back from disappointment in the Czech Republic. 250cc Hector Barbera topped off an excellent first day performance at the Sepang Circuit with a provisional pole, after a 2’08.266 lap put him at the head of the 250cc table. The Spaniard was joined at the top of the leaderboard once again by Jorge Lorenzo, his Fortuna Aprilia team-mate who had joined him in the top two this morning. The current championship leader, one and a half tenths behind Barbera, came in ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama, Roberto Locatelli, title rival Andrea Dovizioso and Alex de Angelis. Shuhei Aoyama, seventh, was more than a second slower than Barbera’s provisional pole lap, with Martin Cardenas, Yuki Takahashi and Sylvain Guintoli completing the top ten. 125cc Alvaro Bautista followed up on his fast early times to take provisional pole for the 125cc Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, clocking a 2’12.846 lap – more than a second faster than second placed Mika Kallio. Behind the two riders to break the 2’14 barrier, Mattia Pasini, Joan Olive, Hector Faubel and Nico Terol completed the top six. Lukas Pesek suffered a crash, but still finished seventh, ahead of Fabrizio Lai, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Sandro Cortese. The riders will be back on track tomorrow for the all-important qualifying sessions for the Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: REVISED ENGINE INSPIRES CONFIDENCE IN KAWASAKI’S NAKANO Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano ended today’s free practice tenth fastest overall, but the 28-year-old Japanese rider is confident that the latest engine revision on his Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machine will lead to a significant improvement in his lap times ahead of tomorrow’s all-important qualifying session. Nakano started this morning’s hour-long free practice aboard a Ninja ZX-RR fitted with the older specification engine, but quickly switched to the latest version of Kawasaki’s MotoGP bike, on which he was immediately able to match his previous best lap time. Nakano’s initial comments were that the latest specification 990cc motor, which also features a revised exhaust system, offered a significant improvement in top speed along Sepang’s trademark twin straights, but that throttle response – especially out of slower turns – still required some refinement. The Japanese rider, together with his crew and engineers from Kawasaki in Japan, continued to make improvements to the ignition mapping and set-up of the engine throughout this afternoon’s free practice, but the increasingly hot conditions conspired against Nakano, as he tried to improve his lap time towards the end of the hour-long session. Nakano remains confident that the latest specification Ninja ZX-RR engine will prove an advantage at the Sepang circuit, once he and Kawasaki’s technical staff have had more chance to refine the set-up during tomorrow’s two hours of track time. Kawasaki’s MotoGP rookie, Randy de Puniet, finished 13th fastest overall, after struggling through both of today’s free practice sessions with front brake problems on his Ninja ZX-RR. With an inconsistent feeling from the front brake, the 25-year-old Frenchman was unable to string together the consistent laps required to collect the data necessary to improve the overall set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR. Although disappointed to have effectively lost a whole day of track time, de Puniet is confident that his crew can come up with a solution to the brake problems overnight, to give him at least two track sessions tomorrow during which to refine his set-up and identify a suitable race tyre for Sunday’s 21-lap Malaysian Grand Prix. Shinya Nakano: 10th – 2’03.100 “Our revised engine is working well here, and there is a definite improvement in top speed on Sepang’s two long straights. However, we’ve only been running this engine for two hours today, so there is still some set-up work to be done tomorrow. At the moment we’re about 70% there with the set-up – it’s still a little bit too aggressive out of the turns – but I’m confident that, with more track time tomorrow, we can improve things in this area. We also worked today on refining the chassis balance, which is important at this circuit, as well as trying a selection of tyres from Bridgestone. Conditions this afternoon were very difficult physically, because the temperature has increased considerably during the course of the day, but I was still a little disappointed not to improve my lap time towards the end of the session. Having said that, I’m happy overall with what we’ve achieved today, and I’m confident that we will make further improvements tomorrow.” Randy de Puniet: 13th – 2’03.418 “Today was not the start to the weekend I was hoping for. It’s strange, because the bike felt good during the early part of this morning’s free practice session, but then as the pace increased we started to suffer with front brake problems. The braking force is just not consistent from lap to lap and corner to corner, which doesn’t inspire confidence at a fast track like Sepang, and also makes it difficult to work on the set-up of the bike, because it’s impossible to lap consistently. We’ve made changes to try and eliminate the problem, but without success so far. We need to sit down tonight and go through the data from today, to see if we can come up with a solution. But, while I’m confident my crew can fix the problem, it doesn’t change the fact that we’ve effectively lost one whole day of track time, and I think this will be difficult to make up tomorrow.” Naoya Kaneko: Technical Manager “For Shinya it was a very positive start to the day, as his lap times on the revised engine were similar to those on the older specification motor. With any major revision to the engine there is extensive set-up work to be done, so I’m confident that we’ll be able to make further improvements with more track time tomorrow, which should allow Shinya to close the gap to the top of the timesheet ahead of qualifying. With Randy we need to identify the problem that’s causing his lack of feeling on the brakes. We made many changes to the brake set-up on both his bikes today, but the problem has persisted and we now need to look a little more deeply into the causes using the data collected from his bikes today. Until we’ve fixed this problem, it will be difficult for Randy to progress with setting up his bike for this track.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Marlboro: DUCATI MARLBORO MAN CAPIROSSI SETS BLAZING PACE Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi has started the Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix the way he means to carry on, setting a blazing pace to lead both of today’s practice sessions, run in typically steamy hot conditions. Following his dominant victory in last month’s Czech GP, Capirossi is aiming to take another bite out the points leaders this weekend to put himself right back in the hunt for the 2006 MotoGP crown. Meanwhile team-mate Sete Gibernau is making an impressive comeback following further surgery to the collarbone he broke in June’s Catalan GP. The Spaniard first returned to action at July’s German GP but the plate screwed to his broken left collarbone later cracked, forcing him to undergo another operation which meant he had to miss the Czech GP. He last rode a bike at the US GP on July 23. LORIS CAPIROSSI, ‘provisional pole’, 2m 01.711s “We started with one bike using a set-up based on what we used at Brno, the other with a set-up similar to what we ran here during winter tests. I preferred some characters of each, so we are working to create the best combination. Halfway through the afternoon session we did encounter some problems but my guys are working really well, so we quickly found the right way again. We are working well together and getting the results we deserve but we have to stay united and focused because our target is to stay in front of the others. Today I went faster than I managed on qualifiers last year though partly because it’s cooler now. I don’t think it will be possible to go much faster than today but we will keep working to allow me to be more natural on the bike. Even though Friday results aren’t so important I want to dedicate today to my manager Carlo Pernat who isn’t here because of a family bereavement. He will be here tomorrow which is great news because I miss having him with me.” SETE GIBERNAU, 8th fastest, 2m 02.981s “I’m quite happy with how things are going, though I’m not fully physically fit yet. On the bike I get tired quite quickly because I’ve not been riding for a long time but mentally I’m okay. I should probably never have raced at Laguna but I was there and I wanted to do my best. That weekend the plate over my collarbone was broken so it was pinching every nerve and every muscle, so I couldn’t use the arm. The arm is still weak now, though only because I’ve not been able to follow my usual training programme. The bone is much better. It’s going to take time, so for me to be close to the top guys on the first day here gives a lot of credit to Ducati and to Bridgestone who are doing a great job. The guys in the team are helping me out a lot once again, so I want to thank Ducati for all the support they’ve given me before I came here and now that I am here. My congratulations also to Loris who is already really fast.” Afternoon session temperatures: Ambient: 32 degrees. Track: 45 degrees More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: ROSSI AND EDWARDS BEGIN SET-UP CHALLENGE IN SEPANG HEAT Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards completed a hard day’s work with their Yamaha YZR-M1 machines today, as preparations got underway for the Malaysian Grand Prix with two free practice sessions. Both riders were eager to test the performance of their bikes at this circuit after a positive recent test in the Czech Republic, however it quickly emerged that the setting the team found at Brno was not as well suited to this layout or track temperatures in excess of 45ºC, which put the tyres under extreme stress. After making dramatic changes to the bike for the afternoon session, reigning World Champion Rossi was able to knock almost a full second off his time within the first six laps, giving him renewed confidence after a disappointing morning when he could only manage the eleventh fastest time. Edwards suffered similar problems but was unable to solve them in time for an assault on the top positions today. The American is hoping to find a quick solution in tomorrow morning’s final free practice before qualifying takes place in the afternoon. Last year’s winner Loris Capirossi (Ducati) set the pace today, dipping under pole record time with a lap of 2’01.711. There was bad news, however, for fellow title candidate Dani Pedrosa (Honda), who suffered a knee injury in a high-speed crash this afternoon. VALENTINO ROSSI (7th 2’02.970; 41 laps) “It’s been a difficult first day more so in the morning than the afternoon, which means we are working in the right way. I was confident after the Brno test, especially about the tyres and the way they are working now with our M1. Unfortunately in the conditions we have found here that setting doesn’t work so well and we had a few problems with tyre life. So in the afternoon basically we adapted the setting using the data we gathered in the January tests, when I was very fast, and things improved a lot. Tomorrow we’ll move even closer to that setting and I’m very confident we can make a big improvement again. Loris was very fast today and it looks like it will be a tough challenge to beat him, but we have good base data for this circuit and I’m sure we can get back to the pace I know I am capable of here.” COLIN EDWARDS (12th 2’03.355; 41 laps) “That was a really hard day and not what we were hoping for at all. I’m pretty disappointed after the good test we had at Brno because I expected to be in good shape from the start here. I couldn’t find the right set-up today and there was no way for me to ride the bike properly. We’re going to have to work in a completely different direction tomorrow and try to sort the situation out before qualifying. Valentino seems to have improved by going back towards the settings from January, despite the fact that the bike we have now is very different from the one we had then, so maybe this is the way to work. We will have a think about things tonight and start again tomorrow!” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “Today everyone has had to work very hard! Both riders have been testing different things and now we have to put it all altogether to find the right package and make sure we are competitive both in tomorrow afternoon’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race. Valentino is very close to the top and I think with a little bit more work he can be in good shape tomorrow. Colin is struggling a little at the moment but hopefully he too can improve in the morning. Tomorrow the weather might change things but we hope that it stays dry so that we can continue to make progress.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac D’Antin: HOFMANN AND CARDOSO WORK FOR THE RACE IN MALAYSIA The PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP team begins the final push of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship season with fierce determination during the first two practice sessions at the Sepang circuit. The ever-optimistic ALEX HOFMANN worked very hard in conjunction with his crew to find the best setting for his DUCATI DESMOSEDICI GP06 “Sat” with DUNLOP tyres, posting the 17th fastest time of the day with a 2’04.706. JOSE LUIS CARDOSO wants to end the season with good results, ending the second session in 19th place with a time of 2’05.958, and having focused on finding the optimum bike set-up which will allow him to race to his full potential in Sunday’s Grand Prix. Tomorrow, there is a third free practice session which precedes the official qualifying session at 14:00, and every minute will count as both riders continue to strive for the best results possible. ALEX HOFMANN #66 (17° – 2’04.706): “I am very happy to be back home with my team after a nice experience with the DUCATI factory team in Brno. I wanted to start working again with my technicians, and today we tested several tires looking for consistency during the race. We used almost every possibility at our disposal to discover more grip from the rear. The whole team worked hard, but we have to take more steps forward to find the consistent traction we will need during the race – which will be quite difficult because of the warmth and humidity. Tomorrow, we are testing other tires and pushing to lower our times for a good performance on raceday”. JOSE LUIS CARDOSO #30 (19° – 2’05.958): “We improved a lot with respect to this morning’s session, thanks to the job of our technicians on the bike’s set-up. I’m having some problems with the grip of the rear that’s forcing me to ride more conservatively. While the bike is sliding I’m losing time. The soft tyre seems to be the better choice, while the hard one has less grip. Tomorrow we will work very carefully on tire selection, and I hope to find the best one for the race. We will also do a long practice run to verify our final choice”. EMANUELE MARTINELLI Track Engineer of Alex Hofmann: ” During the today’s free practices we tried to find the best race tires for Alex. We tried to improve the rear grip using almost all of the suspension combinations available to us, but we were unable solve the problem. The aim for tomorrow is to continue working on the race set-up”. More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: BRIDGESTONE MAKES STRONG START AS CAPIROSSI TAKES CHARGE Malaysian Grand Prix – Free Practice Bridgestone-shod Ducati rider Loris Capirossi picked up from where he left off in Brno by setting the pace on the opening day of this weekend’s Malaysian GP in Sepang. The Italian took charge in style by breaking his pole position record from 2005 on race tyres to finish three-tenths-of-a-second clear of his nearest challenger, Dani Pedrosa. Capirossi’s best lap of 2m01.711s was 0.02s faster than his pole time from last season and one second faster than his pace-setting morning time. All three of Bridgestone’s teams, Ducati, Suzuki and Kawasaki, enjoyed strong presence within the top half of the field in today’s free practice sessions. Suzuki’s John Hopkins was within a second of Capirossi’s best lap to claim the fourth quickest time (2m02.710s), while Capirossi’s team-mate Sete Gibernau returned to form from his recent injury woes to clock the eighth quickest time of the day (2m02.981s). Shinya Nakano rounded off the top ten (2m03.100s) with an encouraging performance for Kawasaki. His team-mate Randy de Puniet and Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen finished the day just 0.014s apart in 13th (2m03.418s) and 14th (2m03.432s) respectively. Shinji Aoki Bridgestone Motorsport – Assistant Manager Motorcycle Race Tire Development “That was a pretty trouble-free and encouraging day for Bridgestone. The fact that Loris was able to better his pole position time from last season in race trim is impressive. We evaluated a selection of different tyre specifications today in order to gauge the correct direction for the rest of the weekend. The track conditions have a big influence on tyre performance at Sepang and the slightest fluctuation in temperature has a dramatic effect on the overall lap time. As always at Sepang, the circuit was somewhat dirty and not as hot during the morning session, but as rubber went down and the track rose to 45°C in the afternoon session, the lap times dropped significantly. While we are satisfied with the results of each of our three teams, today was about obtaining an initial feeling from the tyres and a clearer picture will only be revealed tomorrow when we begin the endurance and longevity tests over race distance. That said, to see Ducati, Suzuki and Kawasaki consistently in the top ten throughout the day certainly bodes well for Bridgestone’s Malaysian Grand Prix.” Bridgestone Combined Free Practice Session Resuls Pos. Rider Motorcycle Best Lap Time Gap P1 Loris Capirossi Ducati 2m01.711s Quickest P4 John Hopkins Suzuki 2m02.710s +0.999s P8 Sete Gibernau Ducati 2m02.981s +1.270s P10 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki 2m03.100s +1.389s P13 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 2m03.418s +1.707s P14 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 2m03.432s +1.721s Weather: Air 32°C, Track 45°C, Humidity 30% (afternoon session) More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Top four pace for Hopkins in Malaysia Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins recorded the fourth fastest time during today’s free practice sessions at the Sepang International Circuit, in preparation for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Hopkins (P4, 41 laps) had shown good pace during this morning’s session, finishing fifth quickest. The Anglo-American star stepped up a gear in the afternoon to clock a time of 2’02.710. His fastest lap was also well inside the current lap record and bodes well for the rest of the weekend. Chris Vermeulen (P14, 2’03.432, 36 laps) is suffering with a head cold that was aggravated by the high humidity at Sepang and forced him to end the afternoon session early. The rookie Australian worked hard with his crew on set-up as he battled against the illness. By the end of the second session he had bettered his morning time by well over a second and is confident of making a recovery for tomorrow. Today’s sessions were held in dry and warm conditions with track temperatures reaching 45°C. Loris Capirossi on his Bridgestone shod Ducati set the quickest time. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more practice session tomorrow morning followed by the important afternoon qualifying session. Sunday’s 21-lap race gets underway at 15.00hrs local time (07.00hrs GMT). John Hopkins: “Basically this morning went pretty well. It was good to get back out there and lay some rubber down. I like this track quite a lot and it was good to get some laps in. We have some new parts from Suzuki and they seemed to work well and we were also able to get well on with the tyre test ready for Sunday. This afternoon was completely different though. I had a malfunction with my drink bottle that is fitted inside my race suit and ended up with a sticky energy drink all over me. It cost us a bit of time as I tried to fix it myself out on track and I lost a few laps but you have to try out these things! That left me a bit unhappy – we never really got into a rhythm and didn’t get a lot of work done. It was almost like having a rain session! But we still ended up fourth so it shows we are on the pace and should do pretty good here. Tomorrow we will try to continue where we left off this morning and keep working hard and find the best tyre for the race.” Chris Vermeulen: “Today was quite hard work as I have been suffering with a cold and it really sapped my energy. I have visited the clinic and had some treatment and hopefully I can shake it off overnight. We were only 0.9 of a second off the top three and that lap was not a difficult one to do, so I know we are capable of a better time and we will be pushing as hard as we can tomorrow to achieve better.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It’s been a difficult but promising first day for the team. Bridgestone looks to be repeating the promise shown here 12 months ago and in particular our front tyre durability is much improved from then, and from the winter tests. Chris struggled to find his rhythm and a good setting for the first session and a half, but as he got himself dialed into the circuit and Tom got the bike set-up working well, his times became a lot more competitive later on. Unfortunately he has a head cold which is affecting his performance and his main focus is now to get that cleared up for tomorrow. “John’s been quick all day but he is still not happy with his bike so that is encouraging for him improving further tomorrow. He still needs to clear up a few settings issues that are restricting him and I believe he can go a lot better over the weekend. The fastest two guys out there seem to have a lot of pace – let’s hope we can close the gap tomorrow!” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: FINAL STRETCH UNDERWAY IN MALAYSIA The sound of MotoGP four-stroke machines bellowed around the Sepang circuit today after a three-week break as the first day of practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix got underway in searing heat. FORTUNA HONDA riders Marco Melandri and Toni Elías endured something of a difficult day and were forced to settle for eleventh and sixteenth place respectively. Marco Melandri, who enjoyed a positive first session in the morning, when he lapped fourth fastest, suffered a crash in the afternoon which he blamed on the fatigue caused by the demanding climatic conditions. His team-mate Toni Elías spent the day working through a series of set-up difficulties that prevented him from setting a better lap time. MARCO MELANDRI (11th , 2’03″248): “In the morning we did a good job but in the afternoon when we tried something new we didn’t get the result we were hoping for. Despite that I am still confident I can have a good race on Sunday. We’re not far off the top times and we have room for improvement. Ten minutes from the end of the session I got the wrong gear and crashed but luckily I wasn’t hurt.” TONI ELIAS (16th, 2’03″908): “It’s been a tough start, especially because of the difficult conditions we had to ride in today. We still have a day left and we need to use it to improve on my speed through the corners. I’m confident and I think we can look forward to a good race.”

MotoGP Practice #1 Sepang Circuit, Malaysia Friday, September 8 1. Loris Capirossi (Duc GP06), 2:02.769, Bridgestone 2. Casey Stoner (Hon RC211V), 2:02.847, Michelin 3. Dani Pedrosa (Hon RC211V), 2:02.908, Michelin 4. Marco Melandri (Hon RC211V), 2:03.049, Michelin 5. John Hopkins (Suz GSV-R), 2:03.063, Bridgestone 6. Nicky Hayden (Hon RC211V), 2:03.174, Michelin 7. Shinya Nakano (Kaw ZX-RR), 2:03.311, Bridgestone 8. Sete Gibernau (Duc GP06), 2:03.444, Bridgestone 9. Kenny Roberts (KR211V), 2:03.507, Michelin 10. Makoto Tamada (Hon RC211V), 2:03.555, Michelin 11. Valentino Rossi (Yam YZR-M1), 2:03.837, Michelin 12. Randy de Puniet (Kaw ZX-RR), 2:03.927, Bridgestone 13. Colin Edwards (Yam YZR-M1), 2:04.251, Michelin 14. Toni Elias (Hon RC211V), 2:04.280, Michelin 15. Chris Vermeulen (Suz GSV-R), 2:04.774, Bridgestone 16. Carlos Checa (Yam YZR-M1), 2:05.275, Dunlop 17. Alex Hofmann (Duc GP05), 2:05.663. Dunlop 18. James Ellison (Yam YZR-M1), 2:07.198, Dunlop 19. Jose Luis Cardoso (Duc GP05), 2:07.277, Dunlop 250cc Grand Prix Practice #1 Sepang Circuit, Malaysia Friday, September 8 1. Hector Barbera (Aprilia), 2:09.018 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia), 2:09.089 3. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM), 2:09.240 4. Roberto Locatelli (Aprilia), 2:09.344 5. Alex de Angelis (Aprilia), 2:09.444 6. Andrea Dovizioso (Hon RS250), 2:09.956 7. Yuki Takahashi (Hon RS250), 2:10.425 8. Manuel Poggiali (KTM), 2:10.796 9. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia), 2:11.097 10. Aleix Espargaro (Hon RS250), 2:11.145 125cc Grand Prix Practice #1 Sepang Circuit, Malaysia Friday, September 8 1. Mika Kallio (KTM), 2:13.695 2. Alvaro Baitista (Aprilia), 2:13.995 3. Gabor Talmacsi (Hon RS125), 2:14.626 4. Fabrizio Lai (Hon RS125), 2:15.275 5. Nicolas Terol (Derbi), 2:15.298 6. Mattia Pasini (Aprilia), 2:15.403 7. Hector Faubel (Aprilia), 2:15.595 8. Joan Olive (Aprilia), 2:15.605 9. Julian Simon (KTM), 2:15.636 10. Sergio Gadea (Aprilia), 2:15.672

Thursday, Sept. 28 3:00pm – 7:00pm Registration: For Riders, Crew, Sponsors & Guests 3:00pm – 7:30pm Tech Inspection 6:30pm Post-Entry Closed for all Classes Friday, Sept. 29 7:30am – 4:00pm Registration: For Crew, Sponsors & Guests 8:00am – 5:00pm Tech Inspection 7:45am Mandatory Rider Briefing 8:30am – 9:30am Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei Helmets Practice 9:40am – 10:40am AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited Practice 10:50am – 11:50am Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Practice Noon – 1:00pm Repsol Lubricants Superstock Practice 1:00pm – 2:00pm Lunch Break 2:00pm – 2:40pm Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Qualifying Group 1 2:50pm – 3:30pm Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Qualifying Group 2 3:40pm – 4:20pm AMA Sports Practice Saturday, Sept. 30 7:30am – 3:00pm Registration: For Crew, Sponsors & Guests 8:00am – 5:00pm Tech Inspection 8:30am – 9:00am Repsol Lubricants Superstock Practice 9:10am – 9:40am Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei Helmets Practice 9:50am – 10:20am AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited Practice 10:30am – 11:00am AMA Sports Practice 11:10am – 11:40am Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Practice 11:40am – 12:40pm Lunch Break – Autograph Session 12:40pm – 1:10pm Repsol Lubricants Superstock Qualifying Group 1 1:20pm – 1:50pm Repsol Lubricants Superstock Qualifying Group 2 2:00pm – 2:30pm Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei Helmets Qualifying Group 1 2:40pm – 3:10pm Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei Helmets Qualifying Group 2 3:25pm AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited Heat Race 1 (5 laps) 3:50pm AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited Heat Race 2 (5 laps) 4:15pm AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited Heat Race 3 (5 laps) 4:40pm Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Race (60k – 16 laps) 5:20pm AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited LCQ Heat Race (5 laps) Sunday, Oct. 1 8:00am – Noon Registration: Crew, Sponsors & Guests 8:30am Tech Inspection Open 8:30am – 8:50am AMA Sports Practice 9:00am – 9:20am Repsol Lubricants Superstock Practice 9:30am – 9:50am Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei Helmets Practice 10:00am – 10:20am AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited Practice 11:00am Repsol Lubricants Superstock Race (60k – 16 laps) 11:50am AMA Sports Race – 600 Superstock (10 laps) 12:30pm – 1:30pm Lunch Break 1:45pm Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei Helmets Race (60k – 16 laps) 3:00pm AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited Race (100k – 26 laps) 4:15pm AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited Consolation Race (60k – 16 laps)