Inaugural MOTO-ST Event to Be Eight-Hour Race with $100,000 Purse and Lap Money at Daytona DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 2, 2006) Befitting of the series strong ties to Daytona Beach and the rich motorcycle racing history at Daytona International Speedway, MOTO-ST series officials today confirmed that the new endurance motorcycle racing series’ inaugural event will be an eight-hour event on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course on Saturday, October 21. The 8 Hours At Daytona, which is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. ET, will be held in conjunction with the speedway’s annual Fall Cycle Scene weekend, October 19-22. The 8 Hours At Daytona will offer $100,000 in purse and lap money to be shared among the teams and riders competing in the historic first event. The race will feature three classes of sport twin motorcycles: SuperSport Twins (SST) for bikes with a maximum of 115 horsepower and a minimum weight of 400 pounds, GrandSport Twins (GST) for motorcycles with a maximum of 95 horsepower and a 390-pound minimum weight, and Sport Twins (ST) for motorcycles with a maximum of 75 horsepower and a minimum weight of 360 pounds. Teams will be required to use a minimum of two and a maximum of three riders in the inaugural 8 Hours At Daytona and all subsequent MOTO-ST events. “Since we announced the formation of MOTO-ST during the Daytona 200 Week By Honda in March, there has been a great deal of interest from teams and riders,” said MOTO-ST Director of Competition, Colin Fraser. “We are pleased to inform those individuals, as well as the motorcycle racing fans, that we have put together a lucrative inaugural event for MOTO-ST to be held during Fall Cycle Scene in Daytona this fall. We fully expect to have full fields of talented riders and teams in all three classes competing in the 8 Hours At Daytona and throughout our first full season of competition in 2007.” A detailed pay-out schedule and the official rules for MOTO-ST are now available on the series’ official web site at www.moto-st.com . Entry forms and information packets will be mailed on September 8, and parties wishing to be included on the mailing list should register through the MOTO-ST web site. Tickets for the Fall Cycle Scene, including the 8 Hours At Daytona, are now available by calling 1-800-PIT-SHOP or by visiting www.racetickets.com. Daytona International Speedway will also host the 2007 MOTO-ST season-opener next March as well as the season finale in October. Last week, officials from Iowa Speedway announced that MOTO-ST will join the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve and the Grand-Am Cup Series on the weekend of July 13-14, with MOTO-ST serving as the headliners in a three-hour race on the evening of Friday, July 13. Plans call for six to eight races in the inaugural MOTO-ST season. The starting grid, which will be determined by timed practice, will be set up in rows of two with separate rolling starts for each class. Pirelli has signed-on to be the sole supplier of tires for the MOTO-ST series through the completion of the 2007 season, while Sunoco will be the lone supplier of GT Unleaded fuel for the series through 2007 as well. MOTO-ST is organized by Professional Motorsports Productions of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) of Pickerington, Ohio. The Grand American Road Racing Association, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides the series with administrative and commercial support. The MOTO-ST advisory board features some of the most respected individuals in the world of motorsports, including AMA Hall of Fame members, respected motorcycle racing journalists and renowned officials from various forms of road racing. Learn more about MOTO-ST at www.moto-st.com.

Our 4th race of the season is coming up this Sunday, August 6th (as well as the practice day on Saturday August 5th) at Mission Raceway Park (located at – 32670 Dyke Rd, Mission, BC). Come on out and watch some great racing! – Gates open @ 8:00 am – ADMISSION IS $10.00 (Children under 12 are admitted free) – FREE Admission currently available at Mspeed Performance and through WCSS at Carter Coquitlam – Qualifying races start at 10:00 am. – Main races start at 1:00 pm and run until 5:45 pm NO DOGS ALLOWED AT MISSION RACEWAY PARK DURING ANY WMRC MOTORCYCLE EVENT!!! Class Descriptions SUPERBIKE: Our premier class open to all displacement motorcycles OPEN SUPERSPORT: Unlimited displacement with a maximum 160hp 600 SUPERSPORT: 600cc 4 cylinder and 750cc twin cylinder motorcycles BATTLE OF THE TWINS: Unlimited displacement twin cylinder motorcycles SUZUKI SV650 CUP: For all supersport spec. Suzuki SV 650’s OPEN SINGLES: Open to all singles, roadrace and supermotard bikes FORMULA 2: 250GP, middle weight twins, singles and 10 year old 600’s FORMULA 3: 125GP, 400cc 4 cylinder, 500 twins and 350 two strokes YAMAHA RD/RZ CUP: 350cc twin cylinder 2 strokes 1981 to 1991 VINTAGE: For the classic racing motorcycles with a max model year of 1972 SPORTSMAN: A non competitive alternative for track experience only NOVICE: For the new racer to gain track experience under racing conditions

SUPERBIKES RETURN TO MID-OHIO FOR 24TH CONSECUTIVE SHOWDOWN DUBLIN, Ohio (August 2, 2006) The AMA Superbike Championship returns to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the 24th consecutive season during the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire, August 4-6. Mid-Ohio will host rounds 13 and 14 of the 19-round AMA Superbike Championship. Competition will be fierce during the Wiseco Superbike 100 Doubleheaders as many of the best riders in the world will demonstrate why Mid-Ohio is considered “America’s most competitive road course.” In an event that is one of the best and most popular on the Mid-Ohio calendar, the competition is tight entering this year’s event with defending Mid-Ohio Superbike champion Mat Mladin trailing sophomore Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Ben Spies by 34 points. Spies scored his eighth AMA Superbike victory of the season two weeks ago at Laguna Seca in convincing fashion, holding at least a three-second advantage throughout 29 laps of the race. Mladin, Spies’ primary rival, struggled at Laguna finishing the race sixth overall. Mladin’s finish and Spies’ perfect race opened the gap between the two to its largest all season. With seven races remaining on the calendar, the pressure is on Mladin, the six-time series champion. Honda rider Miguel Duhamel is third in the Superbike points chase with four podium finishes this year. Ducati’s Neil Hodgson and Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden, round out the top five with one podium finish each this season. Many of the support series championships could also be influenced at the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire event finishes. Enjoying a four-race winning streak coming to Mid-Ohio, Graves Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking, the 2003 AMA Supersport champ, is looking to keep on top of the point standings and ahead of Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden. Hayden, who started off the year with back-to-back wins, broke his leg in April and will make his return to Mid-Ohio after finishing second in his first race back in action. Danny Eslick of the Matsushima Performance Suzuki team leads a close three-way battle for third in the standings with Attack Kawasaki’s Ben Attard and M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May. Jamie Hacking also reigns supreme in the Superstock Series. He is attempting to become only the second rider in history to win both the AMA Supersport and Superstock titles in the same season. At Mid-Ohio, Hacking will fend off Yoshimura Suzuki rider Aaron Yates, who is a two-time and defending Mid-Ohio Superstock winner. The Formula Xtreme class provides the closest action at the top of the championship with just eleven points separating leader Jason DiSalvo and third-place Eric Bostrom. Erion Racing Honda’s Josh Hayes sits just between the two riders and is trying to keep the AMA Formula Xtreme title in the Honda camp. Yamaha’s DiSalvo has been consistent all season, finishing on the podium in all but one race. Eric Bostrom is hot off a win at Laguna Seca and is the only rider among the top three who has won an AMA Formula Xtreme race at Mid-Ohio. Spectators wanting to get up close and personal with their favorite AMA Pro Racer also will enjoy the all-series autograph session on Saturday in the Honda Pavilion. Tickets and information for the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire are available by calling 1-800-MID-OHIO or visiting www.midohio.com. Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire will be the fourth event on Mid-Ohio’s eight-race 2006 schedule. Still to come is the Vintage Grand-Prix of Mid-Ohio (August 18-20), National Auto Sport Association Championships (September 15-17), AMA Road Race Grand Championships & AMA Motocross Manufacturers Cup (September 22-24) and the AMA Superbike Shootout (September 30-October 1). Tickets for all events are available by calling 1-800-MID-OHIO or visiting www.midohio.com. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a 2.4-mile, 15-turn permanent road racing circuit in Lexington, Ohio. Located 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield, the track has been called the most competitive in the U.S. and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally sanctioned racing events for amateur, club and professional riders and drivers. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, TrueSports, Incorporated is a privately held motorsports entertainment enterprise. The company owns and operates Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and The Mid-Ohio School, and promotes a wide variety of motor racing, driver instruction, corporate, and family entertainment events throughout the year.

August 2006, Brands Hatch (Great Britain) Over half the World Superbike season has been completed but with five rounds to go the Championship is still ablaze with possibilities. The Brands Hatch race weekend always offers great expectations and many top riders start with only a win on their minds, no matter what the championship positions are overall. Haga loves this track and, in conjunction with his team-mate Pitt, the great potential of the R1 has now been clearly demonstrated. Troy Corser won a Brands Hatch race last year and is still in there fighting for the highest step of the podium at every race, now successfully joined in his quest for victories by team-mate Kagayama. Fighting with them all along, and now racing at home this weekend, is James Toseland. The 2004 champion approaches Brands in wonderful shape and now very consistent on the Honda – just like the new star of the previous round, Michel Fabrizio. All of them will try to win, to take the chequered flags before Championship leader Troy Bayliss – unable to win even a single race in the last round and now increasingly determined to inflate the number of victories he can achieve this season. The Brands Hatch round also has many other main matters of interest: first of all the British public, always numerous, enthusiastic and ready to party. Then there is the very layout of Brands Hatch itself. The track is a highly technical and particularly fast venue, very demanding both for riders and bikes, with the fast main straight going into a breathless drop at Paddock Hill Bend, each lap being completed by a quite impressive downhill run through the trees at Clearways, ended in a fast approach to the final right at Clark Curve. For the WSBK riders Pirelli will, as usual, bring the Pirelli Diablo SBK slick tyre, in different solutions. For the front there will be two solutions which are well known on the market, called the SC1 and SC2 (solution A and B), together with two more options – with harder compounds. Four different solutions including a qualifier will also be available for rear fitment. SSP riders will have at their disposal the new Diablo Supercorsa, in two solutions for the front and three for the rear. In SSP, of course, qualifying tyres are not allowed. Brands Hatch is a difficult racetrack for tyres: in order to have the right grip you need to use soft tyres, but the high temperatures normally experienced in August play a primary role in wearing out the tyres. Nevertheless the riders and teams need to find a good setup for the bike to make the tyres work at their best, and then maintain that performance for the full length of the race. The regular teams will have a difficult job at Brands, and it’s not just the track itself. It’s also because at Silverstone in May wild card rider Tommy Hill – who runs Pirelli in the British Superbike Championship on his Yamaha – stole Superpole from under their very noses!

Round 8 Brands Hatch Great Britain 4 – 6 August 2006 CHARPENTIER MAKES A STAND TO DEFEND CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD Despite some recent misfortunes with injury, and an erosion of his previously commanding points lead, Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) makes his second comeback ride in a two week period with the same levels of determination which he exhibited before his testing crash. Having broken his pelvis and collarbone on 12 June at Brno during tyre testing duties, Charpentier was back in action at Brno again in late-July, finishing 11th – enough to keep him ten points ahead in the approach to the forthcoming Brands Hatch. Having won races at Losail, Phillip Island, Valencia and Silverstone, and also scoring third at Monza, Charpentier has once more been the unquestioned star of the series, as he was during his championship-winning season for Honda in 2005. A resurgent force at the previous Brno race was Charpentier’s team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) who overcame some previous disappointments to score his second podium finish in his rookie full-time WSS season. Buoyed by his latest trip to the rostrum, Sofuoglu will once more be out to score a place in the top three. Brands is a well known quantity for Sofuoglu, having won the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup race there in 2005, on the way to overall runner up spot in the World Superbike support series. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) will once again be replaced by Simone Sanna (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) with Sanna having scored strong points in the past two races. Class rookie Yoann Tiberio (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) may find Brands Hatch a difficult venue at which to replicate his brilliant Monza race win but, traditionally, French Supersport riders have a strong pedigree in their adventures across the English Channel. Currently sixth overall, Tiberio was fourth at Brno. Charpentier, now in better physical condition than during his first comeback ride at Brno, is confident that he can perform like his old self in Brands. “I feel good, better than Brno because I have had the opportunity to work very hard on my physical condition in the past ten days,” said the 2005 champion. “Now my body is better, and my mind is OK even if Brno was not so easy for me. Now the gap in the championship is ten points – but for me ten points is the same as 20 or 30 or any other number. I am still first in the championship and I will work very hard to not only keep my championship lead, but to make it bigger.” Sofuoglu, now a holder of two third place finishes in World Supersport races, is looking to Brands as another place to consolidate his return to top form. “At Brno I gained more good experience in running at the front in World Supersport,” said Sofuoglu. “I think from now on I can keep riding to a good level and in all the races I will be aiming for a podium. My team has worked very hard for me and I want to show that I appreciate it. Brands Hatch is my favourite track; fun, technical and aggressive, and it suits my riding style. It’s really fantastic.” Tiberio knows that he must put in a strong qualifying performance and then capitalise on it in the early laps of the race to have a chance of a podium finish once more. “My target for Brands is just the same as all the other tracks – to finish the race inside the first five positions,” said Tiberio. “At Brno I achieved my target after quite a good race, but I had a problem with the tyres in the end, simply because I stressed the bike too much at the beginning. I don’t want to repeat that mistake in England.” Sanna looks to his two previous races in the Megabike team (second at Misano and ninth at Brno) as motivation for another strong top ten finish. “After a fantastic experience at Misano I took another top ten at Brno,” said Sanna, “and I am aiming for at least another top ten finish at Brands Hatch, although it is a very difficult track. It’s so fast, with such a great variety of corners and cambers. I want to thank the Megabike Honda team for giving me the vote of confidence again.” TOSELAND LEADS HONDA CHARGE ON HIS HOME CIRCUIT A flurry of recent strong results, added to his win in the opening race of the season at Qatar, has pushed James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) to within one point of a share of second place in the approach to his home round at Brands Hatch. The 2004 World Champion has yet to win an SBK race on this particular home circuit, but has never been better placed to fend off all the opposition in this resurgent season for World Superbike racing. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) has used Honda power to win at Brands Hatch twice in the past – in 2000 and 2004 – during his previous career as a World Supersport rider. Yet to break into the podium elite in Superbike, he approaches the Brands Hatch round with renewed confidence at a circuit he clearly enjoys racing at. Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) has spent all of his inaugural World Superbike season on a steep learning curve, after a successful career in Grand Prix racing. The immensely tricky and undulating Brands Hatch layout is notoriously difficult to learn, but for a rider with Barros’ proven track record, it may well offer high-scoring opportunities on even his first visit. Michel Fabrizio (DFX Honda CBR1000RR) found the spark of brilliance which was to light a path to two podium finishes at Brno recently, making a breakthrough in his rookie season that has now promoted him to ninth in the championship. His previous best had been fifth at the opening Losail round in Qatar, making his Brno results of third and second all the more impressive. To cap the magnitude of his Brno successes, 24 days earlier he had crashed and broken his right collarbone at the British Grand Prix, while standing in for the injured Toni Elias. Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Honda CBR1000RR) is one of the most popular Superbike riders to have ever competed at Brands Hatch. He is also the last Italian Superbike rider to have won at Brands, in 1996. In his latest SBK season, he sits 19th, having been forced to miss three rounds, due to a pelvic and shoulder injury. Toseland, who has raised cheers from a British crowd already this year, after two podium-scoring rides through the field during round five at Silverstone, is ready for another home race. “It’s been a good year so far,” said Toseland, “and the best thing is that we have been consistently quick in races. Brands Hatch has not been the kindest track for me in recent years, but I aim to reverse that this weekend. Ticket sales for the race have been strong so far so there should be a great atmosphere. The aim at Brands is to make up more ground to the championship leader Bayliss, and we did that at Brno. There are still a few rounds to go so I just want to go out and take as many points as possible, and be in there with a chance of the championship at the end.” Barros, fifth overall so far, acknowledges that Brands will not be an easy venue for him, but likens it to another undulating circuit in an English-speaking country. “Brands Hatch is a new race track for me and I have no concrete idea of what it is like yet,” said Barros. “But its style is similar to Laguna Seca, and that is a track I like very much. I feel confident that the bike will be well prepared and I’ll do my very best. Only after my first laps will I know how Brands Hatch really is.” Muggeridge was disappointed with the recent race outing at Brno, but is confident in the potential of his machinery at Brands. “Brands is a good place to race,” said former British Supersport championship rider Muggeridge, “It should be OK for us because we’ve done good work on the bike and the set-up since Brno. If it all works the way we have planned it, then it’s going to be good. My back injury is causing me no drama any more, so that helps as well.” After his recent experiences at Brno, Fabrizio knows his full potential can once more be unleashed if things work out for him in qualifying. “Now I am in ninth position in the standings and the next few circuits should be favourable for me,” said the Roman rider. “Everyone spoke about how fast I was at the end of the race at Brno but that’s because I can still ride the bike fast, even when the tyres start to slide. I know very well that the Brands Hatch races will be very difficult, so I hope to earn a good grid position to get away near the front.” Chili went tenth in race one at Brno, but muscle fatigue, due to the lingering effects of injury, put him out of race two. He should be much improved at Brands, after a two-week gap in the calendar. “I was happy for the result of race one in Brno, even if I was very tired at the end,” said Chili. ” I was confident for race two but I had a problem with strength in my right arm, so I decided to stop. After Michel’s fantastic rides at Brno I am very happy also for the DFX Treme team, because it shows how good the bike is now, and that is good news for the next few races.” After the excesses of Brands Hatch, Assen provides the backdrop for another significant WSS and SBK race weekend, between 1 and 3 September.

UNMISSABLE BRANDS NEXT IN LINE FOR WORLD SUPERBIKE – THRILLERS EXPECTED AT THE AMPHITHEATRE With the pitlane and main straight surrounded by gently rolling hills, Brands Hatch is arguably the greatest naturally formed Motorsports amphitheatre in the world. The fact that Brands is also the biggest event on the World Superbike calendar is subject of little argument, with the enthusiastic and knowledgeable local crowd helping to make Brands the highlight of the 12-round championship trail. The magnificent 4.197km circuit, first used for cycle races in the 1920s, is stunning mix of undulations and variety of corners. From the up and down hairpin at Druids, to the high speed sections in the woodlands towards Hawthorn and Westfield, Brands offers a unique challenge to every level of rider, in this its 14th appearance on the SBK calendar. Such is the importance of this meeting that when an additional venue had to be found to complete the scheduled 2000 season, Brands got the nod, and therefore hosted two SBK events in the same season – one in August and the other in October. CHAMPIONSHIP OPENS UP AS BRANDS APPROACHES Despite championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) having blasting his way to an impressive mid-season lead after the sixth round at Misano (including an eight-race unbeaten record only one short of the all-time best) the fates have now skewed the plot – in favour of everyone outside the official Ducati Xerox pit garage. Bayliss still enjoys a more than useful 73-point lead, but compared to the previous run of events, the last two rounds have certainly shuffled the face cards in the SBK pack. Seldom is the World Superbike series predictable for any length of time, and the surprise beneficiary at the most recent round at Brno proved to be the mercurial Japanese Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Robbed of a chance of an early season win at Qatar, Kagayama hit the bull’s-eye not once but twice at Brno, scoring his first SBK double ahead of a host of more fancied riders, including his own team-mate Troy Corser, the 2005 season race winner, who now sits fourth overall. HAGA COMING ON SONG AT THE RIGHT TIME Of the riders still active in World Superbike, none can challenge the recent Brands Hatch record of Yamaha Motor Italia rider, Noriyuki Haga. Winner of the three of the last four SBK races at Brands (two on Ducatis in 2004 and one on a 2005 Yamaha) Haga was pole man at Brno, and still sits second in this year’s championship fight overall. His team-mate Andrew Pitt has gone one better than Haga in race trim thus far, and despite sitting sixth overall, was a race winner at the second Misano leg, in late June. Two Brno retirements, from strong front-running spots, have merely fed his hunger for more wins and podiums, on what is a spectacularly resurgent Yamaha R1. TOSELAND GOING FOR GOLD AT HOME James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) enters his home round with the knowledge that he has returned to podium-scoring form, and that his much-desired improvement in qualifying has already paid dividends in terms of recent points scores. The 2004 champion has proven already that he can win in 2006, and alongside the ever-improving Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) he will be a force to be reckoned with in front of a partisan home crowd. BARROS DETERMINED AT ANOTHER NEW TRACK World Superbike may be a long-term dance partner with Brands, but for the hugely experienced ex-MotoGP rider, Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda), it is a step into the latest unknown during his rookie SBK season. Having never raced at Brands Hatch, he will possibly find it the steepest of all his learning curves this year, but after two disappointing races at Brno, plagued by technical problems, he and his determined team are sure to bounce back into podium contention. Another top rider without a win so far, Barros is certain to show why he is such a highly rated player in SBK, irrespective of the obstacles he may have to overcome on the way. FABBY FABRIZIO THE LASTEST DISCOVERY IN SBK™ Having amassed experience in many forms of racing over the past three years, 2003 European Superstock Champion Michel Fabrizio (DFX Honda) scored not just his first but a pair of podium finishes at Brno, setting himself up for two more strong showings at the rigorously-challenging Brands Hatch circuit. His first two podiums since his move up from World Supersport were audacious in the extreme, proof that being partnered with the vastly experienced Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Honda) is now paying dividends for Fabrizio and his entire Honda team. LANZI LOOKING TO GET BACK INTO CONTENTION After a breathtaking debut SBK season, Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) has had to summon up every splinter of self-belief in 2006, and has occasionally approached the heights of his two wins in 2005. His pair of third places at Valencia were notable highlights, and Brands offers him two more chances to display his unquestioned abilities on the factory 999F06 Ducati. NIETO AND WALKER LEAD KAWASAKI PSG-1 PUSH Only two points separate the PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse pairing of Fonsi Nieto and Chris Walker (in 10th and 11th places respectively) as Brands approaches, with third team-member Regis Laconi (16th) having suffered greater misfortune in races, despite his obvious speed. Some brilliant qualifying and early race performances from each rider have yet to be turned into podium consistency, but at Brands, where Walker scored fourth place in race two last season, anything could be possible for the PSG-1 triumvirate. Kawasaki Bertocchi rider Josh Brookes is approaching Brands with the intention of scoring his first points since his move to Superbike from what was scheduled to be a rookie season in World Supersport. LAST BRITISH HURRAH FOR ANGLO-MALAYSIAN FP-1 The unique three-cylinder Malaysian Petronas FP-1, run from a British base by the Foggy Petronas Racing Team, will bow out from British track action in front of the same Brands Hatch banking that witnessed its first public track outing in 2002. Riders Steve Martin and SBK rookie Craig Jones will be out to make the race a memorable one for both team and fans, despite the machine’s 100cc disadvantage to all other competing machinery. MIDFIELD BOLSTERED BY KURTIS ROBERTS The list of strong talent in the midfield of any SBK race this season is impressive to behold, but the likes of Ruben Xaus (Berik Sterilgarda Ducati, Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi), Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) et al will be strengthened by former AMA Supersport Champion and MotoGP rider Kurtis Roberts, who has joined the Pedercini Ducati squad to replace the outgoing Max Neukirchner. TOMMY HILL BACK FOR MORE SBK GLORY Regular British Championship runner Tommy Hill (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) proved that the wildcard concept is far from over in World Superbike when he scored a remarkable pole position during the first British SBK round of 2006, at Silverstone. Out to repeat that feat and then build on it at Brands, Hill is back in SBK action once more, ready to make the regulars take note. SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP After a series of dramatic changes in fortune, and the re-emergence of some early season talents, the World Supersport championship is once more completely wide open as Brands Hatch approaches. 2005 Champion Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) could only finish 11th at Brno in the most recent round, having also missed the previous Misano outing after suffering pelvic and collarbone injuries in testing. Despite his misfortune he still leads the championship, thanks to his four previous race wins and a third at Monza, but he now heads Brno race winner Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) by only ten points. A run of three successive podium finishes for Curtain’s team-mate Broc Parkes has pushed him to a relatively comfortable third, ahead of top Honda privateer Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports). In a good year for rookie riders, Misano race winner Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) is in fifth place overall, with another WSS race winner in his inaugural season in the category, Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda) sixth. After a difficult period of late, another full season newcomer, Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) scored his second podium of the year at Brno. The most recent formbook at Brands makes comforting reading for Charpentier, who won the race in 2005. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki Italia) saw his previously impressive championship lead slashed to a mere two points after Brno, where his main rival Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta) scored his first win and Polita scored zero. With Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni Racing) second at Brno, and now only 24 points from the championship lead, the top three riders will have much more than the other 35 riders to consider when action starts this coming weekend. Richard Cooper (MS Racing Honda) will be out to show his home crowd that his recent third place at Brno was no isolated incident, as he goes for another podium. SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) has shone brightest in the junior Superstock class this season, taking three wins and two seconds so far, with another five races to go. His main competitors in the points table are also the only other riders to have taken a race win so far, second placed rider Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox) and Davide Giugliano (Lightspeed Kawasaki). SBK™ MARKS DOUBLE TIME AFTER BRANDS With Brands marking the two-thirds distance in the championship, the ninth round of 12 will take place at the newly remodelled Circuit van Drenthe in Assen, between 1 and 3 September. One weekend later EuroSpeedway Lausitz hosts the German round between 8 and 10 September.