FIM Superbike World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 22 Superpole Results: 1. Noriyuki Haga (Yam YZF-R1), 2:00.457 2. James Toseland (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:01.056 3. Lorenzo Lanzi (Duc 999F06), 2:01.073 4. Troy Bayliss (Duc 999F06), 2:01.207 5. Troy Croser (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:01.351 6. Yukio Kagayama (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:01.453 7. Andrew Pitt (Yam YZF-R1), 2:01.482 8. Karl Muggeridge (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:01.498 9. Regis Laconi (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:01.620 10. Fonsi Nieto (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:01.799 11. Fabien Foret (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:02.124 12. Michel Fabrizio (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.208 13. Chris Walker (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:02.220 14. Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas FP1), 2:02.569 15. Alex Barros (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.757 16. Pierfrancesco Chili (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:03.864 More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing: FPR draw positives from second day in Brno The Foggy PETRONAS Racing team was able to extract more positives from the second day of qualifying for the seventh round of the Superbike World Championship at Brno, Czech Republic. Steve Martin finished the morning qualifying session ninth fastest but was only able to match that lap to finish 14th in Superpole, with Noriyuki Haga claiming his first pole position of the season. Team-mate Craig Jones bounced back from a problematic morning session to come 18th in the afternoon free practice, his best standing in a dry session on the FP1. Steve said: “This is a power circuit and the other bikes can probably extract more from the extra grip of the qualifying tyres than we can. It was pretty much a repeat of our test here, when I set the same times on race rubber as the qualifiers. I am pretty happy with my set-up for the race but I am going to have to be on the ball tomorrow, although it seems that lap times are dropping off pretty quickly and I seem to be able to do consistent lap times on race tyres. I was only 0.7secs off the fastest time of the morning and my best lap was faster than the quickest lap here last year, so we can draw a lot of positives.” Craig, who will start from 27th on the grid, said: “It’s a real shame that this morning happened the way it did because I think I could have been in with a chance of making Superpole. I was only two seconds slower than Bayliss in the afternoon and he was using a qualifier. My times on race tyres are pretty quick but it is going to be difficult starting from where I am. I should have been a couple of rows further up. There was nothing much to achieve by pushing too hard in the afternoon but I had a bit of a point to prove and wanted to show what I could have done if I had not had the throttle-body problem in the morning.” More, from a press release issued by FG Sport: HAGA WINS SUPERPOLE IN CONVINCING FASHION – HAGA FROM TOSELAND AND DUCATI DUO Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) swept to a magnificent Superpole win at the 5.403km Brno circuit, setting a new SBK fastest lap of 2.00.457 on qualifying tyres. It was only his third career Superpole win, and his first since Sugo, 2002. He was almost half a second faster than the next rider, James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) who had to ride Superpole on his spare machine, after suffering a crash in the final regulation session. Behind the first two Japanese bikes, the factory Ducati Xerox pairing of Lorenzo Lanzi and Troy Bayliss went third and fourth respectively, completing the front row. CORSER RECOVERS TO SCORE FIFTH FASTEST SUPERPOLE TIME Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) made up for a disappointing pair of qualifying sessions to record the fifth fastest lap of Superpole, promoting himself from 12th fastest in regulation. Some lurid slides and near off-track excursions for his team-mate Yukio Kagayama – the fastest rider after regulation qualifying – saw him drawing smoke from his rear tyre, and subsequently dropping to sixth. Misano race winner Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) scored a seventh fastest lap in Superpole, gaining one row and three places after regulation qualifying, while Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) equalled his pre-Superpole eighth. KAWASAKI PUTS TWO RIDERS ON ROW THREE Regis Laconi and Fonsi Nieto (both PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) took ninth and tenth places on the final Superpole time sheets, with Laconi surprised to be down on row three, after setting a much faster lap than he had managed in the previous qualifying sessions. Nieto, third fastest before Superpole, felt that he needed to prepare himself better for Superpole when he qualifies as well as he did here, citing the long wait as a problem. A strong ride from Fabien Foret (Alstare Engineering Corona Extra) gave him a third row start in 11th, with the top DFX Treme Honda rider proving to be Michel Fabrizio, 12th, with his team-mate Pierfrancesco Chili 16th and last in Superpole. WALKER 13th AFTER SLIDES IN SUPERPOLE PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse rider Chris Walker had several slides and one notable near fall in his Superpole lap, as he dropped from sixth fastest in pre Superpole qualifying to the fourth row. Steve Martin, ninth fastest in regulation on his Petronas FP-1, went only 14th quickest in Superpole, unable to exploit his qualifying tyres as much as many other riders on more powerful machines. Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) blamed a fever and a relative lack of engine performance for his 15th place in Superpole, 16th in regulation. GIMBERT JUST MISSES SUPERPOLE Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) was the top rider from his team in qualifying but missed the Superpole cut by one place. Ruben Xaus (Berik Sterilgarda Ducati) went 18th quickest, with the fifth row completed by the remaining Yamaha Motor France riders, Shinichi Nakatomi and Norick Abe. SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) scored pole position with a new best Supersport lap time of 2.05.900 in the final qualifying session, easing out his closest challenger Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) by only 0.052 seconds. Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) starts from the front row after finishing another largely overheated qualifying session third. Fourth was the ever-improving Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda), winner of the Monza WSS race earlier this year. A small shower of rain on one section of the track, with just a few minutes left of qualifying, brought out the appropriate warning flags for the riders, and stopped all of them from making one final push to improve their best times. Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) stayed fifth fastest, and will start his comeback race from row two. Such was the close competition in Supersport that the top 20 riders finished within two seconds at this long 5.403km circuit. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni racing MV Agusta) earned pole in the big Superstock class, in a finally dry session, after the opening session proved to be wet. Richard Cooper (MS Racing Honda) continued his good run of Brno form to record second fastest time, with Riccardo Chiarello (Lightspeed Kawasaki Racing) third. Local rider Matej Smrz (MS Racing) scored fourth place to join his team-mate Cooper in the upper echelons. Championship leader Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki) was only 11th, opting for the wrong choice of tyre in the final qualifying session. More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Caracchi: SCUDERIA SC CARACCHI’S ROLFO UNABLE TO IMPROVE ON LAP TIME No satisfaction in the final practice day at Brno circuit for the seventh round of WSBK Championship. Also today a warm sun distinguished the day, but the three Scuderia SC Caracchi’s riders have been not very fast, ending the qualifying all out of top twenty and starting tomorrow from the end of the starting grid. In Superbike Roberto Rolfo has not been able to improve his lap time of yesterday qualifying, that did not satisfy him too, and finished the qualifying recording a time which will force him to start from the sixth row. “I had actually hard qualifying practice.” said at the end of the day Roberto Rolfo. “After two practice days today I repeat almost the same lap time I scored in the first free practice session on Friday morning, and that is not actually encouraging! The bike looks to be better in race condition as in qualifying set up. During the afternoon’s free practice we focused for race set up and we got some improvement, but we still are not at the level of the leaders. For tomorrow’s races I ‘m not too confident, we start behind and the top riders are very competitive.” A few satisfaction also in Supersport: both Luka Nedog, who crashed once time during the morning free practice session too, as Stuart Easton will start from the back of the grid, also if they improved today their performance. “The crash of this morning has been a true disaster.” commented with bitterness Luka Nedog “The bike had been bad damaged and the team must work a lot to recover it in time. However, despite the accident, I must confirm my yesterday’s sensations, that I get a better confidence with the bike and the tyres and I feel to improve my riding. The bike is very very fast, thanks the great work made by Franco Farnè and the team, and today too it was the fastest in the speed trap.” Stuart Easton added: “My machine too is very fast, with the third top speed, but with this asphalt temperature I have not jet understood the tyre’s reactions and in some point of the circuit I don’t feel confident. I hope tomorrow in a good start and improve my position.” During the morning the whole team had a deep emotion moment when Rolfo joined the track showing the writing “Ciao Giorgione” (Good bye Big George) on his fairing to remember the great Giorgio Nepoti. More, from a press release issued by Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone: GOOD PROGRESS FOR THE TEAM Sebastien Gimbert is faster than Noriyuki Haga’s lap record from last year (aboard a Yamaha) and he is 17th only 1.1 seconds behind the timed practice leader, which is not a lot on such a long track (5.4 km). He misses the Superpole for 2 hundreds, behind Alex Barros. Shinichi Nakatomi is 19th and Norick Abe 20th. Because of the very hot temperature (33° for the air, 52° for the track) it was not easy for the teams to work during the practice sessions. Nevertheless the overall level progress tremendously with for instance the fastest 20 riders being quicker than the 2005 Haga lap record (everybody using race tyres). Sebastien Gimbert is almost 3 seconds faster than he was last year. The 3 Team Yamaha Motor France-Ipone riders keep on working to choose the best solutions for this Czech event which is the first one of the second half season. Sebastien Gimbert: “The 17th position is of course a little bit frustrating, but we had good practice sessions. I gave 100% and we worked well. The overall level progressed a lot since last year. I am myself almost 3 seconds faster than in 2005 and very close of Alex Barros of whom the qualities are well known. I am not still yet 100% physically because my foot that was injured in Misano is still hurting.” Shinichi Nakatomi: “I am not totally happy. We did some testing here one month ago but the temperature is much hotter this weekend. I am happy with the new swinging arm and I shall use it for the race. Right now I am a little bit confused because the tyre choice is not easy and same thing for the suspension setting.” Norick Abe: “It is not easy. When I accelerate coming out of the curves, the rear tyre is spinning. So for a solution I try to enter faster in these curves, but then there is chattering. It is very difficult.” Martial Garcia (team manager): “Sebastien is only 1.1 from the best time and he is faster that Noriyuki Haga 2005 lap record on a Yamaha R1. He is 2 hundreds behind Barros. Of course, it is always disappointing not to qualify for Superpole because of such a small gap, but the team did a good job. We have found some grip back and the bike handles well in the curves.” More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati Team: LANZI AND BAYLISS TAKE FRONT-ROW SLOTS FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM IN BRNO SUPERPOLE Brno (Czech Republic), Saturday 22 July: Lorenzo Lanzi and Troy Bayliss will start tomorrow’s seventh round of the World Superbike Championship at Brno from the front row of the grid after setting third and fourth quickest times in the Superpole session behind poleman Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) and James Toseland (Honda). Italian Lanzi was just a fraction ahead of his Australian team-mate in the one-lap dash, but the two Ducati Xerox riders are confident they will be front-runners tomorrow. “I hope I have a chance to get on the podium in both races but it’s going to be tough” commented Lorenzo Lanzi. “Today was a very difficult day because at one point in Superpole it looked as if it was going to rain and that would have changed things a lot. My Superpole lap was almost perfect, and I am very satisfied with third place on the grid. Tomorrow for the race, the first laps will be difficult but I have a good race pace and I hope to be able to be amongst the leaders. A big thanks to all my fans for coming, I don’t know where they will be around the race track but I hope to give them something to cheer about tomorrow!” “It’s been a little bit different this weekend but its all coming together now” declared Troy Bayliss. “The lap I did today was far from perfect but I’m reasonably happy because I’m on the front of the grid and that’s very important round here. Of course its going to be a very long hard race tomorrow, hopefully the weather will be fine but I’m really happy for Lorenzo and all his fans here and hope he can do a good job for himself and the team. The last tests here we did a full race simulation and it all went very well, basically I’ll be on the same tyre tomorrow but honestly after ten laps here everybody’s in the same boat and you’re just going to have to hang in there to the end.” More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: TOSELAND SECOND QUICKEST WITH MUGGERIDGE ON ROW TWO James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) stormed to second place in Superpole at Brno, after setting a fourth fastest time in the earlier combined qualifying sessions. His front row start now leaves him in the perfect position for the start of Sunday’s 20-lap Superbike races, after a consistently strong qualifying performance all weekend. James improved on his previous best lap time by over 1.1 seconds in Superpole, despite having to set his final flying lap on his number two bike, after his number one machine was damaged in an earlier crash. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) beat a path to eighth place after his personal best lap of the weekend, less than half a second slower than Toseland, in what was a close and competitive Superpole. In finishing eighth, and earning a start from row two, Muggeridge replicated his pre-Superpole qualification performance. Superpole was taken by Noriyuki Haga, the only rider faster than Toseland. Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager “I am quite satisfied with the qualifying positions we took, especially seeing James almost topping all the others and being up at the top of the timesheets all weekend. We were hoping for another pole position but I think in free practice, when he had a little crash on his number one bike, we had to swap over to his second machine which had some different specs on it, and which we could not change in time for the Superpole lap. We also have to say that the Superpole time of Haga was pretty fast. We will see tomorrow how fast and consistent James has been on the race tyre, and we are pretty confident for him. It’s OK for Karl on the second row of the grid but he was a bit surprised with the sheer speed of Superpole, as I think all of us were! But I am sure he can do well from the second row off the grid, even if the machine is still not perfect for him around here. We will work hard overnight and prepare ourselves to be in the best shape for tomorrow’s race.” James Toseland – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (2nd position – 2’01.056) “We had a good qualifying so I am disappointed that I crashed in the free session this afternoon, in my last lap before Superpole qualifying. I was a little bit sceptical about using my number two bike because we had a few issues with it, but the guys did a great job in getting it ready and it felt almost exactly the same as my number one bike and it was good enough to let me go second – so big thanks to them. It would be nice to make a break tomorrow but tyre wear will play a big part and they will be long races. So I’m going to ride my own way.” Karl Muggeridge – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (8th position – 2’01.498) “In the final free practice I wasn’t pushing too hard so I think that might have affected my Superpole lap. I think I worked the throttle too hard in Superpole and the bike was a bit unsteady because of that. I think I just tried too hard, and that slowed me down. Second row is not too bad because my times with a race set-up are consistent and I am confident for tomorrow. This is not the most difficult track to pass people on, because it’s wide and has a lot of chicanes.” More, from a press release issued by Beowulf Racing: BEOWULF OUTCLASS MAJOR TEAMS AT BRNO Beowulf Racing consolidated their 17th place qualifying position ahead of tomorrow’s 12-lap race in the 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup at Brno today. Excellent teamwork combined with the determination of rider Nick Henderson (Suzuki) saw the privately run Shepton Mallet-based squad outclass several of the major teams. As usual, today’s weather-hit second qualifying session was a nail-biter, with Henderson falling back to 25th place only to recover the position he grabbed yesterday on his final lap of the 3.4-mile Czech circuit. With the temperature marginally cooler than yesterday’s sweltering heat, the riders had a slightly easier time of things during this morning’s half-hour practice session. Although Nick lapped over 12 seconds faster than he managed in yesterday’s rain-hit initial qualifying session, Henderson was in 26th place by the end of the period, a result of the Beowulf Suzuki’s rear wheel spinning up through the faster turns. Rain had been predicted for this afternoon’s second timed session and it arrived right on cue. Seeing the clouds gather, Henderson was sent out straight away on dry tyres with the instruction to bank a fast lap as quickly as possible. By the time he was beginning his second lap the rain was spitting down and there was no option other than to return to the pits. The field now had to play a waiting game to see if the weather would improve enough to allow faster times. By the halfway stage the rain had abated, and the riders steadily began to return to the track. Once the team saw Nick’s position on the grid starting to be bettered, they knew it was time for action. Now relegated to a provisional 25th place, the Aussie set out on wet tyres with the just five minutes of the session remaining. Henderson played a binder and bettered his Friday time on both of his remaining laps to regain his place on the inside of the fifth row for tomorrow’s race. The fact that so many of the usual front-runners, such as Claudio Corti and Enrique Rocamora (both Yamaha) finished behind the Beowulf squad underlined just how impressive a performance it had been. The delight in both Henderson and Team Manager Andy Stone afterwards was obvious. “The team have been fantastic all weekend” beamed Nick. “They made exactly the right calls in the second session and I’m in an excellent position to do something meaningful in tomorrow’s race.” Stone was also jubilant: “I’m obviously delighted that we’ve out-performed several of the major teams this weekend. We’ve made the right decisions and Nick’s responded with an excellent performance.” But there were words of caution when asked about what to expect tomorrow. “Make no mistake, Sunday’s race is going to be a tough one. There are a lot of fast boys at the back of the grid and they won’t be hanging around on the opening laps. But that could be to our advantage – now that Nick’s got faster people around him it will be a whole lot easier for him to run with the pack at the start of the race.” Stone’s words could turn out to be prophetic. Henderson is a noted fast starter and with a return to hot weather predicted, the Australian’s performance in the race could turn out to be just as blistering as the temperature. To learn more about Nick Henderson and Beowulf Racing visit www.beowulf-racing.com More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: ALSTARE SUZUKI MEN ON BRNO SECOND ROW Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama will start tomorrow’s Brno World Superbike round in the Czech Republic alongside each other on the second row of the grid. Corser is happy as this morning he was struggling to get into the top 15 after suffering problems with wheelspin and lack of grip. But in the afternoon untimed session, he tried Kagayama’s set-up and immediately began to get more comfortable with his bike. Corser missed the recent Brno test due to illness and the information that Kagayama and his team provided made up for some of that lost time. Thanks to the information, he managed to finish fifth quickest in the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out. Kagayama had qualified fastest in regular qualifying, but he tried a bit too hard on his Superpole lap and lost time finally ending sixth. Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Fabien Foret finished 11th, but his lap time of 2:02.124 is within touching distance of the front row. Troy Corser – 5th, 2:01.351: “I’m much happier this afternoon than I was this morning or yesterday. Missing the Brno test has made it very hard for me these two days because we just couldn’t get the bike working well at all. I wasn’t happy after this morning’s qualifying so we decided to try Yukio’s set-up in the afternoon. He’d been at the tests, so we thought we might as well give his set-up a go. Normally I wouldn’t have believed that I would be able to get on so well with his set-up, but it was a big improvement on what we’d been getting up until then! It’s not perfect for me but it was a big step in the right direction, so I’ve got to say a big ‘thank you’ to Yukio and his crew for helping me out. I am happy not to have been any lower then the second row of the grid and now if I can get a couple of good starts I feel that I can run with the leaders for sure. It’s going to be two long, hard races tomorrow and I’m sure that we’re all going to suffer tyre problems in the races, so it may be down to whoever uses their tyres best.” Yukio Kagayama – 6th, 2:01.453: “In my Superpole lap I tried my best but it was not enough! It is my style to open the gas hard and maybe, just maybe, this was not the best thing to do in Superpole. But, the second row is ok and, as long as I make good starts, I can get good results. My physical condition is so much better now than the past few months and I cannot wait for the races tomorrow. My team has worked unbelievably hard recently so I want to get good results tomorrow so that I can say ‘thank you’ to them.” Fabien Foret – 11th, 2:02.124: “I am quite happy with my Superpole lap and the third row of the grid is not so bad I think. My bike is working well and I am also happy because my lap times are not so far from pole. I didn’t have any big problems today and we spent most of the time trying to find a good set-up and balance for the race. Yesterday I was a bit uncertain as to which tyres I will use for the race, but now I know exactly which ones to choose. I am hoping to make good starts, run with the leaders and get a pair of solid top-10 finishes.” Final WSB Qualifying: 1 Haga (J-Yamaha) 2:00.457, 2 Toseland (GB-Honda – 2:01.056, 3 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 2’01.073, 4 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 2:01.207, 5. Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:01.351, 6 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 2:01.453, 7 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha) 2:01.482, 8 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 2:01.498, 9 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 2:01.620, 10 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 2:01.799. 11 Fabien Foret (F-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra) 2:02.124. SUPERSTOCK 600: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon won the fifth round of the Superstock 600 European Championship in Brno today after a mother of battles with Ducati rider Nicola Canepa. The 10-lap race was red-flagged after just a couple of laps, but in the restart, Simeon and Canepa once again disputed the result. Canepa led the early stages but Simeon always looked threatening and took the lead just two laps from the end. The result was in doubt right the way down to the wire, but in the end, Simeon was strong enough to hold off Canepa’s challenge and take his third win of the season. Xavier Simeon – 1st: “I am very happy to win the race because I had to use my head and not panic. Canepa was very tough today and I had to use all my experience to make sure I stayed ahead of him. We were close many times but although it was hard, it was also very fair. I didn’t want to leave it to the last lap before making my move in case anything happened, so I took the lead two laps from the end. Canepa tired to get past again but I was a little bit too strong for him today. That was a great race and I am so happy. Superstock 600 Results: 1 Xavier Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 2 Canepa, 3 Antonelli, 4 Jezek, 5 Chmielewski, 6 Beretta, Championship Points: 1 Simeon 115, 2 Canepa 81, 3 Giugliano 71, 4 Colucci 46, 5 Antonelli 39, 6 Jezek 37

Lockhart Phillips USA AMA Formula Xtreme Championship Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California July 22 Provisional Practice Results: 1. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6), 1:28.263 2. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR), 1:28.318 3. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), 1:28.565 4. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6), 1:28.579 5. Ty Howard (Hon CBR600RR), 1:29.575 6. Michael Barnes(Suz GSX-R600), 1:29.926 7. Jeremy McWilliams (Buell XB-RR), 1:30.270 8. Danny Eslick (Suz GSX-R600), 1:30.577 9. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR), 1:30.605 10. Tony Meiring (Suz GSX-R600), 1:31.434 11. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R600), 1:31.690 12. Ryan Elleby (Hon CBR600RR), 1:32.292 13. Garrett Carter (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.521 14. Chris “Opie” Caylor (Suz GSX-R600), 1:32.819 15. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.052 16. Grant Riggs (Suz GSX-R600), 1:34.024 17. Brian Stokes (Yam YZF-R6), 1:34.389 18. Victor Chirinos (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:34.474 19. Mike Hale (Buell XB-RR), 1:34.663 20. Chris Siebenhaar (Suz GSX-R600), 1:34.775

FIM Supersport World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 22 Final Qualifying Results: 1. Kevin CURTAIN (Yam YZF-R6), 2:05.900 2. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR600RR), 2:05.952 3. Broc PARKES (Yam YZF-R6), 2:05.997 4. Yoann TIBERIO (Hon CBR600RR), 2:06.202 5. Sebastien CHARPENTIER (Hon CBR600RR), 2:06.242 6. Simone SANNA (Hon CBR600RR), 2:06.736 7. Johan STIGEFELT (Hon CBR600RR), 2:07.019 8. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yam YZF-R6), 2:07.145 9. Christian ZAISER (Duc 749R), 2:07.186 10. Barry VENEMAN (Suz GSX-R600), 2:07.201 11. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Yam YZF-R6), 2:07.359 12. David CHECA (Yam YZF-R6), 2:07.362 13. Mauro SANCHINI (Yam YZF-R6), 2:07.502 14. Robbin HARMS (Hon CBR600RR), 2:07.561 15. Kai Borre ANDERSEN (Suz GSX-R600), 2:07.598 16. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Hon CBR600RR), 2:07.648 17. William DE ANGELIS (Hon CBR600RR), 2:07.675 18. Gregory LEBLANC (Hon CBR600RR), 2:07.682 19. Maxime BERGER (Kaw ZX-6RR), 2:07.725 20. Stephane CHAMBON (Kaw ZX-6RR), 2:07.808 More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: SOFUOGLU SECOND FASTEST AS CHARPENTIER GOES FIFTH The second and final day of qualifying for the Supersport class at Brno placed the resurgent Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) in second place on the grid, only 0.052 seconds from pole. It equalled his best qualifying result of the year, second in the opening round at Qatar. His team-mate Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda), in his comeback weekend after recent pelvic and collarbone injuries, qualified fifth, improving on his first day best time in the process. Charpentier thus starts the race from the second row, aiding his ultimate ambition of scoring as many points as possible, to defend his current championship lead of 30 points. In pole position is the man who sits second overall in the championship, Kevin Curtain. A late fall of rain in the session stopped either Winston Ten Kate rider from pushing for one final attempt at pole, after what was another hot and humid qualifying outing for all involved. Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager “We are quite satisfied about today, especially with Kenan second and so close to the pole time. Unlucky for him the last attempt to set an even better time was affected by the rain, which is a pity. But anyway, it was quite a good result for Kenan. For Sebastien I’m happy that he is back and we tried quite a lot to give him a bike which is as easy as possible to ride for the race, so he can last all the race for us. He is on the pace again, not so far off pole anyway, and tomorrow morning we will decide which set-up to run, as we have two possibilities ready for him. He will make the decision about which is easiest to ride. I am quite sure when the race comes along he will be running up front, and the Clinica Mobile will be working on him quite a lot tonight and tomorrow. He has done all his laps so far without the need for painkillers, but tomorrow we will give him a little one so he can last the race.” Kenan Sofuoglu – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (2nd position – 2.05.952) “It is good to see that I can make such a good time because in many previous races I have tried hard right through to Sunday but found it difficult. Before the race we had a test here and that showed us a lot of things to help us this weekend, and we made the second fastest lap time. Tomorrow is the race and we always want to improve but I think I can have confidence because of that lap time. For sure I want to score a podium, but it will be a difficult race, so we will have to see how it goes.” Sebastien Charpentier – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (5th position – 2’06.242) “My main goal is to get as many points as possible, and it won’t be easy. But I am satisfied with my physical condition because there has been no pain so far. Maybe I will need some painkillers as a precaution for the race, just in case it comes on. I’m also happy for Kenan’s result, because it has brought out the spirit of the team and I hope we can work well together for the rest of the year.” More, from a press release issued by Team Intermoto Czech Klaffi: TEAM INTERMOTO CZECH KLAFFI TAKE 16TH AND 17TH IN SUPERSPORT QUALIFYING The Czechoslovakian round of World’s Supersport Championship is the most attractive event for our fans. For our Team and its riders the home race at Brno is a highlight of the year but also an immense challenge. Matthieu Lagrive finished 16th in qualifying today. William de Angelis achieved position 17. Tomorrow they start from the 4th and 5th row in the grid. 14 riders did a 2’07 lap time. That shows how tough and extremely close the competition is. William de Angelis: “ž Last weekend I took the win in the Czech Championship race here at Brno. Today I had a little problem with my top speeds but I did constant lap times. So I’m confident for tomorrow. It will be tough but we are very motivated to reach a good result. ” Matthieu Lagrive: “žBrno is only my third race I do with the Intermoto Czech Klaffi Team. Some more kilometres with the bike would make things easier for me. I still miss a little bit of the perfect feeling with the bike and especially with the suspension but we work in the right direction. I normally ride on a higher level than position 16 but I’m sure things will become better and better during the season.”

FIM Superbike World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 22 Second Timed Qualifying Results: 1. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:01.779 2. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06), 2:01.783 3. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:02.206 4. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.213 5. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), 2:02.298 6. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:02.447 7. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:02.449 8. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.534 9. Steve MARTIN (Foggy Petronas FP1), 2:02.539 10. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1), 2:02.566 11. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06), 2:02.620 12. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:02.657 13. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.700 14. Fabien FORET (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:02.777 15. Pierfrancesco CHILI (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.810 16. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:02.873 17. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1), 2:02.892 18. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05), 2:03.022 19. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), 2:03.111 20. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1), 2:03.431 21. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05), 2:03.947 22. Ivan CLEMENTI (Duc 999RS), 2:04.221 23. Marco BORCIANI (Duc 999F05), 2:04.678 24. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:04.734 25. Josh BROOKES (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:05.132

Lockhart Phillips AMA Formula Xtreme Championship Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California July 21 Qualifying Results: 1. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 1:28.048 2. Aaron Gobert (Honda)1:28.171 3. Josh Hayes (Honda) 1:28.276 4. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 1:28.869 5. Michael Barnes (Suzuki) 1:29.580 6. Danny Eslick (Suzuki) 1:29.772 7. Ty Howard (Honda) 1:29.916 8. Ryan Andrews (Honda) 1:29.939 9. Blake Young (Suzuki) 1:31.025 10. Chris “Opie” Caylor (Suzuki) 1:31.733 11. Tony Meiring (Suzuki) 1:31.902 12. Bobby Fong (Yamaha) 1:32.144 13. Ryan Elleby (Honda) 1:32.146 14. Jeremy McWilliams (Buell) 1:32.199 15. Garrett Carter (Yamaha) 1:32.898 16. Brian Stokes (Yamaha) 1:33.327 17. Grant Riggs (Suzuki) 1:33.737 18. Jeffrey Tigert (Honda) 1:34.851 19. Chris Siebenhaar (Suzuki) 1:34.902 20. Kenny Carlotta (Suzuki) 1:35.126 21. Victor Chirinos (Kawasaki) 1:35.163 22. Dr. Jeff Purk (Yamaha) 1:35.285 22. Dirk Sanchez (Kawasaki) 1:35.525 23. Gustavo Laya (Kawasaki) 1:35.598 24. David Glenn (Suzuki) 1:35.608 25. Mike Hale (Buell) 1:35.932 26. Berto Wooldridge (Suzuki) 1:36.164 27. Jeremiah Johnson (Suzuki) 1:36.594 28. Kim Nakashima (Suzuki) 1:36.675 29. Armando Ferrer (Kawasaki) 1:36.747 30. James Kerker (Honda) 1:36.912 31. Morgan Murphy (Suzuki) 1:37.073 32. Darren Murrey (Ducati) 1:37.193 33. Johnny Rock Page (Yamaha) 1:38.638 34. Craig Mason (Yamaha) 1:38.729 35. Simon Kowalski (Yamaha) 1:39.748 36. Jessica Zalusky (Kawasaki) 1:40.047 37. Tamer Kehkia (Yamaha) 1:49.167 More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: BARNES IN TOP FIVE AT LAGUNA SECA Team M4 EMGO Suzuki got out of the gates quickly on the opening day of action at Laguna Seca with Michael Barnes registering a pair of top-five performances on Friday. Sharing the track with the MotoGP World Championship this weekend, Barnes put on a solid display in front of the huge international audience, first logging the fourth fastest time of the morning’s opening Supersport free session (1: 29.918) and then qualifying his Pirelli-slick shod GSX-R600 FX racer on the inside of the second row for Saturday’s 15-lap Formula Xtreme race. The Floridian was fifth fastest in the afternoon qualifying session with a fast time of 1: 29.580. He’ll be looking to take full advantage of his strong starting position and contest for a spot on the podium. Geoff May had a more difficult start to his weekend than his teammate on the bumpy circuit but he remains optimistic that he’ll rise to his typical placing higher up the charts as the weekend progresses. The Georgian was sixth quickest in Supersport at 1: 30.455 and an uncharacteristic ninth best in Superstock at 1:28.271. May, who has finished no worse than fourth in the Superstock class this year, expects to be up fighting for the podium before the weekend is out. He said, “We’re not used to being this far down the order. We kind of had to do our homework today. We used both of my bikes to find a direction for tomorrow. I think we’re on the right path now even though we weren’t able to go out and throw down some fast laps. We had to sort some stuff out but we’re on the right track. It’s just going to get better and better as the weekend goes on.” “We sorted out our tires,” May continued. “That was a big question mark coming into the weekend with the new asphalt. We had a lot of choices to choose from that Pirelli brought here. Luckily we used that session to narrow it down to what we think will be the race tire. We also figured the chassis and the gearing out by riding the two different bikes. We’ll go into qualifying tomorrow and throw some sticky tires at it and try to get on the front row.” The team’s developmental rider, Shea Fouchek, is also looking to improve throughout the weekend. The Texan was 27th on the day in Supersport, posting a best time of 1:36.656.

1. Jamie Hacking (Yamaha) 1:26.274 2. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 1:26.640 3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 1:27.626 4. Aaron Gobert (Honda) 1:27.661 5. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 1:27.794 6. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) 1:27.841 7. Steve Rapp (Suzuki) 1:27.932 8. Jake Holden (Suzuki) 1:28.130 9. Geoff May (Suzuki) 1:28.271 10. Marty Craggill (Suzuki) 1:28.854 11. Josh Hayes (Honda) 1:29.115 12. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki) 1:29.385 13. Damon Buckmaster (Kawasaki) 1:29.476 14. John Haner (Suzuki) 1:29.707 15. Ben Attard (Kawasaki) 1:30.422 16. Matt Lynn (Suzuki) 1:31.162 17. Akira Tamitsuji (Suzuki) 1:31.471 18. Cory West (Suzuki) 1:31.509 19. Leonardo Bagnis (Yamaha) 1:32.064 20. Fernando Amantini (Kawasaki 1:32.218 21. Brad Hendry (Suzuki) 1:33.346 22. Martin Szwarc (Suzuki) 1:33.823 23. Mark Simon (Suzuki) 1:33.867 24. Robertino Pietri (Suzuki) 1:34.111 25. Tim Knutson (Yamaha) 1:34.136 26. Kenny Noyes (Yamaha) 1:34.187 27. Randall Kienast (Suzuki) 1:34.326 28. Lance Williams (Suzuki) 1:35.193 29. James Kerker (Honda) 1:35.421 30. Robbie Dowie (Kawasaki) 1:36.558 31. Johnny Rock Page (Suzuki) 1:36.599 32. Eric Haugo (Suzuki) 1:36.861 33. Dan Wilson (Suzuki) 1:36.970 34. Dan Lippis (Suzuki) 1:37.166 35. Marco Martinez (Suzuki) 1:37.791 36. Barry Teasdale (Suzuki) 1:38.323

FIM MotoGP World Championship Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California July 21 Free Practice Two Results: 1. Kenny Lee Roberts (Honda KR211V) 1:23.859, Michelin 2. Nicky Hayden (Honda RC211V) 1:24.125, Michelin 3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda RC211V) 1:24.194, Michelin 4. Marco Melandri (Honda RC211V) 1:24.223, Michelin 5. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki GSV-R) 1:24.253, Bridgestone 6. Colin Edwards (Yamaha YZR-M1) 1:24.320, Michelin 7. Makoto Tamada (Honda RC211V) 1:24.339, Michelin 8. Toni Elias (Honda RC211V) 1:24.494, Michelin 9. Casey Stoner (Honda RC211V) 1:24.523, Michelin 10. John Hopkins (Suzuki GSV-R) 1:24.663, Bridgestone 11. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha YZR-M1) 1:24.822, Michelin 12. Carlos Checa (Yamaha YZR-M1) 1:24.883, Dunlop 13. Loris Capirossi (Ducati GP06) 1:25.094, Bridgestone 14. Sete Gibernau (Ducati GP06) 1:25.252, Bridgestone 15. Alex Hofmann (Ducati GP05) 1:25.294, Bridgestone 16. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki ZX-RR) 1:25.598, Bridgestone 17. Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki ZX-RR) 1:25.651, Bridgestone 18. James Ellison (Yamaha YZR-M1) 1:25.768, Dunlop 19. Jose Luis Cardoso (Ducati GP05) 1:27.020, Dunlop Combined Best Practice Times: 1. Roberts, 1:23.859 2. Hayden, 1:24.125 3. Pedrosa, 1:24.194 4. Melandri, 1:24.223 5. Vermeulen, 1:24.253 6. Edwards, 1:24.310 7. Tamada, 1:24.339 8. Stoner, 1:24.360 9. Elias, 1:24.494 10. Hopkins, 1:24.608 11. Rossi, 1:24.674 12. Checa, 1:24.883 13. Capirossi, 1:25.094 14. Gibernau, 1:25.150 15. Hofmann, 1:25.294 16. Nakano, 1:25.651 17. De Puniet, 1:25.651 18. Ellison, 1:25.768 19. Cardoso, 1:27.020 More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: KAWASAKI SEARCH FOR A SET-UP AT LAGUNA SECA Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano was left both disappointed and frustrated with his 16th place finish in today’s second free practice session at Laguna Seca, after struggling to find a set-up on his Ninja ZX-RR to suit the characteristics of the technically demanding 3.61 km circuit. The 28-year-old Japanese rider complained throughout both sessions that his Ninja ZX-RR was difficult to turn into the corners, particularly at the infamous Laguna Seca Corkscrew, and at the critical final turn that leads onto Laguna’s only straight. This tendency for his Ninja ZX-RR to understeer through the turns, coupled with stability problems under braking, left Nakano lacking the confidence in the front end of his Ninja ZX-RR that the Laguna Seca track demands. Nakano’s crew, together with Kawasaki’s technical support staff, will improve the balance of Nakano’s Ninja ZX-RR through changes to both chassis geometry and suspension settings overnight, and the Kawasaki rider is confident that this approach will allow him to improve his pace considerably ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s all-important qualifying session. Making his debut at the Laguna Seca circuit today, Randy de Puniet focussed on learning his way around the seven left and four right hand corners that make up the 3.61 km Laguna Seca track aboard his Ninja ZX-RR. The 25-year-old Frenchman saw an improvement of more than one second in his lap time between today’s free practice sessions, eventually finishing just one place behind his more experienced teammate in 17th position. After declaring Laguna Seca a fun track to race at, de Puniet is confident of further improvement tomorrow, as more track time gives him the opportunity to discover more of the secrets to a fast lap around the sweeping turns and undulations of the Californian track. Shinya Nakano: 16th – 1’25.598 “Today has been a difficult day, and I am disappointed to have finished so far down the timesheet on a track that we initially thought would suit the characteristics of our Ninja ZX-RR. I understand the quickest line around most of the circuit now, but still I have some problems with the section from the top of the corkscrew to the finish line, and it is this sector I must concentrate on tomorrow. But the biggest problem we had today was getting the bike to turn; it just didn’t want to. This meant that I was losing time through every turn, but especially through the slow corners, like the Corkscrew and turn nine. This is what we need to focus on tonight; changing the chassis and suspension settings to improve balance and turn-in. As I said, today was disappointing, but I’m confident that the team will come up with a solution to our set-up problems ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying session.” Randy de Puniet: 17th – 1’25.651 “I really like this track! This morning it was a bit difficult, because this is my first time racing here at Laguna Seca and the circuit is very technical, but this afternoon was a lot better. I was over a second faster during today’s second free practice session, and a couple of longer runs this afternoon gave me a better understanding of the technical nature of this circuit. I hope tomorrow that we can make a further improvement to both the set-up of the bike and my lap time, as I really want to finish tomorrow a lot further up the timesheet than I have today. This is a funny circuit. It doesn’t really compare to anything we have in Europe, but it is definitely good fun to race on and I’m hopeful we can put in a strong performance here.” Naoya Kaneko: Technical Manager “At the moment we have some problems with getting Shinya’s bike to turn, which takes away his confidence in the front end, and confidence is important here at Laguna, where you need to carry speed through some of the faster turns. This is what we will focus on tonight; making changes to the overall balance of the bike by altering both chassis geometry and settings, in a bid to improve turn-in performance for tomorrow, and to increase Shinya’s confidence in the front end of the bike.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI MEN HAVE TOUGH FIRST DAY AT LAGUNA The Ducati Team had a busy first day at baking-hot Laguna Seca today, riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau ending the first two practice sessions 13th and 14th quickest as they focused on bike set-up and tyre choice. The pair struggled to find the ideal combination to suit the revised and resurfaced Californian venue where track temperatures reached 50 degrees this afternoon. Tomorrow they will continue chasing a good race combination in order to give them the best possible chance in Sunday’s United States GP. LORIS CAPIROSSI, 13th fastest, 1m 25.094s “We focused on tyres this afternoon and we did find a front tyre that’s better suited to this track but it doesn’t give me a good feeling, so we’re working on bike set-up to get around that. We are also struggling with rear tyre choice, we haven’t yet found the ideal rear, so we’ve got to keep working on that. Overall we’ve made a small step forward since this morning but we are still far from where we want to be, we’re having some problems. This is a strange track, with everyone fairly close on lap times, but we have to work to be more competitive.” SETE GIBERNAU, 14th fastest, 1m 25.150s “We are struggling a lot with the front. We are bad on grip and turning, so we can’t stop the bike and get it steered. That’s what we’re fighting at the moment, so we’re working with Bridgestone and with the team to see what we can do. We just have chip away at the problem with the bike and the tyres and see what we can do because right now we’re not where we want to be. My shoulder is a little bit better than last week, which I’m happy about, but it’s still not great.” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing/Fortuna Honda: FORTUNA HONDA RIDERS ADAPT TO TRICKY AMERICAN TRACK FORTUNA HONDA riders Marco Melandri and Toni Elías completed the first day of practices for the US Grand Prix at the Laguna Seca circuit in perfect weather, using it to simply adapt to the modified track. Marco Melandri, who finished second in the last round at Sachsenring, has arrived in confident mood and spent the session finding a good feeling for the track whilst his team-mate Toni Elias took things steadily as he continues his recovery from injury. Alongside his new crew chief Fabrizio Cecchini for only the second Grand Prix the Spaniard worked out the points he needs to spend time on with the Honda RC211V machine in the afternoon. Toni made a great step forward in the afternoon improving his lap time of 2 seconds. Marco finished 4th at 3 tenths from Kenny Roberts jr (1’23″869) while his team mate Toni Elias finished 8th at only 6 tenths from the American rider. MARCO MELANDRI (4th, 1’24″223): “I am satisfied with the first session. I got a good feeling and I’m optimistic about the weekend ahead because I think we have started off on the right foot. I like this track a lot and I think they’ve done a great job with respect to improving the security.” TONI ELIAS (8th , 1’24″494): “I like Laguna Seca a lot – it’s a legendary place. My physical condition hasn’t improved a lot and this circuit layout is hard on my left shoulder. The morning session was just a first point of contact with the track alter only previously riding here last season and I used it to find my reference points. In the afternoon the team did a great job and I improved my feeling with the rear traction so that I could improve my rhythm of 2 seconds. I’m really happy. We are working in the right directions and I couldn’t expect any better considering that I’m still suffering a lot because of the injury at the left shoulder.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: ROSSI AND EDWARDS GET TO GRIPS WITH LAGUNA SECA The blazing Californian sunshine and a bumpy new track surface made life even more turbulent than usual at Laguna Seca today as preparations for the US Grand Prix got underway for the Camel Yamaha Team and their MotoGP World Championship rivals. Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards made a bright start to the day, lapping fifth and second fastest in the morning free practice, but both struggled in the afternoon session and were unable to improve their times as they focused on adapting the set-up of their YZR-M1 machines to the unique demands of the wild western circuit. Rossi himself indulged in a moment of rodeo riding as he ran across the gravel traps after misjudging a braking marker going into the Corkscrew corner. To make matters worse for Edwards he also began to struggle from the effects of flu symptoms and an upset stomach, which were not helped by afternoon temperatures exceeding of 30ºC. His morning benchmark was bettered by only five other riders, however, the fastest of those being American compatriot Kenny Roberts Jr. (Team KR) with a lap of 1’23.859 – just inside Edwards’ own official lap record of 1’23.915 set during the race last year. Tomorrow the pair will have one more free session to adjust their machine set-up before tackling the all-important qualifying practice. COLIN EDWARDS (5th; 1’24.310, 44 laps) “At the moment we’re just working to get the bike better, trying to find the right setting for the track. The new surface is not great I don’t think they could have made it any bumpier if they tried. It’s been hard to ride today because I’ve also been suffering with flu symptoms and an upset stomach. I’ll go to the Clinica Mobile for some treatment tonight and hopefully get a good night’s sleep because I really don’t want to feel like this again tomorrow, it was really hard to ride this afternoon. The morning session was quite good and I was feeling pretty confident, but I started to feel worse throughout the day and things went downhill a bit this afternoon. We tried some new things in the second session and didn’t find exactly the right setting, but we have some more ideas for tomorrow and I’m confident that if I’m feeling okay I can be back on the pace.” VALENTINO ROSSI (11th; 1’24.674, 47 laps) “I think that they’ve done a good job on the circuit and done nearly everything we’ve asked for. The track is quite dirty at the moment but the new asphalt has much better grip and by Sunday I think it will be okay. Turn one is especially much safer and much less dangerous. The problem that we have now is that it’s still very bumpy in parts of the track, which is not good. In most places it’s better but they’ve put the new asphalt down over the old bumps, so they’re still there. This is unfortunate; the worst part is after the corkscrew, turns 9 and 10. I was happy with how we started today – I did some good laps towards the end this morning and was starting to feel good with the bike and the track but this afternoon we had a lot more problems. I didn’t have a good feeling in the corner and the bike was quite hard to ride. The bumps are causing us some difficulties and we need to understand how to make the M1 work at this track. It is only Friday but we have a lot of work to do. We need to make some tests with the qualifying tyre tomorrow morning and hopefully we will have a better situation than in Germany. It is going to be very important that we qualify well because it’s hard to pass on this track.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “We have some work to do, as always on a Friday! After the morning session we expected to be a lot closer to the front in the afternoon but the situation remained the same and we didn’t make any major improvements. We have collected a lot of data that our engineers will check overnight and we will see how we can move forward in the morning. With the American riders all going fast here there is more competition at the top so Valentino knows he has work to do. Colin did a good job today considering his physical condition so we hope he will be feeling better tomorrow and will be able to make some more steps forward with the bike before qualifying.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: With the paddock packed with MotoGP fans enjoying the blazing Californian sunshine, the teams and riders got down to the important task of opening their preparations for Sunday’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. Kenny Roberts Jr. showed no signs of letting up the pace at his home track, topping the timesheets in both free practice sessions today. The American who rides for his father’s ‘Team Roberts’ set-up clocked a time of 1’23.859, the only rider to go round in under 1 minute 24 seconds in the entire day. Nicky Hayden, victor at Laguna Seca last year and current leader of the World Championship, was 0.266 seconds behind him in second, with team-mate Dani Pedrosa getting to grips with the track early to come in third. Marco Melandri, Chris Vermeulen and Colin Edwards rounded off the top six, ahead of Makoto Tamada, Toni Elias, Casey Stoner and John Hopkins. A few riders, including World Champion Valentino Rossi and rookie sensation Casey Stoner, were caught out by the circuit’s world-renowned Corkscrew turn on day one at the track, both running off into the gravel but being able to continue unharmed. There was a big surprise for Nicky Hayden after his first practice session at Laguna Seca, as his racing idol Bubba Shobert paid a visit to the World Championship leader’s pit garage. The Repsol Honda rider was greeted by the dirt-track legend in his pit after the morning session, and was the recipient of much admiration from the three time American dirt-track and once AMA Superbike champion. Hayden and Shobert had a friendly conversation and exchanged helmets. Tomorrow the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca plays host to the qualifying session for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, with free practice in the morning at 10am, and the qualifier at 2pm. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Promising first day for Rizla Suzuki at Laguna Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins both produced promising performances on the first day of practice for the Red Bull US Grand Prix at a warm and sunny Laguna Seca today. Vermeulen put his previous knowledge of the Laguna track to good use to record the fifth fastest time on the newly surfaced Californian circuit. He used the 59 laps that he completed to their full extent to try many different set-ups and Bridgestone tyres in readiness for Sunday’s race. His time of 1’24.253 was only 0.394 seconds off the day’s fastest time set by Kenny Roberts Jr. Hopkins (P10, 1’24.608, 57 laps) made many changes to his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R to help combat the extra reverberations in the chassis due to the bumpy nature of the newly laid surface. He found a set-up to combat the shakes and is looking to make more changes and improvements tomorrow. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will have one more practice session tomorrow morning before the all important hour long qualifying session in the afternoon. The Red Bull US Grand Prix is round 11 of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship and the flag drops to start the 32 lap race at 14.00 hrs local time (21.00 hrs GMT) on Sunday 23rd July. Chris Vermeulen: “We’ve had quite an eventful day. I knew the Laguna Seca circuit but it is quite a bit different to when I rode here a couple of years ago. It has been resurfaced which is new for everyone and it seems quite a bit bumpier that I remember. It’s made it quite difficult to find the best set-up but my crew have worked hard on getting it right. It is quite aggressive on the front end and we learned a lot today about how to cope with that. Everything seemed to work better and better as the day wore on and hopefully we can continue in that direction tomorrow.” John Hopkins: “Today we were a bit like track sweepers early on as it was so dusty out there! It’s great to be in front of family and the American fans and getting all their support. We still have a few changes to do to the bike because it is a really bumpy circuit. It will be crucial to get a good set-up for the race, we have some base settings but there are a lot of things we need to work on tomorrow. We will work hard tonight with the data we have got and find some better settings tomorrow and then be ready to go on Sunday” Paul Denning Team Manager: “We hoped that Laguna might suit the GSV-R reasonably well and we have been pleased with the competitiveness that it has shown so far. The circuit is incredibly bumpy which is amazing considering it has only just been resurfaced. It is testing the rider’s abilities and the chassis settings to the limit. Chris in particular has found a good rhythm and has done a lot of miles on the same Bridgestone rear tyre and seems to be able to do good times at the end of a long run which is encouraging for the race. “John is struggling for a bit of feeling from the front of the bike and that is making it difficult for him to get into and out of the turns like he needs to. I am sure his guys will be looking for solutions tonight and John will have a range of options to try tomorrow morning. As it is he’s not far away so things are looking positive. A lot of riders are covered by a small amount of time and it will be the fine details that will determine a good result from a great one!” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Mixed Fortunes as Track Controls in Monterey Laguna Seca, Monterey, USA Friday 21 July 2006 Bridgestone’s preparations for the second consecutive United States Grand Prix got off to a mixed start at the Laguna Seca circuit in Monterey this afternoon with Chris Vermeulen ending Friday free practice as the highest placed Bridgestone-shod rider with the fifth fastest time of the day (1m24.253s). Vermeulen has recent race winning experience of the Laguna Seca track, having won a pair of World Superbike races at the circuit in 2004, so the rookie Australian will be hoping that experience proves advantageous as this year’s event unfolds over the next few days. Vermeulen’s California-born team-mate John Hopkins got his home grand prix off to a top ten start by posting the tenth fastest time of the day. His time of 1m24.663s in the afternoon session was six-hundredths-of-a-second shy of his Friday best of 1m24.608s, which had been good enough for fourth quickest in the morning practice hour. Ducati riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau were 13th and 14th fastest in the combined session with Capirossi’s afternoon time of 1m25.094s marginally edging out his Spanish team-mate’s morning time of 1m25.150s. Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet were also barely separable with 16th-placed Nakano (1m25.598s) beating De Puniet (1m25.651s) into 17th spot on the Frenchman’s Laguna Seca debut. The 3.610km Laguna Seca circuit took control in today’s two practice sessions as the recently renewed asphalt unveiled new track characteristics for Bridgestone’s engineers to deal with, as the riders concurrently tried to get to grips with the challenging track behaviour. Shinji Aoki, Assistant Manager Motorcycle Race Tire Development “We always knew that the resurfacing of the Laguna Seca circuit would result in altered track characteristics today but we perhaps did not expect it to be quite so bumpy compared to last year. It is of course slippery, as all newly laid circuits are at first, but we can expect this to improve as the weekend progresses. As far as today goes, it has been difficult to select the best specification of tyre as riders have also been forced to effectively relearn the circuit with their respective bikes. Trying to find the best settings with three sets of variables – bike, rider and tyre has been tough but I do not think that results from today are entirely conclusive. We will be chasing a moving target if the track keeps changing all weekend. We encountered some issues with front tyre wear at times today, something we are looking at closely. We have alternative specifications to evaluate ahead of qualifying tomorrow, but we have seen some signs of encouragement from Chris Vermeulen’s times, which have undoubtedly been boosted by the confidence he has acquired at this circuit from his victories in superbikes. All in all, it has been a mixed opening day, but rest assured we will work even harder tomorrow morning.” Bridgestone Combined Friday Practice Results P5 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m24.253s +0.394s P10 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m24.608s +0.749s P13 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m25.094s +1.235s P14 Sete Gibernau Ducati 1m25.150s +1.291s P16 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki 1m25.598s +1.739s P17 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m25.651s +1.792s Weather: Hot and Sunny – Air 29°C, Track 50°C, Humidity 15% (afternoon session)

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (July 21, 2006) — AMA Pro Racing’s Timing and Scoring team is working in collaboration with the Dorna Sports’ Timing and Computing Department at the Red Bull MotoGP this weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The two entities are sharing timing and scoring hardware and technology during the biggest motorcycle racing weekend in America. “We are sharing a lot of the timing points around the track,” said Ken Rogers, AMA Pro Racing’s director of timing and scoring. “We are collaborating on using Dorna’s jump start system this year so we don’t have to roll out our system. And Dorna is going to be utilizing our high-speed finish line camera.” Rogers went on to explain that the teamwork with Dorna has been in the planning stages for weeks. “We’ve been in contact with Dorna to determine what their needs would be and that line of communication has resulted in us having a good start to the weekend in terms of timing and scoring.” Both the AMA’s and Dorna’s timing and scoring personnel have been eager to learn from one another on how each team does its job, with each taking away valuable knowledge to help them provide fans, teams and television viewers with ever increasing information. “Dorna has some technology that is really outstanding,” Rogers added. “For example when you watch the races on TV they have real-time bike telemetry on a graphic that provides a lot of information with what the riders are doing on the motorcycle. On our side, one thing their crew noticed this year is that AMA’s timing and scoring staff transports about half of the hardware to the timing and scoring center that it had last year. We’ve developed a way to keep much of the equipment operating from the AMA truck and the Dorna folks were very interested in how we implemented that.” Spaniard Jordi Sais is the director of Timing and Computing for Dorna Sports. Sais is a computer engineer and has a solid background in providing information technology to high profile sporting events, including the 1992 Olympics. Sais is pleased with the technology AMA Pro Racing is using for its national series. “It is very similar to what we are using. Perhaps we have gone a few steps more with information, but much of the hardware we use is the same technology used by the AMA,” said Sais, who has worked with MotoGP since 1998. “The most important thing is the software. Four years ago we began to provide television with telemetry data from the motorcycles such as rpm, speed, braking and position. We are taking it another step by providing information on the rider, such as heart rate, temperature under the racing leathers and also testing systems to show how far the riders are banking the bikes.” Sais said the key for providing such comprehensive information was making the teams understand how this is the top level of motorcycle competition and the information provided must be state-of-the-art as well. “Of course every manufacturer wants to keep some data secret,” Sais explained. “Yet this is MotoGP, every team knows this information for the other teams already, so it is important to provide it to fans. Now we are even providing the teams with data that they previously did not have, so we work very much with them.” You can see this technology at work by visiting www.amasuperbike.com and clicking on “@thewire LIVE!” and www.motogp.com for the MotoGP data. About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.

FIM Superbike World Championship Czech Republic July 21 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:02.349 2. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R) 2:02.723 3. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06) 2:02.847 4. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1) 2:02.904 5. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:03.058 6. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:03.107 7. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:03.112 8. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R) 2:03.178 9. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R) 2:03.389 10. Steve MARTIN (Foggy Petronas FP1) 2:03.408 11. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06) 2:03.416 12. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:03.475 13. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1) 2:03.528 14. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:03.728 15. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05) 2:03.901 16. Pierfrancesco CHILI (Hon CBR1000RR) 2:03.915 17. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05) 2:03.947 18. Fabien FORET (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:04.136 19. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1) 2:04.245 20. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1) 2:04.373 21. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1) 2:04.580 22. Craig JONES (Foggy Petronas FP1) 2:05.152 23. Pavel SZKOPEK (Duc 999RS) 2:05.165 24. Josh BROOKES (Kaw ZX-10R) 2:05.863 25. Ivan CLEMENTI (Duc 999RS) 2:06.299 26. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:07.241 27. Marco BORCIANI (Duc 999F05) 2:07.895 28. Jiri DRAZDAK (Yam YZF-R1) 2:08.039 29. Berto CAMLEK (Yam YZF-R1) 2:08.237 30. Marek SVOBODA (Yam YZF-R1) 2:08.327 31. Milos CIHAK (Suz GSX-R1000) 2:08.524 More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: TOSELAND ON RECORD PROVISIONAL POLE AT BRNO James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) made a strong early statement of intent with the fastest time of the opening qualifying session at Brno, a new best lap on a race weekend of 2’02.349, some 0.374 seconds ahead of his closest opposition. His good early pace in the hour-long session was rewarded with provisional pole position, as a sudden heavy fall of rain at the end of the session froze the leader board with James at the top. His team-mate, Karl Muggeridge, was a more than respectable fifth overall, like James capitalizing on the experience gained in a comparatively recent tyre test at Brno, despite a drop off in grip levels since the test. With one more timed qualifying session scheduled at Brno, and then Superpole to determine the final grid positions of the top 16 qualifiers, both Toseland and Muggeridge have opportunities to consolidate and improve their respective positions. Ronald Ten Kate – Team Manager “Quite a good start to the race weekend and although it is only the first day, this is a very good place to start from. James put a good lap time in really quickly and after that he could concentrate purely on race settings and getting endurance from the tyres; which was good for us. Also Karl was fast immediately and we also had the luxury to concentrate on the race set-up and race tyres. We have seen an incredible track temperature of 52°C during that afternoon session, so we will see where we end up tomorrow. I hope the temperature will drop off a bit over the weekend, because I think this is almost too much. I am sure we can improve the bike even more for tomorrow.” James Toseland – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (1st position – 2’02.349) “I knew the temperature was going to go up and up, so we needed to test the softer tyres, to see if they would last the race. We decided to put the softer tyres in at the beginning, when it was slightly cooler, and the track conditions were better. So I set a good early time and that stood through the session. Then the rains came and that stopped anyone going even faster. The bike is working well, so I’m happy.” Karl Muggeridge – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (5th position – 2’03.058) “The track has changed a lot here since the test – not so grippy – so I am giving a lot of problems with the rear grip. So we are going to look into that. The problem now is that the bike is not compressing enough so I am just spinning with the rear. The bike is handling really well, and everyone is having the same problems with the track surface. But right now we have to focus on how we can get out of the corners faster. Once we have done that, and I’m confident we can, we should be OK.” FIRST QUALIFYING: 1. Toseland – Winston Ten Kate Honda – 2’02.349 2. Nieto – Kawasaki – 2’02.723 3. Lanzi – Ducati – 2’02.847 4. Haga – Yamaha – 2’02.904 5. Muggeridge – Winston Ten Kate Honda – 2’03.058 More, from a press release issued by Team Klaffi Honda: A working day at Brno The start of World’s Superbike Championship round at Brno was not as trouble-free as expected. On his way back from Brazil Alex Barros caught a touch of a flue and was not as fit as he uses to be. Temperatures at Brno reached sticky 34 0 C and three minutes before the end of the first Qualifying a short but intense rain set in. Alex could not do his planned last fast laps and achieved with a 2’03.728 lap time position 14. Alex Barros: ” This was a working day today. Just during Qualifying I had a problem with the electronic of one bike. It was disconnecting as it did during the first race at Misano. I know that I can do better lap times than these. Concerning the set-up we first did it as in Misano but then we used the set-up we used during our tests in springtime here. We know now in which direction we have to work. Tomorrow both Fireblades will work well and I’m sure to improve my lap times considerably. “ Qualifying I 1 Toseland (Honda) 2’02.349 2 Nieto (Kawasaki )2’02.723 3 Lanzi ( Ducati) 2’02.847 4 Haga (Yamaha) 2’02.904 5 Muggeridge (Honda) 2’03.058 6 Kagayama (Suzuki) 2’03.107 7 Fabrizio (Honda) 2’03.112 8 Walker (Kawasaki) 2’03.178 9 Laconi (Kawasaki) 2’03.389 10 Martin (Petronas) 2’03.408 11 Bayliss (Ducati) 2’03.416 12 Corser ( Suzuki) 2’03.475 13 Pitt A. (Yamaha) 2’03.528 14 Barros ( Klaffi Honda) 2’03.728 More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing: FPR battle with the Brno heat Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Steve Martin and Craig Jones refused to wilt in the heat of the first day’s qualifying at round seven of the Superbike World Championship at the Czech Republic circuit of Brno. In sweltering conditions, Steve finished the first day 10th fastest while Craig was 22nd in an extended field of 31 entrants. Steve bettered his time on race rubber from the recent test at the punishing circuit, a second down on provisional poleman James Toseland, setting a time of 2:03.408 before a freak downpour ended the session prematurely. He said: “I was pretty happy with the day and we are in a lot better position at the end of the first day than we have been in the past here. I am not getting too excited but feel pretty comfortable doing very consistent lap times. If I can maintain that for the race then maybe we can go somewhere However, the high temperatures meant the grip was low and the other riders were doing much faster times at the recent test. The shower was amazing – I was dry coming past the box on the start-finish straight and drenched going into the first corner!” Craig set his fastest time of the day in the morning free practice, although his time of 2:04.977 was almost a second off the pace he achieved at the test. He said: “The grip was poor so it was a bit of a lottery to do decent times. Everyone was struggling with grip but the other bikes have more power and torque to pull them up the hill. I know the times that I was capable of doing at the test so I will just stick with the set-up we found at Lausitzring earlier this week and start to push harder tomorrow morning when the temperatures should be lower.” Friday qualifying times, Superbike World Championship round 6, Brno, Czech Republic: 1 Toseland 2:02.349; 2 Nieto 2:02.723; 3 Lanzi 2:02.847; 4 Haga 2:02.904; 5 Muggeridge 2:03.058; 6 Kagayama 2:03.107; 7 Fabrizio 2:03.112; 8 Walker 2:03.178; 9 Laconi 2:03.389; 10 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2:03408; 22 (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) Jones 2:05.152 Friday free practice times: 1 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:02.757; 2 Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 2:02.821; 3 Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 2:02.821; 4 Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 2:02.879; 5 Haga (Yamaha Italia) 2:02.920; 6 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:03.011; 7 Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 2:03.162; 8 Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 2:03.244; 9 Pitt (Yamaha Italia) 2:03.372; 10 Barros (Klaffi Honda) 2:03.513; 17 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2:04.269; 22 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2:04.977 More, Scuderia SC Caracchi: from a press release issued by First practice day at Brno circuit for the seventh round of WSBK Championship. A splendid weather welcomed the Superbike circus this morning, but just in the final minutes of Superbike qualifying session a sudden and unexpected rain shower forced everybody to join the pits. Roberto Rolfo suffered unattended troubles during this first practice day, ending quite disappointed the first qualifying at 17th place. “In the morning free practice session I recorded easily a 2’04.162 lap time.” commented at the end of the day Roberto Rolfo. “During afternoon’s session I was confident to improve my lap time, but that did not occur. The engine did not run well like during the morning, despite that I had a central position. We believe that it happened because the hot temperature and, in,general, because the modified weather conditions. Now we are checking the injection map, I’m confident that for tomorrow’s race we’ll be OK.” Satisfied Luka Nedog who is finally more confident with his Caracchi SC Ducati 749R. “The one-day test we made here in Brno, also if the track was full of amateur riders, has been good to get a better confidence with the tyres and to get used to different conditions. Now I have more confidence with the tyres and I feel able to still improve.” Also Stuart Easton looks to be a bit satisfied and is confident to be faster tomorrow. “I didn’t know Brno at all and everything was new for me.” said Start Easton at the end of qualifying session “Now I could be focused to understand the tyres behavior and I got a better confidence in the front. This is a very demanding track,, but I’m thinking that thanks a better confidence I’ll be able to improve my lap time too. More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: TOSELAND LEADS THE HUNGRY PACK AFTER DAY ONE RAIN MAKES AN UNWELCOME LATE APPEARANCE AT BOILING BRNO Temperatures well into the 30s and high humidity made the first day of qualifying a tough task for all 31 Superbike riders at Brno, but a sudden rain shower a few minutes from the end of the afternoon timed session ensured that James Toseland’s new fastest lap time in an SBK race weekend – a 2’02.349 set early in the afternoon – would stay as the fastest of the day. Times were not quite at the same level as those set in an earlier Pirelli test at Brno, in June, but track conditions were cited by many riders as not being equal to those experienced last month. For some riders, notably championship leader Troy Bayliss, who could only finish 11th fastest, the rain helped deprive them of an opportunity to set some fast final laps, leaving many to look to the second and final regulation qualifying on Saturday morning to ensure qualification for Superpole, or a better grid position. NIETO SECOND DESPITE EARLY PROBLEMS Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) went second on the timesheets, some 0.374 seconds from Toseland, despite his machine breaking down in the morning’s unofficial session. Nieto made the most of the cooler track conditions at the start of the afternoon, and cited recent tests on part worn race tyres as a great help in his push at a track he knows well. With his team-mate Bayliss stuck outside the top ten, Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox), enjoying some highly vocal support in pit lane from his fan club, went third fastest and the top Ducati rider of all. The provisional front row was completed by 2005 Brno race winner, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia), ensuring that four different manufacturers would be represented on the ‘overnight’ front row. MUGGERIDGE FIFTH DESPITE TRACK CONDITION Despite problems with rear traction on his Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR, Karl Muggeridge scored a top five finish opening day time, just ahead of the resurgent Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) the fastest GSX-R rider on display. Reborn riders were in vogue at Brno on day one, as the recently injured Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) forgot the pain from his collarbone and rode to seventh fastest. Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) went eighth; complaining of a reduction in grip from the track compared to the recent Brno tyre tests. LACONI NINTH AFTER A MONTH OFF Despite not taking part in the recent SBK tests at Lausitzring, Regis Laconi felt at home on his ZX-10R enough to score a top ten finish at the first attempt, and missed out on setting an even faster time right at the end. A fantastic ride from Steve Martin at this fast track delivered his Petronas team an early top ten, with his rookie SBK team-mate Craig Jones 22nd. The provisional third row was completed by two true SBK megastars, Troy Bayliss and Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Winner of the most recent SBK race on the calendar, Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) went 13th, with another big name rider, Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) 14th, after suffering electronics problems with his number one bike. The last two riders currently qualified for Superpole are Berik Sterilgarda Ducati rider Ruben Xaus, and the ever popular Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Treme Honda). Twenty riders were within two seconds of provisional pole, despite Toseland’s 0.374-second advantage over Nieto at the top of the rankings. SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) headed the afternoon’s first qualifying session in World Supersport, but could not quite match the unofficial lap time set by his team-mate Broc Parkes in the morning session, a new best Supersport lap of the circuit on a race weekend, at 2’06.103. Parkes was second quickest in the hotter conditions of the afternoon session, and thus currently sits second in official qualification. The Megabike Honda machine of Simone Sanna (standing-in for the injured Katsuaki Fujiwara once more) was third fastest, ahead of Winston ten Kate Honda rider Kenan Sofuoglu. Championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) went fifth fastest after a single day of track action, in his return after injury. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP A wet Superstock 1000 qualifying session saw British rider Richard Cooper (MS Racing Honda) lead the pack, with a 2’17.494 lap. Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni racing MV Agusta) was second, with local rider Matej Smrz, Cooper’s team-mate, third. Championship leader Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki Italia) went fourth overall, with Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) way down in 21st place. At the present time, only 24 riders have qualified, from a possible 36. SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Local knowledge of a semi-wet track helped Czech rider Ondrej Jezek (Gold Fren Team Erinec Kawasaki) set the fastest 600 time, ahead of championship leader, Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Renato Constantini (Junior Team Italia Honda) was the third fastest rider, with championship contender Davide Guigliano (Lightspeed Kawasaki Racing) in the top four. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: LANZI GOES PROVISIONAL THIRD FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM IN FIRST BRNO QUALIFYING – BAYLISS ELEVENTH Brno (Czech Republic), Friday 21 July: Lorenzo Lanzi produced a positive performance for the Ducati Xerox Team at Brno, setting the third quickest time in Friday’s opening qualifying session, while points leader Troy Bayliss could only manage an uncharacteristic eleventh place. “It was a strange day. I hopped onto the bike this morning and I was just like on another planet. I wasn’t there with it and who knows why!” commented Bayliss. “This afternoon I was feeling OK and we got going but the track was a bit warmer than last time I was here and I tried the hardest front tyre that we used last time and I nearly crashed twice. I fell off the side of the bike and was lucky to hang onto it, so that took a little of the feel away from it. We finally got going, had a problem with some adjustments and had to change tyres to the other bike at the last minute. I got one lap in which wasn’t bad and the second one was going to be quite a bit better and then it started pouring so that was a bit of a let-down really. Despite that, all is OK and I’m looking forward to tomorrow!” Satisfaction for Lorenzo Lanzi, who was always up amongst the front-runners during the first session. “I am very happy with today, things went really well” declared Lanzi. “We were all there with close times, but my pace on race tyres is already a pretty good one. I’ve also managed to find a satisfactory setting, and I’m already well up the grid so if it rains tomorrow I’m in a good position. Maybe my outright times are not as quick as in the test here once month ago, but my times on race tyres are and I’m happy with that. The guys did a great job today and the Lausitz tests were very useful because they allowed us to try some new things. Finally I’m getting back the feeling that has been missing in the last few races and that’s important.” TIMES: 1. Toseland (Honda) 2m02.349; 2. Nieto (Kawasaki) 2m02.723s; 3. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 2m02.847s; 4. Haga (Yamaha) 2m02.904s; 5. Muggeridge (Honda) 2m03.058s; 6. Kagayama (Suzuki) 2m03.107s; … 11. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 2m03.416s; 12. Corser (Suzuki) 2m03.475s. More, from a press release issued by Beowulf Racing: Beowulf Racing’s Nick Henderson (Suzuki) has made his best start to race qualifying this year at Brno today. The Australian, who rides for the British Shepton Mallet-based team, finished today’s opening timed session for the fifth round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup in 17th place, despite being painfully bitten by a gnat and having to deal with changeable weather conditions. Henderson logged a time of 2:23.971 around the tree-lined 3.4-mile track, but it was Britain’s Richard Cooper (Honda) who led the field with a lap at 2:17.494. During the half-hour morning warm-up session Nick not only had to contend with the sweltering heatwave currently engulfing the whole of Europe, but also a huge gnat which flew into the top of his leathers and managed to squirm its way right down the Australian’s back to bite him just above the hip! Judging from the size of the impression it made, the insect was quite a brute. Despite this Nick rode faster on every passing lap to finish the session in 30th place from a field of 37 riders. Probably the whole of the Czech Republic has been looking forward to the thunderstorms forecasted to arrive tomorrow morning to give relief from the blistering heat they’ve endured. Sadly for the Superstock riders, the storms arrived a day early and just before their afternoon qualifying session. Although the downpour had abated as the bikes took to the track, the circuit was still in a saturated state but it was clear it would dry out after a few laps. Thinking it would clear even quicker than that, Nick began the session on dry tyres but after one lap it was clear that wets were still the order of the day. One rapid tyre change later and Nick was out again, now putting in steadily faster laps and running in the top ten on the scoreboard. Towards the end of the 45-minute session the switch back to dry tyres was made leaving Henderson only time for one flying lap to finish the day in 17th place and only four-tenths of a second away from the elusive points-scoring position of 15th. Through the speed traps the Beowulf Suzuki continues to be a front-runner: today the machine was logged in third place with a top speed of 161.2mph. “I’m very, very happy tonight,” said Henderson afterwards. “The final third of the track was still damp on my final flying lap and I reckon if I could have done one more circuit I’d have finished the day in the top 15. I’d also like to compliment the team on their pit work those two tyre changes were slick and professional. I’m certainly looking forward to more of the same tomorrow.” Team Manager Andy Stone was also in buoyant mood: “It’s great to finally see Beowulf back in the top half of the timesheets. We’re in a strong position for more progress tomorrow.” Since joining the European series, the former Australian Superbike Privateer Championship Runner-Up has been desperate to make an impression on the world stage. Today at Brno the signs are that the tide could just be starting to turn Henderson’s way, and the team are certainly looking forwards to tomorrow’s second timed qualifying session. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Yukio Kagayama and Troy Corser took sixth and 12th fastest respectively at today’s opening qualifying for the Brno World Superbike seventh round in the Czech Republic. With a limited number of good rubber available, both riders did not want to use up their quota and suffer any problems for the rest of the weekend so they plugged away on hard rubber and didn’t push hard for fast lap times. Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Fabien Foret got caught out by a sudden downpour at the end of timed qualifying and was not able to go out for a quick lap, ending the session in 18th. James Toseland (Honda) posted the fastest lap with a time of 2:02.349. Yukio Kagayama – 6th, 2:02.904: “I had a good feeling in the morning but the heat in the afternoon meant that the performance level of the tyre was lower and I could not go so fast. Recently we’ve found a new chassis set-up and I am much more comfortable on the bike. This setting is very good for race tyres but it doesn’t always work so well with qualifying rubber. Also, my physical condition is much better and that means my results are improving. Up until Misano, my wrist was maybe up to about 60% only but now it is up to about 90%. My back is now also ok and finally I can start pushing hard without worrying about pain after five or six laps in a race.” Troy Corser – 12th, 2″03.475: “The feeling in the morning was better then the afternoon but that was because the track temperature was much higher in the second session. When that happens, the grip level goes down. Because I missed the Brno test earlier on, I spent most of today getting used to the track and working on a good race set-up. I wasn’t chasing fast lap times and being 18th at this stage doesn’t concern me at all. We have a limited number of soft tyres, so we decided to conserve them for tomorrow and Sunday. “In the afternoon, I was on my fastest lap of the day when I crashed three turns from home. I lost the front and went down, but it was a slow-speed tip-off and I was able onto get back on the bike and ride it back to the garage. Then, a few moments later, down came the rain and that was the end of the session. I crashed because we were on a hard front and I didn’t get enough feedback from it. This track is going to be a bit of a problem because we’ll have to make a compromise on our tyre choice for the race, but I guess we’re all in the same boat.” Fabien Foret – 18th, 2:04.136: “My lap times on race tyres were pretty consistent, so I am quite happy about that. I spent most of the time concentrating on my race set and didn’t really get round to a fast lap until it was a bit late and then the rain came! I’ve been trying a different riding style here this weekend and although it’s taking some getting used to, I feel that if I can master it, then my lap times will improve quite a bit. I’m happy with the set-up for the race but, at the moment, I do not know which tyres to use. In the end, it will be a compromise – the same as usual, but more of a compromise here. ” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY 12TH, BUT UNCONCERNED! Troy finished twelfth in first qualifying at Brno today, but is confident that he will be on the front row of the grid after tomorrow’s final qualifying and Superpole. A limited number of soft tyres meant that Troy had to conserve his quota and use probably a harder tyre then he would’ve liked in this afternoon’s timed session. And it was a hard tyre that caused Troy to suffer a low-speed crash five minutes from the end – just as as was about to complete his fastest lap of the day. Fortunately, Troy was able to re-mount and ride back to the pits, but then the rain suddenly came down with a vengeance and Troy didn’t go out again. James Toseland (Honda) was the quickest today, with a time of 2:02.349 – well over a second faster then the lap record. Second is Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki), ahead of Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati), Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha), Karl Muggeridge (Honda) and Troy’s team mate Yukio Kagayama. TROY – 12th, 2:03.475 Because I missed the test here recently, I was effectively three days behind my main rivals today. So, I’ve used most of the day getting used to the track and working on a good bike set-up. In the morning we worked quite a lot of getting a good balance and we carried on that way in the afternoon. But it was much hotter in the afternoon and because the grip level decreases the hotter it becomes it was not possible to go faster. I was on a hard front when I crashed this afternoon – just three turns from what would’ve been my fastest lap. I just didn’t have much feeling from the front tyre, and I suppose it was no big surprise when I lost it and crashed. For a moment I almost recovered it, but it almost flat on the track at that stage! I’m still not completely happy about the clutch, so that’s another area that we’ll work on tomorrow. Despite finishing 12th today, we know which direction to take tomorrow and I’m confident that we’ll be on the front row. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Haga on form as rain thwarts Pitt’s qualifying run Noriyuki Haga returned to the scene of one of his finest moments to end first qualifying in fourth position at Brno today. The Yamaha Motor Italia rider won at the classic Czech circuit last year, despite qualifying way back on the fifth row, and today confirmed his liking of the circuit by putting his YZF-R1 on the provisional front row for Sunday’s race. A combination of high temperatures and residue left from car racing meant that the riders struggled for grip on the dirty surface and struggled to match their times from last month’s three-day test at the same venue. Haga’s best lap of the day was 2:02.904, over a second slower than his best time on race tyres at last month’s test, but just half-a-second behind provisional pole man James Toseland (Honda). A heavy shower with just minutes of the session remaining meant that team-mate Andrew Pitt was unable to make what he expected to be his fastest lap of the day. The Australian, winner last time out in Misano, ended the day in 13th position. Despite his lower than expected position, the former supersport world champion was happy with his day’s work, having made small but important improvements to his YZF-R1’s settings and completing a race simulation. Yamaha Motor France’s trio of riders spent most of the session having their own personal battle just outside the top 16. Norick Abe, Sebastien Gimbert and rookie Shinichi Nakatomi. Just three tenths of a second separated the riders as Frenchman Gimbert ended the day 19th, ahead of Japanese colleagues Abe and Nakatomi, who were 20th and 21st position respectively. Final qualifying for Sunday’s two-race seventh round takes place tomorrow. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “Fourth is ok but really I am not so happy. The grip levels are much lower than when we tested here. I think that there have been cars racing on the circuit and they have left some rubber on the track. We only have three different tyres to choose from and I tried the soft and medium ones. The soft was sliding around like a qualifier after a few laps and the feeling was also not so good with the medium. I am surprised because I usually have a good feeling with the bike and the tyres. We can try some things for tomorrow but I think that the heavy rain will change the surface anyway. Maybe that will be better or maybe it will be worse. We have to wait and find out.” Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “What can I say, I’d just gone out on a new tyre when it started to pour down! Up until that point it’d gone fine. There’s not a lot of grip out there but I was quite happy with the bike and had been able to get in a race simulation. We improved things quite a bit between the morning and afternoon and we’re definitely going in the right direction.” Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) “Unfortunately I missed the team’s test here through injury but it should not be a big problem as Brno is one of my favourite tracks Today the problem for me is again rear traction. The surface is very slippery but the team will try a few thing for tomorrow to try and improve the bike and give me a chance to run at the front on Sunday.” Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) “Brno is a long and challenging circuit but it is not a new track to me as we tested here recently. I was able to go quickly straight away but at the end it started to rain when I went out with a new tyre on and I couldn’t go for a final fast lap. I am sure that we can make a big improvement tomorrow because the bike and the track will probably be in better condition.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) “After good tests here and at Lausitz I think we expected a little bit more from today. We’re having some problems with the grip levels but this seems to be as a result of the track surface. Looking at the lap times it seems that everyone is only able to do two or three fast laps before the performance level drops off. We’ll work further on the settings for tomorrow but we’ll have to see if the track surface improves overnight.”