GIBERNAU SET TO REJOIN CAPIROSSI FOR GERMAN GP The Ducati Marlboro Team is set to return to its original 2006 line-up at the German Grand Prix, with Sete Gibernau rejoining Loris Capirossi following a four-week layoff. The Spaniard and the Italian were both injured in the same turn-one accident at the Catalan GP on June 18, Gibernau suffering a broken left collarbone, Capirossi sustaining chest injuries. Unluckily, the Catalunya event was the first of three races on consecutive weekends, and although Capirossi was able to race at the subsequent Dutch and British GPs, albeit in a weakened state, Gibernau’s injury required surgery and several weeks’ recuperation. This morning’s (Monday, 10 July) final medical examination, however, confirmed that Sete has healed well and, consequently, gave the final “green light” to the Spanish rider, who is looking forward to getting back on his Ducati. Both riders hope to be close to 100 per cent fit for the Sachsenring, which immediately precedes the US GP on July 23. LORIS CAPIROSSI, Ducati Marlboro Team rider, 5th overall (107 points) “I hope to be 80 to 90 per cent fit for the race at Sachsenring. I don’t think I will be 100 per cent fit because my doctors told me I would need 30 to 35 days from the accident to fully recover. The problem is that the injury is internal, so it’s impossible to work on it effectively and it doesn’t really respond to pain-killing therapies. I am looking forward to being able to ride properly once again. “The first part of the Sachsenring is just too tight and too slow for a MotoGP bike, I think that part is better suited to go-karts! But the second part, from turn six or seven, all the way to the finish can be quite interesting. Turn 12 is really tough, a very exciting corner, because you come out of turn 11 in third, shift to fourth, then fifth and throw the bike into Turn 12 at over 200 kays. This corner is blind, then it’s steep downhill and you get sixth gear on the run to turn 13.” SETE GIBERNAU, Ducati Marlboro Team rider, 13th overall (44 points) “I am really looking forward to returning to action! The shoulder is recovering well and I have been working to get fit as fast as possible. It is a pity that I’ve lost three races but now I just want to ride my Desmosedici again. I haven’t watched the races on TV because I know that watching them would only make me feel really mad about not being there but I have been in constant contact with my team. I want to thank the team, the Dexeus hospital, especially Drs Mir and Ginebreda, and everyone else who has supported me because I have been looked after so well. “Sachsenring won’t be the most comfortable circuit to ride with a collarbone injury. It’s physically demanding because it’s tight and slow, that’s why the 250s can do similar lap times to MotoGP bikes. Anyway, I like the circuit and it holds good memories because I won there in 2003 and got second last year after a great race. I hope that all will go okay this time and that my shoulder won’t be too much of a problem.” LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project manager “We are really looking forward to having Sete and Loris together again. We hope Loris will be close to 100 per cent fit for this race and we also hope that Sete will be strong enough for a good comeback. We were so unlucky to have both riders suffer injuries at one of the busiest points of the season. We must keep looking forward and keep working for the best-possible results.” THE TRACK The Sachsenring first appeared on the World Championship calendar way back in 1961. The high-speed street circuit quickly became one of racing’s most popular venues, regularly attracting a quarter of a million sports-starved East German fans. The lethal street circuit hosted its last GP in 1972, an all-new short circuit returning the venue to the world calendar in 1998. At that time the new circuit was the slowest in GP racing, with a lap speed of just 143kmh/89mph. Revisions for 2000 upped the pace to 150kmh/93mph and the addition of an extra loop in 2001 increased lap speeds to the current 157kmh/98mph record. Nevertheless the character of the anti-clockwise circuit is still tight and twisty, putting the emphasis on delicate mid-range engine performance rather than brute top-end horsepower. Lap record: Sete Gibernau (Honda), 1m 23.705s (2005), 157.883km/h/98.104mph Pole position 2005: Nick Hayden (Honda), 1m 22.785s DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM RIDER DATA LOGS LORIS CAPIROSSI Age: 33 (born April 4, 1973) Lives: Monaco Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP6 GP starts: 239 (69xMotoGP, 59×500, 84×250, 27×125) GP victories: 26 (4xMotoGP, 2×500, 12×250, 8×125) First GP victory: Britain, 1990 (125) First GP: Japan, 1990 (125) Pole positions: 40 (7xMotoGP, 5×500, 23×250, 5×125) First pole: Australia, 1991 (125) World Championships: 3 (125: 1990, 1991, 250: 1998) Sachsenring 2005 results: Grid: 8th. Race: 9th SETE GIBERNAU Age: 33 (born December 15, 1972) Lives: Switzerland Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP6 GP starts: 166 (71xMotoGP, 76×500, 19×250) GP victories: 9 (8xMotoGP, 1×500) First GP victory: Valencia, 2001 (500) First GP: Spain, 1993 (250) Pole positions: 13 (12xMotoGP, 1×500) First pole: South Africa, 2000 (500) Sachsenring 2005 results: Grid: 2nd. Race: 2nd

The SMRI (Sandia Motorcycle Roadracing Inc) located in sunny Albuquerque, New Mexico, is proud to present Formula Fem. Formula Fem is the first all female novice roadracing class offered by the SMRI. The SMRI is a young club in its 6th year of operation, which has a significant female rider count that participates in the clubs Trackdays and Race Series. Formula Fem is proudly sponsored by, The Vested Interest and SPW, Inc (Storrie Parachute Works). The Vested Interest makes custom ruggedized vests for professional photographers. www.vestedinterest.com 1-800-928-0157. SPW sells skydiving equipment. This will be open to all female novice racers. The rules are simple, the bike must meet Novice Open specs, and you must be a licensed FEMALE novice racer. For more information about the club or events please visit www.smri-racing.org

MORE TWISTS EXPECTED AT ROLLER-COASTER SACHSENRING A roller-coaster season continues for the Camel Yamaha Team this weekend at the vertigo-inducing Sachsenring circuit in Germany, host to the tenth round of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship. One of the tightest and most undulating tracks in the world welcomes the most unpredictable season in recent history, with Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both having played their part in a dramatic campaign that has seen five different race winners, nine different riders on the podium and thirteen different front row starters. Rossi added to his season-tally of three victories with a stunning second place in the last round at Donington Park, where he rode through the pain of hand and ankle injuries to put his YZR-M1 machine back on the podium and cut the gap to series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda) to 35 points. That memorable performance at his talisman track was the 121st time that Rossi had stood on a Grand Prix podium – the same number as Phil Read and a figure bettered only by the legendary Giacomo Agostini and Angel Nieto. Rossi has now also scored a total of 2977 points in all classes and victory in Germany would make him the first rider in history to pass the 3000 mark. Sixth place for Colin Edwards at Donington was the 30th successive race at which he has scored points, a record made all the more remarkable by the drama of the previous round at Assen, when he crashed out of the lead in the final corner only to remount and bravely struggle across the line in thirteenth place. The only rider with a longer sequence of successive point scoring finishes is Mick Doohan, who managed it for 37 races, but the more pressing issue for Edwards now is a return to the form that saw him fighting for victory in that breathtaking Dutch TT two weeks ago. VALENTINO ROSSI: BACK TO FITNESS Valentino Rossi arrives in Germany with the benefit of an extra weekend to recover from the hand injuries he sustained in the middle of a Grand Prix triple-header at Assen. After struggling through the discomfort to score valuable points in Holland and Great Britain, he is now hoping to be fit enough to fight for his fourth win of the season and his fourth in all classes at the Sachsenring circuit. “I am very confident that by Sachsenring my hand will be back to 100%, or near enough,” says Rossi, who won the German Grand Prix for Yamaha last year to add to previous MotoGP and 250cc successes in 2002 and 1999. “I have been working hard with my physiotherapist Marco Montanari and Dr Costa and hopefully it will continue to improve at this rate. It’s really nice to have had time for a rest now after three very hard weeks, even if it’s not so long. I spent some time in Italy and then a few days at home in London, relaxing and seeing friends. “The important thing for Sachsenring is that we come out of the box on Friday morning ready to make the most of every available minute of practice time. We can’t afford to lose time in practice with set-up problems like we had in Donington, and I am sure that Yamaha has been working at the maximum over the break so we will be ready to be competitive from Friday morning. Sachsenring is quite a different track, very tight and twisty, but last year our bike worked very well there, we were able to win and hopefully that will be the case again this year.” COLIN EDWARDS: TO JAPAN AND BACK Whilst his team-mate and most of their rivals have had time to rest this week, the relentless pursuit of speed has continued unabated for Colin Edwards, who has been out in Japan completing testing work for Yamaha ahead of the Suzuka 8-Hour race. Edwards was at Suzuka for two days as he prepares to compete in the prestigious event on 30th July alongside Yamaha Superbike rider Noriyuki Haga, but he is already back in Europe and gathering his strength for another important weekend of MotoGP action. “It was hard to go straight out to Japan after such a long run of races but I’m quite excited about doing the 8-Hour again, especially as it’s ten years since Nori and I won it together before,” reflected Edwards, who will ride for the Yamaha Blue Racing Team aboard a specially prepared YZF-R1 SP. “Testing has gone quite well this week, just getting used to being back on a Superbike again and getting reacquainted with the track. We’ve got a competitive package so hopefully we’re going to be in a position to really go for it when we go back for the race after Laguna. “Obviously there’s a lot of work to do before then and the small matter of two GPs in two weekends, including my home race! Sachsenring will be really important because we had a lot of problems with the bike at Donington that we didn’t solve and we can’t afford to lose any more time. The track itself has two different parts one where it’s very difficult to overtake and another which requires a massive physical effort because it works the left-hand side of your body really hard The tyres are under a lot of strain and it’s vital to make the right choice so they don’t overheat on the left-side. Generally I get along pretty well with the layout and there are always a lot of fans so it should be a good weekend”. VALENTINO ROSSI: INFORMATION Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 82 (56 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 166 (106 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 41 World Championships 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) COLIN EDWARDS: INFORMATION Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 58 x MotoGP World Championships – 2 World Superbike DAVIDE BRIVIO: STILL ENOUGH TIME Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is hopeful that a fully fit Valentino Rossi will appear at the Sachsenring on Thursday afternoon in readiness for a renewed assault on the championship standings when the action gets underway on Friday morning. Rossi’s recent progress has been hampered by his injuries but with the benefit of a brief rest behind him Brivio remains confident that the World Champion has enough races to turn the situation around and successfully defend his title for the fifth time. “Now it’s funny because we almost consider a weekend off as a break!” smiles Brivio. “Anyway we are hoping that this week gives Valentino a chance to recover and arrive at the Sachsenring with his injury troubles behind him. We are expecting him to be fit from Friday morning so we are hopeful of a ‘normal’ weekend for both him and Colin. The situation with Valentino has delayed our recovery in the championship over the past couple of rounds but there are eight races left and we still have enough time. “Our aim is to close the gap even further before the summer break so this race and the next one at Laguna Seca are very important. As far as the Sachsenring is concerned we had some problems with our bike there the first season with Valentino but we found a good setting last season and he was able to win the race. Sincerely I think the track suits the characteristics of the 2006 version M1 but we will have to wait and see on Friday morning. I hope so!” TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: SACHSENRING ACCORDING TO MIKE NORTON Located in the heartland of the former East Germany’s once glorious motorcycle racing industry, the Sachsenring is built right next to the old road course, a characteristic the track shares with Brno in the nearby Czech Republic. The current circuit could not be more different, its ultra-modern nature showing in its relatively slow lap times, with slow corners juxtaposed with some dazzlingly fast ones including a super fast downhill right hander which was added in 2003. It is this that provides the circuit’s biggest challenge, for riders and technicians alike. “The Sachsenring is a difficult track it’s quite short and it’s not one of Valentino’s favourites,” explains Mike Norton, Öhlins Suspension Technician for Valentino Rossi. “It’s one of my busiest weekends because the set-up of the bike is all about finding a compromise between braking for that monstrous downhill section and handling through the slow sections. It’s a bit of a trade-off really between getting Valentino good through the slow part and good enough to stop the bike at the bottom of the hill. Valentino often wins races on the brakes so he’s a little bit different to most riders and you always have to have some margin in the front fork. “You also spend a lot of time on the edge of the tyre at Sachsenring, right on the angle, and again that causes us an imbalance in the bike compared to normal. But Valentino’s feedback is very good compared to other riders I’ve worked with. You can give him a change and be miles off centre but he’ll ride around it and you’ll either see a good lap time or a bad one, which then gives us an idea of where to go. From that point of view he’s very good to work with and he always gives you 100%.” CIRCUIT INFORMATION Pole position left Lenght: 3671 m Width: 10 m Right corners: 4 Left corners: 10 Constructed in: 1996 Last modified: 2003 Sachsenring Lap Record: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005, 1’23.705 Sachsenring Best Lap: Max Biaggi (Honda) 2004, 1’22.756 2005 German Grand Prix Results: 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha, 35’04.434 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Honda, +0.685 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, +885 8. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, +14.849

VHS Photography, Inc. is pleased to announce the address of its new website. The new website’s address is ~http://www.vhsphotography.photoreflect.com~. All races from this year have been uploaded to the new site including WERA’s Cycle Jam that was held at Road Atlanta June 29th July 2nd.

American Suzuki spokesman Morgan Broadhead confirmed today that Steve Young, father of Suzuki support rider Blake Young, died Saturday night in a car accident while returning home to Madison, Wisconsin from a motorcycle race. Before he was picked up by the Suzuki Sports support team program, Blake Young was sponsored by his father’s motorcycle shop. Blake Young currently rides for Matsushima Performance Suzuki; last year, he rode for Millenium KWS Suzuki. Blake Young graduated from high school last month, and Steve Young hosted a barbecue in the pits during the Road America AMA National to celebrate. More details will be posted as they become available. Godspeed, Steve Young. FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Our family met Steve and Blake Young last year at Road America at the AMA races. Our teenage daughter, Katie, was delighted to be Blakes’ umbrella girl for both of Blake’s races. From the moment we met at the track we found them to be a very nice and hospitable family, they even invited us to dinner Friday night and lunch the day of the races. Not only Blake and Steve, but even Blake’s crew were great. When it came time for Katie to go out onto the track Steve Young was a wonderful chaperone, a very protective father figure, and escorted her like she was royality even though she was the one in awe of them. When the raceday was over Katie asked not only for Blake’s autograph on the umbrella that they gave her to keep but also for Steve’s autograph as well. She still cherishes the experience and the umbrella to this day. And I know she’ll be very sad to hear of Steve’s death, as much as I and my husband, Joe, were, later this morning when her father tells her about it. Meeting the Young family was as big a highlight for us as the races were. We will always remember Steve. Our sorrow cannot compare to that of the Young family. Our condolences to all of them. May God bless them at this time. Mary Beechler Phoenix, Arizona

The all-new Marietta Motorsports Craig “Huey” Stewart, owner of BBC Racing, in agreement with Paul Wright, is proud to announce the reopening of Atlanta’s original Road Race and Sportbike Specialty store, Marietta Motorsports! The new Marietta Motorsports will continue its strong commitment to provide only the best products and services from companies like Kobe, EMGO, and Pit Bull. Marietta Motorsports will also offer race engine preparation services by KWS Motorsports. While Marietta Motorsports offers performance parts and services at its’ Marietta, Ga storefront, 1888FASTLAP will continue to handle all internet orders. Rikki Stewart, Huey’s wife, will act as Store Manager of Marietta Motorsports’ new retail outlet. Safety First Suzuki AMA Racer Opie Caylor will work in Customer Relations while long time Marietta Motorsports Technician Bill Ristau will head up the Service Department. On top of all the great products that will be carried, Marietta Motorsports’ Service Department will offer a full range of services. From something as simple as a valve adjustment to dyno tuning, to complete race prepping, including safety wiring. Marietta Motorsports Grand Re-opening took place Saturday, July 8th at its all new location at 1011 South Marietta Parkway SE Suite #7, Marietta, GA 30060. For more information call (770) 419-2525.