2006 Isle of Man TT meeting gets underway tomorrow The curtain goes up tomorrow (Saturday) on the 2006 Isle of Man TT meeting. The first practice session is scheduled to begin at 6.15pm with the racing getting underway a week later. Much interest in the solo classes will centre on whether Morecambe’s John McGuinness can add to his total of eight TT wins or raise the outright lap record of 127.68 miles an hour which he set in 2004. The Isle of Man’s own Dave Molyneux the most successful sidecar driver ever on the mountain circuit with 11 TT victories – is the man to beat in this class. Last year saw one of the most competitive meetings for many years with six different winners from the seven races and Isle of Man Tourism and Leisure Minister David Cretney MHK, Chairman of the TT Co-ordinating Committee, envisages another week of intense racing. He said: ‘I believe the overall entry list is the strongest ever assembled in the 99 years history of the event. ‘We have eleven previous winners, two former World Champions as well as top riders from British Superbike, AMA Superbike and Irish Road Racing.’ Mr.Cretney said safety standards had been improved even further with significant investment in many areas. The overall budget for marshalling the course had trebled, enabling a number of training initiatives to take place. Around 1,400 marshals will be on duty around the TT Course. The amount of air fencing, Recticel safety barriers and pole protectors have been increased considerably, including an extra 68 pole protectors loaned by the organisers of the North West 200. In addition, two rescue helicopters will operate during both practice and race weeks whereas, previously, there was only one in place for the practice period and two for race week. Said Mr.Cretney: ‘The safety factor will always be of paramount importance and there is an ongoing programme of course protection with the riders in mind. This year has seen a number of major improvements being put in place.’ The 226 miles Superbike event on Saturday June 3rd heralds the start of the race programme to be followed on Monday June 5th by the Superstock and Sidecar ‘A’ TTs. The schedule for Wednesday begins with the Junior Supersport TT and continues with the Sidecar ‘B’ race. Friday sees the final events of the week the six lap Senior TT and the Lap of Honour and Classic Parade.

FIM Superbike World Championship Silverstone, England May 26 Practice Results: 1. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:36.563 2. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:37.797 3. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1) 1:38.120 4. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06) 1:38.350 5. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:38.555 6. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:38.555 7. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Duc 999RS) 1:39.111 8. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:39.152 9. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:39.289 10. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:39.557 11. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1) 1:39.576 12. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1) 1:39.694 13. Tommy HILL (Yam YZF-R1) 1:39.694 14. Josh BROOKES (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:40.534 15. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:40.580 16. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1) 1:40.614 17. Gianluca NANNELLI (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:40.640 18. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06) 1:40.731 19. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05) 1:40.745 20. Steve MARTIN (Foggy Petronas FP1) 1:40.795 21. Ivan CLEMENTI (Duc 999RS) 1:40.800 22. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05) 1:40.800 23. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:40.827 24. Marco BORCIANI (Duc 999F05) 1:41.761 25. Craig JONES (Foggy Petronas FP1) 1:42.402 26. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:42.482 27. Fabien FORET (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:46.566 28. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1) 1:47.309

FIM Supersport World Championship Silverstone, England May 26 Practice Results: 1. Pere RIBA (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:40.768 2. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Hon CBR600RR) 1:43.125 3. Barry VENEMAN (Suz GSX-R600) 1:43.421 4. Maxime BERGER (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:43.615 5. Kai Borre ANDERSEN (Suz GSX-R600) 1:43.696 6. Javier FORES (Yam YZF-R6) 1:43.703 7. Mauro SANCHINI (Yam YZF-R6) 1:43.734 8. David CHECA (Yam YZF-R6) 1:44.137 9. Gregory LEBLANC (Hon CBR600RR) 1:44.220 10. Chris PERIS (Yam YZF-R6) 1:44.411 11. Broc PARKES (Yam YZF-R6) 1:44.439 12. Kevin CURTAIN (Yam YZF-R6) 1:44.448 13. William DE ANGELIS (Hon CBR600RR) 1:44.469 14. Robbin HARMS (Hon CBR600RR) 1:44.572 15. Sebastien CHARPENTIER (Hon CBR600RR) 1:44.667

Miller Motorsports Park – Test BOSTROM FASTEST AT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK TEST Tooele (Utah): Parts Unlimited Ducati’s Ben Bostrom and Neil Hodgson tested at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah on Wednesday and Thursday. Bostrom and the Ducati 999 were unofficially fastest at the test, the first time at the track for many of the AMA Superbike competitors including the Parts Unlimited Ducati Team. “We got lots of track time at the test and I was able to learn a lot more about the bike,” said Bostrom, whose best time was a 1:50.4. “I feel we have a good handle on things now and we’re ready to improve our results at the next few races. At this test, I think the bike is coming together for us and we had the time to try some things out, unlike the past few weekends where we struggled a bit with finding our ideal setup. I’m happy with how things went here.” Although the track’s timing system missed some of the day’s faster laps, a consensus of hand timing and on-board lap timers had Bostrom as the quickest at the test and Neil Hodgson fourth fastest. “I’m pleased with the test,” said Hodgson, the 2003 World Superbike champion. “According to our timing, my best lap was a 1:50.9, which puts us up with the quicker riders. We have a good setup for the track when we come back to race. I like the track and my hat is off to them for building it. It’s really well done. The corners are very flowing and in some ways it is not like any other track in the States.” “The team thinks the test went really well,” said team manager Tom Bodenbach. “Both Ben and Neil seemed to get a lot out of the Utah test. They both seemed to get their Ducati 999 Superbikes dialed in for this track. We hope that some of what we learned translates to the next race at Road America, too. It was good for us to get two days of nice weather and we feel it was very productive.” The Parts Unlimited Ducati Team will race a Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin June 2-4, and the Miller Motorsports Park round will be held June 16-18.

SILVERSTONE SHORT CIRCUIT AWAITS CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER BAYLISS AND LANZI (DUCATI XEROX TEAM) Silverstone (UK), Thursday 25 May: Following the high-speed blast around Monza, the World Superbike Championship passes from the quickest to the slowest track on the championship calendar as the Ducati Xerox Team pairing of Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi line up for the fifth round at Silverstone. Last year the Grand Prix circuit used for three editions of World Superbike up until 2004 was replaced by the 3.561 km short track, and the two races saw a double triumph for the Ducati Xerox Team with Regis Laconi and James Toseland taking a win apiece. The hard-charging Aussie Troy Bayliss last raced at Silverstone in 2002, when he shared the wins on a rain-affected Sunday with his Honda rival Colin Edwards. This time round Troy is on a winning streak of five consecutive races and he aims to further increase his points lead this weekend. “For me Silverstone is similar to Monza because I always seem to get good results there,” declared Troy. “In BSB I was always up at the front or winning, and I remember that day back in 2002 when I won one race and had two crashes. Anything can happen at Silverstone! It’s a different circuit now but it’s still got a few corners I remember. I know we can go well here because we had a couple of wins last year! Monza was probably the most satisfying race of the year for me. We had a few stability problems during the weekend but the guys in the team sorted it out for the race. I think I’m in pretty good shape now, I’m riding well and am confident for this weekend whether it’s rainy or sunny.” Lorenzo Lanzi struggled in front of his numerous home fans at Monza, but feels confident he can score a couple of good results at Silverstone. “I know that things didn’t go too well at Monza, but I am approaching Silverstone in the right spirit, like I do about all the other races, confident and calm about it,” commented Lorenzo. “Silverstone is a track that I like a lot, even though the faster circuit we used a couple of years ago was much better. The first part of the track is not bad, but I don’t really like the final part which is very slow. I have some good memories of Silverstone because I won a round of the European Superstock championship here in 2003.” DUCATI XEROX RIDERS IN STORE AT HARRODS. Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi made a special guest appearance in the famous Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, Central London this morning. In an event organised in collaboration with Ducati Corse’s luggage partner Tumi, the two riders were present in the store for a couple of hours before heading off to Silverstone. Troy and Lorenzo were greeted by representatives from Harrods, Tumi and Xerox prior to the store opening and posed for photographs in front of the Harrods shop window where the luggage collection is on display. They were escorted by the store’s security guards through Harrods to the Tumi concession in the luggage department to sign autographs and stop for more photographs with fans, customers and employees. Finally the riders extracted lucky names in a prize draw to win a pillion ride on the Ducati Xerox 2-Seater Experience at the Silverstone weekend as well as some items from the Tumi+Ducati luggage collection. THE CIRCUIT. Name: Silverstone Circuit Length: 3.561 km Pole Position: right Corners Left/Right: 5/7 Longest straight: 491 m CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after 4 of 13 rounds). Riders – 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 175; 2. Corser (Suzuki) 139; 3. Toseland (Honda) 97; 4. Barros (Honda) 95; 5. Haga (Yamaha) 93; 6. Pitt (Yamaha) 79; 7. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 59; 8. Rolfo (Ducati) 46. Manufacturers – 1. Ducati 176; 2. Suzuki 149; 3. Honda 124; 4. Yamaha 113; 5. Kawasaki 57; 6. Petronas 4. STATISTICS. Best lap: Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m26.679s (2005). Lap record: Laconi (Ducati) 1m27.130s (2005). Superpole: Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m26.679s (2005). Race distance: 2 x 28 laps/99.708 km. 2005 RESULTS. Race 1: 1. Laconi (Ducati Xerox); 2. Corser (Suzuki); 3. Toseland (Ducati Xerox). Race 2: 1. Toseland; 2. Corser; 3. Haga (Yamaha). TV COVERAGE. Eurosport 2 (Europe): Saturday 27 May, 1900 Superpole (highlights); Sunday 28 May, 1300 Race 1 (live), 1630 Race 2 (live). British Eurosport (UK): 1730 Superpole (as live); Sunday 28 May, 2015 Race 1 + Race 2 (delayed). ITV (UK): Sunday 28 May, TBA Race 1 (highlights), 1515 Race 2 (live). La7 (Italy): Sunday 28 May, 1810 Races 1 & 2 (as live).

The FIM Corona Extra Superbike World Championship heads to Silverstone this weekend (26-28 May) for the fifth round of the action-packed two-wheeled race series. As a preview to one of the biggest bike events on the UK sporting calendar, a number of riders, including England’s James Toseland and Chris Walker, turned out in their national football strips to represent their home country in the Silverstone World Cup. With the football World Cup fast approaching the riders were only too keen to pull on the shirt of their national team and walk out on the “hallowed turf” at Silverstone. Eight riders took part in a ‘Beat the Keeper’ style knockout tournament, which challenged the riders to dribble a ball around a set of cones before taking on goalkeeper Sarah Marshall a Silverstone employee who plays football for Coventry City’s Ladies team. Riders flying the flag for their country included James Toseland and Chris Walker – both representing England, France’s Regis Laconi, Noriyuki Haga of Japan, Australian Steve Martin, Germany’s Max Neukirchner and, adding a bit of Brazilian flare to proceedings, Alex Barros. All the riders were given three attempts to score past goalkeeper Marshall, and the two riders completing all three shots in the fastest time went through to the ultimate test of nerve in any World Cup showdown penalties! England and Australia went through to a dramatic Silverstone World Cup Final, represented by Toseland and Martin, who both demonstrated they are just as comfortable with a football as they are powering a World Superbike around Silverstone’s famous circuit. Toseland eventually fired England to World Cup victory after slotting two of his three penalties past Silverstone’s No. 1 goalkeeper, Marshall. All the riders entered into the spirit of a thoroughly entertaining tournament, and jubilant celebrations followed the match winning strike by Toseland. Inspired by the England World Cup winning team of 1966, all the riders invaded the pitch and proceeded to carry the Silverstone World Cup winner, and 2004 World Superbike Champion around on their shoulders celebrations that were reminiscent of the legendary Bobby Moore being lifted above the heads of his England team mates at Wembley. Speaking after his Silverstone World Cup victory Toseland commented, “Let’s just hope this isn’t the only trophy I’ll be lifting at Silverstone this weekend. I just hope I can carry this winning streak into the two Superbike races on Sunday.”