AMA Superbike Championship leader Ben Spies and his mother Mary Spies have pledged to match donations to the Roadracing World Action Fund up to $10,000 and $5000, respectively, in hopes of increasing rider safety at AMA venues and other road race courses with more soft safety barriers. “I’m sick of people getting hurt,” Ben Spies told Roadracingworld.com Tuesday. “I feel really fortunate to have been able to do what I’ve been doing lately, and I just want to give something back. “The whole thing with Vincent (Haskovec) hitting that wall at Infineon (Raceway) last year really aggravates me. I mean, he’s a guy who was at the top of his game, one of the best in the AMA, and he hit a wall and got paralyzed and may never race again. And if it can happen to him, it can happen to me. “Airfence is good, but I know it’s no real fix. We need to get walls moved. Walls can be moved, but racers can’t be brought back. We just need to keep working together to make things better, and this is one way to help.” (Note: Infineon Raceway recently moved the wall Haskovec hit last year.)

Jackie Martin Pfeifer, 67, of Santa Clarita, California, died May 13 at St. Joseph Hospital in Burbank, California. No cause of death was given. Pfeifer is survived by his wife, Yvonne; two daughters, Laurie and Kristi; and two sons, Frank and Jack. The death of his father combined with a race hauler breakdown resulted in Jack Pfeifer skipping the AMA round at Infineon Raceway and participating in the May 20-21 WSMC round at Willow Springs International Raceway, in Rosamond, California, which is closer to his Las Vegas home.

At the prestigious Laureus Sports Awards which took place in Barcelona last night, reigning MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi was awarded with the coveted ‘Spirit of Sport’ prize, given to the individual that has raised the profile of his or her chosen field. The ceremony was a star-studded affair, with Spain’s King Juan Carlos present, and Hollywood actors Cuba Gooding Jr. and Teri Hatcher presenting. A who’s who of sporting legends were also in attendance, but it was once again Valentino Rossi who stole the show, bringing proceedings to a close by riding onto stage on a Yamaha R1 before collecting his award from MotoGP Legend Giacomo Agostini and Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. Rossi had earlier also been a nomination for World Sportsman of the Year for the third consecutive time, however that accolade fell to Swiss tennis sensation Roger Federer. Nevertheless when he finally made his entrance with trademark flamboyance the five-time MotoGP World Champion received a rapturous applause from the gathered luminaries. Once the ceremony was finished, Rossi remarked, “I am very happy to have received this award tonight, and very proud to be considered such an important ambassador for our sport. It’s also a big honour for me to be nominated once again for the main award alongside other such great sportsmen.” The Laureus Sports Awards are voted for by the Laureus Academy’s 42 members, which includes Agostini and other sporting legends such as Bobby Charlton, Seve Ballesteros, Ed Moses and Boris Becker. Rossi flew to the event especially, after having completed a day’s testing at the Le Mans circuit where he was forced to retire during Sunday’s race. The award was given to him for his part in raising MotoGP’s profile around the world and for his continued high level of performance after five consecutive MotoGP titles.

On the upcoming weekend (May 26th 28th) World’s Superbike Championship enters its next round at Silverstone. With a length of 2.231 m (3.561 km) Silverstone is one of the shortest tracks of the whole Championship. It is a challenge for the riders to get this course under control. The radius of the bends is rather short and the last chicane before the start-finish is like a combination of two real hairpin bends. 45 km/h there is the maximum speed. – So the Silverstone round is guaranteed to provide extra thrills to the spectators. Alex Barros: “The last time I raced at Silverstone was in 1987. I know the old course. The course for Superbikes is a combination of the old and the new. So the whole track is completely new for me and I don’t know what to expect. So Silverstone will be surprise for me.” Team Manager Klaus Klaffenböck: “Silverstone is a new race track for Alex. But this is no problem for him. Also Monza was new for Alex and he achieved two excellent results. I’m sure he may show a similar performance at Silverstone. During the last weeks we had a lot of discussions concerning the traction control. At Silverstone we will not have traction control on Alex bike but we are still looking to get it as soon as possible.”

Mondello Park Cancelled Round 5 Bennetts British Superbike Championship The Hawk Kawasaki Team were disappointed this weekend (19th – 21st May) after round five of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Mondello Park, had to be cancelled due to dreadful weather conditions. Despite good qualifying positions from Craig Coxhell in 11th position on the grid and Dean Thomas in 12th. The correct decision was made by the Race Director, Stuart Higgs and his staff at MCRCB to cancel the meeting as it would have been unsafe for the riders to have ridden in such atrocious conditions. With strong winds all weekend the weather stayed reasonably dry during the practice and qualifying sessions. Coxhell, Thomas and Hickman continuously improved throughout the weekend and they began to find a good race set up for the Kawasaki ZX10. Hickman was unlucky to have missed out on a higher qualifying position after the session was red flagged, whilst the young 19-year-old was on his last qualifying tyre. The heavens opened from early morning on Sunday, and it proceeding to rain all day. Despite the valiant efforts of the organisers to continue to run with the event, large amounts of standing water around the 2.2-mile Irish Circuit proved hazardous for the competitors. BSB Race Director, Stuart Higgs made the following statement: “Due to the constant heavy rain we have been unable to prepare the circuit in a manner suitable for competition. We had warm up sessions for the Superbike, Supersport and Superstock classes and further reviewed the circuit for racing. At 2.00pm in consultation with the Mondello Park circuit and Dorna, a joint decision was made to cancel the event. The Superbike races will not be rescheduled. The 125cc race will be run at a double header at Mallory Park and a decision will be made in the next two to three days regarding the Superstock and Supersport races.” The three Hawk Kawasaki riders of Coxhell, Thomas and Hickman will now prepare for their local round at Mallory Park in a few weeks time, 2nd – 4th June.

YAMAHA PUT DISAPPOINTMENT BEHIND THEM WITH POSITIVE LE MANS TEST Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards were back on board at Le Mans today, with riders and team alike eager to forget the disappointment of yesterday’s race and start looking forward to the next challenge. Rossi and Edwards were confined to the garage this morning by rain, but the afternoon brought better weather and they were able to start testing after lunch and carry on until six o’clock. As well as testing new electrical mapping, trying some new Michelin tyres and generally refining set-up, Edwards had his first chance to try out the new chassis, which Rossi used throughout last weekend. Edwards completed 30 of his 38 laps using the new chassis and, like his team-mate, the Texan was impressed with the improvements it brings to the performance of his YZR-M1 and will now use it on one of his bikes in Mugello. Edwards now heads to the Clermont-Ferrand track to take part in a day of dedicated tyre testing for Michelin tomorrow, whilst Rossi has flown to Spain to attend the Laureus World Sports Awards, where he is nominated for Sportsman of the Year. DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “Unfortunately the weather was bad here this morning, so we couldn’t get started until the afternoon, but we’ve used the time well and managed to get a lot of important work done. We tested some new electronic mapping for both bikes and also some new tyres for Michelin. We’ve generally just worked on fine-tuning the set-up for both riders and we’ve made some good progress, with good lap times. Colin used the new chassis today for the first time and he really liked it and felt a great improvement, as Valentino did last week, so now in Mugello he will have one bike with the new chassis and one with the old chassis. Valentino of course continued to use both his bikes with the new chassis and today has helped us to confirm the impressions that we gained at the weekend; that this new chassis works very well and our bike is now ready to win races. “With regards to the problem of yesterday, now our Japanese engineers are making all the necessary checks to find out what went wrong and understand the situation, and we hope that’s the end of our bad luck! It was good to have the chance to get back to work today after the disappointment of yesterday, it has been a positive day and it’s reminded us all that we’ve got a competitive package now for the next set of races.” Camel Yamaha Team Times: 1. COLIN EDWARDS, 1’36.49 (38 Laps 2. VALENTINO ROSSI, 1’36.84 (26 Laps)

WSMC Round 5 May 21, 2006 At the fifth round of Southern Californias’ WSMC roadrace series at Willow Springs, San Diego resident and current WSMC #1 plateholder Kenny Kopecky had a day of mixed results. Kopecky led all three of his races on the day but the final results were a 3rd (750 Superbike), a 2nd (Formula Twins Heavyweight), and a 1st (BOTT Heavyweight). Kopecky holeshot the first race of the day, 750 Superbike, from the third row and led for a lap until being overtaken by class points leader Karl Lowry, Jr. at the end of the front straight. Shortly thereafter Dale Keifer powered past on the back straight, and the finishing order was set though Keifer challenged and briefly led Lowry before settling for a strong 2nd at the end of the 8 lap sprint race. Running back-to-back races, Kopecky immediatly returned for Formula Twins Heavyweight…where he again led for a lap and was quickly demoted to 2nd position by former class champion Claudio Szyszkowski (Duc 999R) on the first run down the front straight. This race saw several of the top Willow Springs twins class competitors crash out, including 2006 WSMC race winners Ademar Nunes and Norman Roy in separate accidents. Kopecky rode at a reduced pace and encountered a charging from behind Marlon Ibarra (Duc 749R) on the final two laps. Kenny responded with his fastest two laps of this sprint to narrowly take 2nd from Ibarra by 0.412 of a second. Szyszkowski dominated the race, winning by 18.5 seconds. After making some changes to the Moto Forza prepped 999R-05, Kopecky returned for his final race late in the day, where the third holeshot of the day turned into a dominant performance by the #1 overall rider at Willow Springs from 2005. In two successive laps Kopecky broke his own class lap record, running as much as 3 to 5 seconds a lap faster then the riders who challenged and beat him early in the day. The final margin of victory was 21.8 seconds over class point leader Szyszkowski, who in turn beat Ibarra on his middleweight bike by another 4 seconds. At the end of the day Kenny said, “Well, it’s always a learning process and we left our 2005 set-up and tried a couple different settings for those first two combined races. We were able to put in a couple of 1:24’s early in 750 Superbike, but as soon as Karl and Dale dipped into 23’s we knew we weren’t going with them. Being well clear of the rest of the field was comforting as we were concerned about the race immediatly after, and wow big surprise! Being comfortable on the bike is very important to me, and this second race was, in a word, un-comfortable! We ran our slowest race laps ever on the 999R in Formula Twins and after 20 miles of gritting our teeth ended up less then half a second ahead of third. Our hats off to Claudio, he was dialed in on his 999R and rode really well…it only took about half a lap after he passed us to realize this was his race and we just wanted to get through this one so we could re-group and challenge later in the Ducati contingency event. We sure hope the guys who fell will be okay! The last we heard there was nothing too serious and Ademar and Norman should be back out racing soon. We send our best wishes for a quick and speedy recovery to all the riders who fell over this weekend.” Kenny and his family changed some front end settings, as well as mounting a new rear Dunlop slick for the final event of the day. He added “The final race was what we enjoy doing the most, which is riding fast on the Ducati on the racetrack! The setting changes worked, the new Dunlop was great and we carved around the place really well. The wind was up a little, and of course we wish we could have run so strong early in the day. We’ve learned yet again, and we’ll give it another try at the next race. Thanks to Ducati North America for their contingency support again this season…we’re very pleased to have won another race in their program! A big thanks also to TrackDaz, as we’ve reached 100% booking with our coaching program with them and are looking forward to continuing this into the future.” The next WSMC race is June 16-18, 2006 and will feature double points for the competitors. More, from a press release issued by CMRA: Tyler McDonald and Bryan West each scored upset victories over defending series champion Ty Howard at round four of the CMRA Championship Series held at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Hallett, Oklahoma, but in the end it was the veteran Howard who went home with the most wins and the most cash. After finishing 10th in the Formula Xtreme race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, on Saturday, Howard hopped a red eye flight to Oklahoma City and then drove to Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in northeastern Oklahoma to compete in Sunday’s sprint race action. Running on just a couple of hours of sleep, Howard started off the day by topping McDonald in the Racing Performance Services B Superstock Expert race, a race that pays a $150 purse. However, McDonald came back strong in the Komodo Racing C Superstock Expert race, which pays a $250 purse, passing Howard on the second lap before pulling away to a four second margin of victory. The 16-year-old McDonald was pleased with the win, especially since he was making his first start since breaking his wrist just three weeks before at California Speedway. West got into the mix by beating Larry Denning in the RaceworX A Superbike Expert race to pick up a lion’s share of the $150 purse paid in that class. However, West’s biggest coup of the day was when he passed Howard to win the Pace American Trailers Formula 1 race. Besides claiming a big chunk of the $1000 purse paid for the class, West also collected $150 for winning the Island Racing Fast Lap of the Weekend award for posting a 1:17.467 during the race. But Howard was not to be outdone and came back later in the day to beat West in the Sum of all Parts A Superstock Expert, which pays a $150 purse, and then topped McDonald in the Motorcycles Unlimited C Superbike Expert race, which pays a $150 purse. In all, Howard’s finishes were good for over $7000 in CMRA cash and Kawasaki contingency money, while McDonald and West collected slightly less. Among the other money winners was Suzuki SV650-mounted Dane Westby who claimed top prize in the Roadracingworld.com Formula 2 Expert race. This race pays $150 purse to the top five finishers in the class and Westby dominated the event, finishing 15 seconds ahead of Zac Chapman in second. Other money winners included Clayton Schutz, who topped the Action Kawasaki of Mesquite Clubman race which pays a $100 purse, and Dustin Dominguez, who won the South Central Race Center D Superbike Expert race, which pays a $150 purse. In the Northwest Honda 125 GP race, which pays a $150 purse, Alex Welsh waited until the final turn of the eight lap race to pass Derek Wagnon and take the victory, while Eric Falt led the Formula 40 Lightweight Expert class from flag to flag to take the winner’s share of the $150 purse paid by Avteq. In the Novice divisions, Danny Kelsey turned in a five-win performance which included victories in the WINN Racing Formula 1 Novice and the Moto Liberty C Superstock Novice races. In Saturday’s six hour endurance race, Northwest Honda Racing came out on top of a battle with Desert-Rats.net and Junk Yard Dog to win round three of the Shogun Motorsports CMRA Endurance Series, which pays $1125 purse. In the end, Northwest Honda Racing came home two laps ahead of Junk Yard Dog, while Desert-Rats.net dropped to third overall with after suffering radiator problems. 2Wheelz.com finished fourth overall and first in the C Superstock division, while Faltless Racing won the Formula 2 division in seventh overall. Lone Gunmen won the C Superbike class in ninth overall. In Saturday’s mini sprint action, Kent Moffitt won the Formula 4 race, Dustin Dominguez won the Formula 6 class, Derek Wagnon took the win in the Formula 5 division and Jason Keene topped all entries in the Formula 7 class. The Junior Motard race was won by Chris Haesemeyer. The CMRA returns to action on June 10-11 with a full slate of sprint racing, plus a six hour big bike endurance race and a two hour mini endurance race at MotorSport Ranch near Cresson, TX.

MAY FOURTH AGAIN AT INFINEON RACEWAY Team M4 EMGO Suzuki picked up their ninth top-five result of the 2006 AMA season on Sunday at Infineon Raceway. Geoff May continued to display both speed and consistency by claiming his fourth consecutive fourth-place Superstock finish. The Georgian was actually in position to contend for a podium result until the race was red flagged on lap eight of a scheduled 17 and then called complete due to weather and scheduling concerns. “I think I’m going to have to think about switching my number to ‘4’,” May joked after the race. “But we’re happy. We’re still in the points race and everything’s good. The Pirelli tires worked great and my Suzuki GSX-R1000 was flawless.” “Unfortunately we got a red flag when we were really coming on strong,” he explained. “We had the bike set up for the end of the race and we only got half of it in. I turned my fastest lap the lap prior to the red flag. So that was a little disappointing but you can’t really complain about fourth.” May and teammate Michael Barnes also had high hopes for Sunday’s Supersport final based on their exceptional qualifying performances the day before. Barnes actually rocketed off into the lead on the opening lap but the race was stopped shortly after it started and cancelled due to rainfall that hit the Sonoma, CA racetrack. May commented, “There’s not much you can do about the weather, but I’m kind of disappointed that we did all the practices, did all the qualifying, and even started the race and then we got nothing for it. There’s nothing to show for it.” Round 5 of the 2006 championship will take place in two weeks time at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, on June 2-4. Last season May nearly won the Superstock final at the high-speed circuit, claiming a close second at the flag. Currently fourth in the ’06 Superstock points race, May is hoping to get on top of the podium this time around. He said, “I think Road America is one of our strongest tracks. That one barely got away from us last year and I feel like we’re going back there for a little payback this year. If we go win a few races we’re going to be right there fighting for the title at the end of the year.” From a press release issued by Parts Dunlop Motorcycle Tires: Dunlop Motorcycle Tires Race Report: 2006 AMA Superbike Series, Round Four, Infineon Raceway Sonoma, Calif. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies claimed both legs of the Superbike doubleheader at round four of the 2006 AMA Superbike series at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, May 20-21, tying Honda Racing Miguel Duhamel’s record of six consecutive Superbike victories set in 1995. In the support classes, Yamaha’s Eric Bostrom took the Formula Xtreme win, teammate Jamie Hacking won the Superstock race and the Supersport event was cancelled due to rain. It was another superb weekend for Dunlop-sponsored riders, who swept the podiums of all four events and claimed 36 out of a possible 40 top-ten finishing positions for a remarkable winning percentage of 90. Spies’ amazing run on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 now gives him 257 points in the Superbike series, 30 more than teammate and six-time Superbike champ Mat Mladin, who finished both events in second place. Honda Racing’s Duhamel collected third place in both races and also holds third place in series points with 198. Superbike Race One Results, Saturday: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 4. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 6. Ben Bostrom (Ducati) 7. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) 8. Jake Zemke (Honda) 9. Steve Rapp (Suzuki) Superbike Race Two Results, Sunday: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 4. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 6. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) 7. Ben Bostrom (Ducati) 8. Jake Zemke (Honda) 9. Steve Rapp (Suzuki) 10. Jake Holden (Suzuki) In Saturday afternoon’s Formula Xtreme competition, Bostrom passed teammate and series leader Jason Disalvo on the last lap””both on Yamaha YZF-R6s””to collect his second consecutive win. Matsushima Performance’s Danny Eslick was third. Disalvo now has 133 points, followed by Erion Racing Honda’s Josh Hayes with 120; Bostrom is third with 110 points. Formula Xtreme Results: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 2. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha) 3. Danny Eslick (Suzuki) 4. Josh Hayes (Honda) 6. Aaron Gobert (Honda) 7. Blake Young (Suzuki) 8. Ryan Andrews (Honda 9. Tony Meiring (Suzuki) 10. Ty Howard (Honda) Sunday afternoon’s Superstock race was shortened by a red flag, but Jamie Hacking led all nine laps of the 17-lap event on his Graves Motorsports Yamaha-prepared YZF-R1LE to take his second victory of the season. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates was second, followed by Hacking’s teammate Eric Bostrom. Hacking leads the series with 138 points, followed by Yates with 126 and Disalvo with 114. Superstock Results: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Jamie Hacking (Yamaha) 2. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 3. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 5. Jacob Holden (Suzuki) 6. Martin Craggill (Suzuki) 7. Steve Rapp (Suzuki) 8. Josh Hayes (Honda) 10. Aaron Gobert (Honda) Next stop for Dunlop and the 2006 AMA Superbike road racing tour is Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 2-4. Round five features a doubleheader for the Superbike series. About Dunlop Tires Dunlop Tires is the largest supplier of original equipment and replacement motorcycle tires in the U.S. and the only manufacturer of motorcycle tires in North America. With North American operations headquartered in Buffalo, NY, Dunlop has been making and selling high-quality tires in the U.S. since 1923. For more information, please visit www.dunlopmotorcycle.com. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: KAWASAKI RACING TEAM SHOWS DETERMINATION AT INFINEON SONOMA, Calif. Kawasaki Racing Team rider, Tommy Hayden, maintained a diligent battle throughout the weekend as AMA Superbike racing returned to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., for the Kawasaki Superbike Showdown. When racing got underway on Saturday, Hayden started the first 28-lap Superbike race in seventh and held a consistent pace with the rest of the field throughout the duration of the feature. Hayden also contended in the second Superbike race on Sunday. He earned his best start of the season by crossing the stripe in third and held his ground until lap nine before slipping into fourth. Over the course of the remaining laps Hayden was forced to deal with lapped traffic and slipped another two positions to eventually finish in sixth place aboard his ZX™-10R. Tommy’s younger brother, Roger Hayden, did not contend in Superbike this weekend due to a broken right tibia and fibula which he sustained during a crash in April. He did, however, decide to race in Supersport on Sunday and piloted his Kawasaki ZX™-6RR with grit and determination for two laps until it began to rain, thus forcing the race to be cancelled. As a result the purse will be paid out according to the qualifying order. At the time the race was called, the on track order for Kawasaki was Roger Hayden running in fifth with Attack Kawasaki riders Damon Buckmaster in seventh and Ben Attard in eighth respectively. Prior to the rain halting the Supersport event, Attard and Buckmaster both put in strong rides aboard their Kawasaki ZX-10R’s in the Superstock race. Buckmaster finished in 13th and Attard finished in 16th after the race was halted due to an oil-down on the track. The AMA elected to halt the race after eight laps to allow time for the Supersport race to begin before the weather conditions diminished, which came much sooner than expected. Racing resumes when the teams head to Road America Raceway in Elkhart Lake, Wis., June 24, for a Superbike doubleheader. More, from a press release issued by Buell Motorcycle Company: RAIN DAMPENS BUELL XBRR EFFORT AT INFINEON FORMULA XTREME McWilliams Runs in Top 10; Shawn Reilly Scores First AMA Points for XBRR SONOMA, Calif. Jeremy McWilliams, riding a Buell XBRR for the combined Warr’s of London Harley-Davidson/Buell (Great Britain) and Hal’s Harley-Davidson/Buell (New Berlin, Wis.) teams, qualified 11th for the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme event at the 2006 AMA Superbike Championship at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. McWilliams moved up and was closing on 7th position before retiring with an ignition problem on lap 10 of the 17-lap Formula Xtreme national. A second Buell XBRR, in the hands of Harley-Davidson/Buell of Vallejo rider Shawn Reilly, finished 22nd after qualifying 27th. Reilly is a regular competitor on the AFM circuit. The race was won by Yamaha USA factory rider Eric Bostrom on a YZF-6R. Rain showers on Friday dramatically shortened practice for Formula Xtreme riders, a set-back for McWilliams, as he was riding at Infineon for the first time. McWilliams also faced an abbreviated practice and qualifying session held on Saturday just hours before the start of the race. “The weather didn’t help us, as neither dealer team had much time for practice or set-up,” said Buell Chairman and Chief Technical Officer Erik Buell. “But Jeremy got a solid start in the race and was moving up until an ignition problem ended the day, which was disappointing. However, we’ll fix that and we do seem to have solved the primary drive problems from Daytona. We’re looking forward to seeing more XBRRs compete at the next AMA event at Road America.” The Buell XBRR is a limited-edition production racing motorcycle based on the Firebolt XB12R and designed exclusively for closed-course competition. It offers private racers a professional-level, race-ready, production-based platform. Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc., produces sport motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel. To learn more about Buell motorcycles, visit your local Buell dealer today and experience the pure streetfighter attitude, style and performance only found on board a Buell. Pull into www.buell.com for the Buell dealer nearest you. More, from a press release issued by Jason DiSalvo’s publicist: DISALVO ESTABLISHES NEW RECORD IN CONSECUTIVE POLE POSITIONS At Infineon Raceway in Sonoma CA, Jason DiSalvo of Stafford, NY and Las Vegas, NV extended his streak of consecutive pole positions to 12 (a new AMA track record) in the 1000cc Superstock class while breaking his old track record. He also set a new track record while taking the pole position in the 600cc Formula Extreme class. The weekend was on again off again with weather playing a major role for practices, qualifying and racing. Friday started off with one practice being completely cut, condensing the Saturday practices and qualifying. In qualifying for the 600cc Formula Extreme class Jason was fastest setting a new track record of 1:38.05 seconds. The race began with Jason and one of his teammates breaking away from the field with Jason running second until lap 11 when he took the lead for the next 6 laps. Going into the last section Jason got passed, then made a gallant move to reclaim the lead with almost disastrous results as the machine put him into a violent tank slapper causing him to slow, relegating him to a second place finish. He commented after the race “That bike is going to have to do better than that if it wants to throw me off”. The Superstock race was run on Sunday morning with threatening skies. With a less than stellar start, Jason found himself fourth eventually moving to third on lap 6 when disaster struck with a low side crash. Jason’s quick recovery allowed him to run to the machine, pick it up, tear off a damaged wind screen, remount the bike, and continue the race in 19th place. The next lap a red flag was thrown to stop the race due to a blown motor of another rider, this opportunity gave Jason and his crew a chance to change tires, make repairs to the damaged bike and prepare for a restart from Row 5. Jason commented “This was a break so on the restart I could again be up with the leaders.” Unfortunately the AMA considered the race complete although according to the regulations the race had not been 50% complete. That resulted in Jason having to settle for 19th place leaving him third in the point standings for the Superstock Championship. Jason continues to lead the 600cc Formula Extreme Championship extending his lead to 13 points over second place. The races will be televised Tuesday at 5PM on Speed Channel. The team is leaving today for Salt Lake City, Utah where they will be testing for 2 days at the new Miller Motorsport Park racetrack prior to returning to Las Vegas. The next race is scheduled for Road America, June 2, 3 and 4, 2006.