WERA National Series Heads to Autobahn as Competition Heats Up JOLIET, Ill. The WERA National Series is back in action this weekend with two days of racing at Illinois’ newest circuit, Autobahn Country Club. As teams prepare for round three of the season, points battles are already shaping up in a number of classes. The WERA/Bridgestone National Endurance Series will have a four-hour race on Saturday, May 13, beginning at noon. Vesrah Suzuki won the Autobahn round by four laps last season, followed by Red Star. With Vesrah and Red Star leading the way in points- and after finishing in that same order last month at Tallageda- both teams will be looking for a podium repeat. Team Velocity Racing will also be looking for another podium. The team had a strong run at Talladega and hopes to carry that momentum into Autobahn, a track where they suffered a crash last season. Lightweight Superbike is the closest class battle of the five in the endurance series. Neighbor of the Beast’s win at Talladega has put them into the points lead, but only by a slim ten points over Blue Ridge Performance. Sunday will feature the WERA/Michelin National Challenge Series, which gets underway at noon. Both rounds this year have seen close competition, with no single expert rider able to sweep the classes. Heavyweight and Lightweight Twins Superstock are two of the closest in points, with ties for the lead in both. Formula 1 is also a close battle between Robert Jensen and Ben Thompson. Each rider has earned a win in the class, and Jensen sits just two points ahead of Thompson. As always, 600 and 750 Superstock promise to feature some of the best racing of the weekend. 750 Superstock is shaping up to be a battle between Vesrah Suzuki teammates Mark Junge and Lee Acree, and the two are separated by just four points. Jensen and Acree are only seven points apart in 600 Superstock. Tickets for the WERA National Series at Autobahn Country Club are $30 for all three days, $20 for Saturday and Sunday, and $15 for Sunday only. More information about Autobahn, including directions to the track, can be found at ~http://www.AutobahnCountryClub.net~ Race schedules, updated points and more can be found at ~http://www.WERA.com~

Nicky Wimbauer takes double win in the 24th. ADAC Tourist Trophy Race of Hockenheim American Young Gun Nicky Wimbauer (18) took his Yamaha Germany R6-Cup bike to a double win over the past weekend in the 24th. ADAC Rundstreckenpokal of Hockenheim. This was a test race for the Team Zweirad Stadler/ProTech rider before the upcoming first round of the Yamaha R6-Cup race in Hockenheim. Little Nicky was leading both races from start to finish and showed great potential on his Cup R6. “I am glad we had the chance to test the bike and Dunlop tires under race conditions here at Hockenheim,” commented Wimbauer. “It’s good to have the right support and environment for this season and I had a blast riding the new R6. We are focusing now on next weekend’s opener of the International German Championship in Hockenheim and hope to find another second for the ultra-competitive R6 Cup. I had a lot of fun meeting many Americans here in Heidelberg and other riders for the European racing scene.” Nicky Wimbauer, a former Colorado MRA and WERA National Challenge Series Champion has moved to Europe in 2004 to gain more racing experience and is working for Jaegn Products, the German importer of American Troy Lee Designs Products.

Following the pencil trail of Hermann Tilke, the MotoGP World Championship heads east this week towards Shanghai – another circuit designed by the German architect Built in 2004 to host the Formula 1 World Championship, Shanghai is an ultra-modern facility with a spectacular infrastructure and a demanding track. Following on from the success of Marco Melandri’s first victory of the season in the Grand Prix of Turkey at Istanbul, the riders of the Fortuna Honda team heads toward a track that holds special memories for them. Marco Melandri feels in strong shape after his Turkish win and he is looking forward to the Grand Prix of China, where he climbed onto the third step of the podium to crown a very positive weekend, having lapped second fastest in free practice and qualifying, last year. “I’m going to China feeling fully charged after that great win in Istanbul and the fantastic job done by the team. As in Istanbul the track in Shanghai last year was also to my liking straight away. In 2005 I was fast in the dry during practice and also in the wet during the race. So I’m feeling relaxed, I feel good and I know that we’ll be starting out with a good base set-up. I’m ready for another evenly-contested race. The front straight is really long and it should be really good fun to watch.” The visit to China also represents a return to a happy hunting ground for Toni Elias. “I really like the Shanghai circuit,” says the Spaniard, who has shown flashes of his speed and potential already this season. “Last year I got a good feeling from it virtually straight away. I went well in practice and it looked like being a good race for me but then we had a torrential downpour. I was doing well on wet, I was third when for a mistake on the starting grid I had to do a ride through loosing important positions. In 2005 Shanghai was completely new but this time I’m approaching it in a different way. I really like the bike, I know we have a good base set-up and I hope I can put the experience I have gained over these first few races into good use and come out with a good result.” 2006 World championship 1. Nicky Hayden (Usa/Honda) with 52 points 2. Loris Capirossi (Ita/Ducati) with 51 points 3. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) with 45 points 7 . Toni Elias (Sp/Honda) with 32 points THE TRACK Built in 2004 to host the Formula 1 World Championship, Shanghai is an ultra-modern facility with a spectacular infrastructure: huge grandstands with capacity for 150,000 fans and offering views of almost the whole circuit, and two imposing seven-story VIP and hospitality towers From a technical point of view the track features two extremely fast and long straights, a series of tight corners and two curves that turn almost 360°. at each end of the paddock. Designed initially for F1, Shanghai is long and wide and offers plenty of overtaking opportunities. Marco discusses the track:“It is a very particular circuit with two long straights – one measuring 1202 metres, which is the longest in the championship. The first corner is probably the strangest I have seen because it is really long and you have to change gear whilst lent over and there is a dramatic change in level. It is important to have a smooth line through turns 3, 4 and 5, and a really good exit from turn 7 in order to get plenty of speed up for the straight. Then you have to prepare yourself for a hard braking zone at the end of the straight (the hardest in the championship), which is fundamental for a good lap.” FOCUS: how the world championship paddock is transported In Europe all the team’s material travels in the trucks, which also serve as offices but as if by magic are able to transport the paddock from one country to another. But how is that material moved outside of Europe? It’s a tough one. The team’s material is packed into boxes and shipped out on a special charter flight. There is a lot of red tape to get through the border control and it requires a lot of organisation to get the boxes through customs – firstly at the airport and then at the circuit itself. In China the whole customs process can take up to 48 hours. TRAVELLING BY NUMBERS: 3 – the amount of Boeing 747 aircraft that carry the materials for the teams, Dorna and the TV. 260,000kg – the total weight of the material transported. 200kg – the total weight of all the documents, bound in 194 books. 40 – number of trucks used to transport the boxes from the airport to the circuit. IN DETAIL: 90,000 kg – only MotoGP material 10,600 kg – TEAM FORTUNA HONDA material, packed into 33 boxes (4 for the bikes alone, 5 for spare parts, 2 for telemetry equipment, 11 for garage structure, 2 for wheels, 6 for engines, 1 for office material and 2 for the riders) 8,000 kg – material provided by MICHELIN (tyres and equipment) The costs vary from one circuit to another. For example, the trip from Istanbul to Shanghai is around 3 euros per kilo, whilst the return from Shanghai to Le Mans is more than double that. The most difficult customs are in China and the easiest are in Malaysia.

This weekend, the PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP Team will be in China for the fourth race of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship, at the Shanghai International Circuit. It will be the second MotoGP event on the Chinese circuit after last season’s first time. None of both PRAMAC D’ANTIN MOTOGP riders ever rode on this track: ALEX HOFMANN because he injured himself in Portugal last year, and JOSE LUIS CARDOSO as he was riding in the Superbike World Championship during the 2005 season. It will be a new experience for both of them, on the recent Chinese track, with the DUCATI DESMOSEDICI GP06 “Sat.” (DUNLOP tyres). The first sessions of free practice will be on Friday morning at 10.00 a.m. in China (GMT+8). Weather forecast for this week show a high risk of rain, with heavy downpours for the weekend. Last year’s race already suffered from wet conditions. LUIS D’ANTIN (Team Manager): “After the debut in Istanbul, this track will be new for both our riders as well. It won’t be easy but we all will work a lot to give the best to Cardoso and Hofmann and allow them to make a good race with our DUCATI DESMOSEDICI GP06 “Sat.”. We will go on concentrating ourselves on the development of the tyres, one of the most important and demanding thing right now. There has been small improvements in Turkey, let’s hope to go on like this in China”. ALEX HOFMANN #66: “Last year I didn’t take part to the race in China and it really was a horrible feeling seeing my replacement rider going to the podium. So I have not good memories of the GP of Shanghai! Anyway I’m happy to get the opportunity to get to know a new country as China and to race on a new track. The opinions about the track were not all positive for motorcycles, but I like new circuits so I can’t wait to go to this place”. JOSE LUIS CARDOSO #30: “It seems to be a very impressive track, also very modern but maybe more adapted for Formula One than for motorbikes. Anyway, it will be the same for every rider and so that’s not a problem for me. Personally I do prefer the fast but at the same time technical tracks and this one is surely very fast. I Hope to be able to make a good result in China”. CIRCUIT DETAILS Shanghai International Circuit is situated outside China’s prosperous metropolitan city and hosted its first MotoGP race in 2005. After only one event, it’s already acknowledged as one of the most impressive track on earth. As well as the Istanbul track, the Shanghai one also was designed by the famous architect Herman Tilke. Besides, its stands are ready to welcome up to 200.000 spectators. The track is 5281 meters long and has 14 corners (7 to the right and 7 to the left). There are two particularly fast straights, where the MotoGP bikes exceed 320km/h, and a series of tight corners including two long right-handers that almost take the riders through 360 degrees. An important fact is that the longest straight of this track is also the longest of the whole MotoGP World Championship, being 1202 meters long. Width: 14m Pole Position: Left Direction: Clockwise MotoGP – Lap Record: 2’13.716 (Wet Race) (Alex Barros – 2005) MotoGP – Fastest Lap: 1’59.710 (Sete Gibernau – 2005) 2005 MotoGP Race: 1) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2) Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki) 3) Marco Melandri (Honda)

Noyes sits out CEV with injured hand, prepares for World Endurance American Kenny Noyes had a high speed crash at Albacete at a Michelin test the week before the opening round of the Spanish National Formula Extreme Championship and suffered a fractured metacarpal in his left hand. After sitting out Friday he tried to take part in the first qualifying session on Saturday, but was unable to ride, in spite of a pain-killing injection. Kenny will be fully fit to join team mate Josep Monje as the two, with David Salom in reserve, are participating as a wild cards on the Folch Endurance R1 Yamaha in The Eight Hours of Albacete, the Spanish round of the World Endurance Championship. Last year Noyes, Dani Ribalta (who rode the wild card National Motos Honda CBR1000RR to victory two weeks ago in the 24 Hours of Lemans) and Cabana were second to the Castrol Suzuki team that went on to win the World Endurance Championship. Ribalta has a Dunlop contract which does not allow him to ride a Michelin-shod machine in Spanish events, even through the French Honda team is not expected to take part in the Spanish race. “Last year Meliand, the director of Castrol-Pirelli Suzuki, after seeing the pace of our riders, decided to go with only their two fastest riders, Kitigawa and Philippe. This year we are doing the same and running this as an eight hour sprint, with young David Salom ready to take a turn if either rider has a problem.,” said team owner Josep Folch. “This is our one chance a year to take on the world teams. We were third in 2003 and second in 2005, so there is just one place we haven´t been on the podium. Last year we had the handicap of a malfunctioning pitlane speed control device and our riders lost a lot of time entering and exiting pitlane in order to avoid a penalty.” Folch Yamaha will also enter a second R1 to be ridden by Hervas, Cabana and Lara. The race is run mostly at night under the lights, starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday and finishing at 2 a.m. Sunday morning.

Province Blocks Road and Cancels The Festival of Speed. After 12 months of planning and organization with the knowledge and tentative support of the provincial department of tourism as a signature event, the Cape Breton TT Festival of Speed has been cancelled with official news from the Provincial government that the government will not permit the event to happen on the 53km course. According to Maureen Carroll, the chair of the Cape Breton Festival of Speed Association, “The official word delivered by the province came as a devastating blow and without notice after almost a year of work and official filings for sanctioning and insurance were completed”. She said, “The province has been well aware of the event and designated it as a Signature Event with no indication that they had fundamental issues beyond the understandable need to pass the public safety requirements which were being organized by a professional technical team and race director. It appears that the process of proper and formal evaluation and communications were flawed within the departments.” Carroll stated, “The cancellation news is regrettable and disappointing for all of the volunteer members of the community who have acted in good faith and invested in the development of an event which promised to deliver significant economic return for the region.” The Cape Breton Festival of Speed was initiated by the Membertou Development Corporation. Under the leadership of Bernd Christmas, Membertou brought forward the opportunity for an international event which offered benefits for the entire Island and province. The Cape Breton Festival of Speed Association was created to operate and manage what had the potential to be a major annual event. To date there have been 5000 room-nights booked 6 months ahead of the event just on the prospect and rumor it would occur. These advance bookings alone represent a welcome addition to many tourism operators across the Island during what is a slower period in the early fall. The economic impact has been forecast to reach $15 million dollars. The event had the support of the municipality and federal government and the economic development agencies on Cape Breton Island along with enthusiastic participation of community groups and organizations that are essential for the staging of an international event. The TT Race is an international spectacle attracting audiences and visitor interest across North America and Europe including all of the key strategic markets for the Nova Scotia and Canadian Tourism industry. National and international media have been following the planning for the race and many have committed resources to visit Cape Breton Island to cover both the race and the destination. Carroll said, “As a community based volunteer organization, we are very disappointed to have to cancel the event. The abrupt decision is being forced by the Provincial government in what can only be described as a very heavy-handed manner.” She ended, “The province allowed the time, effort, expectations and investment of the community to continue to build for the best part of an entire year without a formal response from all departments until now.” Community meetings planned for May 6 and 7 along the race course were cancelled. More, from a press release issued by the Nova Scotia Provincial Government in response to the above: Race Did Not Have Approval to Proceed Organizers of the Cape Breton Festival of Speed were told in writing on Nov. 15, 2005 and Feb. 24, 2006 that their race did not have approval to proceed, primarily for safety reasons. The Cape Breton Festival of Speed, a motor sport racing event based on races on the Isle of Man, UK, was proposed for Sept. 20-24. Staff from the Department of Transportation and Public Works informed organizers that the Motor Vehicle Act does not support the racing of vehicles on public highways and that the department could not give approval to close roads for the event. “There have been numerous deaths associated with this event elsewhere in the past,” said Angus MacIsaac, Minister of Transportation and Public Works. “Our first priority is to ensure safe access to public roads and highways and this race would put the public and racers at risk of serious injury or death.” Staff from the Department of Transportation and Public Works and the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, met with organizers again this week to reiterate government’s position. “In spite of being informed of the department’s position on the race, organizers continued to plan and promote the event. The news this week should not have come as a surprise,” Mr. MacIsaac added. The proposed race would have taken place on a 53 kilometre route through Port Morien, Birch Grove, and Albert Bridge. The race would have directly affected over 500 residences, two elementary schools, two churches, six cemeteries, numerous small businesses, and many private lanes. It would have required extended road closures and affected travel times to the regional hospital. “We understand that the organizers have worked hard on this event and that many people are disappointed,” said Judy Streatch, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. “We also recognize the potential tourism and economic benefits, but the province had to make safety our top priority in this case. How do you measure economic benefits against even one life lost?” The event was listed as a signature event in the 2006 Doers and Dreamers Guide and other tourism publications. As a marketing agency, the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage does not approve events. The onus is on the organizers to ensure all the necessary permits and approvals are in place. Because of the early publishing deadlines for the Doers and Dreamers Guide and other tourism publications, the department must often list events that are in the planning stages. Some event changes or cancellations are made every year and they are communicated through all tourism promotional channels. Ms. Streatch has asked staff to meet with the Festivals and Events Council to review the process for listing signature events.

Shinichi Nakatomi confirms his good beginning of the season with a 10th and a 12th positions that give him good points for the championship. Norick Abe and Sébastien Gimbert had a difficult weekend, with the 12th place for the Frenchman in race 1 and a courageous 16th place for Abe in race 2. “I am happy with my progression, said Shinichi Nakatomi. Monza is a unique track which is not easy to discover. I would like to thank my team for providing me with a very reliable Yamaha R1. Learning this championship for me has been so far very positive.” Norick Abe, who crashed heavily on his head during practice, received the green light on Saturday morning from doctor Claudio Costa (Clinica Mobile). Unfortunately, the first race was not a lucky one as an other rider hit him and he had to retire. He did his best in race 2, finishing 16th. Sébastien Gimbert scored the points for 12th position in race 1, but could not finish the second heat when he retired in the pits. Race 1: 1- Bayliss (Ducati) ; 2-Barros (Honda) ; 3-Corser (Suzuki) ; 4-Haga (Yamaha) ; 5-Pitt (Yamaha)”¦ 10-Nakatomi (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone)”¦12-Gimbert (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone) Race 2: 1- Bayliss (Ducati) ; 2- Corser (Suzuki) , 3- Haga (Yamaha) ; 4- Barros (Honda) ; 5-Toseland (Honda)”¦12- Nakatomi (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone)”¦16-Abe (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone) World Championship standings: 1- Bayliss (175 points) ; 2-Corser (139) ; 3-Toseland (97) ; 4-Barros (95), 5-Haga (93)”¦ 9-Abe (40)”¦17-Nakatomi (18)”¦ 22-Gimbert (7) More, from a press release issued by Beowulf Racing: 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Rd 2 Monza, Italy Race, Sun 7th May The pressure of racing at international level finally got to Beowulf Racing’s Nick Henderson (Suzuki) at Monza today. The former Australian Superbike Privateer Championship runner-up is desperate to make an impression on the world stage, but the pressure he is putting himself under is hindering his performance. Riding in the second round of the 2006 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Henderson finished 23rd from a sixth row start following a series of run-offs and overshoots at the high-speed Italian track. Italian Allessandro Polita (Suzuki) followed up his victory at the previous round in Spain to win the race. It had all looked very promising. During practice and qualifying Henderson had been enjoying riding the flowing curves of the historic circuit, the fastest on the Superstock 1000 calendar. After early forecasts of rain, the track was blessed with glorious sunshine. Following the morning warm-up, Henderson reported himself to be happy with the overnight adjustments made to his Beowulf Suzuki and looking forwards to the race. Getting through the first chicane unscathed on an opening lap at Monza always requires a degree of luck. As the bikes barged through for the first time there was the usual dose of fairing and elbow bashing for which the track is famed. Henderson held his own and by the end of the first lap had climbed two places to 19th. It was now that his problems began. Trying too hard, Henderson ran off the track and dropped to 28th place on the second lap With his rhythm now lost, Henderson suffered a series of overshoots and additional run-offs on the following laps. Despite this Nick had pulled himself up to 23rd place by the time he reached the chequered flag. Normally an amiable character, the Australian simply wanted to be left to himself afterwards. Team Manager Andy Stone was more forthcoming: “There’s no questioning Nick’s level of ability” he said afterwards. “Beowulf has been racing at international level for the past four years, but to Nick everything here is new. He’s happy with the team and the machine we’ve prepared for him so it’s just a case of helping him to find his feet in this new environment.” Probably the only solace both could take from the 11-lap race was that the Beowulf Suzuki had recorded the 4th highest speed through the traps, clocked at 181mph. It’s a figure which would have placed the machine within the top 18 in the blue-riband World Superbike races held later in the day. The FIM Superstock 1000 Cup heads to Silverstone in the UK for its next round in three weeks time. With the championship now on home soil for the Shepton Mallet-based team, Beowulf Racing will be looking forwards to a better result. To learn more about Nick Henderson and Beowulf Racing, visit ~www.beowulf-racing .com~ FIM SUPERSTOCK 1000 CUP, RD 2 MONZA Race result 11 laps 1 Allessandro Polita (Ita) Suzuki 20:31.118 2. Riccardo Chiarello (Ita) Kawasaki +00:00.357 3. Ayrton Badovini (Ita) MV Augusta +00:09.079 23. Nick Henderson (Aus) Suzuki +00:51.964 Championship standings after 2 of 10 rounds: 1 Allessandro Polita (Ita) Suzuki – 50pts 2. Ayrton Badovini (Ita) MV Augusta 32pts 3= Riccardo Chiarello (Ita) Kawasaki 22pts 3= Luca Scassa (Ita) MV Augusta 22pts

The whirlwind start to the 2006 MotoGP World Championship continues next weekend as the paddock’s globetrotting journey heads eastwards across Asia to the Shanghai International Circuit in China. After visiting Spain, Qatar and Turkey in the opening three rounds of the series, the Camel Yamaha Team take their points quest back to the skies for another ‘flyaway’ race, before returning to start a European road trip that covers seven races in nine weeks – starting at the Le Mans circuit in France only seven days after the Chinese event. Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards arrive in the country known locally as ‘The Big Land’ with a mixed bag of results under their arms after an unpredictable start to the campaign. Rossi followed up a first-corner fall at Jerez with victory in Doha before battling to fourth place in Istanbul after a weekend dogged by technical difficulties and bad weather. It has been a similar story for his Texan team-mate, who has shown excellent pace in practice but has yet to find a set-up package that will enable him to compete for race victories and podiums. The Shanghai circuit was designed by architects Hermann Tilke and Peter Wahl and its layout was inspired by the shape of the Chinese character ‘shang’, which stands for ‘high’ or ‘above’. Other symbols represented in the architecture of the circuit facilities originate from Chinese history, such as the team buildings, which are arranged like pavilions on a lake to resemble the ancient Yuyan-Garden in Shanghai. One of the circuit’s most impressive features is the extraordinary main grandstand, which holds capacity for 29,000 spectators and provides a spectacular view of almost 80 percent of the circuit. VALENTINO ROSSI: TIGHT AND TECHNICAL After taking a surprise wet-weather victory at this circuit last season, Valentino Rossi is hoping for an identical result in different conditions this time around. The torrential rain that fell during the inaugural event at Shanghai one year ago set the scene for one of the most impressive performances of Rossi’s career but, given the choice, the World Champion is hoping for a much more straightforward way to demonstrate his superiority next Sunday. “Out of all the victories in my career, China last year was the one I least expected because of the problems we had with the bike during the weekend and with the rain on race day,” explains Rossi, who became the all-time record points scorer in Grand Prix history thanks to his fourth place finish in Turkey last week a result that outs him fifth in the championship. “It was the first time I had won in the wet on the Yamaha, so it was a special victory, but this year I would definitely prefer a dry race. The 2006 version M1 didn’t work as well as we had hoped in the wet practice sessions in Turkey and we need as much dry track time as possible to get the bike setting as I like it.” Like Turkey the Shanghai circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, but it is much more similar to the German architect’s other effort at Sepang in Malaysia, with tight bends and long straights that, according to Rossi, make the rider’s skill in setting the bike up even more important. “My first impressions of the circuit last year were very good but then it wasn’t as much fun as I expected,” explains the Italian. “It is actually quite tight and technical and is very much a Formula 1 track, so all the riders have a lot of hard work to do finding the right setting for the bikes. It is not ideal for MotoGP it is a very demanding circuit and it will test the riders and the bikes to the maximum.” COLIN EDWARDS: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED Colin Edwards says he is unsure about what to expect in China after experiencing such mixed fortunes at each of the opening three rounds this season. Like his team-mate, the American is hoping for favourable circumstances from the opening practice in order to gather crucial set-up data for the 2006 version YZR-M1 machine. “Because we had so little dry time at Shanghai last year I think there is a big question mark for everybody about what is going to happen,” says Edwards, who currently lies ninth in the championship on 19 points. “It will be important to find a good setting for the bike as quickly as possible so that we can get some endurance testing in before the race and make sure we don’t have the problems we’ve struggled with in previous weekends. This is a very important Grand Prix for us and we simply have to end it with a decent result before the championship heads back to Europe. “The test at Istanbul on Monday was quite beneficial because it gave us an idea of the lap times we could have done in the race if we weren’t interrupted by the rain on Saturday, which was encouraging, although it didn’t win us any points back! We got a lot of laps in, which is what we need right now, so the engineers have some good data to work on over the next week before the race and I’m confident they can come up with something for us in China.” VALENTINO ROSSI: INFORMATION Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 80 (54 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 160 (100 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 40 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: 51 x MotoGP World Championships – 2 World Superbike DAVIDE BRIVIO: POSITIVE THINKING Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is looking towards the Grand Prix in China as a major opportunity to turn around the team’s early-season fortunes. Having enjoyed a particularly fruitful weekend in Shanghai at this stage last season, the Italian is hoping the event can prove to be a turning point for the team at the start of a critical phase of the championship. “Last year’s race in China was very important for us because we won, and won well, in the wet and this helped us to find the solutions to some problems we had with the dry setting, so we are hoping it can be the same this time,” says Brivio. “It has been a difficult start to the season but despite the bad luck of Valentino’s crash in the first round at Jerez he is still very close to the top. We’re looking forward to seeing what both he and Colin are capable of when the problems are solved and hopefully that can start in China. “Now we have eight races in eleven weekends, which is a lot and puts pressure on everybody. For example our drivers will be going straight from China to pick up the trucks and driving them to France without a break, but I think it is worse for the riders because they have no time to rest. In any case the next three months are the core of the season and a period where the situation regarding the championship becomes much clearer. The conditions are the same for everybody so we have to make sure we work to the best of our abilities and come through with a good share of the points.” TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: COLIN EDWARDS’ SUSPENSION TECHNICIAN ROBERT GRONLUND Despite being drawn by the same hand as the Istanbul Circuit in Turkey, Shanghai has different characteristics that draw closer comparisons to the other Herman Tilke circuit of Sepang. Combining fast straights and hard braking zones with a series of slow and difficult corners, bike set-up is again a question of finding a compromised balance, whilst the big unknown this weekend will be the conditions with last year’s mixed bag of weather and the typically hot and humid climate making grip levels a complete mystery until Friday morning practice. “In some ways Shanghai is similar to Turkey but in other ways it is very different,” explains Robert Gronlund, Colin Edwards’ Ohlins suspension technician. “For instance, it doesn’t flow as much as that track but it does have a mixture of fast corners and very hard braking zones, so in terms of the set-up the key is again to have a good compromise especially with the suspension. The bike needs to turn well into the slow corners because, like with the final section in Turkey, you can lose a lot of time there. “The thing about Shanghai is that we have only been once and it was sometimes wet and sometimes dry, so we have a very limited amount of data. Really we’re not worried about that though because we feel we made an important step during the test in Turkey. We have reduced the vibration problems we had at Jerez and Qatar and found a solution to the difficulties we had at Istanbul just generally making the bike easier to ride. A lot will depend on the grip levels at Shanghai and it certainly won’t be easy, but we are looking forward to it.” CIRCUIT INFORMATION Pole Position left Length: 5451 m Width: 12 m Right corners: 7 Left corners: 7 Constructed in: 2004 Shanghai Lap Record: Alex Barros (Honda) 2005 2’13.716* Shanghai Best Lap: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005 1’59.710 Shanghai 2005 Results*: 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (Yamaha) 50’02.463 2. Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki) +1.700 3. Marco Melandri (Honda) +16.574 8. COLIN EDWARDS (Yamaha) +31.033 * Wet Race