POINTS LEADER HAYDEN TO MISS CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY SUPERSPORT RACE PICKERINGTON, Ohio (April 26, 2006) — Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship presented by Shoei leader Roger Lee Hayden will miss this weekend’s race at California Speedway following a high-speed crash at Barber Motorsports Park this past Sunday, which left the Kawasaki rider with a badly broken right leg. With Hayden out, perhaps until June, Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking becomes the de facto series leader in this, round three of the 11-race series, which takes place on Sunday, April 30 in Fontana, Calif. Roger Lee Hayden was heir apparent to the Supersport throne after finishing runner-up to his older brother Tommy for two straight years. He’d won at Daytona in March and again last Sunday in Birmingham, Ala., to build an early eight-point lead over Hacking. Now it appears Hayden may have to wait yet another year for the highly coveted Supersport title. It’s a disappointing blow to the youngest Hayden brother. Hacking was sorry to hear of Hayden’s misfortune. He knows exactly how badly Hayden feels. Last year Hacking led the Repsol Superstock Series when he was involved in a bicycle accident and was forced to miss the rest of the season. Hacking is trying to win back the AMA Supersport title he owned in 2003. The Carolinian looked strong in his return from last year’s injuries with a pair of second-place finishes. Now he comes to California Speedway, a track where he’s won the Supersport race twice before. “I’ve had some good races in Fontana,” Hacking said. “It’s a track that suits my style and Yamaha always give me a great bike that works well there. Even though I’ve won there before it’s not going to be easy that’s for sure. There are some fast up-and-coming riders in the class and I’m going to have to be on top of my game if I want to get another win.” The rider who is clearly making a breakthrough in the class this year is M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May. May scored his first career podium last week in Alabama and brings a new mind-set to California Speedway this weekend. “It’s great to get my first podium in Supersport,” said May, a former AMA Rookie of the Year. “Now that I’ve accomplished that I need to keep improving and see if I can take it to the next level.” May nipped Attack Kawasaki’s Ben Attard at the line last week in Alabama. Attard is hoping to return the favor this Sunday so he can continue to move up from his current sixth-place position in the standings. A good battle is developing between veteran Damon Buckmaster and relative newcomer to the class Danny Eslick. The two are tied for fourth in the standings. “Bucky” is teammate to his fellow Australian Attard and is in his eighth season of competing in the AMA series. Buckmaster is a former Australian Supersport champ. Eslick is a former flat track racer who continues to show steady progress racing for the Matsushima Performance Suzuki team. Michael Barnes came back in Alabama in spite of riding with an injured knee he had surgery on after Daytona. The longtime veteran turned in a solid seventh-place performance on his M4 EMGO Suzuki at Barber Motorsports Park last week and hopes to continue to climb in the rankings after Fontana. A new face to watch for at California Speedway is Ryan Elleby. Elleby is an up-and-coming rider from Georgia riding under the Leo Vince/Pegram Racing Honda banner. He comes to California Speedway as the top ranked Honda Supersport rider having scored an impressive eighth at Barber, just behind Barnes. As Elleby gains in confidence he could become a bigger factor in the series as the season progresses. The Pro Honda Oils Supersport race presented by Shoei is part of California Speedway’s Suzuki Superbike Challenge that runs April 28-30. For ticket info call 1-800-944-RACE or visit www.californiaspeedway.com The Fontana Supersport final will be televised nationally on SPEED at 1 p.m. EST Tuesday, May 2. About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.

SONOMA, Calif. (IMMEDIATE RELEASE) Nearly 350 motorcycle competitors are expected to visit Infineon Raceway for the first time, May 19-21, with the addition of two new elements to the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown weekend, presented by Supercuts. Supermoto USA will host a three-day supermoto event at Turn 7, and more than 200 riders are expected. Many of the nation’s top riders will compete on the custom-built circuit, which will be 70-percent paved and 30-percent dirt, with several jumps and berms. The event will be part of Supermoto USA’s 10-race West Coast schedule for 2006, and will feature a $5,500 purse for pro entrants. Top rider Casey Yarrow, a Bay Area product who currently carries the No. 1 plate, is expected to attend, as is Leonardo “Pucho” Bagnis, Argentina’s National Supermoto champion. In addition, Infineon Raceway will host the West Coast’s first-ever Street Freestyle, sanctioned by Stuntspot.com. This event will span all three days and feature more than 120 competitors, who will perform a variety of tricks on their street bikes, including Stopees and Crazy Larry’s. More than 5,000 fans turned out for a similar event in Lakeland (Fla.) in February to watch riders perform tricks on their 400- and 500-pound street bikes. Race fans can expect to see bikes like Harley-Davidson and Buell, among others, in the competition at Infineon Raceway, which will feature a variety of disciplines. The Street Freestyle events will take place on the Turn 10 island. For more information on the supermoto events, visit www.supermotousa.com, and for more information on the Street Freestyle, visit www.stuntwars.com.

RETURN TO TURKEY FOR EARLY SEASON SHOWDOWN With two rounds of this 17 race World Championship already run, the overall points table is tight at the top with two Honda riders in the top three and five Honda men in the top seven. But the next two rounds might prove crucial in establishing a pattern before the series returns to Europe. This Turkish round is followed by a mid-May trip to China before the French Grand Prix later that month and the rider who can lever any sort of points advantage before the European campaign begins will have a crucial psychological edge as well as a numerical one. Consistent Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) has scored podium finishes in both races so far and he lies just five points behind series leader Loris Capirossi (Ducati). Nicky notched a third place here last year and the hard-charging American will be expecting to do even better than that this weekend. His team-mate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V) has surprised everyone except himself and those close to him with a meteoric start to his debut MotoGP season. The 20-year-old Spaniard currently lies third in the points standings after a fine second place in his first race and a steady sixth in his second. He finished second here last year on a 250. Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC211V) is proving he can more than cope with the demands of competition in the premier class after a troubled debut season in 2005. He currently sits fifth overall and will be aiming for a maiden rostrum finish this weekend. But he will face opposition from his team-mate Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V) who knows he needs to do better than the fifth place at Jerez and a seventh in Qatar so far if he is to mount a serious bid for the title this year. Rookie Casey Stoner (LCR Honda RC211V) is currently ahead of Melandri in the points table after a sixth in Spain and a fifth in Qatar after starting from pole in only his second ever MotoGP outing. He won here on a 250 last year. Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) is still struggling to find his best form while Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR211V) has defied critics with two solid top ten finishes on his Honda-powered machine. This 5.430km track, situated on the Asian side of the huge city of Istanbul, is one of the better ‘new’ circuits to be built. It features six right-hand turns, a medium-length 720m straight and eight left-hand turns. Designed by Hermann Tilke, the man responsible for the Shanghai track, the Otodrom International Circuit is something of a pastiche of existing circuits. Turns one and two are an unashamed copy of the Senna Esses at Sao Paulo while turn 11 mimics Eau Rouge at Spa Francorchamps. A degree of elevation makes many corner entries blind and challenging. Turn eight is a double-apex high-speed left that will demand inch-perfect precision riding and raw nerve of a rare degree. This corner is critical for a good lap time – entry, mid-turn and exit are all equally important – get any parts wrong and the time penalty will be a heavy one. With this race now in late April temperatures will be higher than in October when MotoGP first visited this track last year. This will mean new set-up parameters and different tyre requirements for teams. Hayden is ready to race. He said, “The track’s got some really high speed stuff, some hard braking and then at the end of the lap there’s some really slow first gear corners. Turn one is pretty wild and the fifth gear right hander at turn 11, which you take almost flat out, is about as good as it gets on a MotoGP bike. The last little bit of the circuit I don’t like too much because it’s a bit too tight for MotoGP – but the rest is pretty good. We’re going to Turkey at a completely different time than last year and we’ll find out how much difference that makes.” Pedrosa said, “In Istanbul you really notice the designer of the circuit also designed Shanghai, although I think that this is a much more balanced and varied circuit. It combines uphill and downhill sections and has good asphalt. It’s quite wide and grip is not bad. It has some rather slow sections, but I guess it’s because it’s been designed with Formula 1 in mind. This weekend we need to do the same as always: try to understand the circuit as soon as possible and to find a good set-up for the race.” Elias said, “I’m heading to Istanbul feeling very motivated. My feeling with the bike improves from race to race and the test at Qatar confirmed that we’re working in the right direction. Now I have to follow it up in the race with a performance that I believe justifies my potential. I have to try and take another step forward because we have not yet managed to achieve the results I am hoping for.” Stoner is eager to ride and said, “The Istanbul track is a little strange with a combination of slow and very fast sections, so it is a compromise on set-up. There are also some hard braking areas but I feel comfortable with the track and I have good feeling with how far I can push. Hopefully the base set-up which felt so good at Qatar will transfer to Istanbul and I can be as competitive on the MotoGP bike as I was in 250s.” Melandri, winner here last year, said, “I would prefer to be heading into this event with a better performance behind me but I’m sure the feeling we found in testing will give me plenty of encouragement. The 2005 Grand Prix of Turkey was a truly memorable event and I can’t ever forget the moment I crossed the line.” Roberts has yet to race here. He missed out on a visit here last season due to injury and will be aiming to build on his solid start to this season. “I’ll have to get on the pace here quickly,” he said. “We’re moving forward with the bike and it’s up to me to keep things going in the right direction.” Tamada said, “I took advantage of the two week break to work on my concentration because it’s important to be properly motivated at a difficult moment like this. I can only guarantee that I’ll make the best use of my capacities to get good results. I like the Istanbul circuit and I hope the weather conditions will be favourable so that I’ll have the best conditions in which to express myself.” Andrea Dovizioso (Humangest Racing Honda RS250RW), who currently lies second to Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia) in the 250cc World Championship, will be aiming to deprive the series leader of a third consecutive win. He finished fifth here last year and after a third place in Spain and a second In Qatar, Dovi is hungrier than ever for his first win in the class. Sebastian Porto (Repsol Honda RS250RW) has had a difficult start to the season and the Argentine currently lies tenth overall. He said, “The circuit is quite complicated and we’ve raced here only once before so none of us has much experience. We just hope that everything works out fine. We’ll try to work and adapt the bikes well. The Hondas did a good job there last year so we hope the bike will be more competitive this weekend.” This is a new track for Porto’s team-mate Shuhei Aoyama (Repsol Honda RS250RW) who said, “I’ve only seen the circuit on TV so I haven’t got much information about the track and its technical features. I think it’ll be less complicated than Qatar. There are some gradient changes and a more varied layout and I think I’ll feel more comfortable here. But I also know that if I want to get a good result I’ll have to be much more focussed than in Qatar.” The 125cc category is currently the domain of Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) who has won both races so far. Reigning World Champion Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) has not begun his title defence as he would have wished and Turkey represents a chance to get his challenge back on track. Mike di Meglio (FFM Honda RS125R) won here last year and should be one of the men to set the pace here in 2006 too, while new Honda recruit Gabor Talmacsi (Humangest Honda RS125R) will be looking to get a win under his belt here. But the track is all new for 15-year-old rookie Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R), who said, “The team has sent over a DVD of the race last year which has been a big help for me learning yet another new circuit. I love the look of the fast right-hand bend just before the start and finish complex and it should be very interesting to ride.”

FINAL LAP OF HONOUR FOR DIABLO PERFORMANCE RACING It is with great sadness that Diablo Performance Racing, Canada’s most successful motorcycle road racing team in 2005, will cease operations. After winning the Canadian Superbike number 1 plate with Francis Martin on Suzuki, the Canadian 600 Sport Bike number 1 plate with Steve Crevier on Honda and being named “Team of the year” in the 2005 Parts Canada Superbike Championship, Diablo Racing will not be fielding any professional riders in the upcoming 2006 season. Despite having completed its most successful season to date, with a track record of constantly contributing to the sport of motorcycle racing in Canada, the team was unable to secure any significant support from the industry manufacturers. Future will tell if Diablo was a victim of its own success and was viewed as a threat rather than an ally by the manufacturers. “I am not the one pulling the plug, it’s the circumstances that are forcing us out of racing,” explained team owner and former amateur racer Richard Italia. The arrival of the Diablo Racing team in 2001 created a commotion in the Canadian road racing community. Its technical expertise and professionalism pulled Canadian motorcycle racing to another level. It has been extremely satisfying to see the team grow each season and culminate with two championships. This is a particularly unique achievement since Diablo Racing has always been a private team that has been able to take on the manufacturers and come out on top. In its 5 years of existence, Diablo Racing’s involvement in Canada has benefited a large number of racers. The team not only fielded the largest privateer effort that Canada has ever seen, but it also contributed at the grass roots level of Canadian racing. As the main sponsor of the Diablo Can-am 125 GP Challenge and the Diablo Suzuki SV Cup, the team not only assisted many professional and amateur racers but also helped develop highly qualified technicians and engineers. Beyond simply putting bikes on the track, Diablo was also actively involved in the purchase of an air fence system which has undoubtedly protected many Canadian racers over the years. The Diablo Performance Racing team would like to thank all of the sponsors, riders and personnel who have helped contribute to our success. Most importantly, the team would like to thank all of the fans who have supported us throughout the last five seasons. Keep the rubber side down.

Kawasaki factory rider Roger Hayden will be out several weeks following surgery to repair his broken and dislocated lower right leg, an injury suffered in a scary, high-speed crash during the AMA Superbike race April 23 at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama. Hayden was racing with Aaron Yates for fourth place on lap 21 of 28, when he passed lapped rider James Kerker going up the hill from turn two to turn three, a very fast, blind, cresting kink. “We were going up the hill there,” Hayden told Roadracingworld.com in a telephone interview Tuesday. “I passed the guy (Kerker) on the inside. After I passed him at the top of the hill, I felt him get into me, like he turned into my back tire, and we both went down.” At the speed they were going, both bikes and riders were into the Airfence-fronted Armco barrier within the blink of an eye. SPEED Channel’s cameras missed the crash, and eyewitness accounts from cornerworkers were spotty, at best. “When I looked down,” continued Hayden, “I knew my foot was broke because it was facing the wrong direction. I knew it was messed up, that’s why I was sitting on that tire wall with my head down. My foot, I think, slid underneath the Airfence, like baseball sliding in. “I broke my tib (tibia) and fib (fibula). I looked at the X-rays today and I counted eight screws and a plate on one break and two screws on the other. It was dislocated, too, so there’s some ligament damage. “For where I wrecked and the way it all went down, it sucks but I can’t be bummed out too bad. I went in head-first, and both bikes followed me in there. The Airfence did me really good, because if there wasn’t an Airfence there I would’ve been just like Vincent (Haskovec). That’s exactly the way I went in there.” Hayden, the current AMA Supersport Championship leader, said he was scheduled for a check-up on Friday, when he hoped to get a better idea of how long he will be out of action. He expects, however, to be riding again by the Road America event, the first weekend in June.

SPIES READY TO LEAD AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Young Texan leads Suzuki teammate Mladin coming into Fontana PICKERINGTON, Ohio (April 25, 2006) — Ben Spies leads the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited as the series makes its way west to California Speedway in Fontana, for the Suzuki Superbike Challenge on April 28-30. Spies is coming off the best race weekend of his young career. He swept the doubleheader round at Barber Motorsports Park, giving him newfound confidence coming into California Speedway this weekend, a track he calls one of his favorites. “I don’t know what it is, but it seems like I’ve always been upfront at California Speedway,” said Spies, who briefly led the AMA Superbike Championship in his first full season last year after winning race one in last year’s doubleheader in Fontana. “I grew up a lot on the same style tracks in Texas. It’s got a lot of hard breaking and a lot of fast chicanes where you have to muscle the bikes through it. I’m a taller, bigger guy, but I’m definitely not the biggest guy in the class. For some reason when it comes to muscling the bike through fast stuff, someone in front of me is usually slowing me down.” Spies said that California Speedway puts major physical demands on a rider. The ferocity of the fast transitions is such that Spies once bent his bike’s handlebars from the torque he placed on them. While the 21-year-old Texan, who is in his sophomore season of AMA Superbike, has headed the championship before, this time it’s different as he feels ready to be the leader. “I have some confidence now,” Spies said. “We have a really good setup. We were just testing in Fontana a couple weeks ago and the bike was working really good. So it’s probably not going to be a jump out and win the thing, but I’m hoping just to battle both races and see what happens.” The rider Spies is likely to have to go through to win again at California Speedway is teammate Mat Mladin. The defending and six-time champ is ranked second in the series after suffering an uncharacteristic crash last weekend in Alabama. Mladin, 34, of Australia, has won five of the eight AMA Superbike races in Fontana. He actually doesn’t sound terribly concerned that he’s fallen eight points behind Spies. In fact, he sort of takes some pleasure knowing that someone else has the target on his back coming into this weekend’s doubleheader. “Now he’s (Spies) got the points lead, so now he has to sleep with it,” Mladin said. “Now he knows what it’s going to feel like. “I made a mistake at Barber, simple as that. We got a little lucky with how things worked out (a late race re-start that worked to Mladin’s advantage) and now we just have to do what I know myself and my team can do in Fontana. I’ve had to come from behind before, but this time it looks like it’s going to be a fun challenge since some of the others have found some extra speed.” Spies and Mladin are the only former California Speedway Superbike winners in the field. Former AMA Superbike champ Miguel Duhamel is third in the standings, having scored two podium finishes in the previous three rounds. Duhamel, the veteran of the series, thinks he has more wins left in him, but he says things have to be near perfect. “Our Honda CBR1000RR is good,” he says. “We’ve just got to get the setup. It’s sensitive. We’re still discovering a lot of stuff, how one click (with the suspension) makes a difference compared what we’ve used in the past. Racing in just one class creates more of a sense of urgency to do well since you don’t have another class to fall back on if you have a bad weekend in superbike.” Perhaps the biggest surprise in the young season is the speed shown by Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden. Hayden, who started on the front row for the first time in his superbike career, had a podium finish in his grasp last weekend in Alabama, before he and Suzuki’s Aaron Yates collided on the final lap. Kawasaki’s ZX-10RR is proving to be solid entry in the factory team’s return to the series for the first time in five years. “I am really looking forward to it,” Hayden said of this weekend’s event. “We have spent quite a bit of time riding and testing there and I always like coming out to California Speedway. The team is making a lot of progress with the bike and I think we are probably ahead of where we thought we might be at this point.” The Suzuki Superbike Challenge twin bill will be nationally televised on SPEED. Saturday’s Superbike race will be televised beginning at 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, April 30, followed by live coverage of Sunday’s Superbike final at 6 p.m. Fans will have the opportunity on Saturday to watch two major events at California Speedway. In addition to the first of the AMA Superbike doubleheader the opening round of the AMA Supermoto Championship will take place in the late afternoon on a specially built course in the track’s infield. For ticket info call 1-800-944-RACE or visit the website www.californiaspeedway.com About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.

World Endurance Championship Standings Suzuki Castrol Stretch Out Points Lead After the first two rounds of the FIM World Endurance Championship, French team Suzuki Castrol have stretched out a comfortable 18 point advantage over second placed National Motos Honda, and are an even more significant 24 points in front of third placed Kawasaki Bolliger Team of Switzerland. The Swiss squad are the second highest placed “permanent” team who will be competing in all rounds of the championship. Yamaha Austria – who finished second at the Assen 500 – have slipped to sixth place, while third place at the Assen 500 went to British outfit Yamaha Phase One who are now ninth overall; neither of these teams finished the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Fourth place in the championship standings is held by Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se of Sweden, who have scored points at both Assen and Le Mans. Of the 24 teams that have scored points in the championship so far, only six have scored points in both races. They are Suzuki Castrol, Bolliger Kawasaki, Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se, Endurance Moto 45 from France (the highest placed Stocksport team), RMT21 Racing Honda from Germany and Team X-One Yamaha from Italy. Four manufacturers are represented in the top five places, and six nations in the top nine positions. Points have been scored by teams from ten nations (France, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Slovakia and the Netherlands) campaigning bikes from five manufacturers (Suzuki, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Aprilia). The next round of the World Endurance Championship is the Albacete 8H, on May 20th. 30 points are available to the winner of this race. Championship Standings – Overall Top 10 1 1 Suzuki Castrol Team FRA Suzuki GSX-R1000 SBK 53 points 2 55 National Motos Honda FRA Honda CBR1000RR SBK 35 points 3 8 Kawasaki Bolliger Team SUI Kawasaki ZX10R SBK 29 points 4 12 Team Fagersjo el Suzuki SWE Suzuki GSX-R1000 SBK 24 points 5 94 Yamaha GMT94 FRA Yamaha YZF-R1 SBK 22 points 6 7 Yamaha Austria Racing Team AUT Yamaha YZF-R1 SBK 20 points 7 100 Team Endurance Moto 45 Suzuki FRA Suzuki GSX-R1000 STK 17 points 8 21 RMT 21 Racing Honda GER Honda CBR1000RR SBK 17 points 9 3 Yamaha Phase One Endurance GBR Yamaha YZF-R1 SBK 16 points 10 10 Suzuki InfiniTeam FRA Suzuki GSX-R1000 SPR 15 points

Rossi set for 100th MotoGP appearance in Turkey Istanbul, Turkey Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi reaches another special milestone in his illustrious career this weekend as he contests his 100th consecutive premier-class race in the Grand Prix of Turkey. The Italian and his team-mate Colin Edwards travel to the Istanbul Park circuit, located 300 kilometres north west of the capital city of Ankara, looking to build on tentative first impressions of the track from last year, when they finished second and seventh respectively in a race won by Marco Melandri. The third round of the current season will also be Rossi’s 160th appearance in all classes since making his 125cc debut in Malaysia in 1996. So far he has amassed an incredible tally of 80 victories, his latest coming just over two weeks ago in the Grand Prix of Qatar; a triumph that also moved the 27-year-old level with Mick Doohan on 54 premier-class wins, leaving him second only to the legendary Giacomo Agostini, on 68. The Istanbul Park circuit was designed by famed German architect Hermann Tilke, the man behind the Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai circuits, and was used for the first time by the MotoGP World Championship last October. The spectacular 5.378 kilometre track features fourteen turns – eight lefts and six rights – and like Phillip Island it has the unusual characteristic of running anti-clockwise. Like the Losail circuit in Qatar, several of the Istanbul track’s corners are based on famous bends at other circuits, such as the ‘Senna Esses’ at Sao Paolo, the ‘Spoon Curve’ at Suzuka and the ‘Eau Rouge’ at Spa. Spectators have ideal facilities to enjoy the action, with seating capacity for around 130,000 fans and an impressive main grandstand which can hold up to 25,000. Sunday’s schedule will start one hour later than usual, with the red lights due to go out for the MotoGP race at 1500h local time (CET +1). Valentino Rossi: Record Breaker As well as taking him level with Mick Doohan in terms of career wins, Valentino Rossi’s victory at Qatar also pulled him to within striking distance of the all-time record Grand Prix points total, currently held by Max Biaggi. Having now scored a total of 2886 points in all classes Rossi will move ahead of Biaggi simply by finishing in ninth place or above this Sunday. However, as always, his only target is victory at one of only two circuits on the current calendar where he has yet to climb onto the top step of the podium in at least one of the three classes. “Qatar was like the start of my championship but we’re already behind in the points and we need to do our best to catch up,” said Rossi. “My rivals are very strong and we need to be able to fight for the win again in Turkey. Istanbul isn’t one of my favourite tracks and we had a really hard time there last year – we had already won the championship and it was difficult to stay 100% focused at that stage of the season, plus we had some set-up problems with the bike. This time we go there feeling fully motivated. “We don’t know how the new bike will react at this circuit; I hope that it will go well and that we won’t have any vibration problems. There are some fantastic fast corners so if the bike is working well it could be great fun to ride there. We tested again after Qatar and we made some improvements, and although we still haven’t completely solved our problems hopefully even if they do reappear at some stage, we’re going to be able to cope with them better now.” Colin Edwards: Hard work will pay off Colin Edwards is keen to get to Turkey this weekend as he aims to convert the fast and consistent pace he has shown during pre-season testing and Grand Prix practice sessions into a solid race result. Eleventh and ninth place finishes from the first two rounds have not been a true reflection of the Texan’s efforts this year and he is keen to turn things around at a circuit he admits he struggled to get to grips with last season. “I have to say I wasn’t too enamoured with the track when we rode it last October but I was busy trying to adapt to a new riding style at the time and it didn’t make life easier,” says Edwards. “This time my riding style is sorted out but we still have a few problems with the bike so we’ll have to see how it goes. I was very disappointed with the way things went in Qatar but it has been nice to have an extra weekend off over Easter to mull things over and I can’t wait to get out and put it right on the track. “So far this season we’ve been strong in practice – if anything just struggling a little bit to make the step up on a qualifying tyre but in general the pace on race tyres has been good. We were unlucky at Jerez and I was really confident of a good result in Qatar but we came up against a few problems in the race that hadn’t bothered us in practice. The day of tests after the race gave us some good data to work from and hopefully things run smoothly from day one in Turkey.” Davide Brivio: An interesting challenge Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio sees this weekend’s race as the ideal opportunity to measure early development of the 2006 version YZR-M1 machine at another challenging and demanding venue. After overcoming initial problems in Qatar to end the weekend with a victory for Valentino, the Italian is hoping for more of the same from his team in Turkey and expects the timing of this year’s race to favour a more fruitful outcome than last October’s event at the same circuit. “Last year Istanbul Park was one of the circuits where we had the most difficulties but that Grand Prix was the penultimate of the season, when everything was already won,” explains Brivio. “It will be interesting to see how we go this time around, with the race at the beginning of the year and coming at a time when we really need to get some points for both riders. “It will be a challenging weekend because we still have to fix the problems that we have had with the 2006 version of the YZR-M1. We will test again on Monday in Istanbul after the race, in order to further try to improve the bike. Despite these issues, we showed in Qatar that we can already be competitive and now we have to take that to Turkey. Valentino’s win has given the whole team and the engineers a real boost and the motivation is definitely there to try to win again in Turkey.” Technically speaking: Anrea Zugna on Istanbul Like all Herman Tilke tracks, Istanbul Park possesses a wide variety of corners and the challenge is further enhanced by plenty of gradients, with the track built on four different ground levels. However, by far the most exciting feature of the layout is turn eleven – a fifth gear bend that is taken at speeds approaching 270km/h, making it easily the fastest corner in the MotoGP World Championship. Combined with some of the tightest chicanes on the calendar, the key to set-up at Istanbul Park is about making compromises. “Istanbul is a tricky circuit because it has some of the fastest corners in the world combined with some of the slowest,” explains Andrea Zugna, Colin Edwards’ Data Engineer. “In turn eleven you need good stability at high speed to give the rider the confidence he needs to attack the corner, but from turn twelve to the end of the lap you have three very slow chicanes which require good agility; so you have to find a balanced set-up between those two characteristics. “This track is also unique because of the changes of elevation. For example turn one dips downhill before going immediately up again, creating a lot of compression on the front forks. The rider’s skill is also very important because there is only really one racing line and they must find it – especially through the three consecutive lefts in the middle of the lap, where it is also very bumpy. It is important that they have confidence in the front through here. Last year Colin struggled a little because it was the first time he used his new riding style but his pace in practice was good and his fastest lap came towards the end of the race so we know the data is good. Hopefully it will make life a little easier this weekend!” 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: 159 (99 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 Istanbul Lap Record: Marco Melandri (Honda) 2005 – 1’53.111 Istanbul Best Lap: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005 – 1’52.334 2005 Results: 1. Marco Melandri (Honda) 41’44.139 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +1.513 3. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +6.873 7. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +29.255