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

MotoGP to experience the delights of Turkey this weekend Coming hot on heels of the desert trip to Qatar, the third Grand Prix of the 2006 MotoGP season takes place this weekend at the exciting Istanbul Park Circuit. The Grand Prix of Turkey appears on the World Championship calendar for only the second time, having debuted with great success in 2005. As in Qatar, this third Grand Prix of the season will see some changes in schedule due to the time difference factor (GMT +3). In both the Friday and Saturday practice sessions there will be a delay of 1 hour in relation to the normal programme. Sunday’s 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP races will take place at 12pm, 1.15pm and 3pm local time respectively, to coincide with their traditional timeslots in the rest of Europe. Loris Capirossi leads the MotoGP classification after the first two races of the season, the first time that both he and his Ducati team have been in such a position. However, works Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa are hot on Capirossi’s heels, the former on a spectacular run of consecutive podium finishes and the latter one of the breakthrough rookies thus far this season. Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi broke his 2006 duck at the last race in Losail, winning his first race of the season and adding twenty-five points to his two-point tally from race one. The charismatic Italian will be looking to add to his score in Istanbul, one of the only MotoGP tracks on which he has not won. Spaniard Toni Elias has the chance to build on his promising start to the season, and can move his way up from fifth in the standings with another good result in Turkey. Completing the top seven in the overall classification are two riders with a winning pedigree at the Istanbul Circuit. Casey Stoner, so impressive with pole position in Qatar and last year’s 250cc winner at the Turkish track, faces his final opportunity to become the youngest MotoGP winner in history. Marco Melandri, on the other hand, is out for a repeat performance of his 2005 MotoGP win in Turkey, a victory which was his first in the premier class. In 250cc, Jorge Lorenzo has the chance to make it three wins in a row this weekend. The Spanish rider who went so long without a victory finally looks unstoppable this season, although riders of the calibre of Andrea Dovizioso, a resurgent Roberto Locatelli and team-mate Hector Barbera still have the Spaniard within their sights. Likewise, Alvaro Bautista is on a winning streak in 125cc. Breaking the long spell without a consecutive winner in the lower cylinder class, Bautista heads Mika Kallio in the standings, at the scene of a last lap crash which saw the Finn’s title hopes evaporate last season. Mattia Pasini, Sergio Gadea and Lukas Pesek will be wanting to close the gap on Bautista after his victories in Jerez and Qatar. A key difference between this year’s race and that of 2005 will be the climate. MotoGP last visited Turkey in October, and the move to a late-April Grand Prix should bring elevated temperatures more favourable to teams and riders, although there is a possibility of isolated spring showers. The Grand Prix of Turkey takes place on Sunday April 30th at the Istanbul Park Circuit.

Southern Suzuki SuperPair is Best Deal Ever Offered to Motorcycle Fans BRASELTON, GA The best deal ever offered to motorcycle fans is now available! The Southern Suzuki SuperPair ticket combo is just $99 and offers three-day admission, paddock access, parking, a fan ride and a souvenir T-shirt at two key events on the AMA Superbike schedule The Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals Aug. 18-20 at Virginia International Raceway and the Suzuki Superbike Showdown presented by Makita Sept. 1-3 at Road Atlanta. This marks the first time two AMA promoters M1 Entertainment and Road Atlanta have collaborated on an event combo ticket. Fans will save more than $50 by purchasing the Southern Suzuki SuperPair ticket package. “With Suzuki as the title sponsor of both events, we wanted to give fans an opportunity to attend both races,” said Brian Skuza, General Manager of Road Atlanta. “The Southern Suzuki SuperPair offers a huge discount from the regular ticket price for each event, so we hope to attract record crowds to watch the AMA championship battles develop at both events. Both events are Superbike doubleheader weekends, and with three AMA support races at each venue, that’s 10 AMA championship points races at the two venues less than 10 bucks per race! “M1 Entertainment is very excited about the opportunity to team up with Road Atlanta in offering our race fans a fantastic new ticket package to attend both venues,” said Cameron Gray of M1 Entertainment, promoter of the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals. “Our hope is to not only grow awareness of these two venues but also grow the overall sport of AMA road racing. We hope this promotion will spark more fans to come out and see what AMA road racing is all about.” Southern Suzuki SuperPair tickets are now on sale online at www.roadatlanta.com or by calling 800-849-RACE. The deadline to order the Southern Suzuki SuperPair tickets is Aug. 14.

KAWASAKI HEAD FOR ASIAN ADVENTURE After a welcome two-week break following the Qatar Grand Prix, the Kawasaki Racing Team head across the Bosporus to Asia for this weekends Grand Prix of Turkey, at the impressive Istanbul Park circuit. Built at a cost of 155 million Euros, the Istanbul Park circuit was designed by renowned German architect, Hermann Tilke, who was also responsible for the Grand Prix circuits at Sepang in Malaysia and Shanghai in China. The anti-clockwise track packs 14 turns – eight lefts and six rights – into it’s undulating 5.340km length, with a number of the turns based on classic corners from other racetracks around the world, such as Suzuka’s Spoon Curve and the infamous Eau Rouge at the Belgian circuit of Spa Francorchamps. While last year’s inaugural Turkish Grand Prix was held in October, when temperatures where low, the move to a late April date for this years race should result in the higher temperatures more suited to the Kawasaki Racing Team’s Bridgestone tyres. Shinya Nakano suffered grip and handling problems during a hard fought race for tenth place last year in Istanbul, but the 28-year-old Japanese rider returns this year confident that the new Ninja ZX-RR will allow him to significantly improve on his result from six months ago. Nakano’s Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, has had a difficult start to his debut MotoGP season, after injury and a crash meant he was unable to finish in the first two races of the season. The 25-year-old Frenchman rates the Istanbul Park circuit as one of his favourites, and he travels to Turkey determined to secure his first MotoGP World Championship points this weekend. Shinya Nakano: #56 “Last year we had some problems at Istanbul Park. We were struggling to find grip and the bike didn’t turn as quickly as some of the more technical corners demanded. But this year I think we go back to Istanbul in a much stronger position. The new Ninja ZX-RR should be well suited to the track layout, with it’s combination of technical and high speed turns, and we know that Bridgestone have worked hard over the winter to eliminate some of the problems we experienced last season. I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike again after a two-week break, and I’m confident that we can put in a strong performance in Istanbul this weekend.” Randy de Puniet: #17 “At both Jerez and Qatar we reached a good level with the bike, but luck was against us and I was unable to finish either race. So, my first priority this weekend in Istanbul is to reach the chequered flag and score my first MotoGP championship points. The Istanbul Park circuit is one of the best on the calendar. It is quite technical, but then you have high-speed turns as well, like the incredible turn 11 halfway down the back straight. You need to commit to this turn, because backing off the throttle too early can lose you a lot of speed, and time, in the run down to the final chicane. It’s a real test of nerve! I’m looking forward to the weekend ahead and, with the Ninja ZX-RR, I think we have a chance of a good result in Istanbul.”

2 good 4th places for Abe Norick Abe did two very beautiful races in Valencia, finishing fourth of both heats, and the Japanese star is now 8th overall in the World Championship standings. Good weekend for the Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone with two great results for Norifumi Abe, and also two 12th positions for Shinichi Nakatomi. It is a great occasion for both Japanese riders to earn important points for the World Championship. It is the first time that Nakatomi earns points in the Superbike Championship. Lorenzo Lanzi (who replaced Sébastien Gimbert while the French rider was racing the Le Mans 24 Hours) was not very lucky as he injured his foot during practice. Despite trying hard, the Italian rider from Firenze could not obtain the results he was looking for. “I am very happy with our progression,” says Norifumi Abe. “Our engine is now more efficient and this is good for the future. I had some grip problems in the first race and then I decided to use a harder back tyre for the second heat (going from soft to medium). Of course I am a little disappointed with the first race as I was passed in the last laps of the race. But overall this weekend is very positive because from now on I know I can fight for the podium.” “I am progressing,” explains Shinichi Nakatomi. “These points are important for me. Our Yamaha R1 is better and better. I am still discovering the Superbike World Championship and the level is very high. Our evolution is very positive and we go in the right direction.” “This weekend has been very good for us,” says team-manager Martial Garcia. It shows that we are working in the right direction. Our bikes are good. Our period of doubt is now over. After a lot of thinking and many test sessions, we now have the right settings for the chassis and the engine. The tests at Misano and the races in Valencia confirmed that we are going in the right direction. I would like to thank all the people who believe in us, our riders and our staff.” Race 1: 1- Bayliss (Ducati), 2- Corser (Suzuki), 3- Lanzi (Ducati), 4-Abe (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone), 5- Haga (Yamaha)”¦ 12- Nakatomi (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone) Race 2: 1- Bayliss (Ducati), 2- Corser (Suzuki), 3- Lanzi (Ducati), 4-Abe (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone), 5- Haga (Yamaha)”¦ 12- Nakatomi (Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone) World Championship standings: 1- Bayliss (125 points ), 2- Corser (103), 3- Toseland (86), 4- Haga (64), 5- Barros (62)”¦ 8- Abe (40)”¦ 20- Nakatomi (8) 4h round of the Supersport World Championship: May 7th at Monza (Italy)