FIM Supersport World Championship Valencia, Spain April 22 Race Results: 1. Sebastien CHARPENTIER (Hon CBR600RR), 23 laps, 38:12.713 2. Kevin CURTAIN (Yam YZF-R6), -6.537 seconds 3. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Hon CBR600RR), -9.454 seconds 4. Broc PARKES (Yam YZF-R6), -11.750 seconds 5. Robbin HARMS (Hon CBR600RR), -17.007 seconds 6. Yoann TIBERIO (Hon CBR600RR), -19.548 seconds 7. Javier FORES (Yam YZF-R6), -22.400 seconds 8. Massimo ROCCOLI (Yam YZF-R6), -22.513 seconds 9. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Yam YZF-R6), -24.708 seconds 10. Barry VENEMAN (Suz GSX-R600), -25.317 seconds 11. Josh BROOKES (Duc 749R), -27.194 seconds 12. William DE ANGELIS (Hon CBR600RR), -31.740 seconds 13. Tatu LAUSLEHTO (Hon CBR600RR), -37.082 seconds 14. Sebastien LE GRELLE (Hon CBR600RR), -41.951 seconds 15. Tom TUNSTALL (Hon CBR600RR), -42.816 seconds 16. Greg LEBLANC (Hon CBR600RR), -48.139 seconds 17. Maxime BERGER (Kaw ZX-6RR), -48.715 seconds 18. Alessio ALDROVANDI (Hon CBR600RR), -55.319 seconds 19. Alessio VELINI (Yam YZF-R6), -55.964 seconds 20. Miguel PRAIA (Hon CBR600RR), -59.054 seconds 21. Chris PERIS (Yam YZF-R6), -66.039 seconds 25. Mauro SANCHINI (Yam YZF-R6), -7 laps, DNF, mechanical 26. David FORNER GARCIA (Yam YZF-R6), -10 laps, DNF, mechanical 27. Andrea BERTA (Yam YZF-R6), -11 laps, DNF, mechanical 28. Kenny NOYES (Yam YZF-R6), -12 laps, DNF, crash (twice) 29. Kai Borre ANDERSEN (Suz GSX-R600), -14 laps, DNF, mechanical 30. Johan STIGEFELT (Hon CBR600RR), -16 laps, DNF, crash 31. Christian ZAISER (Duc 749R), -19 laps, DNF, crash 32. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR600RR), -20 laps, DNF, crash 33. Sebastien CHAMBON (Kaw ZX-6RR), -20 laps, DNF, mechanical More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: PERFECT CHARPENTIER TAKES WIN NUMBER THREE Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) scored his third race win of the 2006 season after 23-laps of the Valencia racetrack, adding another race victory to his perfect score of three pole positions earned in qualifying. His win extends his championship lead to 15 points over second place Valencia rider, Kevin Curtain, with Charpentier now on a perfect 75 points. Charpentier’s young team-mate, Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) fell on the fourth lap of the race, losing a points’ scoring opportunity after his fall. He now lies 11th in the championship table, with 16 points. The race was held in dry and warm conditions, a great relief to all after the day had dawned wet and overcast. Charpentier made use of the dry track to set a new lap record, 1’38.664, on his second time around the 4.005km circuit. Ronald Ten Kate – Team manager “It was a very good race from Sebastien once again, he pulled a little gap almost immediately and then kept control of the race. It was not easy in the hot conditions and the track had a lot less grip than during qualifying, as we can see the big gap in the lap times. But still Sebastien managed to make a perfect weekend. He was on pole with a new best lap and he also won the race with a new lap record. You can’t get any better than that. So thanks to him for providing such a consistent weekend again. I felt sorry for Kenan because he proved that he was on the pace again but lost the front early in the race; just bad luck really. It is another part of the learning curve his is on. It’s never easy to move up from a lower class to where we are, and I am quite sure he will pick up his racing again at Monza, demonstrate how fast he is there, and provide a good result for us.” Sébastien Charpentier Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (1st Championship Position: 1st with 75 points) “The race went just perfect, just like I had planned. I tried to gain as much of an advantage as I could, as quickly as I could, so I could control the race without risking too much at the end. The bike was perfect; the tyres were perfect until the very last lap. I knew after the test we had some advantage here, so I felt strong straight away. I am looking forward for Monza. I want to thanks Pirelli and the team, as usually all the support came in the best way possible.” Kenan Sofuoglu Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (DNF Championship Position: 11th with 16 points) “I don’t have too much to say. It seems like everything was going well but I guess I pushed too much on that lap and I crashed. In the second corner I lost control of the front and found myself on the ground. I was trying to stay with Fujiwara but I should have controlled my pace at the beginning and then tried to push towards the end.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: CHARPENTIER ONCE MORE MR PERFECT FOR HONDA Sebastien Charpentier (Winston ten Kate Honda) used all the pace he had demonstrated in taking his third straight pole position of the 2006 season to take his third straight WSS race win. He led the entire 23-lap Valencia race in masterful fashion, breaking the lap record on the second lap. His new best of 1’38.664 was set on a dry track, but one which was not in perfect condition after overnight and morning rains had fallen. Charpentier is still the clear championship leader, sitting on 75 points to second place man Kevin Curtain’s 60. In the first three races of the 2006 season, Curtain has finished second to Charpentier on each occasion. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) joined Charpentier on the Valencia podium having scored third despite the pain in his recently injured left wrist. He battled over second place with Curtain for some time but had to ease off after ten laps or so, thanks to the pain from his injury. Fujiwara’s team-mate Yoann Tiberio (Team Megabike Honda CBR600RR) settled for a seventh place finish at the end of a tough race for the WSS rookie, but he only gave up on his battle with fellow Honda rider Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports CBR600RR) when his tyres lost optimum grip. Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) was in contention for a top five finish when he fell on lap four, losing the front on the entrance to turn two. For Charpentier, Valencia was another flawless weekend, one of a few in his championship defence so far. “The race went just perfect, just like I had planned,” said the Frenchman. “I tried to gain as much of an advantage as I could, as quickly as I could, so I could control the race without risking too much at the end. The bike was perfect; the tyres were perfect until the very last lap. I knew after the test we had some advantage here, so I felt strong straight away.” Fujiwara’s third place delivers him his first points score of the year, and he is in tenth place overall, on 16 points. “I had a good feeling with the bike today,” explained Fujiwara, who had qualified third fastest. “But, after ten laps, I had a lot of pain from my injured wrist and so I decided to exercise control and not take a risk. After two races with no points I took important points here.” Tiberio’s race was conducted at a high pace at the beginning, but tailed off towards the end as tyre wear played its part. Nonetheless, the French rookie is now ranked fifth overall, with 22 points. “I had a good start and I pushed hard for 18 laps,” affirmed Tiberio, “but after that the rear and front tyres started to slide and as I am not experienced with the tyres in Supersport I closed the gas a little so I would not crash. I don’t like the Valencia track much, but today I had a good finish, so I can think of the other races now.” After his fall and no score Sofuoglu sits 11th in the standings, still on the 16 points he earned for third place in the opening round at Qatar. “I don’t have too much to say,” stated the young Turkish rider. “It seems like everything was going well but I guess I pushed too much on that lap and I crashed. In the second corner I lost control of the front and found myself on the ground. I was trying to stay with Fujiwara but I should have controlled my pace at the beginning and then tried to push towards the end.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha scored its 100th podium finish in the Supersport World Championship with a second place for Yamaha Motor Germany’s Kevin Curtain in Valencia today. Curtain’s podium makes Yamaha the first manufacturer to reach that milestone in a class in which it has consistently been strong. Massimo Meregalli’s win at Misano in 1997 was the manufacturer’s first podium finish in the class and since then Yamaha has gone on to win three manufacturer and a rider’s world title with Yamaha Motor Germany’s Jörg Teuchert in 2000. Australian rider Curtain made a poor start in today’s race, ending the first lap in fourth place but fighting his way through to second at the flag. After moving into second on lap four Curtain had something of a lonely race, six seconds behind race winner Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) but three ahead of third placed Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda). In a good day for Yamaha Motor Germany, Broc Parkes came home fourth in what is only the third race for the latest model YZF-R6. With showers throughout the weekend limiting the amount of dry practice time both Yamaha’s Australian riders failed to find a perfect set-up for what turned out to be a dry race. Having worked hard to move through the pack, Curtain found his rear tyre was unable to provide the grip needed to close down Charpentier and was forced to settle for what was his third second place of the season. Parkes meanwhile had a problem of brake fluid leaking onto his footpegs after the top of the rear brake cylinder was displaced by the rider’s boot. Despite not affecting the performance of his machine, Parkes understandably rode cautiously as he was unaware of the source of the fluid. Yamaha’s third-generation YZF-R6 was well represented in the race, with six machines in the top ten and several young riders catching the eye. Nineteen-year-old wild-card Jordi Torres equaled his fine qualifying position with fifth in the race, while fellow Spaniard Xavi Fores, 20, ran second in the early laps but faded to eighth at the flag. Yamaha Team Italia riders Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Vizziello finished just behind Fores, ending the day ninth and tenth respectively. The race was led from lights to flag by world champion Charpentier to extend his lead over Curtain to 15 points in the championship. Parkes moves up to fourth in the points with three of the 13 races completed with Fores and Roccoli sharing fifth place alongside Yoann Tiberio (Honda). Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) “I didn’t get the best of starts and by the time I made it through to second Sebastien had got away. I tried hard to catch him but I’d worked my rear tyre too hard and didn’t have enough grip. I’m happy enough with the result though. Our bike is still developing and we lost a lot of set-up time here due to the rain. Fair play to Sebastien though, he was the best rider today and deserved to win. Hopefully we’ll have a new specification engine at Monza, if not then by Silverstone, and Pirelli will be supplying a new front tyre which we have tested and works much better with our bike.” Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) “I suppose I got some points today but I’m not that happy. I realised in the middle of the race that there was some fluid leaking onto the bike and I thought it was maybe oil from the rear shock. It turned out it was the cap that had come off the rear brake master cylinder, but it was always in the back of my mind that something could maybe go on the tyre, so I had to hold back a bit.” Jordi Torres (Speed Moto) “I was very nervous at the start of the race and in the first corner a lot of riders passed me. I regained my concentration and started to pass a few other riders. At the end of the race my tyre was pretty much finished but I tried to control the situation I was in and scored fifth place. I am very pleased about that because this is my first race in this championship, which is run at a very high level.” Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) “I rode quite nervously in the opening laps but by lap five I had settled down and was able to make up some positions. With about five laps to go the bike seemed to be straining a bit and although I was still able to have a good battle with Fores I could not quite pass him. We definitely improved our set-up from yesterday and I am quite happy with the result, although I know we must still work harder.” Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) “I was having a good race in front of Massimo until close to the end, when I lost some grip at the front. I had a lot of front end slides and twice saved a crash on my knee. Massimo was able to pass on one of these moments and when I looked behind and saw no-one close I backed off and took a safe finish.” More, from a press release issued by Tom Tunstall Racing: Hard Charging Tunstall Secures Points in Valencia Race Tom Tunstall achieved his goal of securing more championship points in the third round of the World Supersport Championship in Valencia with a brilliant riding display that saw him go from 24th place on the grid to 15th place in the race. Onboard the Hardinge – Ice Valley Motorsport Honda CBR600RR, Tom was unfazed by the level of competition in the highly regarded championship and fought lap after lap to secure his second point-scoring finish in three attempts. With ever changing weather conditions typifying the Valencia race weekend, Tom and the team worked flat out to gain the optimum set-up for the Hardinge – Ice Valley Motorsport Honda CBR600RR. The key to Tom’s success was down to a brilliant start followed up by a committed first lap that immediately saw him gain a handful of positions and move him in to a point scoring finish. From there, Tom set an impressive pace and fought hard with Norwegian rider Kai Anderson and American Kenny Noyes, but whilst Noyes crashed out, Tom kept his composure before becoming embroiled in a tough battle with Sebastian Le Grelle for the last of the championship points. “I made an absolutely mega start and gained a load of places into the first corner. Because of my position on the grid I was on the inside line going in and as a result I didn’t get the best drive to turn two and actually lost a couple of places. In the opening laps the bike felt great and I was able to do some really good times, but after about five laps my tyres started to wear and I was unable to push as hard because the rear was starting to slide too much.” explained Tom “I had some tough battles with Anderson and Noyes, but when I lost the side grip from the rear tyre it was difficult to stay with them because as soon as I touched the throttle the rear started to slide. With about 12 laps to go Le Grelle came past, he clearly had more grip than me on the exit of the corners but I was definitely faster going in to and through the turns, but I just couldn’t find a way past.” he said. “All in all I’m happy with the weekend. We came here for points and that’s what we got and I feel that as a team we’ve learned a lot, which is important. There are still some areas in which we can improve, but for a new team, we’re working well. Now I’ll be aiming to continue the momentum next time out at Monza.” he continued. The World Supersport Championship now heads to the ultra fast and spectacular Monza circuit in Northern Italy where Tom and the Hardinge – Ice Valley Motorsport team will be aiming to build on their strong opening results and secure more championship points.

Lockhart Phillips USA AMA Formula Xtreme Championship Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama April 22 Provisional Race Results: 1. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6) 17 laps 2. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR) -6.707 seconds 3. Kurtis Roberts (Suz GSX-R600) -11.681 seconds 4. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR) -13.836 seconds 5. Danny Eslick (Suz GSX-R600) -21.698 seconds 6. Eric Wood (Hon CBR600RR) -36.154 seconds 7. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR) -36.209 seconds 8. Brian Stokes (Yam YZF-R6) -37.218 seconds 9. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R600) -43.214 seconds 10. Ryan Elleby (Hon CBR600RR) -43.922 seconds 11. Nicky Moore (Yam YZF-R6) -49.987 seconds 12. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R600) -50.249 seconds 13. Ty Howard (Hon CBR600RR) -50.760 seconds 14. Chris “Opie” Caylor (Suz GSX-R600) -50.955 seconds 15. Tony Meiring (Suz GSX-R600) -60.579 seconds 16. Keith Marshall (Suz GSX-R600), -64.427 seconds 17. Tyler McDonald (Yam YZF-R6), -71.515 seconds 18. Armando Ferrer (Kaw ZX-6RR), -85.532 seconds 19. James Kerker (Hon CBR600RR), -85.806 seconds 20. Victor Chirinos (Kaw ZX-6RR), -86.392 seconds 21. Marco Martinez (Yam YZF-R6), -91.042 seconds 22. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, mechanical 23. Kenny Carlota (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap, -51.078 seconds 24. Garrett Carter (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, -72.371 seconds 25. Jeremiah Johnson (Suz GSX-R600), -2 laps, crash 26. Alastair Seeley (Yam YZF-R6), -3 laps 27. Nate Hester (Yam YZF-R6), -3 laps, -29.228 seconds, DNF, crash 28. Mike Hale (Buell XB9R), -4 laps, mechanical 29. Trey Yonce (Yam YZF-R6), -14 laps 30. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R6), 0 laps, DNF Provisional Series Point Standings 1. DiSalvo, 67 points 2. Hayes, 64 points 3. Gobert, 52 points 4. Wood, 48 points 5. Young, 44 points 6. Elleby, 41 points 7. Stokes, 38 points 8. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), 37 points 9. Bostrom, 36 points 10. Meiring, 35 points 11. Roberts, 29 points 12. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR600RR), 27 points 13. Eslick, 26 points 14. TIE, Caylor/Chirinos, 25 points More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: ROBERTS ON PODIUM, MAY ON FRONT ROW AT BIRMINGHAM Kurtis Roberts picked up a podium result in his Team M4 EMGO Suzuki debut on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park. The two-time Formula Xtreme champion quickly diced his way up into third in the 17-lap FX final and held the position to the checkered flag. Despite Roberts’ relative unfamiliarity with the team’s GSX-R600-based FX racer and the Pirelli tires, a stellar effort all around allowed the combination to jell quickly enough to run up front this weekend. Roberts said, “I’ve never doubted how fast I can ride a motorcycle, you just need to have the right people behind you to be able to show it. With all the inclement weather it was hard for us to make improvements prior to the race and know they would be good. We were fighting having less track time than the others but that’s what we had to do. The team was awesome. My hats off to all the guys on the team and at Pirelli. It worked out. Sure, we could have gotten two places higher, but I think we would have needed a few more tests together if we were going to run a pace quick enough to win this weekend. It was a good beginning.” Geoff May put in an impressive day’s work himself, earning front-row grid positions for Sunday’s Superstock and Supersport contests. The Georgian set the fourth fastest time aboard his GSX-R1000 in the Superstock qualifying session, registering a quick time of 1:27.104. He then went out and turned a 1:28.732 aboard his Supersport-spec GSX-R600 to claim the outside spot on the front row for that class as well. Teammate Michael Barnes wasn’t far behind. Even though he was put on a Supersport bike this weekend in order to provide him with as an opportunity to get back into the flow while recovering from his Daytona knee injury, Barnes has already proven to be a contender in the class. “The knee is doing real well,” said Barnes who posted a best time of 1:29.391. “Right now I’m icing it after I get done riding, but it’s not really bothering me on the bike at all and I’m just kind of getting back into the groove of things. I haven’t been on the bike since Daytona so it was six weeks of just riding the stationary bicycle and doing rehab and getting the knee strong.” “Riding the Supersport bike is working out well,” he continued. “It’s allowing me to get back into it without as much pressure — just concentrating on one bike instead of two. I wouldn’t have wanted to let the team down if I wasn’t ready and they wanted to have all their bases covered, so it was probably the best thing to do for the team.” Shea Fouchek made strides on Saturday, cutting more than a second off his Friday best. The Texan racing in a learning season qualified on the fifth row for Sunday’s 17-lap Supersport race, setting the 19 th fastest time at 1:29.391. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki will look to add to their trophy collection in Sunday afternoon’s 60k Supersport and Superstock finals.

AMA Superbike Championship Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama April 21 Race Results: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 28 laps 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), -10.723 seconds 3. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), -16.366 seconds 4. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), -27.630 seconds 5. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), -27.965 seconds 6. Neil Hodgson, Dun 999R), -30.428 seconds 7. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), -44.866 seconds, crash 8. John Haner, (Suz GSX-R1000), -44.992 seconds 9. Ben Bostrom, (Duc 999R), -46.158 seconds 10. Jason Pridmore, (Suz GSX-R1000), -67.277 seconds 11. Steve Rapp, (Suz GSX-R1000), -76.879 seconds 12. Larry Pegram, (Hon CBR1000RR) -79.329 seconds 13. Pascal Picotte, (Yam YZF-R1), -82.794 seconds 14. Roger Hayden, (Kaw ZX-10R), -1 lap, crash 15. Clint McBain, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -1.781 seconds 16. Cory West, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -6.892 seconds 17. Jason Curtis, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -10.923 seconds 18. Eric Wood, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -26.454 seconds 19. Akira Tamitsuji, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -33.531 seconds 20. Kevin Lacombe, (Yam ZZF-R1), -1 lap, -33.567 seconds 21. Brian Stokes, (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, -49.000 seconds 22. Taylor Knapp, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -51.743 seconds 23. Andi Notman, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -51.776 seconds 24. Brad Hendry, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -62.777 seconds 25. Scott Carpenter, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -63.189 seconds 26. Michael Sanchez, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -63.570 seconds 27. Dominic Jones, (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, -75.606 seconds 28. James Stroud, (Suz GSX-R1000), -2 laps 29. Jordan Szoke, (Kaw ZX-10R), -3 laps 30. Jake Holden, (Suz GSX-R1000), -5 laps 31. Francis Martin, (Suz GSX-R1000), -6 laps 32. James Kerker, (Hon CBR1000RR), -10 laps 33. Mike Sullivan (Yam YZF-R1), -21 laps Provisional AMA Superbike Championship Point Standings (after 2 of 19 races): 1. TIE, Mladin/Spies, 70 points 3. Duhamel, 56 points 4. TIE, Zemke/Hodgson/Tommy Hayden, 52 points 7. Yates, 49 points 8. Ben Bostrom, 46 points 9. Pridmore, 43 points 10. West, 34 points 11. Wood, 33 points 12. TIE, Pegram/Tamitsuji, 29 points 14. Roger Hayden, 26 points 15. TIE, Haner/Stokes, 23 points More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies and Mat Mladin raced their GSX-R1000s to a one-two victory at today’s Barber AMA Superbike Championship second round in Alabama. Spies – who now ties for the series lead with Mladin – led the field and set the pace until Mladin moved ahead on the fifth lap and stayed out front until the 16th lap when he was held up by a lapped rider, allowing Spies to take the lead back. After posting a race-fastest time of 1:25.568 on the second of 28 laps, Spies pulled ahead until a mistake on the fifth lap allowed Mladin to catch up. But in the closing stages, the six-time AMA Champion was forced off the track by a lapped rider: He kept the machine upright but lost valuable time, eventually finishing 10 seconds behind. Said Spies: “This is an actual win. I know he ran off the track, but I ran with him the whole race.” Mladin said: “It was pretty hairy when I went off in the grass. It reminded me of my motocross days 20 years ago…” Third Yoshimura team rider Aaron Yates finished in eighth position as Jordan Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore rounded out the top 10. Spies and Mladin go head-to-head again tomorrow (Sunday) for the second race of the double-header. Barber 1st Superbike Event: 1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 3. Jake Zemke (Honda) 4. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 5. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) 6. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 7. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 8. John Haner (Suzuki) 9. Ben Bostrom (Ducati) 10. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: HODGSON AND BOSTROM BATTLE THROUGH CHALLENGING DAY IN BIRMINGHAM Leeds (Alabama): Neil Hodgson and Ben Bostrom had a difficult day on the Parts Unlimited Ducati 999s in Birmingham on Saturday. Hodgson finished sixth in the 28-lap race, gaining several positions after a poor start. Ben Bostrom was ninth as he continued to feel ill in what has been a challenging weekend for the former series champion. Hodgson ran in a group of three riders that fought for fourth place in the race won by Ben Spies. Although he was not happy with his result, Neil did gain valuable championship points and is now tied for fourth in the standings. “We made up some spots, but that was the limit. I’m disappointed and we’re going to try some things for tomorrow. Unfortunately, with the bike we had today with me riding on this track, those lap times were about as fast as we could go. I got a bad start and lost some positions at the beginning. We were well off the pace it took to win the race. We expect to do much better than that. We’ll never give up, though. Tomorrow, we’ll make some changes to the bike and look to find some time.” Ben Bostrom was ninth in the first race in a weekend that has seen him nauseous. “I felt really bad again today and it made it hard to race for 28 laps. It’s no excuse for where we finished, though because I wanted to do better and fire up the fans in the Ducati Corner that were cheering us on. We raced with some guys out there and I would have liked to beaten them to the line. (Aaron) Yates looked a bit like me out there, struggling. Tomorrow, we’ll add more transfer to the rear and hope to do better.” Tomorrow’s 28-lap race begins at 3 PM local time.

Pro Honda Oils AMA Supersport Championship Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama April 22 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:27.081 2. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R6) 1:27.306 3. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R600) 1:27.902 4. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R600) 1:28.732 5. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:29.104 6. Michael Barnes (Suz GSX-R600) 1:29.391 7. Damon Buckmaster (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:29.506 8. Pascal Picotte (Yam YZF-R6) 1:29.652 9. Danny Eslick (Suz GSX-R600) 1:30.440 10. Francis Martin (Suz GSX-R600) 1:30.474 11. Chris “Opie” Caylor (Suz GSX-R600) 1:30.662 12. Ryan Elleby (Hon CBR600RR) 1:30.818 13. Clint McBain (Suz GSX-R600) 1:31.041 14. Nicky Moore (Yam YZF-R6) 1:31.135 15. Kevin Lacombe (Yam YZF-R6) 1:31.214 16. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R600) 1:31.399 17. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6) 1:31.458 18. Jeffrey Tigert (Hon CBR600RR) 1:31.483 19. Tony Meiring (Suz GSX-R600) 1:31.547 20. Matt Furtek (Suz GSX-R600) 1:31.584 21. Shea Fouchek (Suz GSX-R600) 1:31.693 22. Keith Marshall (Suz GSX-R600) 1:31.776 23. Tyler McDonald (Yam YZF-R6) 1:31.894 24. Garrett Carter (Yam YZF-R6) 1:31.903 25. Alastair Seeley (Yam YZF-R6) 1:32.027 26. Nathan Hester (Yam YZF-R6) 1:32.679 27. Giovanni Rojas (Suz GSX-R600) 1:32.904 28. Barrett Long (Yam YZF-R6) 1:33.194 29. Trey Yonce (Yam YZF-R6) 1:33.536 30. Chris Siglin (Suz GSX-R600) 1:33.566 31. Skip Salenius (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:33.784 32. Shane Kuehler (Yam YZF-R6) 1:33.788 33. Christopher Ancien (Hon CBR600RR) 1:34.070 34. Gustavo Laya (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:34.175 35. Daniel Parkerson (Suz GSX-R600) 1:34.547 36. Michael Morgan (Suz GSX-R600) 1:34.655 37. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R6) 1:34.974 38. Kenny Carlotta (Suz GSX-R600) 1:35.037 39. Tamer Kekhia (Yam YZF-R6) 1:35.910 40. Jessica Zalusky (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:37.158 41. Aaron Eldridge (Yam YZF-R6) 1:37.861 42. Mark Charles Brereton (Yam YZF-R6) 1:38.104

Repsol Lubricants AMA Superstock Championship Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama April 22 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1 LE) 1:26.083 2. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R1 LE) 1:26.174 3. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:26.276 4. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.104 5. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:27.118 6. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.352 7. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.430 8. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:27.445 9. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1 LE) 1:27.686 10. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.700 11. Damon Buckmaster (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:28.060 12. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.157 13. Matt Lynn (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.231 14. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.274 15. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:28.595 16. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.615 17. Tom Kipp (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:28.854 18. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:29.257 19. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:29.362 20. Akira Tamitsuji (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.108 21. Brad Hendry (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.615 22. Bryan West (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.924 23. Michael Sanchez (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.326 24. Randall Kienast (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.663 25. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.686 26. Barry Teasdale (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.801 27. C.R. Gittere (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.897 28. Scott Carpenter (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:32.136 29. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:32.862 30. Dan Wilson (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:32.980 31. Reno Karimian (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:33.750 32. Brad Puetz (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:33.769 33. Robert McLendon (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:34.100 110% of Fast Time: 1:34.692 Did Not Qualify: 34. Johnny Rock Page (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:35.050 35. Kenny Rodriguez (Yam YZF-R1) 1:35.633 36. Ricardo Sune (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:36.047

1. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6), 1:27.925 2. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR), 1:28.330 3. Kurtis Roberts (Suz GSX-R600), 1:28.774 4. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), 1:29.214) 5. Danni Eslick (Suz GSX-R600), 1:29.396 6. Eric Bostom (Yam YZF-R6), 1:29.648 7. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR), 1:29.858 8. Ty Howard (Hon CBR600RR), 1:30.484 9. Eric Wood (Hon CBR600RR), 1:30.639 10. Ryan Elleby (Hon CBR600RR), 1:30.771 11. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R600), 1:30.891 12. Opie Caylor (Suz GSX-R600), 1:30.951 13. Brian Stokes (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.290 14. Tony Meiring (Suz GSX-R600), 1:31.588 15. Garrett Carter (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.804 16. Alastair Seeley (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.293 17. Keith Marshall (Suz GSX-R600), 1:32.378 18. Nicky Moore (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.580 19. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R600), 1:33.133 20. Nate Hester (Yam YZF-R6) 1:33.246 21. Marco Martinez (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.724 22. Tyler McDonald (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.736 23. Victor Chirinos (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:34.103 24. Trey Yonce (Yam YZF-R6), 1:34.702 25. Mike Hale (Buell XB9R), 1:34.921 26. Jeremiah Johnson (Suz GSX-R600), 1:35.475 27. Armando Ferrer (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:35.499 28. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R6), 1:37.016

After meeting with riders during a team test at Barber Motorsports Park late last month, track officials had crews fill in a ravine at the exit of turn one and move 700 linear feet of steel barrier back between 35 and 43 feet, improving run-off room. The project involved cutting back a slope and filling in the ravine with 1500 truckloads of dirt. According to track Operations Supervisor Mark Whitt, the work had to be done at night to avoid disrupting various activities booked on the track during the day. Riders led by Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking requested the meeting and went over track maps with Whitt, prioritizing areas that needed attention, with the majority singling out turn one. Other areas of concern include turn four and turn 13. Whitt said that the turn one gravel trap will be expanded before next season, and changes in turns four and 13 will also be made. “Mr. Barber’s concern for safety is #1,” Whitt said, speaking of track founder George Barber. “He wants this to be a safe track, a track the riders enjoy and want to come back to.” According to Whitt, riders at the test requested the meeting. “They kind of came to me this year,” Whitt said. “It was a learning experience. We want this to be a safe track and we understand that run-off room is the key. We can run around the track a zillion times in a car and still not see what the riders need.” Riders also took the initiative to meet with Infineon Raceway officials during a rained-out AMA team test last month, and officials there have promised to move back the barrier that Vincent Haskovec hit last May.

It was a landmark AMA Superbike qualifying session Saturday morning at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies took his first-ever AMA Superbike pole position, with a time of 1:24.830 on his Tom Houseworth-tuned GSX-R1000, setting a new lap record for the 2.3-mile road course and ending an 11-race streak of pole positions belonging to six-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin. Mladin, Spies’ teammate, qualified second with his 1:24.942 from Friday afternoon’s session, which offered better track conditions, according to Mladin. The last time Mladin did not qualify on pole position was at the 2004 AMA Superbike season finale at Virginia International Raceway, when Miguel Duhamel had pole. Mladin is still the all-time leader in AMA Superbike pole positions with 47 pole positions. Earning the final two spots on the front row were Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden (1:25.670) and Roger Hayden (1:25.792), marking the first time Kawasaki has been on the front row of an AMA Superbike event since 2001, according to AMA Superbike Media Relations Manager Larry Lawrence. It was also the first time ever that Tommy Hayden, who raced Superbikes for Yamaha and Kawasaki previously in his career, had qualified on the AMA Superbike front row. Starting from the second row of the grid for the first of two Superbikes races this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park will be: third Yoshimura Suzuki rider Aaron Yates, American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke and Parts Unlimited Ducati’s Neil Hodgson. Row three will include: Hodgson’s teammate Ben Bostrom, Millennium KWS Suzuki’s John Haner, Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore and Leo Vince/Pegram Racing Honda’s Larry Pegram. Due to the 108% qualifying cut-off, Spies’ time eliminated 10 riders who attempted to qualify for the race, which will now include 34 riders. AMA Superbike Championship Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama April 22 Provisional Overall Qualifying Results: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:24.830 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:24.942 3. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:25.670 4. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:25.792 5. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:26.069 6. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:26.142 7. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:26.191 8. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06) 1:26.205 9. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06) 1:26.572 10. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.043 11. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.316 12. Larry Pegram (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:27.470 13. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.915 14. Pascal Picotte (Yam YZF-R1) 1:27.939 15. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.216 16. Jason Curtis (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.287 17. Francis Martin (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.420 18. Clint McBain (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.756 19. Eric Wood (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.892 20. Matt Lynn (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.933 21. Jordan Szoke (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:29.013 22. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:29.213 23. Brad Hendry (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:29.921 24. Akira Tamitsuji (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.019 25. Kevin Lacombe (Yam YZF-R1) 1:30.091 26. Brian Stokes (Yam YZF-R1) 1:30.190 27. Andi Notman (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.474 28. Mike Sullivan (Yam YZF-R1) 1:30.474 29. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.585 30. Michael Sanchez (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.966 31. James Stroud (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.229 32. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.273 33. James Kerker (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:31.348 34. Scott Carpenter (Suz GSX-R1000) 1;31.526 108% of Fast Time: 1:31.617 Did Not Qualify: 35. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.731 36. C.R. Gittere (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:32.162 37. Marco Martinez (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:32.167 38. Matt Furtek (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:32.893 39. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:32.950 40. Ricardo Sune (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:33.343 41. Victor Chirinos (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:33.571 42. Armando Ferrer (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:33.974 43. Reno Karimian (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:34.671 44. Johnny Rock Page (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:39.323

ALABAMA SPEEDWEEK KICKS OFF AT THIS WEEKEND AT THE BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK (Birmingham, Ala.)- Alabama Speedweek officially begins this weekend with the 4th Annual Honda Superbike Classic at the Barber Motorsports Park. Practice and qualifying started today. Saturday will start with practice and qualifying followed by the Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme race and AMA Superbike Championship race in the afternoon. The weekend will conclude on Sunday with the Repsol Lubricants Superstock race, the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race and the AMA Superbike Championship race. “We have sold tickets in 48 states and have seen a 15 percent increase in ticket sales for this event,” said Gene Hallman, President of the Bruno Event Team. “We truly believe that this increase was in part because of this campaign. We appreciate the partnership with Talladega Superspeedway, the State of Alabama and the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail for moving this great concept forward.” Throughout the weekend fans are encouraged to stop by the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum which recently added two motorcycles from Michael Jordan Motorsports to its collection. The Ducati Monster Challenge finale will display the twelve finalists in the Museum and then move to Ducati Corner on Sunday. After five months, these finalists will be judged and only one will walk away with 2006 Ducati Monster S2R 1000. Talladega Superspeedway, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and the Barber Motorsports Park joined forces in January to create this unique concept to encourage fans to enjoy two weekends of racing with 432 holes of golf in-between. Alabama Speedweek will conclude with Aaron’s Dream Weekend at Talladega Superspeedway April 38-30. For more information log on to www.alabamaspeedweek.com.

FIM Superbike World Championship Valencia, Spain April 22 Superpole Results: 1. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:34.992 2. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06) 1:35.175 3. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06) 1:35.203 4. Steve MARTIN (Foggy Petronas FP1) 1:35.255 5. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:35.351 6. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:35.410 7. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:35.452 8. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1) 1:35.701 9. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:35.784 10. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1) 1:36.115 11. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1) 1:36.214 12. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:35.670 13. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05) 1:36.362 14. Fabien FORET (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:36.502 15. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05) 1:36.786 16. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:36.887 More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: TOSELAND WORKS HARD IN SUPERPOLE FOR NINTH PLACE James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) had to ride with aggression and control in his Superpole lap to overcome the effects of an unexpected lack of traction on the Valencia track surface. As he slithered his way around the 4.005km circuit, tail sliding dramatically on the last left hand sweep in particular, he set the ninth best time overall. Despite his difficulties, James was clearly the best Honda rider on show once more. His ninth place in Superpole makes for a third row start in each of Sunday’s 23-lap Superbike races. Giovanni Bussei (Winston Ten Kate Honda) was unlucky to find the Valencia track surface wet in the morning qualifying session, and thus had little realistic chance to improve on his opening day best time as it started to dry. He this missed out on Superpole qualification, and will start from 26th place on the grid. Ronald Ten Kate – Team manager “The maximum we could achieve has been achieved by the team today. Everybody worked very hard to cure some of the problems we have. There is still some stuff we want to test in the morning warm-up for James. We are pretty unhappy about Superpole of course, because we could all see him struggling quite a bit. We didn’t get the grip we were expecting from the qualifying tyre. On a race pace the gap is a little bit smaller and let’s hope that James has his race face on tomorrow and takes the maximum results possible. For Giovanni Bussei, he is learning the bike step-by-step and making some remarkable progress in his way, and had closed the gap to the midfield quite a lot. He will enjoy his racing a lot tomorrow.” James Toseland Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (9th position 1’35.784) “I was very disappointed the way Superpole went but I tried my best. It would have been better to get a second row start so things are going to be very tough tomorrow. But if I can get a good start, who knows? My speed on race tyres is better so we’ll be giving it everything as usual.” Giovanni Bussei Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (26th position 1’37.520) “This morning we lost almost one hour of practice because it was wet and only the last 15 minutes were useable. Working on the chassis set up in those circumstances was not so easy. But in the afternoon we made little steps; but definitely better ones, so I was quite happy with what we did. We will have the time to do something more in the warm-up tomorrow morning and I’m sure we can find a bit more to allow us to be faster in the two races.” More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: CORSER TAKES FIRST 2006 SUZUKI SUPERPOLE WIN – CORSER BOOMS LOUDEST OF THE SBK BIG GUNS Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) continued the form that gave him the fastest qualifying lap on day one to top the Superpole rankings at Valencia, his first Superpole win of the 2006 season. It was his 35th career Superpole win. He was down on previous pole supremo Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) at the first split, but made up time to take the Superpole win by 0.183 seconds. Bayliss is joined on the front row by his team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) who is proving to be a resurgent force in SBK after some early season inconsistencies. MARTIN TAKES FRONT ROW GLORY FOR FOGGY PETRONAS Working his magic on the Valencia circuit once more, Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas FP-1) secured a front row start with the fourth best Superpole time, surging his three cylinder 900cc machine ahead of a grid full of faster 1000cc machines. SECOND ROW TURNS KAWASAKI GREEN The top three riders on the second row for Sunday’s two 23-lap Superbike races all come from the same PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse stable, and are headed up by local rider Fonsi Nieto. The Madrid-based Spaniard enthused the locals after taking and holding the fastest lap for a time and until the very last rider Corser set his lap, Nieto was on course for a popular front row start. His team-mate Regis Laconi went sixth fastest in the specialised Superpole contest, with English rider Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) securing seventh, completing Kawasaki’s trio of competitive entrants. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) was in podium contention at Valencia last year, and may be once more, after posting an impressive eighth fastest time in Superpole. TOSELAND TOP HONDA AGAIN James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) pushed his way to ninth fastest, and thus became the first rider on row three of the Superbike grid. The 2004 champion was in aggressive mood, pushing hard to record his best time in any official qualifying session. Yamaha team-mates Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) and Andrew Pitt posted tenth and 11th fastest Superpole times, their R1 machines not ideally suited to the peculiarities of the Valencia circuit. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) failed to set a Superpole lap after crashing at the end of his afternoon practice session, and suffering a head knock in the process. Kagayama had finished regular qualifying sixth fastest, and will undergo a medical revue on raceday morning, to see if he can ride in Sunday’s races. He is classified 12th overall in Superpole, due to rules which limit any rider’s drop down the order from his original regulation qualifying position. FOURTH ROW FROLICKS Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati 999R) heads up the fourth row of the Valencia grid, having dropped down from seventh in regulation qualifying. SBK new boy Fabien Foret (Alstare Engineering Corona Extra) will start 14th on the grid, followed by Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi) and a disappointed Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR). The Brazilian rider could not match his best time from regulation qualifying, and now has a small mountain to climb to get into contention for top five places at a circuit he knows very well. The first rider to miss out on a Superpole start was German rider Max Neukirchner (Pedercini Ducati), the next (18th fastest in regulation) was Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda). WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) continued his perfect run of qualifying performances in 2006 with his third straight pole of the season. His best time of 1’36.913, a new track record, was set on day one, as he failed to improve on it in the final official session before Sunday’s 23-lap race. Just behind Charpentier, Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) who is currently second in the points standings, took second best time, with Katsuaki Fujiwara (Megabike Honda) third fastest. Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) completes the front row, while Javier Fores (SLM Yamaha) took fifth for the home fans. Barry Veneman (Hoegee Suzuki) was the fastest GSX-R rider in qualifying, in seventh. SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) scored the win in the opening Superstock 600 round, beating second place rider Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) by just over five seconds. Third was taken by the Team Laglisse Yamaha of Santiago Barragan, the highest-placed local rider. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: FRONT ROW STARTS IN VALENCIA FOR BAYLISS AND LANZI (DUCATI XEROX) Valencia (Spain), Saturday 22 April: Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) will line up on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s round 3 of the World Superbike Championship at Valencia after qualifying in second and third position in Superpole. Just three-tenths of a second separated the top 4 on the grid as the two Ducati factory riders split two more Australians, poleman Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Steve Martin (Petronas) in fourth place. “We struggled a little bit for grip on that lap but also at the end of the free practice session I had a crash on the front and that put me off a little for the Superpole. I had to use a new front and had to push it on the out lap and that used up my tyre a bit” declared Troy. “I’m reasonably happy however because I’m on the front row and got half a decent lap in but it was still about a second and a half slower than what I’ve done in the past. It wasn’t much of a crash in the hairpin and I picked the bike up and went back to the pits but that all just contributed to not a great lap for me really. I hope we get some good weather for the races tomorrow, all the tests we’ve done here have been nice but the conditions have been quite dismal so far”. “I am really happy and my satisfaction for getting on the front row is just as great as it was in Qatar” declared Lorenzo. “I am right up there with the two Troys, but this time I hope things won’t go the same way as in the first round and I can express my full potential. I am starting from the front row, which is what I wanted, hopefully the conditions will at least be like today. If it rains, it rains for everyone but the conditions don’t worry me because in the winter tests we went quite well in the wet. The feeling with my 999 is really good, in the afternoon I seem to struggle a bit when it gets warmer but in the warm-up we will make a change that should help so I am confident of getting two good results tomorrow”. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Despite being down at the first split, World Champion Troy Corser made up time in the second and third sections and stormed to a Superpole victory ahead of rival Troy Bayliss at today’s third-round Valencia world Superbike Championship round in Spain. The Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider didn’t put a foot wrong on his GSX-R1000 after a slightly nervous start and his third split was absolutely perfect. Third quickest in the 16-rider shoot-out was Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati), with Steve Martin fourth on the Petronas. Corser’s team mate Yukio Kagayama suffered a fall in the closing stages of this afternoon’s free practice and was slightly concussed. He and the team decided to not take part in Superpole and so he will start from the third row of the grid. Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Fabien Foret was unable to keep his provisional third row grid place and will start from the fourth row instead. Troy Corser – 1st, 1:34.992: “I knew I was a little behind in the first section of my Superpole lap because I had run a bit wide in one of the turns and lost some time. But I knew I was good in the second and third sections, so I just concentrated on getting them as best I could. The third section was perfect and I don’t think I could’ve got round it any faster, so that made me pretty happy. “I did a long run in this afternoon’s free practice and was on the track so long I might have done a lap or two more than intended. So when I came in to put on a qualifier, it was too late. For sure the races tomorrow are going to be much tougher than last year but a lot will depend on the weather. If it rains, it’s going to be very difficult because the track is so slippery – it feels a bit like riding on ice!” Yukio Kagayama – 12th, 1:35.670: “I would like to tell you about today, but don’t remember much at all! I crashed in the afternoon and banged my head a bit and that made me forget what happened today. I also hit my right arm but nothing is broken so I think I will be ok to race tomorrow. I hope I get a good sleep tonight and feel back to normal tomorrow.” Fabien Foret – 14th, 1:36.502: “This was my first Superpole and it has been a good experience, but I am a little disappointed not to have done better. On my Superpole lap the grip didn’t feel so good and then I got a neutral exiting the last turn and had to run a bit wide. That lost me some time, so maybe I could’ve finished higher up the grid. Most of my problems here are to do with the conditions: The bike seems very sensitive to temperature changes – well that is the tyres seem very sensitive to changes in temperature. How we set up the bike will depend on the weather tomorrow, but I hope it will be dry, because this place is very slippery when it’s wet.” Final WSB Qualifying: 1 Troy Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:34.992, 2 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:35.175, 3 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:35.203, 4 Martin (Aus-Petronas) 1:35.255, 5 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 1:35.351, 6 Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:35.410, 7 Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 1:35.452, 8 Abe (J-Yamaha) 1:35.701, 9 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:35.784, 10 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:36.115. 12 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:35.670. 14 Fabien Foret (F-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra) 1:36.502. SIMEON WINS SUPERSTOCK 600 OPENER! Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon won the opening round of the Superstock 600 European Championship today, completely destroying the opposition in the process. At the end of the 11-lap race, Simeon took the chequered flag more than five seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Nicola Canepa (Ducati). Third was local favourite Santiago Barragan (Yamaha). Xavier Simeon – 1st: “That was a very good race and I enjoyed myself out there today. The bike was perfect today and it made my job easy. I made a good start and was involved in a little battle with Canepa for a while, but once I got away from him, I settled down and ran my own pace. Once I was in the lead, it felt pretty comfortable and taking the flag at the end was a great way to start the season. Now I’m already looking forward to the next round!” Superstock 600 Results: 1 Xavier Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 2 Canepa (I-Ducati), 3 Barragan (E-Yamaha), 4 Pedro (E-Yamaha), 5 Gamell (E-Yamaha), 6 Giugliano (I-Kawasaki). More, from a press release issued by Team Klaffi Honda: The second day at Valencia was not so perfect for Alex Barros. He still worked a lot on the settings of the suspension of his Klaffi Honda Fireblade but the results were not so effective. In the second qualifying section he did a 1’37.040 lap time and finished 12th. In Superpole he improved this time – but even with a 1’36.887 lap time he unfortunately lost 4 places. So Alex starts from position 16 in the fourth row tomorrow. Team Manager Klaus Klaffenböck: “Needless to say that we expected some better lap times today but Alex is a tough fighter. He will attack tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing: Second consecutive front row for Martin and FPR Steve Martin will start from the front row of the grid for the second consecutive time on the PETRONAS FP1 after qualifying fourth for tomorrow’s Superbike World Championship third round races at Valencia, Spain. The stylish Australian was just a quarter of a second off the 1:34.992 pace set by fellow countryman Troy Corser, as Steve repeated his qualifying performance from the previous round at Phillip Island. Having qualified for Superpole in fourth place, as only a handful of riders bettered their qualifying times from yesterday on a greasy morning surface, Steve recovered from a problematic afternoon free practice session to deliver a typically composed and impressive flying lap of 1:35.255. And Foggy PETRONAS Racing team owner Carl Fogarty heaped praise on the achievement in an increasingly competitive championship. He said: “I think Steve’s performance on the bike has been incredible and is a reward for the whole team’s consistent effort. It is going to be tough in the races, because more powerful bikes will hold him up in the corners, but on a lap with a clear track he is as fast as anyone out there.” Steve said: “It’s unbelievable to be on the front row for two consecutive races this year and, considering the problems we had last year, I don’t think anyone expected that. I’m wrapped! It goes to show that everyone connected with the project is still putting in 100 per cent effort. We still have the challenge of the races ahead of us so I need the best start possible. Then hopefully I will have a good enough set-up to enable me to stick in there and get bags of good points. My Superpole lap could possibly have been a bit quicker, although not enough for pole position, as I had a couple of moments that were symptomatic of the grip problems I had experienced in the afternoon session, so we will have a think about that tonight. The weather forecast is not too good for tomorrow and, although nobody wants to race in the wet, it would be more of a lottery. But I have raced well here in the wet before, so anything can happen.” Team-mate Craig Jones also enjoyed an encouraging day, bettering yesterday’s time by nearly a second and finishing the morning qualifying session in 17th place with a lap of 1:37.623, which resulted in a starting grid position of 27th when set against the faster times from yesterday’s first qualifying session. He said: “The morning was probably my best session of the season so far and I am starting to get closer to the front and also to Steve’s times. We have worked really hard on the set-up and managed to make quite a lot of progress towards getting a good feeling. I was hoping we could take it a step further this afternoon but we lost a lot of grip as the temperature rose. We just need to have a good think now and put all the settings together for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Norick Abe had his best qualifying performance of the season, ending the day as the top Yamaha rider after setting the eighth fastest time in superpole. The former MotoGP star is reveling in a new specification engine provided by his Yamaha Motor France squad and has been up with the top riders all weekend. Fourth place in the pre-superpole practice session suggests that Abe should be at the sharp end in tomorrow’s races. Yamaha Motor Italia riders Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt will start from the third row in tomorrow’s two 23-lap races in Valencia after setting the 10th and 11th fastest time in superpole. Both riders are finding grip levels at a premium on the Spanish track, which is not offering riders the same amount of traction they had at the official FGSport test at the venue several weeks ago. Despite running consistently strongly in race trim, Haga was unable to exploit the potential of his YZF-R1 in the one-lap superpole, struggling for rear end grip in a error-strewn lap. The Japanese star was unable to fully utilise the grip of his soft qualifying tyre and suffered a number of time sapping slides on his flying lap. While Haga lost five places from his position after the two one-hour sessions, Pitt dug deep to gain four places despite not completely eradicating the front-end handling problems that blighted him during Friday’s session. The Australian rider survived a minor scare when he lost the front end in the preceding practice session, narrowly avoiding a crash by holding the bike up with his elbow. Yamaha Motor France’s Shinichi Nakatomi found himself in the unfortunate situation of being one of the few riders to improve his time in the Saturday morning session but being shuffled back from his provisional grid position. The superbike rookie took over a tenth of a second from his best Friday lap time, but found himself dropped four places to 21st on the final grid as riders below him in the overnight standings found greater improvements. Lorenzo Alfonsi, standing in for the absent Sebastien Gimbert on the other Yamaha Motor France bike, will start from the back of the grid in his first race for the team. The former European superstock rider is not only having his first outing for the team, it is also his first race since suffering a serious injury at the end of last year. Pole position for tomorrow’s races goes to world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki) with Troy Bayliss (Ducati), Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) and Steve Martin (Petronas) completing the front row. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) “The whole team is very motivated this weekend. For this race I have a new engine and it feels good, which is creating a good feeling in the team. There was more grip in the afternoon practice than in the superpole and it made the bike slide more easily on my time attack lap. I am happy with eighth. I am making very consistent laps and I hope that I can go and fight at the front tomorrow.” Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “Of course, I am very disappointed to be starting 10th. After having a good test here earlier this month we are having traction problems this weekend. The superpole lap was not good. I made one mistake but also the rear traction was not as good as I had when I tried the qualifying tyre in the practice. The races will be very, very difficult for us but we will try to improve the bike overnight and work to get the best result possible.” Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “I don’t know if it’s the rain we’ve been having or what it is but we just can’t seem to get any grip this weekend. I’m lacking confidence in the front end. During the afternoon practice I had a big slide and ended up saving it on my elbow: the bike just went down and my elbow dug in and held me up. We made a lot of changes overnight but nothing seems to be making an improvement. Nori and I both seem to have the same problems and it’s going to be a tough race for us tomorrow. The one thing we have on our side is that at least we are able to do consistent lap times over a race distance. Tonight though we will have a look to see what else we can try to make things better for the races.” Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) “It was a shame we had the wet conditions in the morning as this meant I was unable to improve my time from yesterday. Tomorrow I will aim for a good start and try to get some points. I understand the Valencia track quite well now and I am pleased that we are all finding improvements with our bikes this weekend.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) “After two tests in Valencia and Misano we felt that we had made a good step forward, only to come here and find that we are fighting for grip. We came to Valencia using the same settings we had at the test, although now Noriyuki cannot make the same lap times. Our bike seems to be very sensitive to changes in the conditions and tonight we will sit down to try and further understand the problems, although with the surface here in Valencia we might arrive tomorrow morning and find it has changed again.” Martial Garcia (Team Manager – Yamaha Motor France) “Second row and top Yamaha is a good result for us. Norick is always very strong here and I am confident he can do some good races tomorrow. Shinichi is improving too but we must also remember that he is working as a development rider for Soqi suspension and this means that sometimes he is a little bit up and down in the sessions. Despite this he is a very consistent racer and I think that we can target some points for him tomorrow.”