HAYDEN BROTHERS TO APPEAR ON DISCOVERY CHANNEL IRVINE, Calif. Reigning AMA Supersport Champion Tommy Hayden and series runner-up Roger Hayden are to appear on the Discovery Channel’s newest show, “Speed on Two Wheels,” scheduled to air Wednesday, April 19th. The Kawasaki Racing Team riders will be appearing alongside their crew as the show progresses through the many technical aspects of what it takes to be competitive in the AMA Superbike series. Produced by Cry Havoc Productions, “Speed on Two Wheels” also takes the viewer into the world of the modern sportbike. Viewers will learn the artistry and engineering of these two-wheeled rocketships and what makes them tick. The program covers everything from how the average consumer can learn better riding skills to how top racers dial-in their finely tuned machines. Depending on the cable provider the show is scheduled to air on either the Discovery Channel or the Discovery Science Channel. Be sure to check your local listings for time and channel. Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. (KMC) markets and sells at wholesale Kawasaki motorcycles, ATVs, personal watercraft and utility vehicles through a network of more than 1,500 independent retailers, with an additional 8,400 retailers specializing in power products and general purpose engines. KMC and its affiliates employ nearly 2,400 people in the United States, with more than 350 of them located at the Irvine, California headquarters. Kawasaki’s tagline, “Let the good times roll.™”, is recognized worldwide and the brand is aggressively carrying its heritage of leading-edge power, performance and exhilaration into the 21st century. Information about Kawasaki’s complete line of recreational products and Kawasaki affiliates can be found on the Internet at www.kawasaki.com.

Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne took two inspirational and determined top-10 finishes on his Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 after starting well down the grid in both of today’s races at the third round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Thruxton. In morning warm-up, Byrne missed the chequered flag and was penalised for riding too fast on a red flag lap by being moved back eight places from ninth to 17th on the grid. But he gritted his teeth and fought his way through to fourth before eventually ending up fifth after a race-long battle with Honda’s Jonathan Rea. On the sighting lap for the second race, he was forced into the pits to change to his spare bike after discovering a problem with the front wheel. He had to start the race from the final position on the grid before again showing his determination to finish eighth. Starting from fifth on the grid, team mate James Haydon was taken out of race one at the first corner when Karl Harris’s Honda skittled him. In the second race he crashed out on the opening lap unhurt. Ducati’s Gregorio Lavilla won both races. Rizla Suzuki will attend an official British Superbike test on Friday at Oulton Park in Cheshire before returning to the same circuit for the fourth round of the Championship on Bank Holiday Monday, May 1st. Shakey Byrne: “I made a genuine mistake in morning warm-up and missed seeing the chequered flag. I kept going flat out for a few corners before I realised the session was over and ended up being penalised and put back on the grid by eight places. That fired me up and I gave it my all and fifth was a good result from that starting position. “In the second race I had to start from dead last after a problem on my out lap and I put my head down and went for it again. I got up to eighth in the end and was wishing for more laps as I was stating to catch the riders in front of me. “We made good progress with the Rizla Suzuki this weekend and I think I could have overtaken anything on the straights as it is a missile. It’s just a shame I wasn’t able to start from a decent grid position in either race as I am sure we had the pace to threaten the podium.” James Haydon: “I am bitterly disappointed with both races. In the first race I got side-swiped by Karl’s bike as he crashed in front of me. In the second race I lost the rear and ended up on the grass. Both crashes were on the first lap and my races were over before they started. “Through practice and qualification we found good speed and chassis balance and I’ll take those positives to our test later in the week and the next round at Oulton Park.” Robert Wicks – Team Manager: “Shakey showed the real potential of Rizla Suzuki as he fought his way through the pack in both races. The GSX-R1000 is lightning fast and Shakey proved his class and determination to record two strong results. He showed how hungry he is for success and for the last four or five laps in the second race he was the fastest rider on the circuit bar none. His ‘never-say-die’ mentality was a hit with the huge crowd. “James deserved better after showing such great form throughout practice and qualifying and he will come back stronger and more determined at Oulton Park. “This has been another character-building weekend for the team, typified by all the hard work in the garage to rebuild James’s bike in time for the second race. “A big thank you to Murray Walker who joined the team to cheer on both Shakey and James he’s a real gent and bike enthusiast who we are proud to call a friend of Rizla Suzuki.” Race One Results: 1: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 28:47270, 2: Leon Haslam (Ducati) +4.460, 3: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +12.742, 4: Jonathan Rea (Honda) +18.921, 5: Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki) +19.058, 6: Michael Rutter (Honda) +22.866, 7: Glen Richards (Honda) +30.839, 8: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +30.974, 9: Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +34.210, 10: Michael Laverty (Honda) +34.252. James Haydon (Rizla Suzuki) DNF. Race Two Results: 1: Lavilla 27:58.085, 2: Haslam +6.337, 3: Karl Harris (Honda) +15.230, 4: Kiyonari +15.566, 5: Rea +21.323, 6: Thomas +25.437, 7: Rutter +30.305, 8: Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki) +34.977, 9: Hill +38.501, 10 Scott Smart (Suzuki) +42.610. James Haydon (Rizla Suzuki) DNF Championship Standings (after three of 13 rounds): 1: Lavilla 132, 2: Haslam 96, 3: Kiyonari 87, 4: Harris 57, 5: Rea 54, 6: Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki) 45, 7=: Smart 44, 7=: Rutter 44, 9: Laverty 42, 10: Thomas 40, 16=: James Haydon (Rizla Suzuki) 15.

The first European round of World’s Superbike Championship at Valencia takes place at Valencia on 21-23 April. It starts with a fantastic event. The most important riders of the Championship take part in a press conference on Port America’s Cup on a boat on Thursday 20 April. Alex Barros is one of the selected riders to join this unique event at sea. After the last two official tests at Valencia and Misano Alex is confident to achieve some excellent results in the races on the upcoming weekend. The setting of his Klaffi Honda Fireblade is perfect. The new aerodynamic package, which he tested at Misano, is another successful step in the right direction. Alex himself is well prepared and in a perfect shape. He knows the Ricardo Tormo Circuit of Valencia with its rapid changes of directions very well and knows how to take the slow corners and the fast sections of the course. Team Manager Klaus Klaffenböck: “We passed some tough weeks working hard on the Fireblade. The results are promising. Now it is Alex turn to bring out the best. Above all I’m sure he will be pleased with the new decoration of our pit garage. It is painted in the colours of the Brazilian flag, yellow, green and blue. With his Brazilian coloured Klaffi Honda Fireblade and his leathers it is a perfect look!” Ricardo Tormo Circuit Length: 4 005 m, finish line 876 m Turns: 5 right, 9 left Max. slope: down 5,33%, up3,58% Lap record: Troy Bayliss 2006 1’33.758

Suzuki Castrol Win Assen 500 Yamaha Austria Second, Yamaha Phase One Third 7 Nations and 4 Manufacturers in Top 7 Suzuki Castrol have won the Assen 500km round of the FIM World Endurance Championship in convincing style after leading from the first lap. By half distance they were a lap ahead of the rest of the field, and rider Vincent Philippe also set the fastest race lap with a time of 1:43.659. Second place went to Yamaha Austria, who were forced to pit early after wearing out their front tyre while pushing to catch Suzuki Castrol. Third place was held by Yamaha Phase One Endurance, and fourth went to Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se; both teams ran good smooth races. Kawasaki Bolliger Team started well then had to pit to replace a damaged rear sprocket unit. This dropped them down the field but they climbed back to finish fifth overall, just passing sixth placed Yamaha X-One in the closing minutes of the race. RMT21 Racing Honda had looked set to take fifth or sixth place but they had to make a last minute “splash and dash” pit stop, dropping them into seventh place behind X-One but in front of Kawasaki Diablo 666, who finished the race with only two gears working. The top Superstock class finisher was Suzuki Team Endurance Moto45 in ninth place overall, and the top Superproduction class finisher was Yamaha Team Acropolis Zone Rouge 199 in tenth place. The top seven finishing teams came from seven different nationalities; France, Austria, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Germany. The same seven teams represented four different manufacturers; Suzuki (1st and 4th), Yamaha (2nd, 3rd and 6th), Kawasaki (5th) and Honda (7th). The next round of the championship is the Le Mans 24 Hour race which takes place next weekend, the 22nd and 23rd of April. Press Conference Vincent Philippe, Suzuki Castrol, 1st Place: “It was an easy race for the team. I made a good start, and tried to stay constant during the relais. I saw Yamaha Austria had a problem so I kept a good lap time but not too fast; I was thinking about Le Mans next week. It’s a pleasure to ride at Assen; for us no problems.” Sebastien Scarnato, Yamaha Austria, 2nd Place: “It will be very hard to beat Suzuki Castrol. At this race we had some small problems, and I think with these problems we could not beat them. We can be very much closer but I don’t know. On some circuits Pirelli will be better than Dunlop, but here Dunlop was better.” Damian Cudlin, Yamaha Phase One Endurance, 3rd Place: “I had a couple of little problems. We changed the bike a little bit in warm up and it wasn’t spot on for me; when the wind picked up it was a little bit unstable.” Provisional Top Ten Finishing Positions 1st 2 – Suzuki 0123 Castrol – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Philippe, Kagayama – 110 laps 2nd 7 – Yamaha Austria – AUT – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Jerman, Scarnato – 1 lap 3rd 3 – Yamaha Phase One Endurance – GBR – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Nowland, Cudlin – 2 laps 4th 12 – Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se – SWE – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Hanson, Andersson, Carlberg – 3 laps 5th 8 – Kawasaki Bolliger – SUI – Kawasaki ZX10R – Muff, Saiger, Morillon – 4 laps 6th 4 – Team X-One Yamaha – ITA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Sanna, Demaneis, Tessari – +35.371 seconds 7th 21 – RMT21 Racing Honda – GER – Honda CBR1000RR – Mizera, Seidel – +1:05.900 8th 666 – Kawasaki Diablo 666 – GBR – Kawasaki ZX10R – Rohtlaan, Hutchins, Cudlin – 5 laps 9th 100 – Suzuki Team Endurance Moto45 – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Bernon, Briere – +48.871 seconds 10th 199 – Yamaha Team Acropolis Zone Rouge – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – vdBoreck, Pirot, Botton – 6 laps More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Reigning World Endurance Champions Suzuki Castrol won the Assen 500km opening round of the FIM World Endurance Championship in Holland today after leading from the start. Although one rider down after Mathieu Lagrive crashed and injured himself yesterday, the SERT GSX-R1000 had pulled a lap ahead by the half-way point of the four-hour event and team rider Vincent Philippe also set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:43.659. Second place overall and a lap down went to Yamaha Austria, who was forced to pit early after wearing out their front tyre while pushing to catch the Suzuki. Third place was taken by Yamaha Phase One Endurance and fourth; Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se aboard their GSX-R1000. The top Superstock class finisher was Suzuki Team Endurance Moto45 in ninth place overall and the leading Super Production class finisher was Yamaha Team Acropolis Zone Rouge 199 in 10th place. The top seven finishing teams came from seven different nationalities; France, Austria, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Germany. The same seven teams represented four different manufacturers; Suzuki (1st and 4th), Yamaha (2nd, 3rd and 6th), Kawasaki (5th) and Honda (7th). Said Philippe: “It’s a pleasure to ride at Assen and for us there were no problems. It was an easy race for the team. I made a good start and tried to stay constant. I saw Yamaha Austria had a problem so I kept a good lap time but not too fast. I was thinking about Le Mans.” The next round of the championship is the Le Mans 24 Hour race which takes place next weekend, April 22nd/ 23rd. 1: Suzuki Castrol – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Philippe, Kagayama – 110 laps. 2: Yamaha Austria – AUT – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Jerman, Scarnato – 1 lap 3: Yamaha Phase One Endurance – GBR – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Nowland, Cudlin – 2 laps 4: Suzuki Fagersjo-el.se – SWE – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Hanson, Andersson, Carlberg – 3 laps 5: Kawasaki Bolliger – SUI – Kawasaki ZX10R – Muff, Saiger, Morillon – 4 laps 6: Team X-One Yamaha – ITA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – Sanna, Demaneis, Tessari – +35.371 seconds 7: RMT21 Racing Honda – GER – Honda CBR1000RR – Mizera, Seidel – +1:05.900 8: Kawasaki Diablo 666 – GBR – Kawasaki ZX10R – Rohtlaan, Hutchins, Cudlin – 5 laps 9: Suzuki Team Endurance Moto45 – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – Bernon, Briere – +48.871 seconds 10: Yamaha Team Acropolis Zone Rouge – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 vd Boreck, Pirot, Botton – 6 laps

MLADIN LOOKS TO BUILD ON WINNING STREAK AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK PICKERINGTON, Ohio (April 17, 2006) — Defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin comes to the Honda Superbike Classic doubleheader, at Barber Motorsports Park on April 21-23, looking to extend his three-race winning streak at the scenic Birmingham, Alabama circuit. Mladin leads the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited point standings after coming out on top in a thrilling battle with Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Ben Spies in the series opener at Daytona International Speedway last month. Mladin easily swept both legs of the Barber doubleheader last year after starting from the pole. It was perhaps the Australian’s most dominating performance of his stellar 2005 season. If the memory of last year’s performance weren’t enough for his competitors, Mladin clocked the fastest lap time riding under the existing track record in testing at Barber a few weeks ago. “We’ve been pretty strong at Barber,” Mladin said understatedly. “It’s always a good thing to come to a track that places a premium on a rider’s skill and a properly set-up motorcycle versus some tracks where all you have to do is to be able to draft to stay in a race.” While Mladin might be the favorite to repeat his sweep at Barber this year, at least one rider came away from Daytona with newfound confidence that he could run with the champ and that is teammate Ben Spies. Spies ran dead even with Mladin at Daytona before Mladin pulled off a brilliant last-lap maneuver to put him in a position to draft past Spies before the finish line. “No one likes to lose a race, but at least I came away from Daytona knowing that I can hang with Mat on the same bike,” said Spies, who is second in the standings. “My bike worked really good in the infield at Daytona, so hopefully that’s a sign for the rest of the season. Mat’s definitely the man to beat and I’m doing everything I can to get up there and match his speed.” The third member of the Yoshimura Suzuki squad is Aaron Yates. Yates is very familiar with Barber Motorsports Park, having provided input on the design off the track. He’s also a former winner of the race and is hoping to continue a strong return after suffering a pre-season testing crash and injuring his shoulder. Honda has renewed hope of reestablishing its team as an AMA Superbike contender this season after a sub-par 2005. Direct help from HRC in Japan combined with the experience American Honda gained by building its own CBR1000RR race bike last year have made the superbikes ridden by Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke very competitive. Duhamel finished third in the Daytona Superbike race and at Barber he hopes to earn his first AMA Superbike victory since 2004. Ducati’s Neil Hodgson comes into the Barber doubleheader ranked fourth in the standings. The British rider led early in the Sunday leg of last year’s doubleheader. With a season of AMA experience under his belt Hodgson is expected to be a more consistent challenger this season. Hodgson’s teammate Ben Bostrom joins Mladin and Duhamel as the only former AMA Superbike champions in the field. Kawasaki fans will finally get to see their beloved factory green machines at Barber for the first time. Brothers Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden are continuing to perfect the factory Kawasaki ZX-10RRs. It will be interesting to see how the newest of the factory superbikes handle on the technical 2.26, 16-turn Barber circuit. Jordan Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore returns to Barber this year fully recovered from the serious injuries he suffered in a crash there last year. Pridmore and his teammates Jake Holden and Steve Rapp are expected to challenge the full-factory riders at Barber. To obtain tickets for the Honda Superbike Classic call 800-240-2300 or visit the website www.barbermotorsports.com. Saturday’s Superbike race will be televised nationally on SPEED beginning at 4 p.m. EST on Sunday, April 23, followed by coverage of Sunday’s Superbike final at 5 p.m. 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.

Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Atsushi Watanabe has taken over the lead in the All Japan Superbike Championship after finishing second at Sunday’s Suzuka second round. After wet qualifying and morning warm-up, the GSX-R1000 mounted rider took the lead early on followed by team mate Kousuke Akiyoshi, who then moved to the front at the end of the opening lap. But Akiyoshi fell one lap later because of oil on the circuit which caused the race to be red flagged. On the restart, Watanabe led from reigning champion Shin-ichi Ito (Honda) and Akiyoshi, riding his ‘B’ machine. On the sixth lap, Ito passed Watanabe, who responded immediately by taking back the lead. An exciting battle ensued until Watanabe got caught up with back-markers and lost ground and couldn’t close the gap. Said Watanabe: “The race was dry whereas we’d practiced and qualified in the wet. I couldn’t keep may pace because I couldn’t find a good set-up for the dry conditions. My Yoshimura GSX-R is very fast bike and my new Bridgestone tyres feel good! In the first race of this season I was third and today second so I hope the next race I will win!” Results: 1: Shin-ichi Ito(Honda) 2: Atsushi Watanabe (Yoshimura Suzuki) 3: Tatsuya Yamagichi (Honda) 4: Kousuke Akiyoshi (Yoshimura Suzuki) 5: Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Yamaha) 6: Osamu Deguchi (Honda) 7: Chojun Kameya (Honda) 8: Akira Yanagawa (Kawasaki) 9: Yoshiteru Konishi (Honda) 10: Kazuki Tokudome (Honda).

KURTIS ROBERTS TO RACE FOR TEAM M4 EMGO SUZUKI Team M4 EMGO Suzuki is pleased to announce that three-time AMA Champion Kurtis Roberts will race for the team in AMA Nationals at Barber Motorsports Park April 20-23 and at California Speedway April 27-30. Former MotoGP racer Roberts will fill-in for Michael Barnes, the team’s regular Formula Xtreme entrant, who suffered a knee injury at Daytona in March. Roberts successfully tested the team’s Suzuki GSX-R600 and Pirelli tires at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama last month, leading to talks about racing the machine. The two-race deal was negotiated directly by Roberts (acting as his own manager) and the team.