Jake Zemke Wins First Daytona 200 By Honda Mladin Takes Opening Round Of AMA Superbike DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (March 11, 2006) — Honda rider Jake Zemke held off Erion Racing’s Josh Hayes in a nine-lap pace car restart to capture his first Daytona 200 By Honda victory on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. “Everybody knows about the Daytona 200,” Zemke said. “It’s something as a kid that you always look at the names on the list of the winners of the Daytona 200 By Honda and it’s a who’s who list. I’m proud to put my name up there.” While it was Zemke’s first Daytona 200 By Honda victory, it was Honda’s 11th in the prestigious motorcycle classic. Zemke, riding the No. 98 Honda, held off Hayes, aboard the No. 4 Honda, over the final nine laps for 1.562second margin of victory. In Zemke’s previous two Daytona 200 By Honda starts, he earned second and third-place finishes. Hayes was delighted with his runner-up finish. He said in his three previous Daytona 200 By Honda starts, he never made it to the first pit stop. “I was gaining on him,” Hayes said of Zemke. “I really started trying hard. I thought I might have something for him. Once he realized I was there and coming, he picked up the pace. He won it honest.” Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo earned a podium appearance in his first start in the Daytona 200 By Honda. Miguel Duhamel had himself in perfect position for his record sixth Daytona 200 By Honda victory. Riding with a sizable lead, the Canadian rider took a hard spill entering Turn 1 on Lap 44. Despite a broken visor and wind screen, Duhamel continued to fight for the win but settled for a fifth place finish. “I was just trying to salvage, to see if anything was going to go my way and have a shot at it still,” Duhamel said. “It was real disappointing. Nothing you can do. That’s racing.” The top-finishing Buell rider was three-time Irish champion Jeremy McWilliams, who finished 52nd and earned the $10,000 Cal Rayborn Award. Mladin Wins Opening Round Of AMA Superbike Mat Mladin played the chicane the perfect way on his way to victory in the opening round of the AMA Superbike Championship on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. Mladin, riding the No. 1 Suzuki, and his Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Ben Spies were able to break way in the 15-lap event. On the final lap, Mladin, not wanting to lead Spies out of the chicane, backed off allowing Spies to take the lead. The Aussie then quickly hustled his Suzuki around NASCAR Turns 3 and 4 to nip Spies at the start/finish by .032 seconds. “With five to go, I figured that was what I was going to have to do,” said Mladin, who earned his third straight Daytona Superbike win and his fifth overall. “I certainly didn’t want to slow up going into the chicane and try to let him by there because it’s just become silly. Everyone doesn’t know who wants to take the lead. “I just tried to catch him by surprise. I made sure he had momentum when he went past so he couldn’t check up and if he didn’t, I would’ve been gone anyway. It worked well this time. That will go in his memory bank and probably won’t work next year. I’ll have to come up with another plan.” Said Spies: “I was figuring I was going to be that guy who got drafted and beat at the line.” Mladin, who is chasing an unprecedented seventh AMA Superbike championship, earns the maximum amount of points (38) this weekend at Daytona as he earned the pole, led the most laps and earned the victory. Rounding out the podium was five-time Daytona 200 By Honda champion Miguel Duhamel. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Defending Champion Mat Mladin headed a Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 one-two at the opening round of the AMA Superbike Championship at Daytona in Florida today. The six-time series winner beat team mate Ben Spies by less than 300ths of a second after 15 laps at Daytona Speedway after taking the lead early on. Spies briefly led on the seventh lap but the Australian retook him one lap later. Third team rider Aaron Yates moved from ninth at the start to finish in sixth place. Said Mladin: “It was a good race. It’s good to get the Yoshimura Suzukis up here one and two. In these races you can look really good or you can look really bad. Today came out good for us and now I’m ready to head on to the next round.” Thursday’s qualifying session saw Mladin capture his third Daytona Superbike pole position by posting a record-breaking time of 1:37.075. Spies came in a close second with a fast 1:37.559 lap time. Yates, still suffering from a shoulder injury and conserving his energy for the afternoon’s Superstock race, posted a 1:39.429 time and carded a third-row grid position. “The new Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 is working beautifully,” said Mladin after qualifying. “It’s fast, the suspension is working well and the tyres are good. It’s a great motorbike to start the season with.” In Saturday’s 15-lap race, Mladin showed exactly how good of a motorbike the GSX-R is by getting a great start and pulling quickly into the lead. He pulled away with Spies in tow. Mid-race, they swapped spots but a lap later, Mladin regained the lead. On the last lap, Mladin again let Spies go by but then passed him right before the finish line. “With about five laps to go, I figured that’s what I would do,” Mladin said of letting Spies by at the end. “I tried to catch him by surprise. After I got going, I gave him a little more room on the banking because I wanted to make sure I didn’t pass him too soon.” Said Spies: “Mat and I both got great starts on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000s and I knew it would be settled between the two of us. I tried to make it work at the end but he caught me at the finish. But I was just happy to stay with him for the whole race and I’m glad we got out ahead of everybody.” Yates, meanwhile, was still nursing the shoulder he broke at last month’s California Speedway test. Starting from the Daytona third row, he slotted in behind the lead groups and rode consistently to sixth place. “I’m happy with my results,” said Yates. “Considering my condition, I’m pretty pleased with this outcome. Overall, we’ve made some progress with the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and I’m looking forward to getting in condition so I can race with my team mates for the win.” Daytona Superbike Results: 1 Mat Mladin (Suzuki), 2 Ben Spies (Suzuki), 3 Miguel Duhamel (Honda), 4 Neil Hodgson (Ducati), 5 Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki), 6 Aaron Yates (Suzuki), 7 Ben Bostrom (Ducati), 8 Jake Zemke (Honda), 9 Jason Pridmore (Suzuki), 10 Jake Holden (Suzuki). More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: Crowd: 45,000 Climate: Warm, sunny Temperature: 25 Zemke Takes First Daytona 200 Win American Honda’s Jake Zemke scored his first win in the Daytona 200 on a sun-filled Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, with Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes giving the Honda CBR600RR a one-two finish with a close second in the Formula Xtreme race. The win, in the 65th annual Daytona 200, was especially sweet for Zemke, who’s finished second and third at Daytona, but never first. This completes his set of trophies, he said from the podium. “Everybody knows about Daytona 200,” Zemke said after beating Hayes by 1.562 seconds. “It’s something as a kid, that you always look at the names on the list of the winners of the Daytona 200 by Honda and it’s a who’s who list. I’m proud to put my name up there.” Zemke’s fortune coincided with the misfortune of his prolific teammate Miguel Duhamel. From a new lap record pole position, the reigning class champion built a 12 second lead before losing the rear end and high-siding in turn one on the 44th of 68 laps. Undeterred, the resolute Duhamel picked up his lightly damaged Honda CBR600RR and rejoined the fray, now second to Zemke. “I was still in the hunt. I still had a shot at it,” Duhamel said. “The bike was good enough and I was still able to pound out some pretty good lap times.” When an accident brought out the pace car on the 54th lap, Duhamel was in the perfect position to fight for a historic sixth win. But a mistake by race officials put Duhamel, and not race leader Zemke, directly behind the pace car. It meant the French-Canadian, who now calls Las Vegas home, had to make up almost an entire lap when the field was released. Fighting through the pain, Duhamel finished fifth in his only Formula Xtreme appearance of the year. He and teammate Zemke will now concentrate on winning the AMA Superbike Championship. That quest began earlier Saturday morning with Duhamel finishing third in the 15-lap Superbike season-opener on the Honda CBR1000RR. He ran just behind the race leaders and fought off the challenges of former World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson to finish on the podium. Teammate Zemke suffered arm pump early in the race and bravely hung on to finish eighth. A session with his physiotherapist during the two hours between the Superbike and Formula Xtreme races helped alleviate the condition. The Superbike race was won by Suzuki’s Mat Mladin from teammate Ben Spies. Jake Zemke, Formula Xtreme, 1st I don’t know what to say. I got second the first year and third last year and there was one spot on the box that I’ve got to get. We’re there. There was some confusion with the pace car thing. They are supposed to let the leader get to the front and they never did. My pit board went from plus-4 (seconds) to plus 25 the next lap. I thought Josh (Hayes) must have stopped for gas. I’m cruising along and I come around and my pit board said 1.5 or .5 (seconds), but my eyes opened up about this big and I said, ‘There ain’t no way, as my friend Nicky Hayden would put it, and I put my head down. Josh was right there. That board said the last two or three lap, 0.5. Luckily, it never said, .0. It was great. Miguel Duhamel, Formula Xtreme, 5th Coming out of turn one, I’ll be the first one to admit it I know what happened, but I’m not too sure why. The rear end just kicked out violently. It was the last stop of the stint on that tire, I don’t know if I hit some debris, a tear-off. I was tracking and powering on as I did every lap, but it just snapped so abruptly. I couldn’t believe how it got so far. I went to the lock trying to save it. It was like it got a shot of 1000cc of power. I’ll say it’s definitely the bonehead move of the world. A 10-second lead at Daytona with half the race done, you don’t do stuff like that. But that being said, the race was still pretty young and I didn’t want to start slacking off and give these guys a chance, but it caught me off guard. Jake Zemke, Superbike, 8th I have no one to blame but myself. I couldn’t hold on anymore – my arms pumped up. I think I figured out why. I realized that every time I came off the corner and was accelerating, my ass was sliding to the back of the seat and I was holding on with my arms. That’s no excuse. The bike was awesome today. I worked my way through the guys real fast and at that point, from where I had come from, I kept looking to see where Mat [Mladin] and Ben [Spies] were, and I could see that I was catching them. I’m just disappointed in myself. That’s all there is to it. The bike was good. It [the arm pump] started this morning. I tried a new set of leathers and they were a bit tight and my arms pumped up a little bit, and maybe they didn’t have enough time to recover in between. Miguel Duhamel, Superbike, 3rd My main goal here was to get points, maximum points. Winning would have been great, but realistically top three was what we were shooting for. I rode a B- race. I didn’t ride good in the beginning; I was a little too soft. I let them get away and the bike was good. At the end we were running the same times almost and could have been there for a win, but third is okay. The championship is our main goal, so we’re happy with third. Daytona 200: 1. Jake Zemke (Honda) 2. Josh Hayes (Honda) 3. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 4. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 5. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 6. Aaron Gobert (Honda) 7. Geoff May (Suzuki) 8. Eric Wood (Suzuki) 9. Blake Wood (Suzuki) 10. Will Gruy (Yamaha) Daytona Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 4. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 5. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) 6. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 7. Ben Bostrom (Ducati) 8. Jake Zemke (Honda) 9. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) 10. Jake Holden (Suzuki) More, from a press release issued by Vreeke & Associates on behlf of Dunlop: Dunlop Motorcycle Tires race report: Mladin collects Superbike victory, Zemke takes first Daytona 200 win Daytona, FL — March 11, 2006 — Daytona International Speedway (DIS) delivered excitement and drama today as the first round of the AMA Superbike Series concluded Bike Week with a hotly contested Superbike event and a controversial late-race caution in the Daytona 200 that left the top five riders in disarray with just 10 of 68 laps remaining. Yoshimura Suzuki’s six-time AMA Superbike champ Mat Mladin and teammate Ben Spies dueled throughout the Superbike event, with Mladin eventually taking the win with a last-second draft pass at the flag; his margin of victory was just .032 seconds. Honda Racing’s Jake Zemke won his first-ever Daytona 200, surviving the charge of Erion Racing’s Josh Hayes by a slim margin of 1.561 seconds. Dunlop arrived at Daytona with more than 2600 tires and 24 engineers, service technicians and tire-fitters to support five manufacturers–Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha–and their seven support teams: Erion Racing, Rockwall Honda, Attack Kawasaki, Jordon Motorsports, Matsushima Racing, Mladin Motorsports and Graves Motorsports. Collectively the teams represent the series’ top 24 riders, including 10 who compete in Superbike, 12 in Superstock, seven in Supersport and 10 in Formula Xtreme. The surface at DIS places greater demands on motorcycle racing tires that any other racing venue in the world. The elimination of the west banking on the AMA circuit in 2005 was a positive step toward reducing tire temperatures, but the track–always known to generate a lot of wear and heat in the left portion of the rear tire–added more infield turns, most of them lefts, so wear on the left side of the tread is still evident. In addition, last May the track was repaved from turn one through the new infield section, increasing available traction and subsequently wear. For the Superbike competition, Dunlop brought two front and five rear tire compounds from which the teams could select. For the Formula Xtreme class, there were one front and five rear compound options offered. The day’s first race was the Superbike event and Mladin enjoyed the pole position after setting a track record of 1:37.075 on Thursday. He rocketed into the lead at the start of the race on his Suzuki GSX-R1000, followed closely by Spies. With Spies nipping at Mladin’s heals throughout the race and a pack of riders–Honda’s Racing’s Miguel Duhamel, Kawasaki Road Racing’s Tommy Hayden and Roger Lee Hayden and Parts Unlimited Ducati’s Neil Hodgson–scrapping with each other just a few seconds behind, fans enjoyed a dogfight that lasted to the last lap. Following Mladin’s draft pass of Spies for the win, Duhamel crossed the line 5.1 seconds later to fill out the podium. “This race could have gone either way when it’s that close,” said Mladin. “So it’s good to win it, but you know, it’s Daytona. Let’s move on and get to the next races where the draft and these things don’t come into play as much. And then let the championship play out.” It was a victorious race for Dunlop, whose riders collected all of the top 10 finishing positions. The 65th running of the Daytona 200 was the weekend’s feature event and it played out as a battle of wits, determination, and strategy. Dominated in qualifying by 600cc four-cylinder machines, five-time winner Duhamel put his Honda CBR600RR on the pole with a record-setting qualifying time of 1.40.928. The early laps featured a back-and-forth battle between Duhamel, Yamaha Racing’s Jason Disalvo and Eric Bostrom and Duhamel’s teammate Zemke. Following the first set of pit stops for fuel and tires, Duhamel built a lead of as much as 12 seconds when, on lap 44, he high-sided violently exiting turn one, allowing Zemke to take the lead. Duhamel miraculously collected himself and the bike and managed to re-enter the race in fifth place. Zemke rode a determined race and avoided trouble, only to see his lead shrink to nothing when the pace car entered the course to slow the field as an accident was cleared. Confusion among race officials parked Zemke, Disalvo, Bostrom and Erion’s Hayes deep in the field while fourth and fifth place holders Duhamel and Bostrom were at the head of the column. When the green flag came out for the last 10 laps, the race leaders were mired in a large group of lapped riders while Duhamel and Bostrom had effectively lost any chance of improving their position. To his credit, Zemke masterfully worked through the field of lappers, holding off Hayes’ late-race charge; Disalvo was third in his first Daytona 200. “Everybody knows about the Daytona 200,”said Zemke. “It’s something, as a kid, that you always look at the names on the list of the winners and it’s a Who’s Who list. I am proud to put my name up there.” Dunlop was also victorious; its riders took the first six positions and eight of the top 10. Next stop for Dunlop and the AMA Superbike road racing tour is the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, April 21-23. Round two also features a doubleheader for the Superbike series. About Dunlop Tires Dunlop Tires is the largest supplier of original equipment and replacement motorcycle tires in the U.S. and the only manufacturer of motorcycle tires in North America. With North American operations headquartered in Buffalo, NY, Dunlop has been making and selling high-quality tires in the U.S. since 1923. For more information, please visit www.dunlopmotorcycle.com.

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM: SUCCESSFUL RACE SIMULATIONS More spring weather for the second MotoGP Test day at Jerez de la Frontera. Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau were able to make the most of the warmest hours of the day and continue the development work on their Desmosedici GP6s and Bridgestone tyres. The Borgo Panigale manufacturer’s factory riders exclusively used race tyres today, with a view to preparing for the 2006 season opener. The Ducati Marlboro Team men have been very fast since the first sessions this morning, with Loris clocking his best lap time on race tyres in 1’40.544, which beats Valentino Rossi’s lap record set last year (1’40.596). Capirossi and Gibernau then used the afternoon to carry out a 27-lap race simulation which yielded important, positive information for the Ducati Corse and Bridgestone engineers. Loris CAPIROSSI (68 laps – Best lap time: 1’40.544) “I am really very happy. This morning we fine-tuned our settings even more and I managed to lap really, really fast, to the point that I broke the lap record! My bike and tyres were good, the weather conditions were also perfect and we succeeded in completing a race simulation. I am satisfied because I practically always lapped within the 41’s at a consistent pace throughout today’s simulation. Tomorrow, we’ll try and improve some more but I can say we’re in a good position for the first race.” Sete GIBERNAU (82 laps – Best lap time: 1’40.954) ” For the first time today we had the right conditions for a long-run test, and I can say now that we’re right where I expected to be. The work done by my Team and by Bridgestone so far has been very positive and we made substantial progress compared to when we were last here in November. However, there’s still some margin for improvement and we must stay concentrated and work as hard as we’ve always done so far. It felt good to do a full 27-lap race simulation without any problems: it’s a good starting point to try and improve even more tomorrow.” Temperatures: Air 21° – Track: 30° More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: THE FORTUNA HONDA RIDERS KEEP ON WORKING Another hard day for the Fortuna Honda Team at the Jerez de la Frontera for the second day of the last pre-season test. Sunshine ruled throughout the day and the Fortuna Honda riders could profit of nice track conditions (19degrees the air temperature, 32 degrees the asphalt). Marco Melandri worked a lot on the bike and completed 84 laps but he didn’t reach the expected results, while his team mate Toni Elias worked first on the suspensions before testing Michelin tyres. Despite the hard work, the Fortuna Honda riders couldn’t improve their positions: the Spaniard finished 11th while his team mate finished 16th. TONI ELIAS ( 91 laps, 1’41″254, 11th): “This morning we continued working on the suspensions in order to improve my feeling in the corner entry. Starting from this base, which is the result of all our pre-season work, we did some tyre testing with Michelin technicians. I have improved my lap time but I still need to focus on my rhythm in order to be ready for the first race. Tomorrow we have one more day to test Michelin tyres and I hope to do another step forward.” MARCO MELANDRI ( 84 laps, 1’42″636, 16th): “We worked a lot on the bike, testing many different solutions. We have found some good things but I have to say at this moment this is my limit. I’m confident and tomorrow we will keep on our work schedule.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: NAKANO TOPS THE TIMESHEET AT JEREZ Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano blitzed his way to the top of the timesheet at Jerez today, in front of Spanish race fans who’d turned out in their thousands to get a sneak preview of the MotoGP riders ahead of the opening race of the season at Jerez in three weeks time. With race conditions likely to be similar to those of today, Nakano started his test programme working with Bridgestone to identify potential race tyres, before running a race distance simulation to confirm their initial selection early in the afternoon. The 28-year-old Kawasaki rider also used the 27-lap endurance run to evaluate the latest revisions to the fuel injection system on his Ninja ZX-RR engine, designed to improve driveability around the technically demanding Jerez circuit. Late in the afternoon session Nakano returned to the track with a qualifying tyre fitted to his Ninja ZX-RR, lapping the 4.432 km Jerez circuit more than half-a-second faster than his fifth place qualifying time from the race here last year, and almost the same distance ahead of his nearest rival today, Loris Capirossi. Nakano declared himself happy with today’s performance, but still keen to see further improvements during tomorrow’s final day of testing. Hot on Nakano’s heels was his Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, who set the fourth fastest time today, despite still suffering with the toothache that caused him so many problems during the opening day at Jerez yesterday. De Puniet, who was running today on a slightly older specification engine than Nakano, started with tyre testing for Bridgestone, working his way through a number of different compounds and profiles on the rear of his Ninja ZX-RR. The 25-year-old Frenchman also evaluated different fuel injection and engine management settings, in a bid to better control the bike when hard on the throttle out of the turns. De Puniet will run a race simulation tomorrow afternoon, after his endurance run today was cut short after just 24 laps due to problems with rear traction on his Ninja ZX-RR. Shinya Nakano: 1st – 1’40.047 (70 Laps) “It’s been a hard day today, because we’ve been testing specifically for the race here in three weeks time, so it was good to finish with the fastest time. This morning we tested quite a few tyres from Bridgestone and then in the early part of the afternoon we ran a 27-lap race simulation to confirm tyre choice for the race, when we think conditions will be fairly similar. Late in the session we put a qualifying tyre in the bike to test, and it was on this tyre that I set the fastest time of the day. In the new Ninja ZX-RR we have a very competitive package, and I’m confident that we will unlock more of the bike’s potential in the future, but for now we have found a combination of engine performance, chassis settings and tyres that, together, suit the characteristics of the Jerez circuit very well. We still have some decisions to make about our race tyre selection, so we will continue with tyre testing tomorrow.” Randy de Puniet: 4th – 1’40.839 (89 Laps) “If someone had told me back in October that I’d finish the second day of the Jerez IRTA test fourth fastest, I would not have believed them. I feel really comfortable on the bike and it’s working well here in Jerez, just as it has at all the pre-season tests. I still had some pain from my tooth, but it’s more of a dull ache today and it wasn’t such a distraction on the bike. We’ve covered a lot of ground today, made some more improvements to the bike, and I’m happy with my lap time. Tomorrow we hope to test the same specification engine as Shinya, but it depends on whether the parts get here in time; they are stuck in Madrid at the moment I understand. Either way, new parts or not, I hope we can continue to improve, both the bike and my lap time, during tomorrow’s final day of testing.” Harald Eckl: Team Manager “I’m sure that many people seeing Shinya’s name at the top of the timesheet, and Randy’s just three places further back, will think that it’s some kind of miracle given our results over the past three years. In reality, our performance today is a direct result of all the hard work put in by Kawasaki, the team, the riders and also Bridgestone during winter testing. I hope that we will be able to carry this momentum into the first race and come away with a good result, because there is no better way to start the season.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Yamaha: CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM POSITIVE DESPITE PROBLEMS IN JEREZ Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both improved considerably on yesterday’s lap times in Jerez today, but are still hard working hard with Michelin to find a way to rid the M1 of the vibration problems that they are both experiencing here. A new batch of Michelin tyres and some set-up changes brought some improvements to the package today, but the riders are still not able to use the M1 at its full capacity and are still further down the time sheets than in Barcelona last weekend, when they were both consistently fast. Shinya Nakano showed his 2006 potential on the Kawasaki by topping the time sheets with a lap of 1’40.047, nearly half a second faster than second-placed Loris Capirossi (Ducati). Tomorrow’s final day of testing concludes the pre-season MotoGP programme, ahead of the first race here in two weeks time. VALENTINO ROSSI (6th, 1’40.915, 67 laps) “We still have quite a few problems with the vibration and this means that we can’t use the bike to its full potential and make fast lap times. We’ve tried lots of changes to the set-up today balance, suspension, but the problem remains. In some of the fast corners my speed is down by as much as 15 or 20kms. The good thing is that we’re much better than yesterday and we’ve done some really good work within the team to make these improvements, but it’s still not enough and some other riders are looking very strong. Luckily we still have tomorrow to try to find the solution and I am not so worried. If we still have this situation on the Saturday afternoon of the first race, then maybe we can worry but for now I have 100% confidence in Yamaha and Michelin. For tomorrow we will have some new tyres to try and then for sure Michelin will work very hard between now and the first race so that we’re in a better position when we come back here.” COLIN EDWARDS (9th, 1’41.105, 62 laps) “Yesterday we thought that the new tyres today would make all the difference. The situation is a bit better and I’m faster today, but the improvements really aren’t as big as we had hoped. Basically the chatter that both Valentino and I are experiencing is acting as a speed limit to our bike we can push so far but no more. We didn’t want to turn the bike upside-down yesterday before we’d tried the new stuff from Michelin, but after today it’s pretty clear that’s just what we’re going to need to do tomorrow. It’s frustrating after last weekend to have spent two days here without making any real steps forward, so we need to make the most of tomorrow! I am sure that Michelin are going to bring some more new stuff, we’ll fiddle with the settings and hopefully together we can figure it all out.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “We still have tomorrow left to try to find some new solutions for our problem and we’re analysing all the information that we have to find a way forward. Our engineers will make some new plans for tomorrow and we will see how the situation is. Hopefully we can leave here having made some more improvements.” Lap Times: 1. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1’40.047 2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1’40.544 3. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1’40.791 4. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1’40.839 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’40.859 6. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’40.915 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1’40.943 8. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1’40.954 9. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1’41.105 10. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1’41.110 11. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1’41.254 12. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1’41.561 13. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1’41.745 14. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1’42.127 15. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D’Antin Pramac, 1’42.593 16. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1’42.636 17. Alex Hofmann (GER) D’Antin Pramac, 1’42.647 18. James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1’43.797 19. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1’43.846 20. Tadayuki Okada (JPN) HRC, 1’45.622 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 1’40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 1’39.419 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: Pedrosa retains fastest Honda rider status on day two of Jerez IRTA test The second day of the IRTA three-day MotoGP test at Jerez was again run in bright sunshine giving the Honda riders a dry track to work with as they enter the final phase of pre-season testing before the grand prix season begins at Jerez in two weeks time. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa was the fastest RC211V rider again today. The diminutive Spaniard set fifth fastest time working to refine the set up he will take into qualifying for the grand prix at Jerez on March 26. Pedrosa’s team-mate, American Nicky Hayden didn’t make the hoped for progress with the latest version of the RCV. Despite a hard days work with his team technicians and Michelin tyre engineers Hayden struggled to find traction on the demanding circuit. The Fortuna Honda team riders worked on suspension settings for their RCVs before working on Michelin tyre testing in the afternoon. Toni Elias was faster than team-mate Marco Melandri for the second day running. Makoto Tamada made progress with his RCV matching his best ever times at the 4.423 km Spanish circuit. The Konica Minolta Honda rider has improved his feeling with the 2006 RCV and spent his time working with Michelin to find the best combination of machine set up and tyre performance. Kenny Roberts Jnr continued working with the new Team Roberts built chassis that houses the five-cylinder RC211V engine. The team tested various base line settings on the KR working on machine balance and suspension before testing a range of Michelin tyres comparing handling performance with each set of front and rear tyres as they continue their search for the optimum base line to work from at each race track on the championship calendar. Honda rider Lap times and quotes. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 1m 41.745s – 97 laps. “We tested some Michelin tyres which were a little bit better, yet overall our performance today was only slightly better than yesterday, so we’re not totally happy. I did some longer runs today to test the feel of the bike and we had some trouble getting the back of the bike to settle down ­ so this is what we’re working on. We’ll sit down with the boys tonight and definitely try to come up with something for tomorrow and make some big progress.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 40.859s – 88 laps. “Today was good. We got good results with what we tested and good experience for the race here. The pace of the long run was not really fast – I could do better – but it was the first time we tried it and I’m happy. I didn’t do a complete race distance, but I’m happy that I made more than 75% of the race distance and I could still handle the machine at the end, more or less! But now I am very tired.” Makoto Tanaka – Repsol Honda Team Manager “Both our riders worked hard again and we had another busy day testing. At the end of day, Dani did a very consistent run of 11 laps, including three laps in the 1m 40s bracket. I think a lot of Dani’s supporters who came here enjoyed his progress. We could not achieve the fastest time today and Nicky needs more time to get the right set-up here. Clearly we must do some more work but our pace today with race tyres was quite strong, and again we got the top time of all the Michelin runners. I believe, working in partnership with Michelin, we can improve further. I’m looking forward to see what happens tomorrow.” Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda: 1m 41.254s – 91 laps. “This morning we continued working on the suspensions in order to improve my feeling in the corner entry. Starting from this base, which is the result of all our pre-season work, we did some tyre testing with Michelin technicians. I have improved my lap time but I still need to focus on my rhythm in order to be ready for the first race. Tomorrow we have one more day to test Michelin tyres and I hope to do another step forward. Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda: 1m 42.636s – 84 laps. “We worked a lot on the bike, testing many different solutions. We have found some good things but I have to say at this moment this is my limit. I’m confident and tomorrow we will keep on our work schedule.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 1m 41.561s – 87 laps “In a moderate manner, I’m satisfied of the work I’ve done today. I have clearly improved the performance with a race set-up reaching the same levels of the IRTA tests made on this circuit last season. The problem is that we still have a wide gap from the fastest riders and we are already at the last day of test before coming here again for the first race of the 2006 Championship. Tomorrow, therefore, we will do our best to make a step ahead and especially to solve an annoying chattering problem at the rear tyre which does not allow me to be so effective in the final part of the breaking.” Giulio Bernardelle – Konica Minolta Honda Technical Director “Our Honda RC211V is evolving continuously and today we could make a massive work closely collaborating with the Michelin technicians. Makoto can only use the number one bike as the feeling with the second bike is completely different. This morning we asked to verify this impression of Makoto to the HRC test rider, Tadayuki Okada, who, after having tested our bikes for some laps, confirmed our rider’s version. Thus, we should carefully verify every bike 2 single component to understand the reason of this machine different feeling. Apart from this inconvenient we can say we have found the right way to follow in the search of the ideal setting for the Jerez G.P.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, KR Honda: 1m 42.7s -90 laps.”Not much to say today. We are basically looking for the base line we need to make progress. We have been playing with the suspension trying to find the best combination of suspension and tyres. We learn something every time we take the bike out, even if we only eliminate stuff that doesn’t work. We’re in good shape and moving forward.”

1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 15 laps, 24:48.00, average speed 107.1 mph 2. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), -0.032 second 3. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), -5.140 seconds 4. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999R), -6.017 5. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), -11.429 6. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), -12.715 7. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999R), -12.766 8. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), -16.224 9. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000), -46.584 10. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), -47.002 11. Eric Wood (Suz GSX-R1000), -47.594 12. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000), -52.500 13. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000), -52.759 14. Akira Tamitsuji (Suz GSX-R1000), -68.419 15. Matt Lynn (Suz GSX-R1000), -68.551 16. Brad Hendry (Suz GSX-R1000), -87.860 17. Michael Sanchez (Suz GSX-R1000), -89.168 18. Brian Stokes (Yam YZF-R1), -103.709 19. Armando Ferrer (Kaw ZX-10R), -109.199 20. C.R. Gittere (Suz GSX-R1000), 14 laps 21. Larry Pegram (Hon CBR1000RR), DNF, 13 laps, mechanical, 22. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), DNF, 11 laps, crash 23. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000), DNF, 6 laps, retired 24. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000), DNF, 1 lap, crash 25. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), DNF, 0 laps retired 26. Norino Brignola (Duc 999R), DNF, 0 laps 27. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), DNS 28. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), DNS AMA Superbike Point Standings 1. Mladin, 38 points 2. Spies, 32 3. Duhamel, 29 4. Hodgson, 27 5. T. Hayden, 26 6. Yates, 25 7. B. Bostrom, 24 8. Zemke, 23 9. Pridmore, 22 10. Holden, 21

Provisional Saturday Morning AMA Superbike Practice Times: 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:38.196 2. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:38.506 3. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06), 1:38.582 4. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:38.726 5. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:38.781 6. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:38.850 7. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06), 1:39.043 8. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:39.473 9. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:39.824 10. Larry Pegram (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.808 11. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:41.298 12. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:41.600 13. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:41.610 14. Eric Wood (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:41.786 15. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:41.904 16. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:42.179 17. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:42.819 18. Matt Lynn (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:43.132 19. Nicole Brigbola (Duc 999R), 1:43.337 20. Akira Tamitsuji (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:43.700 21. Brad Hendry (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:44.200 22. Armando Ferrer (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:44.566 23. Michael Sanchez (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:45.453 24. C.R. Gittere (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:45.641 25. Brian Stokes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:46.341

Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Kenny Abbott, as quoted in the Thursday, March 9 edition of The Daytona Beach News-Journal: “We’re really the only private team that can stick it to the factory guys…”

CMRA racer Thomas Gaspard is survived by his daughter Skyler, who is a CMRA Jr. Motard racer; parents Martha and Abbie Gaspard; brothers Lonnie Gaspard and Steven Gaspard; sisters Diane Gaspard and Donna Guillory; and grandmother Irby Gaspard. Services will be held at Johnson’s Funeral Home 4321 Lake St. Lake Charles, La. 70605 Funeral, Saturday at 1:00 p.m. There will be a memorial account set up in Thomas’s name at Hibernia Bank, as Thomas didn’t have life insurance, and donations will be welcomed. Details will be posted on the CMRA message board, at www.cmraracing.com .