Jordan Suzuki finds Success at California Speedway Test The Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki team finished its two-day test at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., confident and ready for the season-opening round of AMA Superbike in March. The three-man Suzuki team of Jason Pridmore, Steve Rapp and Jake Holden all put their GSX-R1000s through their paces on the 21-turn, 2.36-mile circuit. “We left California Speedway with a good result,” said Jordan Suzuki Team Coordinator Rich Alexander. “Jake had time to get familiar with the new bikes. Steve put in some good laps on the Superstock bike and was third fastest. Jason’s test was a success in that we learned that as far as R&D goes, we’re not far off.” Pridmore is looking forward to the upcoming season-opener. “We’re ready for Daytona,” said Pridmore. “The test there in December was great, and I’ve been training and I’m healthy.” Teammates Rapp and Holden, meanwhile, focused on the Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock machines that they will also compete on in AMA Superbike. “We tested shocks, different set-ups, tires,” said Rapp. “We were trying to improve on last year’s race set-up and we did. We’ve made the bike a lot better.” “We were just really focusing on getting the Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 running right,” added the newly signed Holden. “We wanted to make sure there are no glitches and the team wanted me to make sure my wrist is totally healed after my injury at Virginia last year. The bike is up to par and I’m 100 percent for Daytona.” The Jordan Suzuki team’s first race is the season-opening round of AMA Superbike, scheduled for March 8-11, 2006 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Legendary NBA star Michael Jordan formed Michael Jordan Motorsports in 2004 as a result of his passion for motorcycle racing. His mission is to bring a new level of excellence and style to the motorcycle racing industry. For more information on the team visit the race team website at www.23RACE.com and the Jumpman website at www.Jumpman23.com. More, from another press release: Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki Concludes Positive Test at CA Speedway Record-setting, six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin’s Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki team debuted its 2006 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock machine at their successful two-day test at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Australian rider Marty Craggill rode for Mladin’s fledgling team in 2005 and will again ride for Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki. Last year, he raced a Suzuki GSX-R1000 in AMA Superbike and won first-privateer bragging rights by finishing in seventh place. For 2006, the Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki team will contest AMA Superstock on a more production-based GSX-R1000. “It was a great couple of days and it was nice to be back on a bike after five months,” said Craggill. “I felt very good and the 2006 GSX-R1000 performed flawlessly for the two days. It is amazing that we started building the race bike just three weeks ago and when we turned up to test, the bike never missed a beat. It goes to show how great a package the 2006 Suzuki GSX-R1000 is and I look forward to the first race with the Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki team.” The Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki team’s first race will be the season-opening round of AMA Superbike at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., March 8 – 11, 2006. More, from a press release issued by Yoshimura Suzuki: Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, Ben Spies and Aaron Yates have completed a productive and relatively successful two-day test of their 2006 GSX-Rs at California Speedway in Fontana, California. “This test was really just final preparation for Daytona,” said Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager Don Sakakura. “The biggest priority for us was for Ben to focus on developing the new GSX-R600 and he spent the whole day riding that bike.” “This was a hard test for us,” said Spies (pictured). “But it was good. This is the first test where we’ve had real race suspension on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600. We’ve just been making little changes, taking small steps at a time. We got a decent setting today and we know what direction we need to go in to make it better.” Team mate Mladin finished off the test with the fastest lap time on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike, posting a best of 1:24.448. Mladin and his crew had been focusing on 2005 and 2006 suspension components and engines. “It was a good test,” said Mladin. “The last time out, we put a couple of things together that we liked. We tried the 2005 and the 2006 motor and I preferred the 2006 version. This test wasn’t ideal for lap times, with the wind and everything, but we found some stuff that we liked and that’s what we’re here for.” Unfortunately for the team, 2005 AMA Superstock Champion Aaron Yates was absent, having broken his right shoulder blade on the first day of the test. According to Sakakura, Yates should be healed in time for the season’s first race. “Going into a ‘right left’, I got into a tank-slapper and went off over the front and landed on my shoulder,” said Yates, who went to the doctor after the incident. “Most likely, I won’t need surgery and I’ll be ready for Daytona,” he added. Next for Team Yoshimura Suzuki is the season-opening round of AMA Superbike Championship, scheduled for March 8-11 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

CMRA racer Igal Askeroglu married Lori Michelle Bowen in Houston, Texas, February 10.

DAYTONA 2006 FEATURES A FULL PLATE OF TELEVISION COVERAGE SPEED features 8 hours of live coverage PICKERINGTON, Ohio (February 10, 2006) Fans of AMA championship motorcycle racing will get their fill of action in March when SPEED fires up 12 hours of race coverage from Daytona Beach, including eight hours of live coverage, culminating with the broadcast of the 65th running of the Daytona 200 by Honda, the opening round of the AMA Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series. SPEED’s coverage kicks off March 9 from 2:30 to 6 p.m. ET, including coverage of the AMA Supersport and Superstock season openers as well as Daytona 200 and AMA Superbike qualifying. Last year, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin turned the fastest lap ever on the newly configured, 2.95-mile Daytona International Speedway. Repeat coverage of the Supersport and Superstock races will air at 11 p.m. ET on March 9 and again at 12 p.m. ET, March 10. On March 10, the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series takes center stage with primetime same-day coverage starting at 9:30 p.m. ET. The “Big Three” of Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed and James Stewart will bring their season-long battle to one of the premier events on the AMA Supercross schedule, featuring the longest and most exhausting track in the series. On March 11, SPEED will offer morning-to-evening coverage of Daytona Bike Week racing. The day starts at 11 a.m. ET with flag-to-flag coverage of the 2006 AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited season opener. Defending champ Mat Mladin will begin his quest to win a record seventh AMA Superbike title. This year, Mladin will face an even deeper field of competitors, including the returning factory Kawasaki squad led by brothers Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden. Fans of the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship won’t be left out either. After the Daytona Superbike race, SPEED will present Thursday night’s Flat Track season opener from Daytona’s Municipal Stadium. Chris Carr is hoping to close in this year on some of Scott Parker’s AMA Grand National records. Live coverage of the 65th Daytona 200 by Honda featuring the AMA Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series will take the green flag starting at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 11. This year defending Daytona 200 winner Miguel Duhamel will face a strong field of competitors as he tries to become the first six-time winner of the prestigious race. “AMA Pro Racing is thrilled to again be working with SPEED for the 2006 racing season and these 3 days in March – with 12 hours of programming, is a great rollout for another fantastic season of coverage for fans of AMA racing,” said AMA Pro Racing’s Vice-President of Commercial Development John C. Farris, Jr. “The Daytona Bike Week tradition gathers the entire AMA racing community and it is great to have SPEED bringing it to life for the fans that aren’t able to attend the events,” added Farris. Veteran broadcasters Ralph Sheheen, who is also announcing the entire Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series on SPEED, and Brian Drebber will provide play by play alongside expert color analysis from former Daytona winner Freddie Spencer. 2 Wheel Tuesday’s host Greg White will be reporting from the pits with help from racer Jason Pridmore during the Daytona 200. For additional information on all the Daytona AMA Pro Racing TV programming go to www.speedtv.com or www.amaproracing.com.

Jimmy Filice to be featured in AHRMA’s Daytona activities Three-time AMA 250 Grand Prix Champion Jimmy Filice will be a featured part of the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association’s Classics Days road racing, March 6-7, at Daytona International Speedway. Not only will Filice be available to meet fans and sign autographs, but he will also suit up and compete in the Triumph Thruxton Cup Challenge both days. Filice, now 43, began his professional career in 1981, competing in AMA Grand National dirt track and road racing. The versatile racer won 29 AMA nationals, finishing a career-high eighth place in the 1983 Grand National series and winning the 250 GP title in 1991, 1993 and 2001. One of his most memorable rides was at the 1988 U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, where he filled in for an injured John Kocinski and rode a factory Honda NSR250 to a decisive victory. By the time he retired from pro racing in 2002, Filice had competed in everything from World 500 GPs to AMA Superbike and Supersport. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in 2000 and continues to live in his native California. Filice will be available to meet fans in an autograph/photo session at noon on Sunday, March 5, during AHRMA registration and tech inspection day at the Volusia County Fairgrounds (just east of I-4 Exit 118 on Route 44). Autograph sessions also will be held at the noontime lunch break on Monday and Tuesday, March 6 and 7, at Daytona International Speedway. Filice will compete both days in the Triumph Thruxton Cup Challenge on the same Charlie Benton-owned machine that Ted Cobb rode to the series championship in 2005. Now beginning its second season with AHRMA, the Thruxton Cup features near-stock examples of Triumph’s 865cc retro-cafe-racer twin. Other Thruxton Cup regulars include racing greats Gary Nixon and Jay Springsteen. Joining Filice in AHRMA’s Daytona Great Men program will be: “¢ Grand Marshal Al Knapp””AHRMA’s elder statesman of road racing, still going strong at age 83 aboard his Harley-Davidson WR handshifter. “¢ Johnny Gibson””winner of the 1956 Daytona 200, speedway promoter and Motorcycle Hall of Fame Member. (Health problems may prevent Gibson from attending.) “¢ Gary Nixon””1967 and ’68 AMA Grand National Champion. “¢ Jay Springsteen””three-time AMA national dirt track champ. A full round of the AHRMA Works Performance Historic Cup Series will run each day at Daytona. Hundreds of motorcycles from the 1930s to the 1980s will compete, along with modern singles, twins and triples, and the Triumph Thruxton Cup Challenge. The AHRMA paddock is open to spectators to meet the Great Men and to check out the classic race machinery up-close. To find out more, visit www.ahrma.org.

LAWRENCE TO RETURN AS AMA SUPERBIKE MEDIA MANAGER PICKERINGTON, Ohio (February 10, 2006) AMA Pro Racing has announced that Larry Lawrence will return in 2006 as media manager for the AMA Superbike Championship. Lawrence, who has worked for AMA Pro Racing since 1995, comes back to road racing after working for four years in the AMA Motocross Championship. Donnie Clark, who did an exemplary job as AMA Superbike Championship media manager for the last two years, will continue his association with AMA Pro Racing in a new capacity. AMA Pro Racing will also hire a new media manager for the AMA Motocross Championship. “It will be great to have Larry back in road racing,” said Kerry Graeber, Vice President and Director of Communications for AMA Pro Racing. “Larry helped raise the level of awareness and recognition in AMA Motocross with his innovations and hard work. We’re looking forward to bringing his expertise back to AMA Superbike.” Lawrence has worked in motorcycle racing since 1983 and came to AMA Pro Racing in 1995 as communications manager. He has remained with Pro Racing since that time also working for the last two seasons in AMA Supermoto. Lawrence also serves as an election committee chairman for the Motorcycle Hall of Fame and is biographer for the Hall of Fame. “I enjoyed my time working with the athletes in the AMA Motocross Championship,” Lawrence said. “Working alongside NPG PR man Pat Schutte, we accomplished a great deal in that series and I’m confident we’ll continue to build on the momentum that series enjoys. I know and have worked with many of the key players in road racing in the past so we should have a smooth transition. I plan on bringing some of the things I learned in motocross to the Superbike series. I also hope to build on the excellent work that Donnie Clark has established in the last few years.” Lawrence can be reached at [email protected]

AMA PRO RACING CONFIRMS BUELL FORMULA XTREME ELIGIBILITY PICKERINGTON, Ohio (February 10, 2006) AMA Pro Racing confirmed today that the Buell XBRR motorcycle, the race-kitted variant of the road-going XB12R, is eligible for competition in the AMA Formula Xtreme Series. In making the announcement AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition, Merrill Vanderslice noted that AMA Pro Racing technical personnel have inspected the motorcycle and it was determined that Buell has met the requirements for the XBRR to be eligible for AMA Formula Xtreme. “By design, Formula Xtreme rules are the most liberal of all the classes within the AMA Superbike Championship,” stated Vanderslice. “The class was created with broad equipment parameters and air-cooled V-twins are afforded the most latitude. Buell has based this motorcycle on its XB12R street bike and the modifications made are within the rules allowed in the class.” Vanderslice acknowledged that a press release distributed by Buell to announce the motorcycle may have created some confusion as to the bike’s eligibility. “Regardless of the wording in the release, the bottom line is that Buell has produced a racetrack version of an existing street motorcycle and modified it within the rules,” he noted. “We were aware of Buell’s plans and inspected the motorcycle on Friday, Feb. 3 as part of the approval process. “The intent of the Formula Xtreme class is to include a diverse group of motorcycles, and we welcome Buell’s increased participation in AMA championship racing. We are confident the company’s inclusion will enhance the sport of motorcycle road racing.”

USGPRU Race Bike Giveaway Odenton, MD. February 10, 2006 The USGPRU today announced they will be raffling off a brand new Honda RS125 GP race bike at the USGPRU National Championship Final race at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 21, 2006. The GP bike donated by Rising Sun Cycles will be delivered to Jennings GP in Florida for its unveiling at the first East Coast USGPRU event on April 6th and 7th. “We will have a top 125 tuner set the bike up and prep it for a special guest rider that weekend, and then present the bike to the (raffle) winner at the National Championship in October. The bike will be brand new, professionally set up, and ready to go for the lucky winner”, said Stewart Aitken-Cade, President of the USGPRU. “But wait, there’s more!” exclaimed Aitken-Cade. “In addition to the bike, we will be raffling a full leather racing suit from Rev’it! USA, a work table and bike stands from Power Stands, a pair of fresh racing slicks from Bridgestone Motorsports, and a variety of Hjelm Motorsports rearsets, levers, and tools.” Raffle participants will receive 1 entry for every USGPRU race entered, and race winners will receive 10 additional entries. Additional raffles can also be purchased trackside during USGPRU race weekends. “Our sponsors have stepped up to make this program possible. I’m grateful for their support and commitment to GP racing in the US”, said Aitken-Cade.

Accord reached between PepsiCo and the Italian team. Gatorade take to the track with Ducati Corse Helmet, leathers and gloves, fatigue and stress: the Gatorade Sports Science Institute to investigate correct rider hydration by means of the sweat test. Ducati Corse has chosen Gatorade to be its official sports drink. PepsiCo Beverages Italia has announced that an accord has been reached linking the Italian team to the sports drink until the end of 2007. Gatorade will take to the track with the red Italian machines in the MotoGP and World Superbike Championships, supporting the riders during the races, helping them to re-hydrate in a correct way and to maintain concentration and energy at the required levels. In addition Gatorade will be available for the mechanics in the pit garages and all the guests in the team hospitality areas at circuits around the world. The company’s world-famous logo will be visible on the water-bottles used by the factory riders, on the starting-grid and at the finish of the races. “We are really satisfied with this partnership, which will also be associated with a series of important initiatives” declared Dario Bassetti, Marketing Director of PepsiCo Italia. “We wanted to tie our name with Ducati because with Gatorade it shares essence and values, such as the taste for competition and a desire to always exceed its own limits”. “I believe that the decision of a company of the calibre of PepsiCo to invest in motorcycling, in a year that offers numerous other prestigious sporting events, is an important sign for our entire sector” declared Alessandro Cicognani, Ducati Corse Marketing Director. “The decision to do so together with Ducati makes us very proud and we are sure that Gatorade will provide us with the energy required for a season at the very top!” Gatorade will make available for riders and medical staff the experience of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI), the international body specialized in sports nutrition and hydration. The accord also envisages that the Ducati riders will take part in the GSSI sweat test, which identifies the ideal hydration level of each individual sportsman, thus helping to improve performance. By means of this test, the GSSI aims to accumulate important information on the specific requirements of bike racers. “Motorbike racing is a sport that requires the utmost concentration and energy. It also requires non-stop work to obtain successful results. For this reason we believe that Gatorade, thanks to its special formula, will be an important ally for the riders, helping to guarantee their re-hydration and to combat the onset of tiredness” explained Nicola Sponsiello, the Gatorade Sports Science Institute’s spokesperson for Italy.