SATISFATION FOR SCUDERIA SC FOR VALENCIA’s TEST SESSION Scuderia SC’s people were satisfied today at the end of the two-day test un the Valencia circuit. Once more the weather has been favourable, with a good sunshine that, especially during the central hours of the day, put the Spanish track in good conditions. Despite to be satisfied Roberto Rolfo has not been very lucky during this final day of test. Already in the morning, with the track still cold, the Italian rider improved easily his previous performances, then some technical problem in the gearbox forced the team to change the 999F05 engine, losing precious time during the most favourable time of the day. However Rolfo recorded a good 1’36″6, signing several laps under 1’37″. “Today too we made a good job.” commented Roberto Rolfo at the end of test “The morning’s trouble took us off some useful hour, when the track was in the best condition, but at the end we got a good basis set up on which we could work. I’m satisfied also for my feeling with the bike, my sensations becomes day by day most correct. During the morning already, with a cold asphalt, I improved steadily my laptime, then the stop prevented us to try a fastest lap performance, but the testing program has been correctly completed.” Quite satisfied Josh Brookes too; the long work made today and focused on suspension set up, also if it didn’t completely cleared up the first day’s problem, got direct information about the next test work. Some result have been seen also thanks the clear improvement of the laptime, recording 1’39″5 today. “Today we made many changes in the suspensions tuning.” said a satisfied Josh Brookes “At the end we found some improvement and the bike is now pretty better, not perfectly well but better. What’s important is that now me and the technicians we know what to do for next occasion. Today I got also the possibility to test the 2006 evolution tyres accomplished by Pirelli and, despite my limited experience on this tyres I feel comfortable.” Also Luka Nedog improved clearly his performance, scoring a good 1’41″2. The filing with the Italian twin increases also for the young Slovenian rider that also suffered a small crash, without any consequences, in the fast left corner at the end of the finish line. “Today too I went on looking for the best comfort on the bike.” said Luka Nedog “After some slow lap, also because in the beginning of the session the track was still cold, I became more and more familiar with the bike and the tyres, and I rode as more kilometres as possible, covering about 40 laps. The I started to open the throttle and I improved my previous laptime about a couple of seconds, but I suffered a crash at the end of the finish line, without any injury for me and just a very little damage for the machine, because at that moment I was riding slowly; probably I’ve lost my concentration and that betrayed me. I’m quite satisfied at the end, but I have to learn how to manage the rear wheel sliding outing the corners, that’s still my point of weakness.”

CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM TEST Losail, Qatar Wednesday, February 8th 2006 Ambient temperature: 28.1 degrees Track temperature: 44.0 degrees Humidity: 50.3% ANOTHER TEST COMPLETED FOR CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM IN QATAR The Camel Yamaha Team finished their third day of testing at the Losail International Circuit with the track to themselves today, all other teams having begun testing one day earlier and finished yesterday. Alone on the track, Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards were quickly able to complete the remaining Michelin tyre work they needed to do, before concluding the test with long runs in the afternoon. Neither Rossi nor Edwards improved on their times from yesterday of 1’56.53 and 1’56.81 respectively, and these remain the fastest times from the three days of testing. However both riders still lapped under lap record pace today, Rossi setting a best time of 1’56.78 after 49 laps and Edwards 1’57.07 from 57 laps. The Yamaha riders and team members now have a five day break before they rejoin the rest of the MotoGP paddock for the final ‘winter’ test in Sepang, Malaysia on 14th, 15th and 16th February. VALENTINO ROSSI (1’56.78, 49 Laps) “Today was not quite as good as the last two days, mainly because the condition of the track was slightly worse and we didn’t have such good grip. I think that last night there was a lot of wind and with only two bikes on the track today it wasn’t enough to clean the surface properly. Anyway we continued to work, did our long run and found out some more information about the new M1 in different conditions. We have some vibrations and our top priority now is to find a way to fix this; I hope we can do that in Sepang. Anyway, in general this has been a good test and we have made some more improvements. The times have been quite good and we’ve done some important work with Michelin. Now I go home for a few days to rest before we start again in Sepang next week.” COLIN EDWARDS (1’57.07, 57 Laps) “Overall I am really happy with this test and I am looking forward to the season ahead. I am especially pleased with the setting of the bike, which we seem to be improving all the time. Both Yamaha and Michelin have worked really hard over the winter and, together with the new tyres, we’ve got a really good package. My long run was not bad this afternoon and the encouraging thing was that my times were consistent, even later on as the tyres started to go off slightly in the heat. It’s difficult to compare to last year’s race since the conditions are so different, but this year’s Qatar race is only two months away now, so we hope that the work we’ve done at this test will put us in a good starting position for that weekend. The general progress of the bike has been great over just two tests this year so now we will hopefully be able to keep working like this in Sepang next week.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “It was interesting to come here in very good conditions and we got some good information which we can work on for the start of the season. It’s good to now go immediately to Sepang to check again the settings that we found there at the first test in January. Sepang is the last really important test for us before the start of the season.” Unofficial Lap Times: 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha, 1’56.78 2. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, 1’57.07 Qatar Lap Record: 1’57.903 (Nicky Hayden, Honda, 2005) Qatar Best Lap: 1’56.917 (Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 2005)

The Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike Team today announces a three-year sponsorship agreement with Santander Consumer Bank Italy, the leading consumer credit bank in the automotive industry. The deal will see the YZF-R1 machines of Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt run in the red and white corporate colours of the financial giant, which also works with Yamaha Motor Italia as a partner in the Yamaha Credit System – a finance programme available to Yamaha’s Italian customers facilitating the purchase of their machines. Santander Consumer Bank is part of the Gruppo Santander, the leading financial institution in Spain and one of the top ten international banks in the world. Gruppo Santander operates in 46 countries with 10,000 franchises servicing 59 million clients, with more than 126,000 employees. Santander Consumer Bank (SCB) is an important contributor to the success of the group. In Italy, SCB achieved much of its business success developing financial products for the automotive industry. Laurens Klein Koerkamp – Yamaha Motor Europe, Racing Division “We’re pleased to have secured a three-year partnership with Santander Consumer Bank. It is a very positive development that such a leading financial company values the marketing potential of motorcycle racing, and following their existing relationship with Yamaha Motor Italia this partnership is a perfect fit for us and a valuable new contribution to world superbike racing as a whole. Superbike is all about racing production machines which can be bought in our dealerships and this sponsor also has a strong presence in Yamaha’s Italian dealerships providing financial services to our customers. I am sure it will be a very fruitful relationship giving our team the opportunity to further improve its competiveness, while Santander will surely raise their public profile in and outside the motorcycle population.” Mauro Viotto – C.E.O. of Santander Consumer Bank Italy “For us the partnership with Yamaha Motor Italia is very important from a commercial point of view. For many years we have been developing products, services and operations tailored for automotive partners. We want to support Yamaha Motor Italia and its dealer network with all these tools and with new ones that we will be developing following their needs through the Yamaha Credit System. We’ve already reached the lead between independent companies in the whole automotive market. Our aim is to increase our market share in motorcycle financing, in order to expand our existing leadership based largely upon consumer credit within the car segment. We think that the sponsorship of the Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike Team will strengthen our relationship with the Yamaha dealer network, enabling us to reach our business goals together.”

FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Hi. I have read your article about Anthony. I would be grateful if you could make it clear that the addiction is completely gone and Anthony has been clean for a long time. The court case was adjourned last year a few times and so for the article to give the impression that it is a current thing is very misleading. I understand that you have not in any way embellished the facts but you were not given the full facts. The newspaper article in Australia was also very misleading and did not state the full facts. It also selectively printed only part of the whole storey. The reason why Anthony received such a minor penalty is that the judge could see that Anthony had taken steps to help himself and was no longer an addict. He has in fact been clean for a long time. Some jealous person over here has gotten hold of the article and has sent it to every journalist and motorcycle person all over the world and this in itself is very sad that someone could be so hateful as to try to sabotage another person. Thank you, Sue Gobert (Note: Sue Gobert is Anthony Gobert’s mother and manager.) FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I just read the article about Anthony Gobert. Although I don’t condone of any illegal drug use, especially in sports, I find it sad that our society (or possibly just the press) seems to have a fascination with building people up, and then tearing them down. People make all kinds of mistakes in life–small ones, big ones, private ones and very public ones. But at the end of our lives, I believe that we are as much judged (if not more so) by how we correct our mistakes, than by the mistakes we make. So let’s give Anthony a break. Oliver Chami San Diego, California

2005 AMA Superstock Champion Aaron Yates fractured his right shoulder blade when he crashed his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock bike during AMA team testing Tuesday morning at California Speedway. “We were testing some stuff. We had made some adjustments to the shock,” Yates told Roadracingworld.com Tuesday evening in the paddock of California Speedway. The Georgian had exited turn nine and was driving down the infield straightaway and toward the revised-in-2005 turn 10/11 chicane (which is now more of a kink than a chicane) when he came upon Team M4 EMGO Suzuki development rider Shea Fouchek, who was making his first lap of the day on his new GSX-R600 Supersport bike. “I could tell that guy was on a 600, and he was way off the line out there,” said Yates. “I felt like I could get in there and get by him. He started coming down and coming down. I was trying to go tighter and tighter, and I ended up collecting a cone pretty good and brushing him a little. I got into a big, nasty tankslapper. I was headed out there for that big wall of haybales and stuff out by that bridge, and I had to get off. I just let go of it because it was swapping so big.” Yates was not immediately rushed to the hospital. Instead, he was taken to be examined by Dr. Thomas Bryan, a local orthopedic surgeon who has recently operated on Mat Mladin and Damon Buckmaster. Dr. Bryan confirmed the fracture with X-rays and an MRI, and Yates was back at the track before the end of the day. “We’re getting the stuff to Dr. (David) Kieffer to see what he thinks,” continued Yates, referring to the surgeon he has worked with for most of his injuries during his racing career, “but it looks like we might just let it sit. I just hope everything’s going to work out and I can go to Daytona and try to go fast, but the main thing is to try and get some points.”

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin was the fastest man Tuesday during the first day of a two-day AMA team test at California Speedway in Fontana, California. After turning a time of 1:25.411 in the morning session, Mladin was able to pilot his Dunlop-fitted GSX-R1000 Superbike around the 2.36-mile infield road course in a time of 1:24.708. “I feel it was a successful day,” the noticeably leaner six-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion told Roadracingworld.com. “We went through quite a bit of stuff. Those times were a bit down, but we had quite a bit of stuff to re-test that we started with in Australia. I think we found some good stuff, though.” Mladin qualified for last year’s Superbike race at California Speedway with a new record time of 1:23.612. As in the morning session, American Honda’s Jake Zemke and Miguel Duhamel were next on the time sheets with afternoon lap times of 1:25.438 and 1:25.614, respectively. Both men split time Tuesday between their Ohlins-suspended CBR1000RR Superbikes and the CBR600RR Formula Xtreme machines they will only race in selected 2006 events, including the Daytona 200. Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Neil Hodgson was the fourth-fastest Superbike man, shaving 0.6-second from his Tuesday-morning time to end up with a 1:25.766. Hodgson’s new teammate Ben Bostrom, however, stalled out at 1:26.4 Tuesday morning and stopped riding mid-afternoon because he wasn’t making any progress. Bostrom feels the character of California Speedway’s course does not suit the Ducati 999. Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden and Roger Hayden continued the development process with their new ZX-10R Superbikes (which are actually closer to Superstock bikes than true Superbikes) with help from former MotoGP and World Superbike racer Akira Yanagawa. Tommy Hayden shaved 1.5 seconds from his best lap time Tuesday afternoon with a 1:25.861. The only other Superbike men at the test, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates and Ben Spies, did not factor into the fastest lap times because Yates crashed early in the day and did not ride again and Spies focused on dialing in the new suspension of his GSX-R600 Supersport racebike. Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking recorded the fastest time in the Superstock class, turning a 1:26.254 on his YZF-R1 LE Tuesday afternoon. Hacking’s teammate Jason DiSalvo was the top Formula Xtreme rider with 1:26.073 on his factory Yamaha YZF-R6. Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden turned the fastest Supersport lap time (1:27.108), before parking his ZX-6RR at lunchtime. Tuesday Afternoon AMA Team Test Times (as provided by AMA Pro Racing timing & scoring): 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:24.708 Superbike 2. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:25.438 Superbike 3. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:25.614 Superbike 4. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06) 1:25.766 Superbike 5. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:25.861 Superbike 6. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6) 1:26.073 Formula Xtreme 7. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:26.118 Superbike 8. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R1 LE) 1:26.254 Superstock 9. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06) 1:26.479 Superbike 10. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1 LE) 1:26.830 Superstock 11. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:26.977 Superstock 12. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.136 Superstock 13. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.524 Superstock 14. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:27.533 Superstock 15. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.627 Superbike 16. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.670 Superstock 17. Damon Buckmaster (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:27.685 Supersport 18. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:28.240 Supersport 19. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6) 1:28.308 Formula Xtreme 20. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:28.317 Superstock 21. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:28.318 Superstock 22. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R600) 1:28.467 Supersport 23. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR) 1:28.648 Formula Xtreme 24. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR600RR) 1:28.807 Formula Xtreme 25. Michael Barnes (Suz GSX-R600) 1:28.846 Formula Xtreme 26. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:29.024 Superstock 27. Ty Howard (Hon CBR600RR) 1:29.330 Formula Xtreme 28. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.204 Superstock 29. Danny Eslick (Suz GSX-R600) 1:30.482 Supersport 30. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R600) 1:30.998 Supersport 31. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR) 1:31.103 Formula Xtreme 32. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.685 Superstock 33. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R600) 1:32.742 Supersport More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Yoshimura Suzuki Concludes Day One of Testing at California Speedway BREA, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2006) — Team Yoshimura Suzuki concluded the first day of a two-day test at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., today. The 2005 AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin, 2005 AMA Superstock Champion Aaron Yates and AMA Superbike frontrunner Ben Spies were on hand at the 21-turn, 2.36-mile circuit. “This is just the final shakedown of equipment leading into the first round of AMA Superbike at Daytona,” said Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager Don Sakakura. “Also, we have had several updates to the new Suzuki GSX-R600 – mostly with suspension and chassis – and we needed to address those.” In his first 2006 U.S. test, Mladin was fastest on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 with a best lap time of 1:24.708 and he was upbeat at the end of the day. “It was a good first day,” said Mladin. “We’re just running through a bunch of stuff we tested earlier in the year in Australia. What we have now is what we’re going to start the season with.” Teammate Spies spent the day developing the new Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600. “This is really the first time I’ve been able to put any real miles on the 600,” said Spies. “It’s a little difficult because I’m the only guy in the U.S. who’s developing the bike. But we found out what we needed to do and the guys are going to work on some stuff tonight, then we’re going to go back out tomorrow.” Yates, meanwhile, had an unfortunately short day as a get-off in the back-straight kink resulted in a broken right shoulder blade. “Going into that right/left, I got into a tank-slapper and went off over the front and landed on my shoulder,” described Yates, who went to the doctor after the incident. “Most likely, I won’t need surgery and I’ll be ready for Daytona.” Team Yoshimura Suzuki will continue the two-day test tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 8, while the season-opening round of AMA Superbike is scheduled for March 8-11 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Six-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin was the fastest rider Tuesday morning at an AMA team test at California Speedway in Fontana, California. In near-perfect weather conditions, Mladin turned a lap time of 1:25.411 on his Dunlop-equipped Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike while navigating the 2.36-mile infield road course. Mladin qualified for last year’s Superbike race at California Speedway with a new record time of 1:23.612. Mladin’s teammates Aaron Yates and Ben Spies did not have as smooth of a morning, however. Yates crashed when he ran off the track trying to avoid Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s development rider Shea Fouchek, who was on his out lap and was confused by the cones marking the turn 10/11 chicane on the infield straightaway. According to his team, Yates suffered a concussion and a shoulder injury when he fell. He has not left the track seeking medical attention, but he has not ridden since the incident. Less than an hour after Yates’ crash, Spies and Fouchek collided at the entrance to the fast turn one chicane. Spies did not fall, but Fouchek crashed without injury. While Spies’ and Fouchek’s versions of the incident differed, both riders expressed regret, said they had no hard feelings and described the incident as “just one of those things.” In addition to Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mladin, Yates and Spies; the test is being attended by: Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Michael Barnes, Geoff May and Fouchek; Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore, Steve Rapp and Jake Holden; Hotbodies Racing/Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki’s Marty Craggill; Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich and Robertino Pietri; Matsushima Performance Suzuki’s Danny Eslick and Blake Young; American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke; Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes and Aaron Gobert; Rockwall Honda’s Ty Howard and Ryan Andrews; Yamaha/Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Eric Bostrom, Jamie Hacking and Jason DiSalvo; Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden and Roger Hayden; Attack Kawasaki’s Damon Buckmaster and Ben Attard; and Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Neil Hodgson and Ben Bostrom. Kawasaki has also brought former MotoGP and World Superbike racer Akira Yanagawa to California Speedway. Yanagawa rode a spare ZX-10R Superbike without numbers on it Tuesday morning. “Top secret,” Yanagawa joked with Roadracingworld.com when asked why he was at California Speedway. “Of course, our bikes are completely new. So my job is to collect data to help make a really good bike for the future.” Yanagawa said he planned to race a Kawasaki ZX-10R in the All-Japan Superbike Championship this season, as he did last year. While the morning’s weather conditions were very good, with unseasonable warm temperatures and very little wind, the early afternoon as brought more wind than the racers would like. AMA Team Test Times (as provided by AMA Pro Racing timing & scoring): 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:25.411 2. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:25.997 3. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:26.161 4. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06) 1:26.331 5. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R1) 1:26.381 6. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06) 1:26.453 7. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:26.923 8. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR) 1:27.106 9. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:27.108 10. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6) 1:27.188 11. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:27.214 12. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:27.345 13. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:27.395 14. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:27.591 15. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1) 1:27.663 16. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR600RR) 1:27.672 17. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.834 18. Damon Buckmaster (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:28.297 19. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.457 20. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R600) 1:28.604 21. Michael Barnes (Suz GSX-R600) 1:28.744 22. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.901 23. Ty Howard (Hon CBR600RR) 1:29.352 24. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:29.769 25. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R600) 1:30.285 26. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.833 27. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR) 1:32.034 28. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R600) 1:33.138 29. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:36.112 30. Shea Fouchek (Suz GSX-R600) 1:37.388