All 50 XB-RR Buell Formula Xtreme racebikes scheduled for production were pre-sold to dealers at the Buell dealer conference held Monday in Texas. Though these limited production racebikes are still available from dealers that were lucky enough to get their hands on one. More details to follow.

Team Suzuki riders dominated the New Zealand Superbike, 600 Sports Production and Formula Three Championships at Christchurch at the weekend and took the top four positions in the premier class aboard their GSX-R1000s. Andrew Stroud had led the class heading into the final round of the SsangYong-sponsored series but fellow Suzuki kingpin Shawn Giles – on a virtually identical GSX-R1000 – was just 10 points behind and very much in the running for the top honour with 75 points on offer over the weekend’s three races. Stroud threw down the gauntlet and easily won the day’s opening race, showing he was determined to finish the season the way he’d started – on top. But Giles’ response was typically resolute and he accepted Stroud’s challenge by winning the day’s next Superbike race as Stroud struggled with a slippery tyre, due to an incorrect air pressure setting, and battled home in an unaccustomed seventh spot. With that swing of the pendulum, 35-year-old Giles ate into Stroud’s lead and stormed one point clear at the top of the standings, setting up a nail-biting final race. Said Stroud: “Shawn leapt away at the start and I was probably two seconds a lap slower than him. I had just raced the smaller bike in the 600 Sports Production class and it usually takes me a couple of laps to adjust to the different bike and I don’t like to push too hard. “But once I had settled in, I soon caught him up and followed him for about half the 15-lap race. I wasn’t too concerned and soon worked out a couple of places where I could pass and got past him with about six laps to go. “I put in a hot lap to try to get a break on him but Shawn wasn’t giving up. He started coming back at me and I had to really put my head down for those last few laps,” he added. In winning that final race, Stroud re-took the points lead and claimed the crown, finishing the series just four points ahead of Giles, with fellow Suzuki men Ray Clee and Scott Charlton in close formation behind them. “It’s brilliant to have Suzuki finish first, second, third and fourth. We were so dominant,” said Stroud. “I think Jared Love was the only non-Suzuki rider to get a podium all season in a wet race in Invercargill. Being on the right brand of bike certainly makes my job a lot easier.” Suzuki riders had already wrapped up both the 600 Sports Production and Formula Three titles at the previous round at Timaru’s Levels Raceway, but that didn’t make the action any less intense at Christchurch’s Ruapuna finale. Craig Shirriffs (Suzuki GSX-R600) continued to dominate the 600cc class, running off with three more wins at Ruapuna, but hounded all the way in each race by Stroud. “Craig was awesome,” said Stroud, last year’s 600 Sport Production Class Champion. “He deserves the title this year; he’s ridden very well indeed. To tell the truth, I knew Craig had already wrapped up the title, so I was just out there enjoying myself. I wanted to save a bit of energy anyway for my Superbike races.” Terry Fitzgerald (Suzuki SV650) had scooped the Formula Three title the previous weekend at Levels but the 47-year-old was determined to go out with a bang and he finished one-two-two at the final round, locked in a battle with Andy Bolwell (Kawasaki ZXR400) who won the day with two-one-one results. “I finished first or second in every race this season,” said Fitzgerald, making a startling comeback to the track this season after a cancer scare 13 months ago. “I was pretty happy just to be out there racing and I didn’t think I’d be at the sharp end of the results. “Winning the title has been great but there’s still the Street Series race at Paeroa to go and that’s pretty important to me.” Fitzgerald won both races at the first round of the series at Wanganui’s Cemetery Circuit on Boxing Day, but says he does not have the same fondness for the bumps of Paeroa’s main street. “I’ll need a good day at Paeroa,” he added. SsangYong New Zealand Road Race Series (Final Points): Superbikes: 1 Andrew Stroud (Suzuki) 276. 2 Shawn Giles (Suzuki) 272. 3 Ray Clee (Suzuki) 219. 600 Sports Production: 1 Craig Shirriffs (Suzuki) 335. 2 Andrew Stroud (Suzuki) 240. 3 Derek McAdam (Kawasaki) 187. Formula Three: 1 Terry Fitzgerald (Suzuki) 340. 2 Andy Bolwell (Kawasaki) 258. 3 Jason Easton (Yamaha) 200.

Abe, Gimbert and Nakatomi happy with Australian tests The three Team Yamaha Motor France Ipone riders tested many new parts during a successful four day test at Phillip Island. They were about 1 second quicker than last year using the same 2005 tyres. “We are in a happy and positive mood”, says team owner Martial Garcia. “Even if we couldn’t use the 2006 Pirelli tyres (as we are not a development team) we are much faster than last year. We have seen at Phillip Island that the new 2006 Pirelli tyres are about 1 second quicker with the other bikes, so obviously we are confident. “ There were many new parts to test for Norick Abe, Sébastien Gimbert and Shinichi Nakatomi, including swinging arms, rear suspension links, front forks, revised engine mapping, Japanese Soqi suspension and different ratios for the gearbox. Norifumi Abe and Sébastien Gimbert were both very fast for this first opportunity to test the 2006-spec R1s they will ride in this year’s World Championship. Shinichi Nakatomi learned very conscientiously, despite still suffering from his scaphoid bone. The Team Yamaha Motor France – Ipone will test next month at Circuito Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, before going to the Losail circuit in Qatar for the round one of the Superbike World Championship on February 25. Unofficial times – Troy Corser (Suzuki): 1’32.79 (2006 qualifying tyre) 1’33.0 (2006 race tyre) – Steve Martin (Petronas): 1’33.3 (2006 race tyre) 1’34 3 (2005 race tyre) – Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki): 1’33.5 (2006 qualifying tyre) 1’34.1 (2006 race tyre) – Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France – Ipone): 1’34.0 (2005 qualifying tyre) 1’34.6 (2005 race tyre) – Sébastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France – Ipone): 1’34.2 (2005 qualifying tyre) 1’34.6 (2005 race tyre) – Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France – Ipone): 1’35.0 – Craig Jones (Petronas): 1:35.6 Phillip Island stats Official practice record (1999): 1’32.193 Troy Corser (Ducati) 173.570 kph 2005 Yamaha Motor France practice times: Norifumi Abe: 1’34.742 / 12th and Sébastien Gimbert: 1’35.178 / 21st Race 1 results 2005: 1-Corser (Suzuki), 2-Kagayama (Suzuki) 3- Vermeulen (Honda) 4- Neukirchner (Honda) 5-Pitt (Yamaha) 2005 Yamaha Motor France race 1 results: Norifumi Abe: 6th and Sébastien Gimbert: 11th Race 2 results 2005: 1-Corser (Suzuki), 2-Kagayama (Suzuki) 3- Neukirchner (Honda) 4- Vermeulen (Honda) 5-Nieto (Ducati) 2005 Yamaha Motor France race 2 results: Norifumi Abe: 8th and Sébastien Gimbert: DNF (retired lap 9) Official lap record (best race time 1999): 1’33.019 Troy Corser (Ducati) 172.030 kph Round 1 of the Superbike World Championship: Losail (Qatar) February 25

CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM TEST Sepang, Malaysia Tuesday, January 24th 2006 Ambient temperature: 29.2 degrees Track temperature: 43 degrees Humidity: 64.4% RAIN CUTS SHORT SECOND DAY OF TESTING IN SEPANG Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both made progress on the development of the 2006-spec YZR-M1 in Malaysia today, despite the day being cut short by rain. The morning saw high temperatures and building humidity at the Sepang track before it gave way to a rainstorm in the mid-afternoon. Both riders decided not to carry on testing and now hope for good weather tomorrow in order to make the most of the final day. Ducati riders Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi both set fast times under the 2’02 marker today, but Edwards was close behind with a best lap of 2’02.00 after 58 laps. Rossi, who set a lap of 2’02.14 yesterday, was ninth fastest today with a best time of 2’02.62 after 41 laps COLIN EDWARDS (2’02.00, 58 Laps) “Today went really well and I’m excited about the progress we’re making already. Usually with a new bike you have to compromise in some areas to improve others, but it seems that with this bike they’ve improved it all over. Yamaha has done a really great job on it over the winter. The traction especially is much better. The crash yesterday has actually helped us to make progress and now we’ve found a setting that I really like. We’ve still got a tiny bit of chatter, but only in about three corners so we’re not so worried and I am confident we can find a way to fix it.” VALENTINO ROSSI (2’02.62, 41 Laps) “Today was not perfect because the rain interrupted everything this afternoon and we didn’t do as much work as we wanted to. Up to then we had concentrated mostly on fixing the chatter that we experienced yesterday and in the end we were successful. We realised that the problem was in the rear shock and now it’s okay. I ran a lot on old tyres today and then it started to rain so we weren’t able to try any of the new race tyres Michelin had brought. Tomorrow we will probably do a long run and hopefully we will also get the chance to try some of these new tyres.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “Unfortunately it rained this afternoon so we couldn’t finish the day’s work. Despite this both riders made some progress and Colin’s times especially were quite fast. Tomorrow we hope that we have good weather and that we can complete everything that we need to do.” UNOFFICIAL LAP TIMES 1. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati 2’01.50 2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 2’01.80 3. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha 2’02.00 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 2’02.02 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 2’02.26 6= Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2’02.40 6= John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 2’02.40 8. Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda 2’02.57 9. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha 2’02.62 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 2’02.70 11. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 2’03.26 12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki 2’03.43 13. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 2’03.80 14. Kenny Roberts (USA) Honda 2’04.10 15. James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha 2’04.15 16. Alex Hofmann (GER) Ducati 2’04.49 17. Jose Luis Cardosa (SPA) Ducati 2’06.06 Lap Record: Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2005 2’02.993 Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2005 2’01.731 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: Honda riders get down to serious work on second day of Sepang MotoGP test. The Honda RC211V riders present on the second day of the three day MotoGP test at Sepang, Malaysia got down to serious testing after the initial shake down session of yesterday. The best part of the day was run in good weather but heavy showers in the late afternoon curtailed the action. Repsol Honda factory team riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa were the fastest RCV riders of the day at Sepang. American Hayden chasing a more stability under heavy braking tried several changes to the geometry of his RCV in combination with suspension settings and tyres, working closely with his new data-logging technician Ramon Aurin. He improved on his best lap time of yesterday and ended the day in a positive frame of mind and is looking forward to tomorrow when he feels he will continue to improve machine performance. Pedrosa, a MotoGP debutante in 2006, continued where he left of yesterday – just trying to understand how best to evaluate the vast range of machine settings he has available for the RCV. The reigning 250cc World Champion made steady progress all day and lowered his lap time of yesterday. Pedrosa was one of only two riders to take to the track in wet conditions to hone his wet weather riding skills. Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda) spent the day chasing optimum chassis and suspension settings for his back up RC211V but failed to find the same balance he has with his best bike. Melandri never establish a good feeling with the machine, or a good rhythm, despite trying several Michelin tyre combinations. Consequently the Italian world number two cold not match his best time set on the opening day of the test. Melandri’s teammate, Toni Elias, continued his rigid test programme concentrating on chassis and suspension settings. The young Spaniard and his team technicians improved both areas of their RC211V and Elias lowered his lap time of yesterday by one second. LCR Honda rider Casey Stoner was another to lower his previous best lap time for the 5.542 km circuit. The Australian rider made positive progress with his chassis and suspension settings that gave him more rear end grip and a positive feeling from the front end of his RCV. Kenny Roberts Junior spent his day establishing a base line setting for the Roberts KR211V MotoGP machine a team Roberts built chassis housing a Honda five-cylinder 990cc RCV engine. Today the former 500cc World Champion ran through a series of chassis and suspension changes with the Michelin tyres he will race with this season. With so many things to try Roberts was in the pit box as much as he was out on track, completing just 25-laps before the rain ended his days work. However, despite his stop – go day Roberts managed to shave half a second off his best time of yesterday. Honda riders lap times and quotes. Nicky Hayden, USA, Repsol Honda: 2m 02.02s – 65 laps. “It’s been a pretty positive day. My outright speed wasn’t really much better than yesterday but I was a lot more consistent today and my feeling on the bike was better. We’ve been trying some different options on the chassis geometry to try and make the bike more stable under braking. And them some got into a bit of Michelin tyres but rain cut me short there. I had a few more to try. On the most part the weather has been really good. And it’s been awesome working with my new data-logging guy Ramon [Aurin] and that’s been a big help for me. We’ve got a lot of guys in here working hard and everyone’s behind me so we’ll just keep chipping away. Trying different geometries to get it more stable under braking. Dani Pedrosa, E, Repsol Honda: 2m 02.26s – 47 dry laps, 11 wet laps. “We are not making big changes to the bike. Today we retested all the things that we have improved yesterday so that I get a good idea about how the bike works. This is so that I don’t get confused and can always go out with a clear idea of what will happen when I push the bike. I feel tired, but less tired than yesterday so I am happy with this. Tomorrow if we have time we may try a race distance. In the wet the RC211V feels very different the 250 in the wet. The tyres are bigger and have more edge grip, but the exit of corner is more slippery. I need some more laps and I hope to have another rain day before the season starts to get some more experience.” “The bike is a little different to the bike I tested in November but it’s a similar feeling. When you know exactly the bike you can go out and within two or three laps understand the feeling. At the moment I still don’t understand the difference between settings. For the moment we are concentrating more on the suspension and the mechanics of the machine because I do not have enough experience to work on the electronics. For sure Honda is ready, but I am not yet.” Marco Melandri, I, Fortuna Honda: 2m 02.65s – 51 laps. “Yesterday I tried both my machines, mainly concentrating on my number one bike. Today I worked with the number two bike but it felt so much different to my bike of yesterday. I just didn’t find a good rhythm in the fast corners. The balance of the two bikes seems so different. I tested some tyres for Michelin today starting with the set I tried last night and they were not so bad yesterday but today with the number two bike the front end was sliding. We have to analyse the data we gathered today before deciding what to do. I will test both bikes tomorrow back to back to try and understand why my feeling with the two bikes is so different.” Toni Elias, E, Fortuna Honda: 2m 02.65s – 43 laps. “We continued in the same way as yesterday. Basically we are following the same programme as Marco (Melandri)) did when he first tried the RCV last season. We found many good points on the chassis and suspension so we concentrated on that. But it’s a long process. For example I have four rear suspension links to try and then decide which one is best for the chassis and suspension I feel comfortable with. Tomorrow we will continue to work to the programme the team have decided on and I am happy with that. There is no point trying for a fast time until I have the bike the way I want it.” Casey Stoner, AUS, LCR Honda: 2m 02.57s – 51 laps. “We had a positive day, a great improvement and I was about one second faster than yesterday. We have solved a few problems today. The rear end grip is much better than the last test here and the front ends steers into the corners better. In fact front and rear are better than the last test. We had a slight problem getting off the tight corners so we leaned off the power and that helped improve my feeling. I could have been a little faster if I had the best tyres on when we got the bike running really good.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, USA, Team Roberts: 2m 03.22s – 25 laps. “We are working on a process of elimination and tried a lot of changes today. Just being here working with the bike and analysing what we have right now and where we need to go. We are trying to establish a base line for tomorrow. We worked on the suspension with various tyres so we didn’t put in too many consistent laps and didn’t have too much track time. Basically we just dialled the bike in ready for tomorrow when I hope to get close to a 2m 02s lap time.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: DUCATI AND BRIDGESTONE MAKE PROGRESS ON DAY 2 IN SEPANG Development work continues on the Desmosedici GP6 in Sepang: Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi immediately on the pace. Sepang (Malaysia), Tuesday 24 January 2006 – The second day of testing in Sepang saw all teams and riders continue development work on the machines that will line up for the opening round of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship at Jerez on March 26th. Shortly after 4 o’clock local time, hot sunny conditions gave way to a tropical rainstorm that cut short scheduled testing at the Malaysian track. Despite the early end to the session, the Ducati Marlboro Team continued to make progress with the 2006 version of the Ducati Desmosedici. Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi both had a positive second day of three scheduled at Sepang and ended the session at the top of the timesheets. The Spanish rider continued to work on getting the best feeling with his Ducati and set a good pace throughout the day. Sete Gibernau (49 laps, best time of 2m01.66s) “Today we began to make the most of the work that we’re doing on suspension and engine set-up. The times that I set, but above all the pace that I did during the day, are good but I mustn’t get too excited! There are still lots of things that we can improve and we’re doing everything to get them done as quickly as possible. The team is doing a great job: Juan’s experience and mine are fitting in nicely with Ducati’s and we are getting a good base set-up with which we can work. It’s a pity that the rain interrupted the work we began with the tyres”. Loris carried out back-to-back tests between the GP5 and the GP6 and was able to give clear indications about the development of the new project. Loris Capirossi (45 laps, best time of 2m01.83s) “Despite the rain, today was positive. I started to lap with the GP6 and after a while we did another back-to-back test with the GP5 to check on a few things we had seen at Jerez. We had the confirmation that the GP6 is already at the level of last year’s bike but it has greater potential, so tomorrow we’ll concentrate only on the new bike. Hopefully tomorrow it won’t rain because we’ve got some new tyres to test”. Temperature: air 31° / track 45° C Unofficial times: 1. Sete Gibernau (Ducati) 2m01.66s; 2. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2m01.83s; 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2m02.00s; 4. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2m02.02s; 5. Daniel Pedrosa (Honda) 2m02.26s; 6. Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki) 2m02.56s; 7. Casey Stoner (Honda) 2m02.57s; 8. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2m02.62s; 9. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) 2m02.65s; 10. Marco Melandrii (Honda) 2m02.70s. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: NAKANO AND DE PUNIET FASTER IN SEPANG Kawasaki riders, Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet, both improved their lap times during the second day of testing at Sepang today, before the onset of rain brought the test to a premature end. Despite the weather, both Nakano and de Puniet managed to complete their planned test schedule, which included tyre testing with Bridgestone and the evaluation of revised engine and chassis components on their Ninja ZX-RR machines. Nakano tested four different rear tyres on his Ninja ZX-RR during the morning session, with one new tyre in particular offering an advantage around the twists and turns of the 5.548 km Sepang circuit, and allowing the Kawasaki rider to improve on his lap time from yesterday by over a second. Nakano also evaluated revised engine and clutch components, before testing a redesigned, more aerodynamic fairing on his 2006 Ninja ZX-RR. De Puniet also tested a number of rear Bridgestone tyres today, as he worked to identify a suitable tyre for his race simulation tomorrow. The 24-year-old Frenchman walked away uninjured from a crash whilst testing a new fairing, before going on to improve on his previous best lap time by more than a second. The Kawasaki Racing team will return to Sepang tomorrow for the third, and penultimate, day of testing. Shinya Nakano: #56 – 2’02.65 (50 Laps) “Today we focused mainly on an important tyre test with Bridgestone. They had a number of rear tyres for us to test, and one in particular definitely offered an advantage in terms of traction. The tyre uses a different drive compound, and it was on this rear tyre that I set my fastest time, over one second quicker than my best time from yesterday. We also tested some new components on the bike, including a modified chassis designed to improve stability. We will continue testing with this chassis tomorrow, as we work to improve overall set-up of the new bike. It’s been a busy, but productive, day.” Randy de Puniet: #17 – 2’02.55 (50 Laps) “Our main aim today was to test some new tyres from Bridgestone, and to identify the best tyre for my race simulation tomorrow afternoon. We also tested some modified components on the bike, including a redesigned, more compact fairing. It was during this part of the test that I had my first crash in MotoGP. I’m not sure what caused it, the rear just came round on me as I got off the throttle and down I went. It was a fairly big crash, but I walked away uninjured, and we were able to complete the rest of our test schedule before the rain appeared at four o’clock. I improved my lap time by more than one second, so I’m happy with the way things have gone today.” Naoya Kaneko: Technical Manager “Both riders were kept busy with tyre testing today, as it is important that we supply Bridgestone with the test data they need to continue their development for the season ahead. On the chassis front we tested a new fairing on bikes. Designed to be more compact and aerodynamic, Shinya’s comments on the new fairing indicate that it offers the same level of protection as the old. This is an area we will look at again in future tests. Finally, we also managed to evaluate some revised engine components and completed our test schedule despite the onset of rain in the late afternoon.” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda: MALAYSIA, SECOND DAY OF TESTING Second day of testing for the Fortuna Honda riders gathered at Sepang together with the teams and riders from the leading MotoGP squads. The second day was characterized by sunny sky and hot temperatures in the morning and rain in the afternoon that spoiled the second part of the work scheduled for the late afternoon. Aboard their red and yellow liveried RC211Vs Marco Melandri and Toni Elias spent the day working on the setting of the bike, evaluating each part of the new machine. Italian Melandri worked with the second bike while his team mate, the Spaniard Toni Elias, was testing different set up solutions and completing as many kilometres as possible in order to know the bike and to adjust to it. MARCO MELANDRI ( 54 laps, 2’02″70): “We keep on working on the set up of the new bike. Today I went on track with the second bike and I found more difficult to find the right feeling. Fortunately in the end we understood the reasons of the different feeling and tomorrow we will do a comparative test using both bikes. It was a pity that it started to rain at 04.00 p.m. The rain spoiled my race simulation that was scheduled for today. I don’t know if there will be enough time tomorrow to do a long run.” TONI ELIAS (42 laps, 2’03″26): “Today we made a step forward in the set up of the bike. We are working in the right direction, testing different solutions in order to create a good base. For me is very important in this moment to complete as many kilometres as possible as I need to adjust to the new bike. Unfortunately the afternoon rain spoiled the two last hours of work that were very important to confirm the work done today. Tomorrow we will continue working in this direction. I’m happy both with the bike and my team. The atmosphere is relaxed and stimulating so that I can work in the best conditions.” 1) Sete Gibernau (Sp/Ducati) 2’01.66 2) Loris Capirossi (Ita/Ducati) 2′ 01.83 3) Colin Edwards (Usa/Yamaha) 2’02.00 4) Nicky Hayden (Usa/ Honda) 2’02.02 5) Daniel Pedrosa (Sp/Honda) 2’02.26 6) Randy De Puniet (Fr/Kawasaki) 2’02.56 7) Casey Stoner (Aus/Honda) 2’02.57 8) Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) 2’02.62 9) Shinja Nakano (Jap/Kawasaki) 2’02.65 10) Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) 2’02.70 11) John Hopkins (Usa/Suzuki) 2’02″71 12) Toni Elias (Sp/Honda) 2’03″26 13) Vermeullen (Aus/Suzuki) 2’03″80 14) Kenny Roberts (Usa/Honda) 2’04″10 15) Alex Hofman (Ger/Ducati) 2’04″49 16) James Elison (Eng/Yamaha) 2’04″50 17) José Luis Cardoso (Sp/Ducati) 2’06″06

CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM TEST Sepang, Malaysia January 23rd 2006 Ambient temperature: 30 degrees C Track temperature: 49 degrees C Humidity: 49% ROSSI AND EDWARDS GET UNDERWAY AT FIRST TEST OF 2006 The Camel Yamaha Team launched its 2006 campaign today, with the first of three-days of testing in Sepang, Malaysia. After a six-week holiday the team is back at its favourite testing venue alongside other MotoGP Teams from Yamaha, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki. A cloudy morning with a few spots of rain at one stage gave way to a sunny afternoon and Yamaha’s Factory Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards were able to complete a full day of testing on their new 2006-spec YZR-M1s. Both riders concentrated on getting a feel for the new version of the M1, which they first tested in November last year. According to the unofficial lap times, Rossi was fastest with a time of 2’02.14, after 74 laps. Edwards meanwhile had a fall in the afternoon at turn nine, but was unhurt and able to continue for the rest of the afternoon on his second bike, setting a best lap of 2’02.61 after 69 laps. VALENTINO ROSSI (2’02.14, 74 Laps) “It’s always a little difficult to start again after the holidays, and I am never sure if I will be able to ride well straight away! Today however everything has felt good right from the start and I am already quite fast. The new M1 is a good bike, I like it and I can see that Yamaha has worked very hard over the winter. We had a few problems with it today; some chattering, but in reality it is good for this stage of the year. We still have a lot of work to do on it of course. The new bike is not so different from the 2005 bike, but still we have to understand completely its character and I have to get more confidence in it, then we can begin to make the modifications needed in order to improve it. Today has just been about understanding the bike, tomorrow we will concentrate more on tyres with Michelin.” COLIN EDWARDS (2’02.61, 69 Laps) “I came out this morning and felt good immediately. Straight away I felt happy on the bike and could notice all the improvements that Yamaha has made. I’m so accustomed to the 2005 bike at this track, but it was clear today that the new one is better in many ways. I am a bit out of practice after the holiday but once I got going I felt very comfortable to be back on the bike. After a few laps we began to play around with some fork settings and spring rates and in doing so we lost a little bit of feel. Then after lunch I had the crash”¦it was at turn nine and I just lost the front on the brakes. It all happened pretty slowly and I was fine, luckily. After that we didn’t have time to go back to our good fork setting but anyway the times were still okay. Despite the mishap today I feel like I want to go faster and faster, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.” DAVIDE BRIVIO CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “We begin this test with many new things, but the most important is that the new bike is at a good starting point and the riders have been able to do good work straight away. Of course we have many jobs ahead of us to work on the set-up and to test tyres for Michelin, but it has been a good start. Colin’s crash was unfortunate and also something new, since he doesn’t do it very often! Despite this we have had a more than satisfactory day and we hope to get some more important work done over the next two days.” Unofficial Lap Times: 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha 2’02.14 2. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 2’02.21 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 2’02.23 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 2’02.46 5. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 2’02.55 6. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha 2’02.61 7. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati 2’02.77 8. Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda 2’03’57 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki 2’03.77 10. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 2’03.80 11. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2’03.90 12. Alex Hoffman (GER) Ducati 2’04.63 13. James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha 2’06.40 14. Jose Luis Cardosa (SPA) Ducati 2’07.70 Sepang Lap Record: Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2005 2’02.993 Sepang Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2005 2’01.731 More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: POSITIVE FIRST DAY FOR KAWASAKI IN SEPANG The Kawasaki Racing Team got the 2006 MotoGP season off to a flying start during the opening day of a planned four-day test at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit. Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet started the day with shakedown tests aboard the latest version of Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machine, which features a completely redesigned inline, four-cylinder engine and chassis. With the shakedown tests completed successfully in the morning, Nakano and his crew switched their attention to set-up and refinement of the all-new bike, as well as testing new suspension components from Öhlins. The Japanese rider quickly identified a number of areas where improvements could be made, and these changes will be made by his crew overnight. A newcomer to the MotoGP class, Randy de Puniet impressed with his consistency and speed aboard his Ninja ZX-RR, during a 15-lap race simulation late in the afternoon test session. The 24-year-old Frenchman may still be adapting his riding style to the additional power and weight of a MotoGP bike, but his fastest lap today was just 0.2s behind his more experienced teammate, Nakano. Both riders will continue the set-up and development of the new Ninja ZX-RR during tomorrow’s test, when they will also complete a scheduled tyre test with Bridgestone. Shinya Nakano: #56 – 2’03.7 (43 Laps) “I was in and out of the pit box a lot this morning, but this is normal when you bring a brand new bike to the racetrack for the first time, as there are always a lot of small things that need adjusting or changing. This afternoon I was able to put in more laps on the bike and, overall, my first impression is very good. The handling is a big improvement, and I can feel that the new engine has more power then the old. I need to spend more time on the bike to get a better understanding of the engine characteristics, but already I think this new bike has a lot of potential. There is still some work for us to do in terms of set-up, both the chassis and the engine, but we will continue with this process tomorrow, when we will also be running some important tyre tests with Bridgestone.” Randy de Puniet: #17 – 2’03.9 (58 Laps) “Today was a good day for both myself and the team. I managed to put in a lot of laps aboard the new bike and my feeling was very good. At the end of the afternoon session I completed a 15-lap race simulation, with my fastest time of the day coming on the 11th lap. I had a good rhythm on the bike, the tyres and the bike were working well, and my lap times were consistent throughout. We will not make any major changes to the bike overnight ahead of the planned Bridgestone tyre test tomorrow. Overall, I’m pleased with today’s test and I’m looking forward to getting back out on track tomorrow.” Naoya Kaneko: Technical Manager “Today was really a first shakedown test for the new bike, as this is the first time we’ve run the new engine on the track. For a first outing the results have been very positive. Shinya and Randy were able to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of the new engine, and both riders have already started suggesting changes that will lead to further improvements tomorrow. We also tested new front and rear suspension from Öhlins and, again, the results have been mainly positive.” Harald Eckl: Team Manager “Overall, today has been a good start to the new season for the Kawasaki Racing Team. I was surprised at just how quickly Randy has adapted to the Ninja ZX-RR in such a short space of time. During his race simulation today he was posting consistent lap times that were very close to Shinya’s fastest lap. This is good for the team, to have two riders that are close enough on track to push each other, and also to develop the bike together. Over the next three days the riders and mechanics will concentrate on providing Kawasaki engineers with the data they need to continue the development process, as well as completing an important tyre testing schedule for Bridgestone.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: MotoGP test Sepang, Malaysia. Day one of three-day test, January 23, 2006. Positive day for HRC riders on opening day of 2006 MotoGP testing The 2006 MotoGP season got under way at the 5.542 km Sepang circuit in Malaysia today. Teams and riders from the leading MotoGP squads are in attendance, testing winter developments to their 990cc grand prix machines. HRC go into the season with a good blend of youth and experience all riding for battle hardened grand prix teams. No fewer than five of the seven riders entered on RC211V machines are under 24-years of age, two of them just 20! The experience lies in the hands of Kenny Roberts Junior, now 32, and 28-years old Makoto Tamada. Of the seven RCV equipped riders only Tamada is not present at Sepang. The Repsol Honda factory team of Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa spent day one running what were effectively shakedown tests. Hayden comparing the performance of his five-cylinder RC211V machine in its final 2005 specification and the initial version of the RCV he will campaign in the 17-round World Championship series. Reigning double 250cc World Champion Pedrosa spent his first active day of the 2006 season completing as many kilometres as possible as he continues to adjust to the larger capacity GP machine. Fortuna Honda will field world number two Marco Melandri and Toni Elias aboard their red and yellow liveried RC211Vs. The team have much to test and both men spent their day running through a programme designed to evaluate each part of the new machine. Italian Melandri was quickly up to pace and initially began working on the chassis settings. He quickly found a reasonable set up eventually being able to test new race tyres for tyre supplier Michelin. For Elias it was a case of starting afresh. The young Spaniard enters his first season equipped with an RCV and his winter testing will concentrate on evaluating every area of machine performance in a bid to understand exactly what he has to do to get the best out of the five-cylinder 990cc Honda before the season begins in earnest at Jeez, Spain on March 26. On the opening day of the three-day test Elias spent his time working on suspension and chassis settings. Casey Stoner had been expected to line up for Team Pons in 2006 but will now contest the 2006 MotoGP Championship for Lucio Cecchinello Racing (LCR). The young Australian, runner-up to Pedrosa in the 250cc series of 2005, was happy with the progress the RCV has made over the winter break and spent the first day of the test working on the chassis set up before trying to post fast times. HRC has formed an association with British-based Team Roberts, owned by former three-times 500cc World Champion Kenny Roberts, for the 2006 series. The experienced race chassis builders will compete using the RC211V engine in their newly launched KR211V. The latest addition to the MotoGP entry list will be raced by Kenny Roberts Junior, like his father a former 500cc World Champ. The opening day of testing for Roberts was a preliminary shake down test and the team was delighted with the results. Kenny Junior immediately felt comfortable on the new machine exceeding all expectations for the machines debut. Honda riders lap times and quotes. Nicky Hayden, USA, Repsol Honda: 2m 02.23s – 85 laps. “Today was pretty solid. We found some good points, but we have some work to do. It’s hard work out there. We tested some new parts and gathered some good data. The track seems like normal, it’s always faster at this time of year, although they’ve put a new patch of tarmac in turn three and the bike didn’t like it too much, it was dirty and bumpy, but it’s all good. Before we get to the first race at Jerez we’re just trying to chip away at development. I did some longer runs of 10-12 laps and some shorter stuff. At first I rode the bike from last season to get back into it, and then rode the new one. I’m looking forward. It’s great to get back here with the boys and getting hooked in and we’re doing to start digging – we’ve got a shovel and we’re going to do some work!” Dani Pedrosa, E, Repsol Honda: 2m 02.46s – 65 laps. “I’m happy with my times today because I didn’t expect to go this fast. The track helped a little bit compared to November and there was a little more grip on the rear. My first priority is to get used to the machine and find the best riding position at the moment. But I am tired for sure and I have to improve my physical condition. It’s hard work for the muscles riding a MotoGP bike, which makes me breathe harder than normal. The problem is to get consistency. I can do a few good laps and get a good rhythm, but I must try to make bigger runs.” Marco Melandri, I, Fortuna Honda: 2m 02.20s – 74 laps. “I’m happy to be back on my bike again. I have been in training since December 27 getting in shape for the season but nothing beats working with the bike. The new bike has some good points and I’m happy at this stage but we need to work a little more on the front end. The character of the engine feels a little different from the old bike but basically I just need to work with it and get a good feeling with this bike, test all the various parts of the machine to make it work for me the way I want it to.” Toni Elias, E, Fortuna Honda: 2m 03.80s – 60 laps. “I’m a little bit tired because I did many laps. My muscles are sore, as I didn’t ride a motorcycle since the test in November. I also had an operation on my wrist recently but I only experienced a little pain. My general feeling with the new bike is positive. My objective at this test is not to set an incredible lap time I followed the team plan for this test, with suspension testing the first area we worked on. I want to try everything we have to test on the bike here at Sepang. I have to work out what’s good for me, what I need to go fast. Then I will go for a fast lap time.” Casey Stoner, AUS, LCR Honda: 2m 03.57s – 63 laps. “The bike is definitely better than the ’05 bike I tried here at Sepang in November. I have a much better feeling with the chassis but we have some work to do on that. The engine could be a little smoother but the team will have no problem fixing that, it’s only the first day of 2006 testing.” Kenny Roberts Jnr, USA, Team Roberts: 2m 03.75s – 55 laps. “The Honda engine is incredible! You hear a lot said about the power and response of the Honda engine but you have to experience it to believe it. It’s a really user-friendly engine, very smooth it has exceeded all my expectations. The chassis can improve and we have identified the areas that we need to work on, it’s only the first day we have tested the bike.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: THE DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM RETURNS TO THE TRACK AT SEPANG From the snows of Madonna di Campiglio to the oppressive heat of Malaysia: the Ducati Desmosedici GP6 takes to the track for the first time in 2006. Sepang (Malaysia), Monday 23 January 2006: After a week of relaxation, skiing and training on the snows of Madonna di Campiglio during the Wroom 2006 – MotoGP press Ski Meeting, Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau are now in Sepang, Malaysia for their first 2006 test session today with the Desmosedici GP6. The Malaysian circuit, where Loris set pole and won in 2005 and Checa finished third, is well-suited for the Ducati/Bridgestone pairing, and as a result is an important starting-point for the new season. Despite a harmless fall for Loris half-an-hour into today’s first session, the Italian rider worked according to schedule, concentrating mainly on the search for the best set-up for the new Desmosedici GP6 which proved to be quick straight out of the box. Sete Gibernau continues to get to know his new team and his new bike and is gradually finding the right feeling with the Desmosedici GP6. Loris Capirossi (38 laps – 2m02.54s) “Things are still not 100% right but I’m pretty pleased with the first day of testing after the winter break. Today we worked a lot on the bike set-up and on the new GP6 engine and I’m happy with the progress we made. We still have to improve the bike’s stability in the quick sections and we are working mainly to get that right, but for a first time out things are going well”. Sete Gibernau (56 laps – 2m02.86s) “I thought there would be a lot of work to do and that proved to be the case, and that’s a big motivation for me. Today for the first time we searched for adjustments that allowed me to get a better feeling with my Ducati and the team is working well to understand exactly what I need to make me have the best possible feeling with the new bike. We’ll need a bit more time but things have got off to a good start and I’m feeling really confident”. Temperature: air 31°/track 53.8° C Unofficial times: 1. Valentino Rossi, 2m02.09s; 2. Nicky Hayden, 2m02.19s; 3. Marco Melandri, 2m02.28s; 4. Loris Capirossi, 2m02.54s; 5. Colin Edwards, 2m02.60s; 6. Daniel Pedrosa, 2m02.74s; 7. Sete Gibernau, 2m02.86s; etc.

Used with permission from www.mcnews.com.au: (Note: This report should have been posted Friday but in the rush to finish the March issue of Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology and get it shipped off to the printer, it didn’t happen.) By Trevor Hedge Day Three Wrap-up: Testing continued at Phillip Island with near perfect conditions in the morning greeting riders before the sun really started getting serious around lunchtime which saw the track temperature creep above 50°C and thus times dropped off appreciably in the afternoon session. The outright pacesetter was Mat Mladin who recorded a lot of laps in the 1:32 bracket with an unofficial best of 1:32.2. Satisfied with how much they had to get through he called it a day early in the afternoon. Troy Corser completed an entire race simulation before lunch and was more than 10 seconds quicker than the race simulation the team completed here last year. He was more than half-a-minute quicker over a full race distance that what they recorded during the race last year. Corser then had a lengthy lunch break before heading out again later in the day to put in a huge number of laps along with teammate Yukio Kagayama. The Suzuki men rode right up until the 5:45 p.m. daily deadline. Steve Martin quickly got straight down to steady 1:33 laptimes with an unofficial best of 1:33.4 to be third quickest. The high temperatures put a spoiler on Steve Martin’s plans to conduct a full race simulation in the afternoon so the South Australian plan to do two full race simulations the next day. The Yamaha France boys were again hard at work all day but still do not look anywhere near the pace of the other men. Mid-1:34s were the best they could manage but the most troubling part was that it took qualifying tires for them to get that low while the other riders concentrated on race tires. New FPR rider Craig Jones continued to get acclimatized to his new machine and the fast Phillip Island layout and got a lot of laps in. He got down to 1:35s and continues to chip away here and there as he learns more about his new machine and the circuit. The Briton turned 21 on Monday. Corser commented that a lot of bikes had a form of electronic traction control or ‘anti-spin’ last year while the Suzuki squad didn’t. He also said that they do have such a system this year but the tires have really made a big step forward, commenting that the tires were perhaps as much as ‘half a second a lap quicker than last year’. Mladin worked his way through testing various 2006 kit parts on his GSX-R1000 along with undertaking a lot of tire testing for Dunlop, which will continue on the fourth day. Most teams were expected to stay on tomorrow for the fourth and final day of the test. Unofficial Times – Day Three 1. Mladin 1:32.2 2. Corser 1:32.79 3. Martin 1:33.40 4. Kagayama 1m3:.68 5. Abe 1:34.5 6. Gimbert 1:34.6 7. Nakatomi 1:35.1 8. Jones 1:35.6 Day Four/Final Wrap-up: It was clear to all and sundry as soon as they stuck their heads out the windows of their respective hotel rooms on the fourth morning of the test that little would be achieved in the way of fast lap times. However the Suzuki and Foggy Petronas men still got in some useful testing while the Yamaha men were nowhere to be seen. The problem was not rain but very strong gusty winds that take riders’ front wheels from under them at high speed places like turn three, around the back of the circuit and the crucial turns 11 and 12 onto the main straight. Not nice at over 250kph. Mat Mladin only had a couple of things to get through in the morning, testing various rubber for Dunlop and the fine tuning of some brake components. The Yoshimura Suzuki men had that done and dusted by 11:00 a.m. and started packing up to head home. Troy Corser practiced his starts quite a lot which led to speculation that the improved race electronics package on his 2006 GSX-R1000 might have included some sort of launch control system. However from watching his right and left hands it still looked as though the only thing controlling the launch was the deft touch of Corser’s fingers. Corser was satisfied the team had achieved what it had set out to do and left the circuit just before noon to fly home. Yukio Kagayama again put in plenty of track time and would surely have done more laps than any other rider this week, perhaps double the number of laps put in by some. In the afternoon he was the only rider on the track and cut lap-after-lap in very hot and windy conditions while teammate Corser had been long gone from the circuit hours earlier. It seemed clear that the fastest times had already been set this week and there was virtually nil chance of anyone improving their best times from yesterday. So at a glance it was Mladin the quickest man of the test with just over half-a-second on the Pirelli-shod GSX-R of World Superbike Champion Troy Corser. Many will read various things into that and will interpret it various ways according to their own prejudices but really with the difference in machine specifications and tires the difference is of little consequence. Any comparison of the current outright speed of Australia’s most successful active road racers is really a moot point. For that to be decided we would need machines prepared to the same rules on the same rubber and that is not going to happen at any time in the foreseeable future. Both men have Australian and American Superbike Championships to their credit and Corser has now also notched up two World Superbike crowns while Mat has been busy in America dominating their domestic Superbike Championship to a level that is unlikely to ever be repeated. So while plenty of armchair experts no doubt already think they ‘know’ the answer to which rider is quicker, in reality we don’t know and are not going to know any time soon. Both riders are very comfortable where they are and respect each other’s achievements greatly. They themselves know best of all that any talk of this week being a pissing contest between them is a bit ridiculous. Although at the same time you can rest assured that the Yoshimura squad and Dunlop will be quietly satisfied that they were the quickest men at Phillip Island this week. But at the same time they also know it is nothing to be swinging from the rafters about as the comparisons are not done on an equal basis. Steve Martin certainly showed that he should be able to put the Foggy Petronas machine somewhere near the front pack this season and he was consistently much faster than the Yamaha France squad of Abe, Gimbert and Nakatomi. Briton Craig Jones turned 21 early this week and his four days of lapping Phillip Island on the FPR Superbike will have been invaluable to the youngster as he learns to come to grips with his new mount. The planned race simulation distances for today did not work out for the FPR boys who called it a day just after lunch and headed for some laps of the new 760m go-kart circuit that replicates the Phillip Island layout on the hire karts. Overall a very useful four days for everyone present and fantastic that Phillip Island was able to provide them with a dry track for the whole duration. The wind did cause a few problems but that didn’t stop the teams being able to test the components that they came here to evaluate. The Yamaha Germany squad of Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes will be hoping for similar weather when they test at the Island next week. Jan 17/18/19/20 Testing – Best Overall Times 1. Mladin 1:32.2 2. Corser 1:32.79 3. Martin 1:33.40 4. Kagayama 1:33.68 5. Abe 1:34.5 6. Gimbert 1:34.6 7. Nakatomi 1:35.1 8. Jones 1:35.6