Daytona 200 Week Preparation In High Gear During Dunlop Tire Test DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., — The motorcycle world converged on Daytona International Speedway for the past three days to participate in the annual Dunlop tire test in preparation for March 3-11 Daytona 200 Week. More than 20 riders from the factory teams such as Honda, Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki tested on both Saturday and Monday in preparation for Daytona 200 Week events, which culminates with the 65th Daytona 200 By Honda on Saturday, March 11. Sunday’s second day of testing was rained out. “This test is huge,” said Eric Bostrom, who is joining factory Yamaha in 2006 and will compete in the Daytona 200 By Honda. “Everyone knows that Daytona sells a lot of motorcycles. There’s a lot of pressure on us to do really well here. This (test) is it. That’s why you see a lot of Japanese engineers here. There’s a ton of importance put on this test because of how important this race is.” While Dunlop utilizes the test to prepare tires for competition at DIS in March, teams are able to shake down new equipment and personnel and get a sneak peek at what the competition is doing. Said Honda team manager Ray Plumb: “We’ll see what everybody else is doing. See their lap times. There’s always room for improvement. We’re always riding forward on our own plan but also looking at the competition seeing what they’re doing and where we need to go.” All of the season-opening AMA events at Daytona are critical to manufacturers, who use Daytona victories to boost bike sales. “Daytona is huge,” said Ducati team manager Tom Bodenbach. “It’s the beginning of the selling season of bikes. From a marketing side, it’s always huge. If you win Daytona, those ads run almost all year.” New Homes For The Bostrom Brothers: The Bostrom brothers Eric and Ben shook down new rides during the Dunlop tire test. After spending last season with Ducati Austin, Eric Bostrom is learning the ins and outs aboard the factory Yamaha. “I really love the bike,” said Bostrom, who’ll compete in the Formula Xtreme and Superstock classes and make his sixth start in the Daytona 200 By Honda. “It’s so agile and just moves quick. It’s strange riding around on a 600 on the banking. You get use to the Superbike spinning and bucking. The 600 is pretty relaxed up there. It’s still fast but it doesn’t do all the wheel spinning that the Superbike would do. I’ve got a lot to sort out.” Eric Bostrom’s new ride with Yamaha will also give him the opportunity to compete in the Daytona 200 By Honda, a race he has yet to win. “I’m really excited to be back in the 200,” Bostrom said. “It’s going to be good. It sounds like we’ll have some good competition with Miguel and Jake and Jason (DiSalvo) and the Erion boys. I think it’s going to add to the race.” After competing overseas for the past year, Ben Bostrom is returning to the United States and will replace his brother Eric at Ducati Austin. Bostrom, who will be reunited with former crew chief Gary Medley, will have Neil Hodgson as a teammate. “We’ve stepped up the crew on both sides,” Ducati team manager Tom Bodenbach said. “We’ve added a few people. Neil has some experience learning the tracks last year. He’s looking real good this year. Now we have two riders who know all the tracks in the AMA series. We’re looking for some good things to happen.” Duhamel Drives For Six: Defending Daytona 200 By Honda champion Miguel Duhamel begins his pursuit for a record sixth triumph in the legendary motorcycle event. Duhamel, who is the winningest motorcycle rider at DIS with 12 wins, is currently tied with Scott Russell atop the Daytona 200 By Honda wins list with five victories. And even though Honda is not competing for the season championship in Formula Xtreme class, they are still entering in the Daytona 200 By Honda. “It’s an event that we’ve always competed in,” said Honda team manager Ray Plumb. “As long as there’s a 200 we want to be here. It’s very important to Honda and it’s very important to the spectators. “If you win on Sunday, you sell on Monday. That’s the motto. We’ve always found it seems to help throughout the year. It good advertising and it kicks off the year in a good way.” DiSalvo Ready For First Daytona 200 By Honda: Included in the stronger field for the upcoming Daytona 200 By Honda will be Jason DiSalvo, who will ride the No. 40 Yamaha. The 21-year-old DiSalvo of Stafford, N.Y., will be making his first start in the historic motorcycle classic. “I’m very excited,” DiSalvo said. “It’s been the race that I’ve wanted to win since I was four years old. Not only win but get the pole here and get that watch. Unfortunately it’s already been promised to my dad. He made me make that promise when I was knee high and didn’t even know what a Rolex was.” DiSalvo won the Daytona Supersport event in 2004 and understands the impact of a Daytona victory on a racing career. “It kind of opened up a lot of doors and a lot of opportunities for me,” DiSalvo said. “One could only hope winning the 200 would have an even bigger impact. I think it will. That’s just my goal right now to win the 200. I think Yamaha, it’s one of their primary goals for the season of course besides winning the championship.” Thumbs Up To New Pavement: The infield sports car road course at DIS was repaved in June and the AMA riders during the Dunlop tire test got their first look at the new asphalt. “The lap records are going to fall when we come back here in March,” Bostrom said. “It’s got a lot of grip and it’s nice and smooth and fast.” Said DiSalvo: “It’s going to make the track not only faster but safer. It’ll make for a better show for the fans.” Tickets for Daytona 200 Week events are available online at http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Ben Bostrom recorded the fastest lap time of the rain-interrupted Dunlop tire test Monday morning at Daytona International Speedway. Riding his 2006-spec factory Ducati 999, Bostrom turned a time of 1:39.131, which is faster than the fastest lap turned by Mat Mladin en route to winning the 2005 AMA Superbike race at Daytona. “We’re just cruising around and trying out some tires for Dunlop,” Bostrom said with a smile around noon local time Monday. “The bike is fantastic. We haven’t made too many changes, just a little one to the front. Seat time has the biggest thing that has caused us to cut a half-second off our times.” Bostrom’s teammate Neil Hodgson was just a fraction of a second behind at 1:39.348 Monday morning. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates set the third-fastest time overall, a 1:39.455 on his Superstock GSX-R1000, before switching to his GSX-R1000 Superbike later in the morning session. Yates’s teammate Ben Spies likewise split Monday morning between his all-new GSX-R600 Supersport racer and his GSX-R1000 Superbike. Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking, however, was the fastest of the few Supersport riders Monday morning with a 1:42.721. The 1:42.210 he was credited with doing on his new YZF-R6 Saturday was not a legitimate lap time, according to his team. Hacking’s teammate Jason DiSalvo recorded the fastest Formula Xtreme lap Monday morning, a 1:41.646, after turning a 1:40.465 on his 2006 YZF-R1 LE Superstock bike. Eric Bostrom, the third Yamaha rider, continued to acclimate himself to his new Yamaha YZF-R1 LE Superstock and YZF-R6 Formula Xtreme bikes Monday morning at Daytona. Due to Sunday, day two of the three-day test, being rained out, there will be no lunch break Monday. The weather at Daytona is sunny and warm with little wind. Unofficial Monday Morning Test Times (as recorded from the AMA timing and scoring monitors): 1. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06) 1:39.131 Superbike 2. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06) 1:39.348 Superbike 3. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:39.455 Superstock 4. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:39.588 Superbike 5. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:39.759 Superbike 6. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:40.192 Superbike 7. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1 LE) 1:40.465 Superstock 8. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:41.132 Superbike 9. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:41.352 Superstock 10. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:41.643 Superstock 11. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6) 1:41.646 Formula Xtreme 12. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:41.890 Superstock 13. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1;42.104 Superstock 14. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:42.173 Superstock 15. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:42.221 Superstock 16. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:42.308 Superbike 17. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1 LE) 1:42.595 Superstock 18. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR600RR) 1:42.663 Formula Xtreme 19. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R6) 1:42.721 Supersport 20. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:42.751 Supersport 21. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R600) 1:44.109 Supersport 22. Damon Buckmaster (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:44.141 Supersport

Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki Teams up with Hotbodies Racing for 2006 Record-setting, six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin announced today that the Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki team he formed in 2005 will be teaming up with Hotbodies Racing as its title sponsor for the upcoming 2006 season. Australian Marty Craggill will again ride for friend and countryman Mladin, but this year aboard the Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the AMA Repsol Superstock Championship. Last year, Craggill won first-privateer bragging rights by finishing in seventh place in the AMA Superbike Championship Series. “Next year is an exciting time for the newly formed Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki team,” said Team Owner Mladin. “I look forward to moving into the Superstock class, especially knowing that we will have access to the most dominant 1000cc motorbike in the world to race on. The Suzuki GSX-R1000 won the World Superbike Championship, the AMA Superbike and Superstock Championships and others in a record-breaking year. Having the chance to supply Marty Craggill with competitive machinery for the 2006 race season brings our chances of becoming a front-running team to a new level.” Based in San Diego, Calif., Hotbodies Racing is the performance and sportbike-style leader for race and street bodywork, windscreens, undertails, rear tire huggers, flush mount LED turn signals and the patented Undertail Exhaust systems. Hotbodies Racing’s mission is to create custom, superior-quality sportbike parts of exceptional value that are easily accessible through local dealers, e-commerce dealers or www.hotbodiesracing.com. “Hotbodies Racing has made a pretty big impression in the paddock over the last two seasons in AMA Pro Racing and we’ve gotten better at it each year,” said Hotbodies Racing’s Roger Davis. “Joining forces with Mat Mladin Motorsports and Suzuki is just a great opportunity and I’m very excited about starting a new chapter in Hotbodies Racing’s programs. Having the opportunity to work with Mat last year as a sponsor of his team, and now developing this new relationship with him is great, he’s a professional in everything he gets involved with and this is no exception. The Suzuki GSX-R1000 is a proven motorcycle, winning both AMA Superstock and Superbike championships this year, and with Marty Craggill at the controls we’re looking for great results next season from this new team.” Added Craggill, “I am very excited about being part of the new Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki team. I am particularly excited about the move to the Superstock class. For the 2005 season, my Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike was great but I see the move into the Superstock class as giving us a chance to be on equal machinery with everybody else. I have been training hard for the 2006 season and this latest news gives me more reason to push myself harder to be ready for the start of the racing season in early March at Daytona.” The Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki Team will debut its 2006 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock machines in February at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

CMRRA adds Motard Bikes to their schedule The California Motorcycle Road Race Association, Inc. (CMRRA) in addition to promoting 50-80cc mini road racing will be adding 250-450 Motard motorcycles at all their Grange’ and Willow Springs races. These classes will be on asphalt only (no dirt section). For more information call (951) 757-4869 or www.racecmrra.com

The second day of a three-day Dunlop tire test at Daytona International Speedway has been rained out. A light yet persistent rain was falling when teams arrived at the track early Sunday and continued all morning. No riders made any laps. With no end to the rain in sight and ambient temperatures struggling to reach 60° F, making any possibility of the track drying look slim, Dunlop officials called the day rained out shortly after noon local time. As the paddock cleared at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, there was no plan to add a fourth day to the test, Tuesday, according to Dunlop. One local weather forecast calls for clear skies Monday with a high temperature of approximately 63° F.

AMA team testing at the annual Dunlop tire test at Daytona International Speedway is currently on hold due to a persistent light rain that has been falling all morning. There is no reason for the riders assembled to test in wet conditions at Daytona as AMA Pro Racing does not race in the rain on the 2.95-mile infield road course for safety reasons. The rain is not expected to last all day, and the DIS course has historically dried out relatively quickly.

2005 AMA Superbike Championship runner-up Ben Spies, 21, turned the fastest lap time Saturday, the opening day of the annual Dunlop tire test at Daytona International Speedway. Riding his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 on 2005-spec Dunlop slicks, Spies turned a best time of 1:39.545, which nearly equaled the fastest race lap time of 2005 Daytona Superbike winner Mat Mladin. “It was OK,” said Spies. “We only did about 10 timed laps, and we basically rode the bike just like it rolled off the truck. We didn’t even get to run any of the new tires, and I hear they’re pretty good. We’ll start messing with the bike a little bit tomorrow, get it working a little better and then start trying some of the new tires.” Spies added that he has new Showa forks for his Superbike that have given him the front end feel he was searching for throughout the 2005 season. Just behind Spies on the time sheet was Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin Ben Bostrom, who turned a 1:39.685 on his 2006-spec Ducati 999 in spite of having to learn the changed-in-2005 infield road course. Although he said he preferred the old infield road course, Bostrom said he was instantly happy with the 999 and only made a few changes to make it more stable on the banking. Jake Zemke was quickest in the morning session (1:40.379) and third-quickest in the afternoon (1:39.903), but his time on his American Honda CBR1000RR Superbike was cut short by a crash in turn one. Zemke said lost the front on the brakes but was completely uninjured. Zemke was the only known crasher Saturday. Zemke also recorded the fastest trap speed, according to AMA Pro Racing, 196.17 mph at the start/finish line. Spies’ teammate Aaron Yates was the fifth-fastest Superbike rider with a 1:40.322 but was over one second faster than any other Superstock rider with a 1:40.504. In fact, Yates’ Superstock lap time was quicker than the fastest lap time of the 2005 Superstock race. Having had two test sessions in California to set up his GSX-R1000, Yates was able to immediately start sorting through most of the many new rear Superstock tires Dunlop brought to the test. Second-fastest in the Superstock category was Damon Buckmaster, who turned a 1:41.586 on his Attack Kawasaki ZX-10R. Attack Kawasaki only has one 2006 ZX-10R at Daytona, so Buckmaster will trade the big bike for Ben Attard’s ZX-6RR at lunch time Sunday, the halfway point of the three-day test. Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking turned the fastest Supersport lap of the test so far, a 1:42.210, on the all-new YZF-R6 and was third-quickest on his YZF-R1 LE Superstock bike with a 1:41.672. Hacking’s Supersport lap time was quicker than the pole time and the fastest race lap from 2005 Supersport race at Daytona. Hacking’s teammate Jason DiSalvo spent all Saturday working with his YZF-R6 Formula Xtreme machine and led the class by quite a margin — with a 1:41.740. DiSalvo’s time was 0.8 second fastest than the fastest qualifying time from the 2005 Daytona 200. Eric Bostrom, the third factory Yamaha rider, cut three seconds off his best Superstock lap from Saturday morning but was listed ninth Saturday afternoon with a 1:44.178. Eric Bostrom was also listed last in Formula Xtreme, but he only did two timed flying laps on his new YZF-R6 Saturday afternoon. Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden (1:40.575) and Roger Hayden (1:40.618) tested their new ZX-10R Superbikes with promising results at Daytona, posting the sixth- and seventh-fastest Superbike lap times, respectively, not far behind Yates and Neil Hodgson. Both Haydens said their new Superbikes, although in an early stage of development, were already much better than their 2005-spec ZX-10R Superstock bikes. Saturday Afternoon AMA Team Test Times (as supplied by AMA Pro Racing): 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:39.545 Superbike 2. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06) 1:39.685 Superbike 3. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:39.903 Superbike 4. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06) 1:40.171 Superbike 5. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:40.322 Superbike 6. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:40.504 Superstock 7. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:40.575 Superbike 8. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:40.618 Superbike 9. Damon Buckmaster (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:41.586 Superstock 10. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:41.609 Superbike 11. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R1) 1:41.672 Superstock 12. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:41.718 Superstock 13. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6) 1:41.740 Formula Xtreme 14. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:41.975 Superstock 15. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:42.026 Superbike 16. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R6) 1:42.210 Supersport 17. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:42.302 Superstock 18. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:42.626 Superstock 19. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:43.002 Superstock 20. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR) 1:43.419 Formula Xtreme 21. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR) 1:43.419 Formula Xtreme 22. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR600RR) 1:43.656 Formula Xtreme 23. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR) 1:43.781 Formula Xtreme 24. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:44.087 Supersport 25. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1) 1:44.178 Superstock 26. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R600) 1:44.578 Supersport 27. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR) 1:45.631 Formula Xtreme 28. Ty Howard (Hon CBR600RR) 1:46.012 Formula Xtreme 29. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6) 1:57.446 Formula Xtreme

American Honda’s Jake Zemke was the fastest man Saturday morning during AMA team testing at Daytona International Speedway. Riding his CBR1000RR Superbike, which was equipped with Ohlins suspension, Nissin brakes and a swingarm fabricated in the Team Roberts race shop, Zemke turned a 1:40.379 to lead all riders. Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Neil Hodgson was second-quickest overall and of the Superbike riders with a 1:40.875 on the 2.95-mile infield road course. Hodgson’s new teammate Ben Bostrom was delayed in getting started due to his leathers not arriving at the track. In fact, Bostrom had to borrow leathers in order to put a few laps in Saturday morning. His best time was a 1:42.920. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates was third-fastest overall and fastest of the Superstock riders with a 1:41.205 on his GSX-R1000, which now wears the number-one plate. Yates’ teammate Ben Spies spent Saturday morning working with his all-new GSX-R600 Supersport racebike, which is still fitted with stock suspension. Spies’ best time was a 1:45.756, slightly slower than the 1:43.447 set by Supersport pace-setter Roger Hayden on his Kawasaki ZX-6RR. Hayden’s brother and teammate Tommy Hayden spent the morning riding his new ZX-10R Superbike with a best lap time of 1:41.466. The fastest Formula Xtreme tester was Jason DiSalvo with a 1:42.155 on the aggressive looking new Yamaha YZF-R6. DiSalvo’s teammate Eric Bostrom continued to re-learn how to ride a 600cc machine, while Jamie Hacking started with his Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock racebike. Rockwall Honda, a new, Texas-based factory-supported team with riders Ty Howard and Ryan Andrews, did not take its 2005-spec, ex-Erion Honda CBR600RR Formula Xtreme bikes out Saturday morning. As reported earlier, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin is not and will not be at Daytona. Portions of the infield road course have been repaved since the AMA last visited Daytona. All of the riders Roadracingworld.com polled gave positive feedback on the new pavement’s quality and level of grip. Saturday Morning AMA Team Test Times (as supplied by AMA Pro Racing): 1. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.379 Superbike 2. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999), 1:40.875 Superbike 3. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:41.205 Superstock 4. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:41.466 Superbike 5. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R1), 1:41.597 Superstock 6. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6), 1:42.155 Formula Xtreme 7. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:42.612 Superstock 8. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999), 1:42.920 Superbike 9. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:43.447 Supersport 10. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.767 Formula Xtreme 11. Damon Buckmaster (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:43.894 Superstock 12. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:43.985 Superstock 13. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:43.988 Superstock 14. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:44.381 Superstock 15. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:44.678 Supersport 16. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R600), 1:45.756 Supersport 17. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), 1:46.861 Formula Xtreme 18. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6), 1:47.518 Formula Xtreme 19. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:56.495 Superstock