JORGE LORENZO UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL OPERATION FORTUNA APRILIA rider JORGE LORENZO underwent surgery on his broken left collarbone this morning at the Dexeus Institute in Barcelona, where Dr. Xavier Mir fitted a titanium plate to seal the fracture. After the operation, which lasted just over an hour, the rider remained under observation for a further hour before he was taken to his room. He could barely open eyes when he asked how long it would be before he could ride again, just as he had done after a similar operation on the same injury earlier in the year. On that occasion he had sustained the break in a fall during the Catalunya GP although he returned to action just thirteen days later to set pole position and clinch a podium finish in the Dutch TT at the demanding Assen circuit. The Valencia crash was the fourth time Jorge Lorenzo has fractured his collarbone during his fledgling race career. According to the medical staff, Lorenzo will be released from hospital within the next 24 hours. After a few days’ rest the Mallorcan will begin a recuperation programme that should allow him to return to action without any further problems at the tests FORTUNA APRILIA have planned for the end of January at Jerez de la Frontera. Jorge Lorenzo’s excellent physical condition has raised optimism of a swift recovery and should leave this injury as a mere anecdote. JORGE LORENZO (48), FORTUNA-APRILIA RIDER: “The thing that most annoys me is not the injury itself but the fact that the crash prevented me from following up the excellent times we had been setting. On Thursday we were already inside the circuit record and I am sure we could have made even more progress. I feel sorry for my team and for my physical trainer because on Christmas Day he’ll have to eat his ‘turron’ [typical Spanish sweet] quickly because he knows that whilst other people might be at home taking a rest, we’ll be doing a double session in the gym. You have to be optimistic, even in a situation like this, so on the positive side at least we will have a different kind of Christmas this year!”

FORTUNA APRILIA COMPLETE FIRST PHASE OF ’06 PRESEASON After lapping in record time, Lorenzo today fractured his collarbone and will undergo an operation in Barcelona tomorrow. Barberá set lap times that demonstrated his competitiveness on the Aprilia. After three days at the Valencia circuit, the FORTUNA APRILIA team today completed the first phase of their 2006 World Championship preseason schedule, which has so far encompassed nine days of tests at Jerez (3) and Cheste (6). A bout of bad luck on the final day saw JORGE LORENZO crash during the morning and fracture his left collarbone, the same injury he sustained at the Catalunya GP back in May, which ruled him out of two races. The Mallorcan rider had barely completed fifteen minutes of track time when he crashed at the chicane immediately before the main straight at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, an accident probably caused by the low temperatures. Lorenzo was thrown into the gravel trap after running slightly onto the strip of grass that runs around the edge of the track. On Lorenzo’s arrival at the Dexeus Institute in Barcelona this afternoon, Dr. Xavier Mir made his first assessment of the injury: “Jorge has suffered a small fracture of the left collarbone, slightly below the plate we fitted earlier this year. We will have to operate tomorrow morning to replace the plate. The previous injury has completely healed and had nothing to do with this one. We’ll put a smaller plate in than the one he had up to now and after the operation we will be able to assess the exact seriousness of the injury, as well as the time he will need to recover.” During three days at Valencia Lorenzo covered more than 120 laps, setting a magnificent best time of 1.35.19, which is inside the current lap record. His team-mate HECTOR BARBERA completed a total of 150 laps and also set an impressive lap time of 1.35.89, despite a crash of his own on the first day. After the accident the youngster from Dos Aguas was quickly back on the pace and continued with his more than satisfactory adaptation to the new machine. The two FORTUNA APRILIA were joined on track by Alex de Angelis and Marco Simoncelli, who also fractured his collarbone in a crash. “Jorge’s crash was a shame,” commented DANI AMATRIAIN, Team Director for FORTUNA APRILIA. “The test had been very positive for everybody so it’s a pity that we all go on holiday now in this way. In any case you have to look on the positive side, even of a crash like this, and say it is better that it happened now and not in the middle of the season, as happened in 2005. I am sure that Lorenzo will be completely recovered from the injury by the time we return to action in the New Year.” The next test for the FORTUNA APRILIA team will take place on the 23, 24 and 25 January at Jerez de la Frontera.

A new website at ~http://www.ccsracing.us/~ confirms that CCS is under new overall management and announces the formation of the American Sportbike Racing Association (ASRA) to replace F-USA. A post on the website headlined “ASRA Assumes Management of CCS” states “Under an agreement with Clear Channel Entertainment Motorsports, the newly formed American Sportbike Racing Association will assume the day-to-day operations of the Championship Cup Series. This agreement will allow CCS and ASRA to react quicker to our racers’ needs by placing all operations in one office dedicated soley to the business of running these series. This will eliminate the situation where riders would have to call numerous offices to get answers to a single question. All operations will take place in a single location, making it easier and quicker to get your questions answered. “Full time staff of ASRA will consist of Kevin Elliott as Director of Operations, Eric Kelcher as Director of Competition and Ryan Hoyler as Director of Communications. With the bulk of the duties falling to the full time staff, we are pleased to welcome Nancy Elliott who will run the Finance Department and man the Fort Worth office on race weekends to lend support to the event staff whenever necessary. “It is our goal to improve the service you receive from the Fort Worth office and to make certain you continue to have the best race day experience possible with CCS and ASRA.” Reliable sources say that Elliott, who has been running CCS for years, is actually buying CCS from Clear Channel with the arrangement positioned as a licensing agreement until Elliott finishes paying for the organization.

After 5 months of virtually no supply in the U.S., Dunlop has just released their newest, 2005 125cc World Championship-winning race slicks! Sport Tire Services, of Paso Robles, California has just received a limited supply of the new soft compound front and rear 125cc racing slicks from Japan. These will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis, at the 2005 price until the end of this month. All backorders have been filled. “We are very sorry for the situation created for our loyal 125 customers this year, meaning a sudden drop in the inventory level of these tires in the U.S.! However, the supply of these tires for the 2006 race season looks very good!” says Dennis Smith, President of Sport Tire Services, Inc. “We’ve been assured of supply for the entire 2006 race season from Dunlop Japan and Dunlop Tires in Buffalo, New York.” Call 805-434-4810 to order tires. Sport Tire Services sells to licensed racers from west of the Mississippi River only. Sport Tire Services is now accepting support resumes for next year’s 125cc races.

Charles “Yamaha Charlie” Butler, the man credited with bringing the first Yamaha into the United States, died on Thursday, December 8. He was 80 years old and had cancer. Butler, of Columbus, Georgia, was an avid race fan and amateur photographer, often attending AMA Nationals at Road Atlanta and Daytona and WERA races at Road Atlanta before his outings were limited by health problems. His son, former racer Rick Butler, has worked as a cornerworker and race official with WERA and AMA Pro Racing and is a prominent poster on www.wera.com as “Yamaha Rick.” Charlie Butler is survived by his wife of 50 years, Reiko as well as by Rick and another son, Michael. Besides his involvement with motorcycling, Yamaha Charlie had a 28-year career in the U.S. Army, serving in World War II, the Korean War and in Vietnam. His exploits during the Battle of the Bulge with the 82nd Airborne were mentioned in a book on World War II. Butler earned two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star during his Army service. R.I.P., Yamaha Charlie. A link to a Yamaha website entry mentioning Yamaha Charlie, including a photo showing him posing with son Michael on that first Yamaha imported into the U.S., follows: ~http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/epic_mcy/1957_yd-1_small.aspx~

AMA Pro Racing is not the only organization with the embarrassing problem of top riders/drivers failing to show up for the end-of-season awards banquet, disappointing sponsors and fans in attendance and watching banquet coverage on racing TV news shows. The top three riders in the 2005 AMA Superbike Championship–Mat Mladin, Ben Spies and Eric Bostrom–did not attend the AMA Pro Racing Awards Banquet in Las Vegas November 20th. And according to this news report, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not attend the NASCAR Awards Banquet in New York: ~http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar-noshows&prov=ap&type=lgns~

VENT-AXIA TEAM UP AGAIN WITH STOBART MOTORSPORT Paul Bird Motorsport is pleased to announce that Vent-Axia will once again be an associate sponsor of the Stobart Motorsport British Superbike Championship Team for 2006. Following their inaugural season with the former double BSB champions in 2005, the Crawley based organisation last week agreed terms with the team and will see the Honda Fireblades, and riders Michael Rutter and Michael Laverty, running with prominent Vent- Axia branding once again in the thirteen round series. Vent-Axia, who offer customised ventilation solutions, which are simple to install and use energy with unparalleled efficiency, have been involved in motorsport for many years and Managing Director Kevin Sargeant commented: “Paul and the team did a fantastic job for us last year and although we had a number of other offers for 2006, we had no hesitation in to sticking with Stobart Honda as we believe that in both riders, they have what it takes to win the championship and that’s what we and the team are aiming for. It’s going to be a fantastic season and all of us at Vent-Axia are looking forward to it.” Bird, fresh from winning the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship said: “The likes of Kevin, Tim Creedon and Austen Reid have become good friends over the past year and we are delighted to welcome them onboard once again. Hopefully, with our ‘Dream Team’ of the two Michaels, we can win them a few races next season as they deserve it and it just goes to show the strength and reputation of our team when we have household names such as Vent Axia as well as some of our other sponsors including The Mob, Stobart and Vodka Kick staying with us.” The 2006 British Superbike Championship season gets underway at Brands Hatch on 26th March 2006. 2006 British Superbike Championship 24 26 Mar Brands Hatch, Kent (Indy) British Championship R1 7 9 April Donington Park, Leics British Championship R2 14 – 16 April Thruxton, Hants British Championship R3 29 April 1 May Oulton Park, Cheshire British Championship R4 19 21 May Mondello Park, Co Kildare British Championship R5 2 4 June Mallory Park, Leics British Championship R6 16 – 18 June Snetterton, Norfolk British Championship R7 14 16 July Knockhill, Fife British Championship R8 28 30 July Oulton Park, Cheshire British Championship R9 11 13 August Croft, North Yorkshire British Championship R10 26 – 28 August Cadwell Park, Lincs British Championship R11 22 – 24 September Silverstone, Northants British Championship R12 6 8 October Brands Hatch, Kent (GP) British Championship R13