Report on Qualifying for the sixth of seven rounds of the Spanish National Formula Extreme Championship from Valencia, Spain, Saturday, November 20, 2005 A press release from Folch Endurance Yamaha Reus, Tarragona, Spain Spanish FX Leader De Gea Breaks Ankle in Final Qualifying at Valencia The Spanish Formula Extreme Championship, the only European road racing series that is still undecided, is down to the final two races and it is suddenly wide-open again. Until the first lap of the final qualifying session on Saturday it looked as if 2004 FX Champion and former Team Modenas-Roberts 500 GP rider José David de Gea (BQR Honda) would be able coast home over the last two races on the basis of his 19 point lead over Javier del Amor (Laglisse Yamaha R1). Other riders with realistic mathematical chances of taking the title coming into Valencia were Ivan Silva (Laglisse Yamaha R1) and Josep Monge (Promosport Yamaha R1), but de Gea, winner of three of the five races run so far, looked very comfortable after smashing the class record in the morning session. However, temperatures dropped and clouds rolled in for the afternoon session producing a rash of crashes on the cold and always slick surface of the Ricardo Tormo Circuit of the Valencian Community, suddenly throwing the championship wide open. Monge had already crashed and broken his wrist on Friday and then, today, championship leader de Gea crashed hard on his out-lap for the final qualifying session. At first the rider from Murcia believed he had gotten away with a huge cold tire high-sider, but a precautionary trip to the clinic revealed a fractured ankle. De Gea is expected to ride, but with a great deal of pain and limited mobility. Just minutes before the end of the session Dani Ribalta flew high over the bars. The rider from Tarragona escaped with bruises but his Pontgrup Suzuki broke in half after going end-over-end after high-siding its rider. With de Gea out, the fastest time in the final session went to his BQR team mate David Tomas, followed by del Amor, Silva, ex-world Superbike regular Sergio Fuertes (Reynolds Motorrad Suzuki GSX-R) and American Kenny Noyes (Folch Yamaha R1). Noyes also crashed, but on the last lap of the session when chasing del Amor and Silva. He was bruised but suffered no serious injury. “I was on an old tire, but when I saw del Amor and Silva come out, I slowed down and followed them on their out lap hoping to get a tow. I got a tow alright, but my rear tire had cooled down too much and I got high-sided on the first right hander. Too bad, because I was on pace for a front row start if I had completed that lap.” Noyes will start off the second row with de Gea on the pole. De Gea’s time of 1’36.292 would have placed the Honda BQR rider third in last week’s World Superbike tests at Valencia on a warmer day back of Lorenzo Lanzi and Troy Bayliss (on the factory Ducati 999FO5s) whose best times were 1’35.7 and 1’36.1, but ahead of Yukio Kagayama’s 1’36.3 on the Alstare Suzuki. Folch Yamaha’s second rider, Bernat Martinez, was tenth overall. With rain expected for Sunday, Michelin is having MotoGP spec rain tires shipped down from France while Dunlop technicians were hard at work at sundown hand-cutting slicks in case of intermediate conditions tomorrow. The premier Formula Extreme class, televised live on Spain’s leading network, includes riders from seven different countries (Spain, Great Britain, Argentina, France, Qatar, Israel and the USA). A total of 37 riders will start. News from Spanish National support classes: World Champion Luthi “Cherrypicks” in Spanish 125 Recently crowned 125 World Champion Thomas Luthi of Switzerland (Bet and Win Honda) is giving aspiring riders in the Spanish 125 series a chance to make a name for themselves, but, if qualifying is anything to go by, the champion should have no trouble pulling away tomorrow. Luthi, who qualified in 1’40.2 and took the title two weeks ago from Mikka Kallio (KTM) by a mere five points, will start of the pole with huge 1.7 second advantage over German Stefan Bradl, 15 year old son of former 250 Grand Prix star Helmut Bradl and British teenager Bradley Smith. Spain’s Mateo Tunez, who holds a slender four point lead in 125 over Italy’s Stefano Bianco, starts fourth, but Bianco only qualified 24th and will make a sixth row start. A total of 80 riders with participants from nine countries fought in qualifying to earn a spot on the 36 rider grid. Due to the early fall sundown no consolation race is programmed and 34 riders will go home without racing. In the Supersport 60 riders from five countries entered and 36 will start, lead by Victor Carrasco (Yamaha R6) who qualified in 1’39.3. Carrasco trails Arturo Tizon (Yamaha) by 35 points with only 50 still in play. Tizon starts second .4 of a second off Carrasco’s pole.

Great Britain’s Michael Rutter took his factory Honda CBR1000RR to the 39th Macau Grand Prix win, leading from start to finish. Fellow Englishmen John McGuinness and Les Shand followed Rutter home at the end of the 15 lap event. The win was Rutter’s sixth, tying him with Ron Haslam atop the all-time win list. American Mark Miller had a strong run through the field, coming from 17th on the grid to finish sixth. Canadian Steve Crevier also made an impressive run, working his way up from 25th on the grid to inside the top 10 before hitting a wall 11 laps into the race. Fortunately Crevier didn’t fall, though the front of his bike was too bent to continue. American John Haner, who had qualified on the second row, ran into trouble and didn’t make the start due to a clutch problem with the Lee’s Cycle/Roadracingworld.com Honda. Haner’s crew was able to get the issue resolved and Haner took to the track two laps down, only to have the engine drop a valve eight laps later, putting him out of the race. The event was overshadowed by the death of French rider Bruno Bonhuil, who was killed in a crash during the morning warm-up. Bonhuil lowsided his Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the high-speed, right hand turn two and struck the wall. The cause of the crash is uncertain, but the track was very dirty and there were reports of oil in the area. Out of respect to Bonhuil, his friends Thomas Hinterreiter, Marcel Kellenberger, Karl Truchsess, Franky Heidger, Stephane Mertens and Pere Riba all pulled in after the warm-up lap and did not compete in the event. 39th Macau Grand Prix, Official Results: 1. Michel Rutter (Hon CBR1000RR), 15 Laps 2. John McGuinness (Hon CBR1000RR), -16.661 seconds 3. Les Shand (Yam YZF-R1), -27.748 seconds 4. Ian Lougher (Hon CBR1000RR), -33.655 seconds 5. Stephen Thompson (Kaw ZX-10R), -45.128 seconds 6. Mark Miller (Suz GSX-R1000), USA, -46.389 seconds 7. Steve Allan (Kaw ZX-6R) 8. Adrian Archibald (Yam YZF-R1) 9. James McBride (Suz GSX-R1000) 10. Ian Hutchinson (Hon CBR600RR) 11. Cameron Donald (Hon CBR600RR) 12. Guy Martin (Suz GSX-R1000) 13. Paul Hunt (Hon CBR1000RR) 14. Tiago Magalhaes (Hon CBR1000RR) 15. Martin Finnegan (Hon CBR1000RR) 16. See Hong Sou (Suz GSX-R1000), 14 Laps 17. Joao Fernandez (Yam YZF-R1) 18. Keith Stewart (Yam YZF-R1) 19. Antoni Moreira (Apr RSV1000) 20. Nuno Silva (Kaw ZX-10R) 21. Jason Broome (Yam YZF-R6) 22. Man Kwong Wong (Suz GSX-R750), 13 Laps 23. Lok Choi Leong (Suz GSX-R1000), 12 Laps 24. Callum Ramsay (Hon CBR600RR), 14 Laps, DNF, Crash 25. Steve Crevier (Hon CBR1000RR), 11 Laps, DNF, Mechanical 26. Pete Jennings (Hon CBR1000RR), 10 Laps, DNF, Mechanical 27. John Haner (Hon CBR1000RR), USA, 8 Laps, DNF, Mechanical 28. Dennis Hobbs (Hon CBR1000RR), 7 laps, DNF, Mechanical 29. Jun Maeda (Hon CBR600RR), 7 Laps, DNF, Mechanical 30. Thomas Hinterreiter (Yam YZF-R1), DNS 31. Marcel Kellenberger (Kaw ZX-10R), DNS 32. Franky Heidger (Suz GSX-R1000), DNS 33. Stephane Mertens (Suz GSX-R1000), DNS 34. Pere Riba (Kaw ZX-6R), DNS 35. Karl Truchsess (Yam YZF-R1), DNS More, from a press release issued by Stobart Honda: SECOND BEST FOR McGUINNESS IN MACAU Stobart Motorsport rider John McGuinness claimed another battling second place following on today’s 39th Hotel Fortuna Macau Grand Prix to make it four runner up placings in the past four years. The 31 year old Morecambe racer had to give second best once again to his Macau nemesis Michael Rutter who claimed a record equalling sixth victory around the Far Eastern circuit. Riding the Honda Fireblade for the Paul Bird team, McGuinness trailed Rutter in the early stages before settling for a safe second place as the race progressed and at the end of the 15 laps, the eight times TT winner was happy enough with his performance. “I should be getting used to finishing second behind Michael now but as soon as he upped the pace, I had no answer. I had a huge moment on some oil and that affected me and from then on, I wasn’t prepared to push it. It’s not the win I had hoped for but second place under the circumstances is good enough” said the 2001 winner. Making his Macau debut, team mate Dennis Hobbs, who had qualified in 19th position was riding brilliantly when he stalled the machine at the ultra-slow Melco Hairpin which relegated him from his top ten placing whilst Manxman Paul Hunt put in a sterling performance to claim 13th at the chequered flag. Team boss Paul Bird commented afterwards: “John seemed to be lacking in confidence so the instructions to him were to go out and have a good, safe race and that’s what he did. He must be getting fed up of following Michael home but there’s no doubting Rutter is the king around here and it’s good to know he’ll be here on our bikes next year and in a way, we’ve won all round. As for Dennis and Paul, they both did us proud and we’ve enjoyed having them with us. Dennis has had a permanent smile on his face since we arrived and Big H keeps thanking me!” Rutter, who signed for the Stobart Motorsport team prior to jetting out to the Far East, equalled fellow Briton Ron Haslam’s tally of six victories and afterwards he said: “It’s great to round off a frustrating season with a win and that’s just the tonic that I need to go into the winter testing schedule with my new team. I’m going to make sure Birdy buys the drinks all night tonight!”

Yamaha Motor France will enter the 2006 Superbike World Championship with a three-rider line-up that sees former Japanese 250cc champion Shinichi Nakatomi join the team’s 2005 riders Norick Abe and Sebastien Gimbert. Twenty-seven-year-old Nakatomi is an experienced R1 pilot, having ridden for Yamaha’s YSP Racing Team in the Suzuka Eight-hour and Japanese JSB1000 championship since switching to four-strokes in 2003. Having never raced outside his native Japan, Nakatomi is looking forward to the adventure of racing in the world championships, experiencing the western culture and racing the YZF-R1 at world level. Yamaha Motor France’s squad will again be run by experienced tuner Martial Garcia, whose company is responsible, in conjunction with Yamaha’s Japanese headquarters, for the development of Yamaha’s YEC racing kit parts development programme for the YZF-R1 and YZF-R6. The team expects to use these parts as the base of their 2006 machines and will use the series as well as an opportunity to test and develop the 2007 range of customer race parts. Completing the squad are Abe and Gimbert, both of whom are looking to improve on their Superbike rookie seasons in 2005. Experienced Grand Prix rider Abe ended his first superbike season in 13th place but, having learned the circuits and the characteristics of the YZF-R1 and championship controlled Pirelli tyres, is looking to become a regular feature in the battle for podium finishes in 2006. Gimbert suffered an injury-plagued 2005 campaign but showed his speed early in the year with a lap record in Qatar and a sixth place in Valencia. The Frenchman will again also feature in Yamaha Motor France’s squad at the classic 24-hour races of Le Mans and Bol d’Or. Shinichi Nakatomi “Although I still haven’t finished the big task of winning the All-Japan JSB1000 title on the YZF-R1, I am going to start a new next season in world superbike and try to focus everything I have learned over the past three years with Yamaha and do the best I can. I don’t intend to use my first year in the championship just as a year for learning. I intend to go out there and race aggressively, and I hope to be up there in the race for the championship.” Norick Abe “This year was my first season racing in the world superbike series and there was a lot that I had to learn. But now, with this season of experience behind me, I am anxious to work on improving the things I wasn’t able to do in the off-season and during the season this year so that I can approach the coming season better prepared. Our overseas tests will begin in December and my first aim is to do the best preparation possible during these tests.” Sebastien Gimbert “I am looking forward to a second year in world superbikes and also staying with the Yamaha Motor France team. My leg injury weakened my performances last season but now I am fully fit and feeling strong. The experiences of myself and the team will allow us to go to each circuit with invaluable knowledge and I believe that we can give a greater representation of our abilities.”

What was intended to be the second and final qualifying session for the 39th Macau Grand Prix was reclassified as a 30-minute free practice session due to unsafe riding conditions as a result of an excessive amount of oil and debris on the track from the various car classes run throughout the day. The times from Thursday’s first qualifying session will be used to set the grid. Friday Afternoon Free Practice: 1. Michel Rutter (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:31.129 2. John McGuinness (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:32.838 3. Stephen Thompson (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:34.147 4. John Haner (Hon CBR1000RR), USA, 2:34.165 5. Ian Lougher (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:34.165 6. Paul Hunt (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:34.184 7. Steve Allan (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:34.692 8. Cameron Donald (Hon CBR600RR), 2:34.699 9. Les Shand (Yam YZF-R1), 2:34.968 10. Thomas Hinterreiter (Yam YZF-R1), 2:34.981 11. Guy Martin (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:35.443 12. Karl Truchesee (Yam YZF-R1), 2:35.512 13. Ian Hutchinson (Hon CBR600RR), 2:35.686 14. Martin Finnegan (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:35.890 15. Mark Miller (Suz GSX-R1000), USA, 2:36.087 16. Stephane Mertens (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:36.613 17. Dennis Hobbs (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:36.849 18. Marcel Kellenberger (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:37.246 19. James McBride (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:37.395 20. Callum Ramsay (Hon CBR600RR), 2:37.504 Thursday Afternoon Qualifying: 1. Michel Rutter (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:30.585 2. Thomas Hinterreiter (Yam YZF-R1), 2:31.517 3. John McGuinness (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:32.241 4. Callum Ramsay (Hon CBR600RR), 2:33.839 5. Les Shand (Yam YZF-R1), 2:34.122 6. Franky Heidger (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:34.188 7. Steve Allan (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:34.251 8. John Haner (Hon CBR1000RR), USA, 2:34.591 9. Pere Riba (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:34.843 10. Ian Lougher (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:35.025 11. Marcel Kellenberger (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:35.084 12. Ian Hutchinson (Hon CBR600RR), 2:35.180 13. Cameron Donald (Hon CBR600RR), 2:35.350 14. Stephen Thompson (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:35.501 15. Stephane Mertens (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:35.842 16. Guy Martin (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:35.922 17. Mark Miller (Suz GSX-R1000), USA, 2:35.943 18. Martin Finnegan (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:36.013 19. Dennis Hobbs (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:36.705 20. Bruno Bonhuil (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:37.174 21. James McBride (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:37.438 22. Adrian Archibald (Yam YZF-R1), 2:37.456 23. Pete Jennings (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:38.313 24. Karl Truchesee (Yam YZF-R1), 2:38.562 25. Steve Crevier (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:38.925 26. Paul Hunt (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:39.392 27. Jun Maeda (Hon CBR600RR), 2:40.257 28. Tiago Magalhaes (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:41.456 29. Joao Fernandez (Yam YZF-R1), 2:42.233 30. Nuno Silva (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:45.973 31. Antoni Moreira (Apr RSV1000), 2:46.761 32. Keith Stewart (Yam YZF-R1), 2:48.873 33. See Hong Sou (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:49.092 34. Lok Choi Leong (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:49.123 35. Jason Broome (Yam YZF-R6), 2:51.599 36. Man Kwong Wong (Suz GSX-R750), 2:53.357