Only one month after the final Round of Magny Cours the World Superbike riders are back on their bikes for a test of major interest. This appointment opens the 2006 season, the third with Pirelli as official tyres supplier delivering its Diablos for the whole paddock. The development teams are called to test on the Spanish track the new tyres developed by Pirelli technicians to face a ’06 season that announces to be exciting and extremely battled. Many news in the grid with the two Ducati Xerox riders of last season approaching the fight for the Title with team Kawasaki PSG-1 (Laconi) and Honda Ten Kate (Toseland), leaving their Italian red bikes to Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi. Another interesting news is represented by Fonsi Nieto, ready to ride the third Kawasaki, while Yamaha Motor Italia and Suzuki Alstare have confirmed their riders, and Petronas lines up Craig Jones with the still convalescing Steve Martin. These are the riders now in Valencia, representing all the Manufacturers and thus the whole paddock in the two days intended for testing the new Pirelli solutions that will be brought at the races for every rider. The first day of test was unfortunately ruined by the bad weather that in the last years is always coming with the winter tests in Spain and that allowed only a few laps with rain tyres. A pity because the new solutions to be tested were a lot, and Pirelli was waiting to know the comments on the important news brought for the different classes, the 17″ slick and the Nationals. The second day was somehow better, with 5 hours of dry testing but with the absence of Troy Corser. The fastest at the end of the day was Lorenzo Lanzi, that made a great 1’35″7 with the new Race tyres achieving the same laptime of Corser’s pole. Behind the Italian his team mate Troy Bayliss took the second position even if he’s not yet in perfect shape and still suffering his wrist. 1’36″1 for the Australian, comfortly back on his 2 cilinders. Kagayama and Haga (1’36″3 and 1’36″6) could also improve of almost a second their race time proving the great performances of the new solutions. In the Supersport the new World Champion Charpentier is again the fastest guy with 1’38″2 preceding Vizziello (1’38″6), Foret (1’39″5), Van de Goorbergh (1’40″0) e Chambon (1’40″5) In the SuperStock best time for Roccoli with a good 1’37″9. Appointment now in Qatar for the next tests in December.

WERA is pleased to announce the 2006 WERA National Challenge and National Endurance Series schedules. The ten-race series will begin at the Jennings GP track in March and conclude at the WERA Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta in October. In between, the series will visit the new Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah as well as many of the other traditional events the series has established in its long history. The much-anticipated WERA Cycle Jam will move to Road Atlanta with a four-day event from June 29th through July 2nd, and the popular 8-hour endurance race into darkness introduced in 2005 at Nelson Ledges is back for 2006. Each round will feature a dedicated day of practice, usually Friday, with the National Endurance Series event on Saturday and the National Challenge Series races on Sunday. March 24-26 – Jennings GP, Jennings, FL April 7-9 – Talladega Gran Prix, Talladega, AL May 12-14 – Autobahn Country Club, Joliet, IL June 9-11 – Miller Motorsports Park, Salt Lake City, UT June 29 – July 2 – Cycle Jam at Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA July 14-16 – Grattan Raceway, Grattan, MI August 11-13 – Summit Point Raceway, Summit Point, WV September 8-10 – Nelson Ledges Roadcourse, Garrettsville, OH September 22-24 – Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, AL October 11-15 – Grand National Finals, Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA The tentative WERA Sportsman regional schedule is currently available for viewing on the WERA website at www.wera.com, however a few dates are being finalized and the entire Sportsman schedule will be announced soon.

Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s new signing Craig Jones made his debut on the PETRONAS FP1 during a trouble-free day of testing at Valencia, Spain, today. Any hopes of commencing the Pirelli-organised two day test as planned yesterday, were ruined as continuous heavy rainfall resulted in waterlogged and dangerous conditions. A handful of riders from the six other World Superbike teams present took to the track for a few laps each to ‘test the water’, but were unable to achieve anything valuable. So the team decided to wait for the expected improved weather conditions today in order for Craig to get the most from his first outing on the FP1. Drying and bright conditions enabled the young Brit to maximise his four hours of track time this afternoon and complete over fifty laps to familiarise himself with the circuit and bike, making minor adjustments to riding position comfort factors and basic bike set-up to suit his riding style. Craig said: “We’ve had a trouble-free day and it’s been great to get out there and familiarise myself with the track, the bike and how the team works. My first impression is amazement, to feel the power of a superbike after coming from a 600cc. “I’m very happy with what we’ve achieved today and I feel comfy on the bike. I’ve also found a good base setting so we’ve now got a direction to work towards to tune the bike to my preferences in areas such as the clutch, geometry and suspension. I could have done without my little ‘off’ towards the end of the day when the back end spun round on me, but me and the bike are okay and it was good that I was able to go back out and complete a few more laps after that. “Although getting a good lap time wasn’t part of my plan at all, I’m really pleased that each time I went out I was able to improve my times and know that there’s a lot more to come. Mostly, I’ve really enjoyed the day and had fun, so now I can’t wait to get to Qatar for our next test.” Team manager Jack Valentine commented: “Considering we lost the first day of the test due to the weather and that Craig only had four hours on track today, I’m very happy with the day’s work. We set each of his two bikes up with different settings so that he had two options to work from and compare directly, and he already has a clear preference for one of the bike set-ups. We wanted to come away from this test with Craig feeling comfortable and happy on the bike, and having a good direction to pursue at Qatar, and we’ve achieved both of those things. Other than a small crash towards the end of the day which only caused minor damage to the bike and fortunately no injury to Craig, it was a trouble-free day. He’s also been able to steadily reduce his lap times throughout the day and is nowhere near his limit, so we’re looking forward to what’s to come.” The team expect to be back to full complement for its next test at Doha, Qatar, in December, when Steve Martin returns to the FP1 seat following his recovery from surgery a few weeks ago.

Team Yoshimura Suzuki will begin a two-day test at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., today. Newly crowned AMA Superstock Champion Aaron Yates and AMA Superbike frontrunner Ben Spies will be putting the first of many miles on their 2006 GSX-R models at the 21-turn, 2.36-mile circuit. “We have a basic plan of attack and then we’ll play it day by day and see how it goes,” said Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager Don Sakakura. “We’ve got three engineers from the factory and the Showa engineer and we’re going full-steam ahead.” According to Sakakura, Yates will spend most of the two days riding his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike. He explained, “We’ve got some test items from Japan, some revisions of components that we had some problems with last year. Some improvements, for both engine and chassis. As for the GSX-R1000 Superstock bike, Aaron will ride some but that will be mainly just suspension testing.” Although Spies will also ride his GSX-R1000 Superbike, the young phenom will spend much of the two-day test becoming acquainted with his 2006 Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600. “Ben will be riding the new GSX-R600 so that we can get his initial impressions,” said Sakakura. “This way we’ll have a better idea of the direction we want to go in as far as settings for the chassis and engine.” Current AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin had hoped to test at Fontana, but he’s still in Australia recovering from surgery on his ankle. Said Sakakura, “It’s really unfortunate that Mat can’t be here because we have a lot to get through and it would be helpful to have a rider who could focus totally on Superbike for two full days. But he’ll be back in December for the Daytona test.” Team Yoshimura Suzuki will test Nov. 15-16 at the Fontana facility and then again toward the end of the month. After that, the Yoshimura Suzuki crew will travel to Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., to test Dec. 10-12.

WEATHER AND LAP TIMES IMPROVE IN VALENCIA Day two of the Pirelli SBK test saw a distinct improvement in the weather after rain and low temperatures affected the Ricardo Tormo circuit near Valencia in Spain yesterday. Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Karl Muggeridge took to the 4km circuit his first time back on the Honda CBR1000RR after his dramatic crash in the final race of the 2005 World Superbike championship at Magny-Cours in France. After 30 laps yesterday, Muggeridge’s new team-mate, James Toseland, spent a more productive day familiarising himself with the Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR in readiness for his debut with the team at the first round of the 2006 series in Qatar next February. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “I’m happy that we’ve had a day in which we’ve been able to complete a lot of laps with both riders. With Karl, we’ve tested quite a few parts and tyres while James has simply been getting used to his new machine. He’s developed a good approach by making longer runs and every time he goes out he’s getting to know the CBR1000RR’s characteristics better. Of course, he’s not fully used to it yet but a positive sign for me is that I see him with a constant smile on his face. We will build on today’s progress in our next outing at Qatar in three weeks.” Karl Muggeridge best time 1m36.9s “We haven’t really touched the bike at all today; just trying some new braking components and lots of different front tyres, although there doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference between them. Physically, I’m not in bad shape after the crash in France. My foot and ribs seem to have healed pretty well but my neck is sore. I twisted my back in the crash and my spine is out of alignment so I’m going back to Australia on Monday and I’ll try to get myself straightened out before Qatar. There’s a positive mood in the team and it’s good to have James on board, so we’re all looking forward to some more good testing and the start of next season.” James Toseland best time 1m37.5s: “It’s gone really well today. The bike’s not doing anything it shouldn’t and I’m just gradually getting used to it. There’s plenty of time to get some more testing in and plenty more to learn about the bike, which we haven’t changed at all really. I’m just getting more familiar with it and more comfortable on it each time I go out. I’ll do some more training before we go to Qatar and make a lot more progress there hopefully. The team structure is really sound and we’re working well together. But until I get more of a genuine feeling for the bike there’s not much useful feedback I can give. The bike feels excellent so far though, and I’m really looking forward to the start of the season.”

WORLD CHAMPION CHARPENTIER RETURNS TO TRACK ACTION Winston Ten Kate Honda’s 2005 World Supersport champion, Sébastien Charpentier, returned to the track for the first time today after breaking his collarbone in a practice crash at Imola last month. The Frenchman was taking part in a two-day Pirelli test at Valencia in Spain but opted not to venture on to the Ricardo Tormo circuit in yesterday’s cold and wet conditions. He has been joined in Valencia by former World Supersport race winner, Jurgen van den Goorbergh, as the pair tested a new engine specification and other components on the Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR, winner of the last four World Supersport championship titles. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “Because we’ve had a lot of new Pirellis to test here we haven’t spent a lot of time fine-tuning the set-up on Sébastien’s machine. We’ve concentrated more on the new constructions and shapes that Pirelli has brought and I think we can say that the next generation of tyres is definitely an improvement. With our test rider, Jurgen, we’ve concentrated on putting some kilometres on the latest evolution of the CBR600RR engine. He was happy with our base settings so we just played around with them a little today. Considering he didn’t complete a full racing season this year and the fact that the last bike he rode was a Honda RC211V at the Le Mans MotoGP race, he’s done a really good job for us here.” Sébastien Charpentier best time 1m38.2s: “The collarbone that I broke in Imola last month is still a little sore Valencia is a very physical and technical circuit but I feel OK otherwise. I’ve been back in training for two weeks and I should be fully fit again by Qatar. We tried a lot of new parts and a new riding position today, as well as continuing to develop the new Pirelli tyres. The weather was much better than yesterday so it was important to work hard in as many areas as possible. I’m very happy to be riding the bike again and ready for the 2006 season.” Jurgen van den Goorbergh best time 1m40.2s: “Yes, I’ve really enjoyed these two days as much in the rain yesterday as in the drier conditions today. I felt comfortable on the bike from the start and there has been really good grip from the front and the rear. Even though we got about three hours testing today, it’s still a little difficult to get into the rhythm and I felt I was missing the last 10 or 15% needed to do a fast lap. I started making one or two small mistakes as I tried to go faster but that’s not surprising with so little time on the bike. I’ve been really happy with the way the team works, though they’re a very professional outfit and the rest of the performance is up to me.”