Final 250cc Grand Prix Qualifying Results From Qatar: 1. Jorge LORENZO, Honda, 2:02.154 2. Alex DE ANGELIS, Aprilia, 2:02.303 3. Casey STONER, Aprilia, 2:02.473 4. Daniel PEDROSA, Honda, 2:02.544 5. Sebastian PORTO, Aprilia, 2:02.704 6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Honda, 2:02.715 7. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Honda, 2:02.828 8. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, 2:04.219 9. Hector BARBERA, Honda, 2:04.282 10. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Honda, 2:04.327 11. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Aprilia, 2:04.419 12. Roberto LOCATELLI, Aprilia, 2:04.485 13. Anthony WEST, KTM, 2:04.594 14. Jakub SMRZ, Honda, 2:04.816 15. Andrea BALLERINI, Aprilia, 2:04.964

Final 125cc Grand Prix Qualifying Results: 1. Mika KALLIO, KTM, 2:09.455 2. Gabor TALMACSI, KTM, 2:09.601 3. Mattia PASINI, Aprilia, 2:09.653 4. Julian SIMON, KTM, 2:09.680 5. Fabrizio LAI, Honda, 2:09.699 6. Manuel POGGIALI, Gilera, 2:09.718 7. Marco SIMONCELLI, Aprilia, 2:09.850 8. Angel RODRIGUEZ, Aprilia, 2:09.962 9. Thomas LUTHI, Honda, 2:10.010 10. Mike DI MEGLIO, Honda, 2:10.024

Combined MotoGP Practice Times: 1. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, Michelin, 1:58.008 2. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, Bridgestone, 1:58.123 3. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, Bridgestone, 1:58.233 4. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, Michelin, 1:58.274 5. Max BIAGGI, Honda, Michelin, 1:58.326 6. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, Michelin, 1:58.407 7. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, Michelin, 1:58.434 8. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, Michelin, 1:58.458 9. Toni ELIAS, Yamaha, Michelin, 1:58.494 10. Alex BARROS, Honda, Michelin, 1:59.150 11. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, Bridgestone, 1:59.630 12. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, Michelin, 1:59.727 13. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, Bridgestone, 1:59.864 14. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, Bridgestone, 2:00.062 15. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, Dunlop, 2:00.139 16. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, Michelin, 2:00.292 17. Shane BYRNE, Honda, Michelin, 2:01.369 18. James ELLISON, Blata, Dunlop, 2:02.100 19. Franco BATTAINI, Blata, Dunlop, 2:02.417 20. Olivier JACQUE, Kawasaki, Bridgestone, 2:04.582* * Only rode Friday morning practice.

JACQUE SIDELINED BY INJURY IN QATAR Kawasaki’s Olivier Jacque will take no further part in this weekend’s Grand Prix of Qatar, after sustaining an injury to his lower back in a crash during yesterday’s opening free practice session. Making his debut at the Losail International Circuit, Jacque ran on at the second gear turn eight, lost control of his Ninja ZX-RR on the uneven gravel surface and fell from his machine at relatively low speed. Jacque completed the session on his spare bike, but was admitted to the Clinica Mobile complaining of pain in his shoulder, neck and lower back shortly after the session ended. From the paddock Jacque was transported to the local hospital in Doha for further diagnostic tests on his injuries. X-Ray results at the hospital proved to be inconclusive, but local doctors did not deem the bone scan required to properly identify the extent of the Frenchman’s injury necessary under the circumstances. Jacque will now return to Europe for further diagnostic tests and treatment to the injury, and is hopeful of making his race return at the Australian Grand Prix in two week’s time. Olivier Jacque: #19 “After the crash I was okay to continue the session, but then everything started to stiffen up once I got off the bike. By the time they transferred me from the Clinica Mobile to the local hospital I was in quite a lot of pain and walking was impossible. Today I feel a little better, but I am still walking like an old man and I’m nowhere near fit enough to ride this weekend. Now I will go back to Europe and concentrate on getting back to full fitness as soon as possible.” Harald Eckl: Team Manager “Olivier was unlucky; it was a low speed crash, but it looks like he landed awkwardly. The tests on OJ’s injuries were inconclusive, but there is a possibility he’s fractured at least one rib. We won’t know for sure until he has had a chance to undergo further diagnostic tests in Europe. Hopefully the injury will prove to be a minor one and Olivier will be fit to ride again at the Australian Grand Prix.”

Racer Jason Pridmore won back-to-back amateur golf tournaments in California this month, including setting a new tournament record en route to the second victory. Pridmore, who in addition to being a former AMA Champion in 750cc Supersport/Superstock (1997) and Formula Xtreme (2002) is also a former World Endurance Champion (2003), won the 5th Annual Camarillo City Championship September 18 in a sudden death playoff at Sterling Hills Golf Club, in Camarillo, California. On September 24-25, Pridmore took the Amateurgolf.com Mission Viejo Championship, in Mission Viejo, California, going away. He backed up his first-round score of 68 (four under par, 72) with a final round of 65, seven under par and only one stroke shy of the overall course record, 64. In fact, it was the best individual tournament round ever shot during the five-year history of the tournament, according to www.amateurgolf.com, and the best tournament round Pridmore has ever shot. “It was pretty cool,” Pridmore said via cell phone from his home in Ventura, California. “I shot 11 under par over the two days. That’s pretty deep for me. I’ve never gone that low before.” Although not the first golf tournament victories of his amateur career, Pridmore, who is personally sponsored by golf ball company Titleist in racing, said the win in Mission Viejo, “was possibly the biggest golf tournament I’ve ever won. “I’ve always said that I would like to pursue a career in golf after racing. It’s a different kind of excitement, but strangely enough this has made me hungrier for racing, this taste of winning again.” Pridmore said he is currently splitting his days, training for racing in the mornings and golfing in the afternoons, preparing to resume testing with Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki in November and preparing to compete again October 1-2 at the Santa Barbara County Championship at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc, California.

Yamaha will compete in the 2006 Supersport World Championship with Australian riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes racing the brand new Yamaha YZF-R6 for the Yamaha Motor Germany team. The squad will again receive official support from Yamaha Motor Europe and is already working on development of the new machine. To ensure they are ready to compete for race wins from February’s opening round in Qatar, Yamaha has provided the team with early production machines and a range of kit parts, allowing the team to complete a private shakedown test several weeks ago. Yamaha Motor Germany is now focusing on engine development at its Neuss base and Curtain and Parkes are scheduled to get their first full test of the race machine in December. Yamaha Motor Germany won the Supersport World Championship in 2000 with rider Jörg Teuchert and has opted to retain the services of both its 2005 riders following their impressive performances this season. Curtain is currently second in the championship with one race win, last time out at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, while Parkes is sixth in the standings in his first year with the team. Yamaha’s all-new YZF-R6 was unveiled to the world’s press in Paris yesterday. The new machine is the company’s most technologically advanced production model to date and boasts an impressive specification including an innovative electronically controlled throttle system, new chassis, completely redesigned and more powerful engine and a slipper clutch fitted as standard. Once again Yamaha is offering a full range of racing kit parts for the YZF-R1 and YZF-R6 through its YEC (Yamaha Engineering Corporation) company. Full information on the kit parts including downloadable images is available at www.yamaha-racingparts.com – information on the 2006 YZF-R6 can be found at ~http://www.yamaha-motor-europe.com/products/motorcycles/supersport/yzfr6.jsp ~and full biographies of Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes can be found at ~http://www.yamaha-racing.com/supersport/riders.asp~ Kevin Curtain “I’m really excited about next year and I’m honoured to be one of the guys trusted with the development of the new R6 in world supersport. It’s an amazing looking bike and everything I’ve heard about it so far makes me believe we can make a challenge for the title. I have a lot of faith in the Yamaha Germany team and I am sure they are up to the challenge. I certainly can’t wait.” Broc Parkes “I’m really happy with this team and the deciding factor in me staying for 2006 was seeing the new bike that we’ll have. It looks really, really good and as things are just starting to come together for us now in terms of results so it wouldn’t make sense for me to switch teams and have to start again. For now I want to end the season with two good results so that we can start the development work of our new toy on a high!” Terrell Thien (Team Manager) “Both Theo Hoffmann (Yamaha Motor Germany’s motorsports manager) and myself felt it was very important to keep Kevin and Broc for next year. Everybody knows Kevin’s ability while Broc has shown us what he is capable of in the last three races – he is one of the top riders in the championship and is still young and full of potential. We are very happy with the support Yamaha is giving us: all the technical data suggests to new R6 will be very competitive and already we have an engine running on the dyno with good results. We’ll start our testing programme in December and I am quite confident we will be well prepared for the start of the season.”

DUCATI XEROX TEAM READY FOR IMOLA HOME ROUND -LACONI AND TOSELAND IN THE BATTLE FOR THIRD PLACE Imola (Italy), Thursday 29 September: Following the German Round at the Eurospeedway, the Ducati Xerox Team will return to its regular line-up for this weekend’s upcoming eleventh round of the World Superbike Championship at Imola. Régis Laconi takes his place alongside James Toseland after recovering from the arm injury he suffered at Assen. Ducati’s home event (the Enzo & Dino Ferrari circuit is just half-an-hour down the motorway from the factory in Bologna) marks the penultimate round of this year’s championship. Even though the title appears to be in the hands of Troy Corser (Suzuki), with Chris Vermeulen (Honda) still in with a chance, both Toseland and Laconi will be aiming for third place in the championship to finish the season on a high note. Three weeks ago Laconi was replaced for the German Round by Lorenzo Lanzi, who went on to take pole and score a sensational victory at the Eurospeedway. Lanzi now returns to his usual team, Stefano Caracchi’s SC Ducati, but for the final two rounds of this year’s championship the 23-year-old Italian will have at his disposal a full-factory 999F05, which he will race in SC colours with additional Xerox logos on the side and front fairings. Ducati Corse Superbike technical director Ernesto Marinelli illustrates the characteristics of the Imola track, a circuit where twin-cylinder machines have always dominated in the four editions held so far. “Imola is a complicated track for bikes because it is very old and the track surface is particularly rough” he explains. “Because of the nature of the circuit the bikes become particularly nervous, so you have to work a lot on the suspension and sometimes quite radically on the structure of the bike, because if the set-up is too rigid, the bike becomes too nervous. We have all the data from last year, and although this bike is different, it’s still a 999 so in reality there won’t be that many changes from 2004. We went well then so hopefully we can do the same again this year!” James Toseland twice finished on the podium last year in his resurgence towards the 2004 title and once again the 24-year-old Brit wants to finish the season with a rush of positive results, starting at Imola. “I’m looking forward to Imola, it was a great weekend for me last year” he declared. “There are two races left, we’ve got a chance of finishing third in the championship and that’s my aim. It’s been a disappointing year as far as wins go, just one at Silverstone, but I can’t think of a better place to increase my total than in front of the home crowd for Ducati. Imola is a truly exciting track, with the undulations and all the history behind it. It used to be a bogey track for me in previous years, but last year we pulled it all together. To go well around Imola you need a pretty standard set-up and we won’t really be changing the base set-up too much. You need a bit more support on the front because of the hard braking but other than that the geometry will be pretty similar to what we’ve had and on Friday morning we’ll be looking to go out and set some quick times straightaway”. Last year’s Imola double race winner Règis Laconi has spent the month since Assen in a race against time to get fit for the final back-to-back championship events at Imola and Magny-Cours. “Now my arm is starting to get better” commented the 30-year-old Frenchman. “It’s still not at 100% and probably won’t be for the race but we knew that it would be like that. The important thing is to try and get the arm to work calmly and find the right feeling with the bike this weekend, despite the fact that there will still be a bit of pain. This last month I’ve worked hard with the physiotherapist to get into the best possible condition. At least I’m going back to a track that I know well and where I won last year and in 2001 because that makes things a bit easier. It might be possible for me to get third in the championship but it’s not going to be easy because Haga is 25 points ahead with four races left. But I love the Imola track and we’ll do our best to get some good results there”. CIRCUIT INFO: Although located right in the centre of Imola, the Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari has been permanent ever since 1979, when it was updated and modified to become an established Formula 1 venue. The first World Superbike round was held there in 2001, and this year’s edition will be the fourth. The 4.933 km sloping circuit has 10 left and 6 right-hand corners and a start-finish straight measuring 358 metres. Ducati hold the lion’s share of the eight wins at Imola with 5 to Honda’s 2 and Aprilia’s 1, while the most victorious riders are Ruben Xaus (3 Ducati) and Régis Laconi (2 Ducati, 1 Aprilia) on 3, and Colin Edwards with 2 for Honda. CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after 10 of 12 rounds) : Riders – 1. Corser (Suzuki) 389; 2. Vermeulen (Honda) 329; 3. Haga (Yamaha) 239; 4. Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 215; 5. Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 214; 6. Kagayama (Suzuki) 211. Manufacturers – 1. Suzuki 408; 2. Honda 345; 3. Ducati 331; 4. Yamaha 280; 5. Kawasaki 153; 6. Petronas 37. STATISTICS: Lap record: Bayliss (Ducati) 1m48.389s (2002). Qualifying record: Edwards (Honda) 1m48.336s (2000). Superpole: Xaus (Ducati) 1m48.636s (2003). Race distance: 2 x 21 laps/103.593 km/h. 2004 RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Laconi (Ducati); 2. Vermeulen (Honda); 3. Toseland (Ducati). Race 2 – 1. Laconi; 2. Toseland; 3. Martin (Ducati).