BOSTROM AND HODGSON HOPING TO RE-ESTABLISH DUCATI AT ROAD AMERICA PICKERINGTON, Ohio (May 27, 2005) — Ducati Austin riders Eric Bostrom and Neil Hodgson come to Road America’s Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader event June 2-5, hoping to return Ducati to the prominence it once enjoyed at the classic road course in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Bostrom has a renewed sense of confidence coming off his first victory of the season on May 22 at Pikes Peak International Raceway while Hodgson should feel at home on the wide-open, four-mile Road America circuit, which harkens back to many of the European Grand Prix tracks where Hodgson raced to a World Superbike Championship. This year marks the 25th anniversary of AMA Superbike racing at Road America. The track is one of the best attended races on the calendar and has been the site of some of the most memorable races in the history of the series. Ducati dominated the Superbike races at Elkhart Lake in the 1990s. Riders such as Doug Polen, Pascal Picotte, Alessandro Gramigni, Mat Mladin and Anthony Gobert gave the Italian marque six wins at Road America in the ’90s. Since that time Ducati has fallen on hard times at Road America, going winless in the last ten AMA Superbike races there. This year presents arguably the best chance Ducati has had in years to regain the top spot on the high-speed circuit. Bostrom, who won at the track in 2003 when he was with Kawasaki, is fresh off a dramatic last-lap pass victory in Colorado a week and a half ago. “That was definitely a sweet win,” said Bostrom of his Pikes Peak victory. “We finally got a win for Ducati. We have a better feel for the motorcycle now. We’ve had ups and downs, but the team has worked hard and got the bike working well for me. With the competition, racing AMA Superbike is always going to be a challenge but we have some momentum going into Road America.” Bostrom’s victory in the most recent round placed him in a tie with Doug Polen for ninth on the all-time AMA Superbike wins list. Hodgson raced World Superbike and MotoGP before coming to the AMA series this year. The British rider has never raced at Road America. However, unfamiliarity with the course didn’t prevent Italian Alessandro Gramigni from taking a win for Ducati in his first visit to the Wisconsin circuit in 1996. Hodgson has earned four podium finishes so far this season, so he’s shown the speed it takes to win and would love nothing more than to score his first AMA victory this weekend. “Every morning I watch the video of last year’s race,” said Hodgson on his method of learning the long four-mile circuit. “It looks like a wonderful place. It’s a proper racing circuit and I think it will suit the strengths of our Ducati quite well. We’ve been down a little this year on acceleration, but the top speed of the Ducati is good and that will be a factor on the long straights. It would be a dream come true to win this weekend.” The Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader marks the halfway mark in the 2005 AMA Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited season. Australian sensation Mat Mladin leads the championship coming into Road America. The five-time AMA Superbike champ is a three-time winner at Road America and just polished off the best first half-season of racing in his 10 seasons of AMA racing. If Mladin scores victory in both rounds of this weekend’s doubleheader he would match Miguel Duhamel’s record of five AMA Superbike wins at Road America. So far 2005 is the year of Suzuki in AMA Superbike. Second and third in the standings are Mladin’s Yoshimura Suzuki teammates Ben Spies and Aaron Yates. Spies will make his first Superbike appearance at Road America. The Superbike rookie has already scored a win giving him the distinction of winning in every category of AMA road racing, something only three other riders have accomplished. Yates has scored five second-place finished this season, yet is seeking his first Superbike victory in nearly two years. Suzuki riders hold six of the top-10 spots in the championship this year. Ten years ago Miguel Duhamel scored his first AMA Superbike victory at Road America. Since then the 1995 AMA Superbike champ has become the winningest AMA Superbike rider at Elkhart Lake with a total of five victories. Duhamel has twice swept doubleheaders at Road America, but Honda is enduring a rough season thus far. Duhamel is the top Honda rider in the series at mid-season – he’s ranked sixth and has yet to score a podium finish. Yet despite the tough year in Superbike Duhamel’s expertise at Road America could pay off when the green flag drops this weekend. Marty Craggill is the top ranked privateer rider in AMA Superbike. The Mladin Motorsports Suzuki rider has scored top-10 finishes in all but two of the eight rounds leading up to Road America. Jordan Suzuki’s Steve Rapp – whose spectacular Road America crash a few years ago was caught by a photographer and featured in Sports Illustrated – and KWS/Millennium Suzuki’s Lee Acree are two other support team riders ranked in the top 10. Both of Road America’s Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader races will be televised on SPEED Channel starting with Saturday’s Superbike event being televised at 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, June 5. Live coverage of Sunday’s Superbike final begins at 5 p.m. EST. The Road America weekend will be packed with racing action. In addition to the normal schedule of AMA Superbike Championship road racing events, the facility will also host the opening round of the 2005 AMA Supermoto Championship at Road America’s Briggs & Stratton Motorplex on Saturday, June 4. For ticket information call 1-800-365-RACE or visit www.roadamerica.com. Suzuki also has a special invitation to all GSX-R and Hayabusa owners for this event. Visit http://www.suzukicycles.com/gsxr20 for details.

Friday’s World Superbike Qualifying Results: 1. Regis LACONI, Ducati, 1:27.578 2. James TOSELAND, Ducati, 1:27.627 3. Troy CORSER, Suzuki, 1:27.696 4. Yukio KAGAYAMA, Suzuki, 1:27.832 5. Pierfrancesco CHILI, Honda, 1:28.145 6. Karl MUGGERIDGE, Honda, 1:28.189 7. Noriyuki HAGA, Yamaha, 1:28.240 8. Chris VERMEULEN, Honda, 1:28.310 9. Ben BOSTROM, Honda, 1:28.366 10. Chris WALKER, Kawasaki, 1:28.373 11. Garry MCCOY, Foggy Petronas, 1:28.449 12. Giovanni BUSSEI, Kawasaki, 1:28.503 13. Massimo ROCCOLI, Yamaha, 1:28.625 14. Jose Luis CARDOSO, Yamaha, 1:28.650 15. Sebastien GIMBERT, Yamaha, 1:28.731 16. Lorenzo ALFONSI, Yamaha, 1:28.965 17. Norick ABE, Yamaha, 1:28.986 18. Lorenzo LANZI, Ducati, 1:28.997 19. Fonsi NIETO, Ducati, 1:29.237 20. Mauro SANCHINI, Kawasaki, 1:29.287 21. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Honda, 1:29.356 22. Ivan CLEMENTI, Ducati, 1:29.597 23. Andrew PITT, Yamaha, 1:29.638 24. Steve MARTIN, Foggy Petronas, 1:29.868 25. Alessio VELINI, Ducati, 1:30.246 More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: PROVISIONAL SECOND ROW FOR WINSTON MEN AT SILVERSTONE In warm sunshine, Karl Muggeridge set the sixth fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s two fifth round World Superbike championship races at Silverstone, GB. With Frenchman Regis Laconi setting the provisional pole time, Muggeridge’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate Chris Vermeulen was eighth fastest. Following the Australian duo’s strong performances last time out at Monza in Italy, Muggeridge and Vermeulen spent most of today’s free practice and qualifying time continuing their development work for Silverstone’s 3.56km International circuit, which is being used by the championship for the first time this weekend. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “Everything is looking fairly OK on race tyres here as we continued the progress that earned us those good results in Monza. Chris spent most of the qualifying session on race tyres and was running consistently in third or fourth place; but we weren’t able to match that pace when we put in a qualifier towards the end of the session, which surprised us, I must say. Karl is still making good progress and I’m sure there will be more to come tomorrow I’m happy with our development of the CBR1000RR’s chassis and suspension, which is working well on the short circuit here.” Karl Muggeridge sixth fastest, 1m28.189s: “I definitely prefer the old circuit here but I guess the challenge with this shorter version is the same for everyone. We’re still trying to get the grip down on the tarmac effectively and there’s a bit of work to do in that direction. We tried a heap of different things this morning shocks, linkages and so on and tried to put the best bits on the bike for this afternoon. One thing I have to say is that the brakes are lots better Nissin has brought a selection of pads for us to try here. We’re aiming to just keep improving things tomorrow to give us a good starting position for Sunday’s races.” Chris Vermeulen eighth fastest, 1m28.310s: “I put a qualifier in towards the end of the session but it was just spinning up everywhere and was still pretty fresh after two laps it didn’t feel right at all. Everything was feeling fine on race tyres and I was pretty comfortable with the progress we were making. It’s important to start near the front here and get away well because for sure there’s going to be some action going into that hairpin for the first time there was quite a few out-braking themselves there this morning!” World Superbike, Silverstone provisional qualifying times: 1 Regis Laconi FRA (Ducati) 1m27.578, 2 James Toseland GBR (Ducati) 1:27.627, 3 Troy Corser AUS (Suzuki) 1:27.696, 4 Yukio Kagayama JPN (Suzuki) 1:27.832, 5 Pierfrancesco Chili ITA (Honda) 1:28.145, 6 Karl Muggeridge AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:28.189, 7 Noriyuki Haga JPN (Yamaha) 1:28.240, 8 Chris Vermeulen AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:28.310, 9 Ben Bostrom USA (Honda) 1:28.366, 10 Chris Walker GBR (Kawasaki) 1:28.373. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: LACONI AND TOSELAND (DUCATI XEROX TEAM) POWER BACK TO THE FRONT IN FIRST QUALIFYING AT SILVERSTONE Silverstone (UK), Friday 27 May: The Ducati Xerox Team powered back to the front in the first qualifying session for the British Round of the World Superbike Championship as Régis Laconi and James Toseland headed the timesheets today on the shorter International circuit at Silverstone. Régis and James were already at the front in the morning’s free practice session and then continued their good form in the afternoon with first and second quickest times ahead of the Suzuki duo of Corser and Kagayama. “I’m very happy because we have done a good job to be fastest today” declared Régis. “This morning I did the best lap time and this afternoon also, so that’s good for me and good for Ducati to have both riders at the front for the first time this year. On this track we have to say that we are in a better position than we have been so far. I feel very good on the bike, and all the changes we made, made it go faster. The circuit is very hard because there is no time to recover. You are pushing hard all the time but it’s very enjoyable. Some of the corners you have to arrive very quick and brake very hard but that’s the sort of track that I like”. “We’re back and it’s nice to be back for my home race” said James. “It was nice for Monza and I knew it would continue here after the Mugello test, where I managed to find that little something extra. The front tyre is working well, the rear we’re just struggling with a little bit but we have been right on the pace since this morning. We needed to get it together after the first three rounds, Davide has done a fantastic job of getting the team to rally around me and getting the morale back. The circuit’s actually not too bad, it’s interesting and still enjoyable to ride round, but it’s going to be difficult to pass in the races. I think I can make up a bit more time in the first part because we’re struggling with the bumps in the first corner, just ‘pogoing’ and taking the weight off the front a bit, but on the rest of the circuit we’re fine”. TIMES: 1. Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 1m27.578s; 2. Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 1m27.627s; 3. Corser (Suzuki) 1m27.696s; 4. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m27.832s; 5. Chili (Honda) 1m28.145s; 6. Muggeridge (Honda) 1m28.189s; 7. Haga (Yamaha) 1m28.240s; 8. Vermeulen (Honda) 1m28.310s; 9. Bostrom (Honda) 1m28.366s; 10. Walker (Kawasaki) 1m28.373s; etc. More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing: FPR show promise at Silverstone Garry McCoy led the Foggy PETRONAS Racing challenge on the first day of the fifth round of the Superbike World Championship at Silverstone, Great Britain, today. The Australian finished the afternoon qualifying session in 11th place, but within 0.8 seconds of the fastest time around the shorter International circuit, set by Regis Laconi. Team-mate Steve Martin struggled with set-up throughout the day and finished day in 24th position, although both riders were pleased with ignition system developments. Garry had improved his race pace by more than three quarters of a second before challenging the leading pack with a qualifying lap of 1:28.449. Garry said: “We are close to the top of the page and have had no problems today. Hopefully it will keep going that way and the things that we think we can improve for tomorrow will improve our position. The team are working as hard as they can and I am doing the best I can, as we all have all season, although we haven’t always had the best of luck. We have to work on pumping at the rear, as the shock seems to be putting a lot of work through the rear tyre. That made it petty hard to choose a rear tyre and they all seemed to slide after a couple of laps. I was losing a bit of grip towards the end of the qualifying lap too. The new ignition system has worked well, although we still need to fine-tune that for this circuit.” Steve said: “I am struggling to come to terms with the set-up. I had a few chatter problems and finally put in a front tyre which cured that a bit. But at that stage the set-up was too hard at the front and I was having to brake too hard into the fast corners. If I can get that sorted out tomorrow I can pick up a fair bit of time. I have to hope that the weather gives me a chance to make Superpole.” Friday qualifying times, Superbike World Championship round 5, Silverstone, Great Britain: 1 Laconi 1:27.578; 2 Toseland 1:27.627; 3 Corser 1:27.696; 4 Kagayama 1:27.832; 5 Chili 1:28.145; 6 Muggeridge 1:28.189; 7 Haga 1:28.240; 8 Vermeulen 1:28.310; 9 Bostrom 1:28.366; 10 Walker 1:28.373; 11 McCoy (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:28.449; 24 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:29.868 Friday morning free practice: 1 Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 1:28.422; 2 Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 1:28.688; 3 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona) 1:28.690; 4 Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:29.086; 5 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona) 1:29.131; 6 Chili (Klaffi Honda) 1:29.261; 7 Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 1:29.333; 8 Cardoso (DFX Treme) 1:29.504; 9 McCoy (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:29.741; 10 Haga (Yamaha Italia) 1:29.744; 20 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:30.863 More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group: LACONI AND TOSELAND GIVE REBIRTH TO TWINS: With the first day of qualifying on the International circuit layout of Silverstone completed it proved to be the twin-cylinder riders who were wearing the widest smiles. The 2004 season runner-up Regis Laconi and 2004 Champion James Toseland ended up sitting in first and second places respectively, with Laconi sweeping the best time of all with a 1’27.578. An exciting one hour period of first qualifying saw many of the championship’s leading lights take their turn to earn a provisional front row starting position, with the more condensed track layout seeming to contribute to the closesness of the top riders’ times. The entire top 12 were covered by one second after their first SBK experience of the 3.561km International circuit. SUZUKI PAIRING SO CLOSE: 1996 World Champion Tory Corser (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) has been the leading runner in this year’s championship, with six wins to his credit. He was only third today, albeit closely following the leading pair. His team-mate, Yukio Kagayama, has experience of the British racing from his two-year tenure as a factory Suzuki runner, and made good use of his memory banks, taking fourth on day one. The top quartet of riders were covered by a mere 0.254 seconds. CHILI TOP FIVE: The Klaffi Honda team riders had differing day one experiences, with Pierfrancesco Chili fifth fastest, just over half a second from provisional pole, and Max Neukirchner down in 21st. Neukirchner is still recovering from an operation to pin his broken right thumb, and spent most of day one in considerable discomfort. MUGGERIDGE AND VERMEULEN SHOW EARLY PACE: Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR riders Karl Muggeridge and Chris Vermeulen had relatively successful first day experiences, with Muggas sixth and Vermeulen eighth. Yet more technical improvements to the machine of Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji CBR1000RR) allowed the American idol to secure ninth best time, adding another pinch of spice to the Silverstone mix. HAGA TOP YAMAHA RIDER: Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) was fastest R1 rider on show at Silverstone, his 1’28.240 time good enough for seventh. A tough day, on a track layout he has struggled with from the first lap, saw Andrew Pitt down in an unaccustomed 23rd fastest position. WALKER IN THE ELITE: Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R) was in the top ten club after a day of track action, proving to be fastest ZX-10R rider on show. A shake up in the Bertocchi Kawasaki squad saw Giovanni Bussei 12th fastest, the last rider within one second of provisional pole. McCOY PROMOTES PETRONAS: Garry McCoy (Petronas FP-1) ran strongly in the first qualifying hour, and ended it in 11th place, relying on his 900cc machine’s fine chassis package around the tighter Silverstone layout. His team-mate Steve Martin was not able to hold the same pace, and had to settle for 24th. ROCCOLI ROCKS IN: Twenty-year-old stand-in Yamaha DFX Extreme rider Massimo Roccoli struck a superb early blow in 13th place, in his first outing on a Superbike. He was the fastest of the DFX Extreme Yamaha riders. Lorenzo Lanzi (SC Ducati 999RS) was 18th, Fonsi Nieto (SC Ducati 999RS) 19th, out of 27 entrants. SUPERSPORT: Winston Ten Kate Honda riders Sebastien Charpentier and Katsuaki Fujiwara carried on their season dominance in the first session at Silverstone, taking first and second best times respectively. Charpentier’s 1’29.558 was 0.383 seconds better than his team-mate, with top Yamaha Motor Germany pilot Kevin Curtain just behind. The local wild card contingent was headed by Cal Crutchlow’s Northpoint Ekerold Honda, securing fourth place. Broc Parkes, Curtain’s team-mate, was fifth fastest, with the second Northpoint Ekerold Honda of Chris Jones taking sixth quickest time. Team Italia Megabike Honda duo of Michel Fabrizio and Fabien Foret were seventh and tenth respectively, with the Ducatis of Alessio Corradi and Gianluca Nannelli sandwiched in eighth and ninth. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama finished third and fourth fastest on the first day of qualifying for the fifth round of the World Superbike Championship at Silverstone. But for a small mistake on his fast lap at the British circuit in Northamptonshire, Corser would have topped the standings, but the slip-up lost him the best part of three-tenths-of-a-second and that was enough to relegate him to third. Corser and Kagayama complete the provisional front row with Frankie Chili (Honda) fifth and Karl Muggeridge (Honda) sixth. Regis Laconi (Ducati) posted the day’s quickest time with a lap of 1:27.578 with team-mate James Toseland second. Troy Corser – 3rd, 1:27.696: “I put on my qualifying tyre and was on course for a really good lap until I made a mistake in the chicane. I got in a bit too deep, overshot and lost the drive on the exit and the start-finish straight and that lost me provisional pole. But I’m not worried because tomorrow and Sunday are far more important. “I’m really happy with all the work we’ve done today and we’ve almost got the set-up we want. This new Silverstone layout is very physical and there are no places at all to have a rest. We did a half-race distance today and the tyre was pretty consistent so I think we are well set for tomorrow’s improvements.” Yukio Kagayama – 4th, 1:27.832: “Today was a normal Friday for me – checking, testing and checking and I wasn’t pushing very hard. This track is very physical and 28 laps are going to be very tiring for sure. Because the way the track is laid out, it means that I have no chances to rest! Also, we have not raced this track before so we have no previous data – and that is why today we are doing lots of work towards a good set-up.” Friday Qualifying: 1 Laconi (F-Ducati) 1:27.578, 2 Toseland (GB-Ducati) 1:27.627, 3 Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:27.696, 4 Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:27.832, 5 Chili (I-Honda) 1:28.145, 6 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:28.189, 7 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:28.240, 8 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda) 1:28.310, 9 Bostrom (USA-Honda) 1:28.366, 10 Walker (GB-Kawasaki) 1:28.373, More, from a press release issued by Scuderia SC Carrachi: Difficulties in the debut day at Silverstone for Scuderia SC Caracchi riders in the European round of 2005 Superbike World Championship. Lorenzo Lanzi rejoined the Superbike arena, after the surgery operation for reducing the fracture at left collarbone suffered in Valencia, but he found some understanding difficult to ride on a very twisting and physically demanding track. Also Fonsi Nieto, that visit today for his first time the Northamptonshire circuit, hasn’t been able to digest quick the track for him absolutely unknown. Both the riders are at the moment out of the Superpole allowed riders and will be determinating the qualifying session of tomorrow morning. “Silverstone too is an absolutely new track for me, it’s a quite difficult track with a lot of corners which you have to manage one behind the other in a very fast way, more is full of holes, so you need to learn the most quick line that could be not the ideal one.” said Fonsi at the end of practices. “This morning we had also a trouble with the pit stewards that stopped me because they say that we have to pay a fee suffered in Valencia, and before that everything could be clear I’ve lost about half hour, while I need to practice for learning the circuit. When at the end of the session I set the soft tyres I’ve dome a small riding mistake and I’ve lost time. However the bike performs well, the top speed is at the leader’s level and if tomorrow e’ll be able to work properly things we’ll be better for sure.” Also Lorenzo Lanzi has something to complain in this debut day, first for the promoter’s decision to use the 3561 meters track instead the classic 5036 International circuit adopted in the past editions. “Actually in Valencia things were going better!” has been the first sentence of Lorenzo at the end of qualifying session. “I have still pains in my injured shoulder, it’s more as a month that I don’t ride a motorcycle so, also if I made a good physical training I miss the specific exercise and after a few laps I have a job doing to ride. More they selected to race in a track which is like a kart circuit and not in the fantastic and very fast Silverstone International course, which is more and more demanding. It’s not a disaster, but we are at the moment out of Superpole allowed riders and we need to practice, if tomorrow could rain that would be a trouble.” Better have been Supersport practices, where Nannelli is 9th fastest, but the rider isn’t moreover satisfied for this firrst practice day. “Yes, I’n not very satisfied for today afternoon’s qualifying practice.” commented at the end Gianluca Nannelli. “We collect right information for tomorrow’s set up, but unfortunately all that test have been scheduled for this morning, during free practice session with two different bike’s set up, and they have not been completed because one of the bike had unattended troubles. Actually we lost a part of the free practice session, so we must test some new setting during qualifying practice, but they didn’t give us the attended result. Looking for the race I’m satisfied because with race old tyres I recorded several fast laps at the same leader’s level, on the contrary we miss the qualifying fast lap because with soft tyres I recorded a laptime just 2/10 of second quicker. We have to look for a good grid tposition tomorros, hoping that the weather will go on like today.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha Motor Italia’s Noriyuki Haga put in one of his best qualifying performances as an R1 rider to take seventh place on the provisional grid for Sunday’s fifth round of the Superbike World Championship at Silverstone. The Japanese ace was consistently in the top 10 during both the day’s practice sessions in his first outing around the short International configuration circuit at Silverstone, a layout Haga described as “good, quite funny.” In his fifth race with the YZF-R1, Haga admitted he is starting to get the machine set up more to his liking and with a good base setting already found in today’s two one-hour session, the Yamaha Motor Italia team will try a few small suspension modifications tomorrow in a bid to further improve the package. Haga’s team-mate Andrew Pitt meanwhile had a day of woe in Silverstone, ending the first qualifying session in an uncharacteristically low 23rd place after failing to find a good set-up on his R1. The Australian lacked confidence in his machine and was unable to push hard into the many slow and bumpy corners at the British circuit, ending the day two seconds off pole position with a best of 1:29.638. Superbike rookie Massimo Roccoli headed the gaggle of Yamaha riders occupying places 13 to 17. The Rimini youngster, standing in for the injured Gianluca Vizziello, was one of the revelations of the day as he held of a number of experienced R1 riders, including Yamaha Motor France’s Sebastien Gimbert and Norick Abe – 15th and 17th respectively on their Silverstone debuts. Ducati’s Regis Laconi was the fastest man in today’s first session with a lap time of 1:27.578, just marginally quicker than his team-mate James Toseland. Suzuki riders Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama round out the provisional front row. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “Not so bad, probably the best all year actually. The feeling with the bike is quite good and I still have some more settings to test tomorrow which we hope will make the bike more easy to ride. Today I was able to get into the 1:28s but I felt that I was pushing it quite hard. If the changes we make work then we should have a good set-up for the race.” Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “It’s been really tough today as I’ve just not been able to get the bike set up how I want it. The problem is that I cannot get the bike stable under braking and around this short track here there are so many corners where this is crucial. I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of the short circuit – I much preferred to ride the Grand Prix circuit – but we just have to get on with it. We’ve been in this position before. I was 24th on the first day in Valencia and improved to the second row after superpole, so we’ve got to keep focused to work on a solution for tomorrow.” Massimo Meregalli (Yamaha Motor Italia Team Coordinator) “I’m happy with Nori’s performances today, especially on race tyres where the gap very close. He is also happy and I think that we can make some more improvements tomorrow. For Andrew it is a tough day and it looks like a lot of the changes we made were perhaps not the right ones. But we have had a meeting to discuss the best way forward and now we must sleep on things and hope that we are going in the correct direction. Andrew has proved before how mentally strong he is and I am sure he will have a positive attitude tomorrow.” Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) “It’s my first visit to Silverstone so I am learning the track and find a good set-up. We can make more progress and push a little harder tomorrow. The first target is to qualify for superpole so tomorrow we will see what happens.” Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) “Again this is a new circuit for me to learn and my position for today is similar to the first day in Monza. For sure we can make progress and we must make sure that we move in the right directions with the changes. If we do then I am confident we can improve and make the superpole.” Round: 5 – United Kingdom Circuit: Silverstone Circuit Length: 3619 Lap Record: 1′ 53.629 (Gregorio Lavilla, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1′ 52.875 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Date: 27 May 2005 Temp: 39ºC Session 1 : Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 1 R. Laconi Ducati FRA 1′ 27.578 2 J. Toseland Ducati GBR 1′ 27.627 3 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 1′ 27.696 4 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1′ 27.832 5 P. Chili Honda ITA 1′ 28.145 6 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS 1′ 28.189 7 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 1′ 28.240 8 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS 1′ 28.310 9 B. Bostrom Honda USA 1′ 28.366 10 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR 1′ 28.373 11 G. McCoy Petronas AUS 1′ 28.449 12 G. Bussei Kawasaki ITA 1′ 28.503 13 M. Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1′ 28.625 14 J. Cardoso Yamaha ESP 1′ 28.650 15 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1′ 28.731 16 L. Alfonsi Yamaha ITA 1′ 28.965 17 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 1′ 28.986 23 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS 1′ 29.638 26 M. Praia Yamaha POR 1′ 30.315 Kevin and Broc pleased with Silverstone performances 27/5/2005 Kevin Curtain set the third fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s Supersport World Championship round at the Silverstone circuit in the United Kingdom. The Yamaha Motor Germany rider had been the early pacesetter and looked likely to hold the provisional pole position when a heavy shower less than half way through the session saw the riders retreat to the garages. But the returning sunshine soon after ensured the surface dried quickly and allowed most riders to set quicker times than before the rain, including championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) and his team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara, who pipped Curtain to the top slot in the dying moments of the session. Curtain’s team-mate Broc Parkes ended the day just off the front row, in fifth place, after setting his best time on his 12th and final lap despite heavy traffic. Both riders declared themselves happy with their YZF-R6s, having made great strides with suspension settings in the last two rounds. Final qualifying takes place tomorrow afternoon. Kevin Curtain “The short circuit is really suiting us. Without the long straights we’re able to run short gearing and this is really helping us get out of the slow corners. Charpentier and Fujiwara obviously really went for it at the end and looking at the timesheets I’m encouraged to see that I can do consistent laps in the 1:30 second bracket, and this is what counts for the race.” Broc Parkes “I’m really pleased with how it went today. We’ve found some good settings and the bike is working well around here. I’m confident that I can go quite a bit faster as the track was still quite damp when I set my best lap and the traffic around this short track was unreal.”

CHARPENTIER FASTEST AT SILVERSTONE Despite the switch to the shorter International circuit, Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Sébastien Charpentier set the fastest provisional qualifying time in today’s opening qualifying session for the fifth round World Supersport championship encounter at Silverstone GB. High temperatures did not prevent a rain shower interrupting the 45-minute session but Charpentier’s team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara, maintained the team’s domination of this year’s championship by setting the second fastest time at the 3.56km Northamptonshire circuit. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “I’m pleased that both riders were able to maintain their concentration during that short break for the rain. In spite of other riders being faster at the time, there was no panic in the garage and Sébastien and Katsuaki went about their business with normal efficiency. We started today with some settings from the last round at Monza but we had to guess a little at the gearing for the new circuit here at Silverstone, especially through the kinks at the back of the track.” Sébastien Charpentier fastest, 1m29.558s “The weather didn’t seem to know what it was doing here this afternoon. It has been very warm all day and then it decided to rain on our qualifying session. Luckily the track temperature was very high so the water quickly evaporated and we were able to set the fastest time again. We still have some work to do on the chassis tomorrow but we have decided which tyres to run with on Sunday after we spent most of the time on them today. My quick lap was really good fun there was no traffic and I was enjoying sliding the rear everywhere!” Katsuaki Fujiwara second fastest, 1m29.911s “I had a little bit of chatter problems this afternoon. It was nothing serious but was happening in some places as I opened the gas. We’ll have a look at that and try to solve the problem. Otherwise everything was pretty much OK. We’re improving the bike all the time and the new circuit didn’t cause too many problems. Half of it is the same as before so I am quite comfortable. We’ll work to improve certain areas tomorrow but everything is pretty good so far.” World Supersport, Silverstone provisional qualifying times: 1 Sébastien Charpentier FRA (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1m29.558s, 2 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:29.911, 3 Kevin Curtain AUS (Yamaha) 1:29.947, 4 Cal Crutchlow GBR (Honda) 1:30.326, 5 Broc Parkes AUS (Yamaha) 1:30.476, 6 Craig Jones GBR (Honda) 1:30.517, 7 Michel Fabrizio ITA (Honda) 1:30.603, 8 Alessandro Corradi ITA (Ducati) 1:30.734, 9 Gianluca Nannelli ITA (Ducati) 1:30.760, 10 Fabien Foret FRA (Honda) 1:30.882.

See Bazza’s World Championship Winning RG500’s ‘The Sheene Run’ 3rd July 2005 www.thesheenerun.com This year’s Sheene Run, the unique town centre event that sees a mile of permanent road closure in the centre of Rugby has been given another major boost as the Auto Cycle Union (ACU) announce that two of Barry’s World Championship bikes are set to return to the UK from Australia. The machines are those ridden by Barry in his World Championship years of 1976 and 1977. The RG500s have been out of the Country for 21 years since ‘Bazza’ emigrated to Australia in 1984. The machines will bring a very special addition to the event, which has already lined up 7 other machines ridden by the biking legend. Despite the RG’s having been dry stored for many years, it is hoped the machines will actually run at the event in Rugby on Sunday 3 July 2005. Barry’s mechanic, Martin Ogbourne and engine guru Nigel Everitt will be examining the machines when they return in a week’s time to determine what needs to be done to get them running again. Host for the day in Rugby is Steve Parrish who, in addition to being one of the commentators on the day, will also ride one of the machines. Discussions are still ongoing with another rider of Barry’s era to ride the second machine. Steve commented “It is incredibly exciting that the bikes are coming back and that the event organisers have every intention of getting them running. If Martin can make that happen, I have made it known that I want to be riding one of them! I know Stephanie is thrilled the event is happening again and that Barry’s memory is being kept alive.” The bikes will subsequently go on display at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu for an at present undefined period of time. The man behind the event, ACU’s Neil Hellings said: ” Bringing the bikes back is fantastic and I am extremely grateful to Stephanie for agreeing to it. I, like most people in the their late thirties or over, remember Barry as an icon and to once more see and hopefully hear and smell the bikes again is going to be magical.” The Sheene Run sees bikes of all shapes and sizes ‘enjoy’ the closed roads of the town centre. In addition to the growing number of Sheene bikes, making the most of the closed roads will be numerous other race bikes that are running on the day as well as cavalcades of road legal machines, stunt riders and even a Mitsubishi works World Rally Car is being lined up. An impressive collection of Brooklands racers will be attending the event and recreate a 1920’s paddock to create the atmosphere of those pioneering days of racing. Riders attending include Mick Grant, John Cooper, Bill Smith and fastest lady around the TT, Maria Costello. Rugby Borough Council and Warwickshire County Council have really got behind both the National Rally and The Sheene Run and it is great to see, local political support for motorcycle events. Anyone with a race or classic bike that wants to join in the fun can do so by contacting [email protected] or by calling 01788 566415. The event has a comprehensive website www.thesheenerun.com where you can get all the details of this event that takes motorcycling to the very heart of a town centre. This year’s event is also tying up with the National Rally, which finishes in Rugby that morning and the profits from the day are going to Mencap. Certain aspects of the day will be charged for, but an advanced ticket costs just £10 which will cover every aspect of the day from secure bike parking to programme and entry to the various paddocks. There is also a black tie dinner (tickets cost £58 each), on Saturday 2nd July, providing a chance to socialise and reminisce with friends who rode with Barry and the special people who engineered his bikes. For information on how to apply for tickets please log on to the website www.thesheenerun.com or call 01788 566415. For further information, on The Sheene Run please contact Tania Baker or Becky Cross on 01788 566415.

Silverstone (UK) As The partnership between Pirelli and World Superbike has delivered close and exciting racing since day one but at the last race of the 2005 championship, at Monza, some real world comparisons proved the progress of Pirelli’s technical development. After weather issues and occasional poor track conditions on raceday at most of the early season venues, Monza offered almost ideal track conditions. The fact that the pace improved by one second in race conditions, and eight tenths of a second in qualifying, demonstrated that Pirelli’s dedicated solutions performed as planned. The pace of development continues for the Silverstone round, but a relatively late change in the track layout means that the solutions Pirelli are bringing were produced with the full F1 circuit in mind, rather than the current International layout. Thus the Silverstone-specific tyres were made for the high speeds of the full circuit, not the much reduced pace of the shorter one. Nonetheless, a new carcass, produced after the Monza weekend, has been designed to work well during changes in direction through the slow chicanes. In addition to all the new products, Pirelli will also bring the most popular tyres from last year’s event, to give the teams a benchmark to work from. At this round there will be four different front tyre solutions in Superbike instead of three, to give the teams the chance to experiment with ever-softer front tyres, allowing them more grip in race conditions. The Silverstone qualifying tyre will be the same as those used – and greatly appreciated – by the riders at Monza With the notoriously fickle British weather expected to play its part once more at Silverstone, there will be three Supersport tyres available for this race. Leading British Supersport riders Craig Jones and Cal Crutchlow, (Team Northpoint Ekerold Honda) will be wildcard riders at Silverstone, backing up their outstanding abilities in the British series on Pirelli rubber. The scope and scale of Pirelli’s operations in World Superbike continue unabated, with 30 personnel on site, based in eight trucks. Some 6000 tyres are transported to each of the rounds, a fact which illustrates the efforts expended by Pirelli in this important global series. Last season results: Superpole: Laconi Race 1: Haga, Vermeulen, Chili Race 2: Vermeulen, Haga, Laconi TRACK CONDITIONS Dry AIR TEMPERATURE 20° TRACK TEMPERATURE 41° HUMIDITY 48%

Al Ludington, American Honda Crew Chief for Miguel Duhamel, and wife Jocelyn had a daughter, Veronica Mae Ludington, May 24 in Newport Beach, California. According to an e-mail from Ludington, he made it back from Pikes Peak International Raceway with 20 minutes to spare before the birth. Coincidently, today, May 26, is Duhamel’s birthday. According to the current AMA Superbike Series media guide, Duhamel is 37 years old today. Palomarpics.net owner, photographer and Roadracing World contributor Kent Willer and wife Jennifer had a daughter, Rachel Key Willer, May 26, in Rancho Bernardo, California.

AMA Superbike racer Eric Bostrom is confirmed as a featured guest on this week’s Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain on SPEED Channel at 9 p.m. ET. The show will be co-hosted by David Hobbs and will also include an interview with the winner of Indianapolis 500. Viewers may send e-mail questions to [email protected] or call 1-866-W-TUNNEL from 9pm-11pm ET Sunday nights to be a part of the LIVE call-in portions of the show. SPEED Channel is the nation’s first and foremost cable network dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive. From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED Channel delivers quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in more than 68 million homes in North America, SPEED Channel is among the fastest growing sports cable networks in the country.