This just in from an inside source: Yamaha currently plans to field Jason DiSalvo and Eric Bostrom in AMA Superstock and AMA Formula Xtreme with Jamie Hacking in AMA Superstock and AMA Supersport. Graves Yamaha will prepare the Superstock machines while the in-house Yamaha Motor Corp. team will prepare the FX and Supersport machines. And now, some reader feedback: FIRST PERSON/OPINION: Via e-mail: AARRGHH! I am dreaming of the best Superbike class in years. It’s the 2006 season and EVERYONE is in it. C’mon Yamaha, step up to Superbikes will ya? DiSalvo’s Superstock times consistently put him on the front row for Superbike. Just think of the racing! Think of the crowds of people that will come to watch! C’mon AMA Pro Racing, make Yamaha step up to Superbike, go out and get a kick ass title sponsor and, Oh yeah, and while you are at it, get rid of all the backmarkers. Three simple things to accomplish and we’ll all have a great season and a lot of fun! Donny Schmidt Suomy USA Berkeley, California FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Maybe I’m going a bit over board by writing this and it might be a waste of time, but to the average Superbike fan Yamaha not participating in the premier class again for ’06 will probably be overlooked since they are planning to run FX, Supersport, and Superstock. I am not the average AMA Superbike series fan. I follow the whole series, down to the lap times for every race and who is quickest in each section at every track. My wife says that I’m obsessed with racing and anyone that knows me knows that is the understatement of the century. We all know what happens when a single full-factory team enters a class with a grid full of privateers. That is the easiest way to win a Championship after not winning one the previous year. I believe Honda lost a little credibility when they swept the FX class for two consecutive years. Now Yamaha is going to have a crack at beating up on the privateers for a year and make themselves look as bad as Honda did. I don’t understand what satisfaction a program like Yamaha has in entering a class where they know that the only competition they will have will be pitting under the same tent. What is the use in introducing a brand new bike that has all the trick components that anyone would want in a street bike and not enter it in the same class as the other brands and show everyone who has the best motorcycle and the best racers. Mat Mladin said it best when he called out Honda for running the “mini-bike” class and not focusing all there attention on the premier class. It seems as though Yamaha would be taking a step in the right direction by entering the Superbike class, especially when the 6-time Champ is asking for more competition in the superbike class. Is Yamaha scared of having a little competition? Or do they just want to settle for second best and take there FX Championship by beating up on the little guys who are trying to prove themselves and run their commercials for a full year on how they won a Championship, or swept the podium at this track and that one. When people like me know that Yamaha was just chicken sh-t and copped out of the series just to win a title against guys that are on basically supersport machinery because the budget of a privateer is very little compared to the factory teams. Thumbs up to Kawasaki for taking the bull by the horns and entering the Superbike field for 2006 with two riders that will give Mladin all he wants. Kawasaki joins a group of manufactures that have the balls to put their equipment on the line in the best class in the AMA series. Now we need just one more to get the pacifier out of there mouth and join the big boys. Thanks for reading this and hope I didn’ bore anyone to death. Eric J. Douglass Franklin, North Carolina FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: Yamaha, you have got to be kidding! E-Boz in Superstock? What a TOTAL waste of Superbike racing talent! E-Boz, why waste a single second of your limited career and risk your health in Supersport or Superstock? I would rather see you in a support Superbike team (Attack Kawasaki) or even World Superbikes than wasting away in AMA Superstock/Supersport! Why can’t the factories leave the SUPPORT CLASSES (FX, Supersport and Superstock) to the privateers and support teams? There is a reason pro ball players cannot play college ball for 20 years or that the Yankees do not play against the local college or farm teams. The same logic should apply to who can/should race in SUPPORT CLASSES. AMA/Yamaha/E-Boz please look at the big picture and remember that racing is entertainment and it is no fun watching cherry-picking and top talent being wasted cherry-picking! George Leavell Gilroy, California

MotoGP powers up for Sepang The MotoGP World Championship paddock assembled at the Sepang International Circuit today and prepared to gather its collective strength for another weekend of intense action just days after arriving in Malaysia from the previous round in Japan. In energy sapping humidity of 94% and with temperatures touching 30ºC, a handful of riders took the chance to cool off with a ride aboard a Formula 1 powerboat in the nearby capital city of Kuala Lumpur. John Hopkins, Makoto Tamada, Loris Capirossi, Rubén Xaus and James Ellison saw their thirst for speed competently quenched by a 256km/h machine driven by eight-time World Champion Guido Cappellini. Back at the circuit Valentino Rossi kept his feet on solid ground as he outlined his intentions for the thirteenth round of the season. The Italian needs a top four finish to make sure of the crown for the fifth successive season and can also win it by finishing within twelve points of his only remaining rival, Max Biaggi. However, the reigning World Champion insists his target will once again be victory despite missing his first chance to seal the crown with a rare crash in the race at Motegi four days ago. “Sepang is one of my favourite tracks,” said Rossi. “The bike worked well here during the tests in the winter even though we had some problems at the time, but we have made a lot of progress since then so I am interested to see how well everything works when practice starts on Friday morning. As far as the championship is concerned, of course I wanted to win it at Motegi but it didn’t happen and we still have five more races to go. I am not feeling any more pressure than before and I will be riding to win at every round. For sure Max Biaggi will be strong again but this season there has been a different rider on the pace at almost every round, like Loris Capirossi in Japan.” Biaggi strengthened his grip on second place in the championship with his second consecutive podium finish at the last round in Japan. The Italian is 16 points clear of Colin Edwards and 23 points ahead of his compatriot Marco Melandri, who joined a long queue of patients at the Clinica Mobile today. Melandri has spent the week in a wheelchair after suffering a deep wound to his foot in the infamous collision with Rossi last Sunday and is not planning to ride at least until Saturday morning. “They let me fly on Monday night and to be honest it was a comfortable flight, there were no problems,” said Melandri. “Right now the injury doesn’t hurt but I know that it will be tough on the bike. Maybe I’ll try on Saturday but I have a lot of stitches and the area is still quite swollen. I don’t know if I’ll have the strength I need to control the bike.” Dani Pedrosa also underwent checks from the MotoGP doctors although the outlook is much brighter for the 250cc World Championship leader, who expects to be back to full fitness by Friday morning after damaging his shoulder in one of three practice crashes in Japan. “The shoulder is getting gradually better, I’m applying ice to reduce the inflammation and these few days have been good for me to rest and recuperate,” reported Pedrosa, who finished second at Motegi despite the injury and now leads the quarter-litre series by 63 points from Casey Stoner. “I left Japan completely exhausted from the effort. In the end the result was much better than we expected but these things just go to show that we have to keep focused from race to race because the whole situation can change in one weekend.” 125cc World Championship leader Thomas Lüthi was also on the treatment table today, undergoing intense physiotherapy on the dislocated shoulder and ankle injuries he sustained in a dangerous crash at Motegi. The Swiss youngster leads the series by three points from Mika Kallio and is confident of defending his advantage this weekend. “At the moment the ankle is more painful than the shoulder but I’m planning to ride,” he explained. “I don’t know exactly how it will be until I get on the track but I am determined to race on Sunday.”

Motegi-winner Loris Capirossi enjoys new thrills and is set for another success in Malaysia Ducati-star Loris Capirossi, who broke the dominance of the Japanese manufacturers on their own home turf with a spectacular MotoGP victory in last Sunday’s Motegi Grand Prix, is set for another success in Malaysia this weekend. The 32-year Italian had clocked fastest at the first big pre-season testing session in Sepang back in January, and the combination of his Ducati Desmosedici and Bridgestone tyres has only become stronger in the meantime. “We had a good time testing here during winter”; remembers Capirossi, “Sepang is a really great track, one of the best. I love it, because it’s very technical, with fast corners, slow corners, downhill and uphill parts, plus it’s so wide, which makes it good for fighting. It’s also got two long straights, which should be good for us because our bike is always fast. We were not particularly consistent when we were here testing, but I know that the tyres have improved a lot since we were last here.” With high track temperatures of more than 50 degrees and a track surface without a lot of grip, the 5.548 kilometre Sepang track has always been hard on tyre durability, but Bridgestone is well prepared for the challenge. A total of 1100 tyres have been shipped to Sepang, with approximately 4 to 5 front and 6 to 8 rear tyres to chose from. Most of the tyres are based on the tyre construction that proved successful in Motegi, but with different compound variations in order to adjust to Malaysia’s tropical heat. When team and tyre technicians set up their garages in the Sepang paddock, Loris Capirossi had a chance to enjoy another spectacular thrill ride on the passenger seat of F1-powerboat World Champion Guido Cappellini. “This was a sensational experience. Guido gets on the throttle and takes the turns with incredible speed a MotoGP bike doesn’t come close”, smiled Capirossi after the experience on a lake in nearby Putrajaya. Suzuki rider John Hopkins also joined Cappellini for a few demonstration laps, and was similary impressed. “This was really great going into a turn without braking at all, that’s a feeling we don’t get too often”, beamed the Californian. Whereas Hopkins can’t wait to get onto his bike again to repeat his strong Motegi performance he finished fifth behind Capirossi’s Ducati team-mate Carlos Checa one out of the six Bridgestone riders had to skip the race in Sepang. German Kawasaki rider Alex Hofmann suffered a broken left ankle when he collided and crashed in Motegi, and was rushed back to a specialist in Munich where the fracture was pinned. Frenchman Olivier Jacque, who rode the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR to second place in the rain-soaked Chinese Grand Prix back in May, flew in to replace Hofmann at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Hiroshi Yamada – Motorcycle Racing Manager Bridgestone Motorsport “In the last race at Motegi, we had our first victory of the season, along with a pole position, record lap time, and a defense of our JapanGP win of 2004. I am very happy that we’ve achieved this result, and I want to thank Loris and Ducati once again for all their hard work. The latest generation tyre used at Motegi was of high potential and we have brought this family of tyres to Sepang this weekend. All our riders are comfortable with this spec, but we will also provide several variations of compounds to deal with the heat of Malaysia. We hope for similarly good results as we achieved in Motegi!”

World Superbike Favourite Chili Signs up for Moto1 2005 www.moto1.org Italian World Superbike Favourite Frankie Chili has announced he will line up at Mallory Park in October to compete in the 2005 Dunlop Moto 1 Challenge. Pier Francesco “Frankie” Chili, a firm favourite with World Superbike fans, started his racing career over 23 years ago and is currently 9th in the championship standings on his Klaffi Honda Fireblade. Having raced GP and Superbikes around the globe Frankie now faces a stern challenge in the unique form of the Dunlop’s Moto 1 event. Dunlop Moto 1 pitches 24 riders from all forms of motorcycle sport against each other, and comprises Road Racing, Trials, Supermoto and Motocross events, along with a new addition for 2005, the MotoPentathlon. Frankie must earn as many points as possible in each leg of the event with the hope of topping the leader board on the second day and being crowned Moto 1 2005 Champion. Frankie will be competing against road racing stars such as People’s Champion Chris Walker, British Superbike stars Karl Harris, Steve Plater, plus Supersport aces Stuart Easton and Craig Jones. They will face off against reigning British Trials Champion Steve Colley, along with former and current Supermoto Champions Ady Smith, Leighton Haigh, Christian Iddon and Matt Winstanley. Motocross will be well represented by World GP winner Billy Mackenzie and David Campbell, whilst Speedway star Kelvin Tatum will be aiming to showcase his riding talent. To ensure the boys do not have it all their own way trials star Maria Conway and Motocrosser Anita Jane Doran will be aiming to become the first female Moto 1 Champion. A full list of competitors is available on the Dunlop Moto1 website. The action commences with the trials event on Saturday 15th October, along with the Supermoto and MotoPentathlon events. Sunday the 16th October sees the competition resume with the Road Racing and Motocross events, along with the Mallory Park Race of the Year. Tickets cost £15 for Saturday and £18 for Sunday. Weekend tickets are available by advance booking only and cost £20 for both days, a saving of £13. The Moto 1 ticket hotline number is 01624 640000. For more information contact Margaret Allan on [email protected] or Peter Duke on [email protected]

JACQUE AND NAKANO TOGETHER AGAIN FOR KAWASAKI Test and development rider, Olivier Jacque, will replace the injured Alex Hofmann in the Kawasaki Racing Team for this Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Jacque has also been nominated to replace Hofmann for next week’s Qatar GP in Doha. Jacque’s call-up reunites the Frenchman with Kawasaki team leader, Shinya Nakano, with the pair also former 250cc teammates. The Sepang race will be Jacque’s fourth race appearance for Kawasaki this season, having previously contested the Chinese, French and German Grand Prix events. Jacque’s superb second place in the rain-soaked Chinese Grand Prix in May was a career-best performance – both for the rider and Kawasaki in MotoGP. Hofmann has returned to Germany and is undergoing treatment for the fractured left ankle he suffered in last Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi. The Motegi injury added to the frustration of the German rider’s injury-hit season. Nakano also failed to finish his home race at Motegi, with an engine problem sidelining his Ninja ZX-RR. But Nakano has put aside his Motegi frustration and is taking a “nothing to lose” approach to the remaining five races of the season – starting this weekend at one of his favourite tracks on the calendar. Nakano started third, on the front row, for this race in 2004 following a stunning qualifying lap and finished a strong eighth in the race. The Sepang circuit is 5.5 km in length, second only to Assen in terms of lap distance, with a race average speed of just over 160 kph. Combined with tropical temperatures that can reach a furnace-like 60 degrees, Sepang is a tough test of endurance and speed – for riders, machines and tyres. Since he last raced for Kawasaki at the German Grand Prix at the end of July, Jacque has been busy testing, training and celebrating his 32nd birthday, which was on August 29th. Jacque’s testing duties have included sessions in both Europe and Japan, working with technicians from Kawasaki and tyre supplier Bridgestone on the MotoGP development programme. Shinya Nakano: #56 “I have put the the disappointment of Motegi behind me and I am just looking ahead to get the best results – there is nothing to lose, just go for it as the Kawasaki team are not contenders for the championship. Sepang is a circuit that I like very much and last year in qualifying I did close to the perfect lap – third on the front row was very satisfying. The high speed corners here are critical to a fast lap, but in the race the slower hairpins are more important for overtaking. I’m looking for similar results this year, including a top ten race finish. We have the benefit of the winter test data from this track, plus I’m hoping to continue evaluation of Kawasaki’s latest engine specification.” Olivier Jacque: #19 “It is a strange feeling to be a replacement in these circumstances. As a racer I feel bad for Alex, I know how difficult it is, but on the other hand it is an opportunity for me to be back on the ZX-RR and to show my ability. I didn’t have a lot of time to get organised, I got a phone call at home in London last Sunday morning, and here I am at Sepang. This is not my favourite track, but I think our bike should handle quite well here, especially in the shorter corners. But there are two long straights, one after the other, which puts the emphasis on top speed. I’ve been testing and training so I’m fit, now I’m just looking for some good results – second place in China seems so long ago.”

Malaysian delights await Team SUZUKI MotoGP Team SUZUKI MotoGP travels to Sepang for the Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix – the second leg of a demanding five fly-away race tour – looking to build on the team’s positive showing in Japan last weekend. John Hopkins and Kenny Roberts Jr both secured top ten positions to give Team SUZUKI MotoGP its best dry condition results of the season so far at the last round in Motegi with Hopkins finishing in a career best fifth place. The Sepang F1 circuit is 5.548 km long and is one of the most modern on the Grand Prix calendar. Two long straights either side of a stunning viewing complex make the architecture of the track one of the most spectacular in the world. The circuit is not all about straight-line speed though – a series of testing sweeping corners where the back-end of the motorcycle will step-out and drift for what seems forever will have all the riders using their full powers of control and concentration. Sepang is near to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur – a city of many diverse and exotic cultures. Strong influences from China, India and Europe go to make Malaysia a country of many pleasures. Round 13 of the 17 event series will begin on Friday 23rd September when Team SUZUKI MotoGP will be involved in two free practice sessions. This will be followed on the Saturday by a further free session in the morning and then the excitement of the timed qualifying in the afternoon. The 21-lap race gets started at 15.00hrs (local time), 09.00hrs CET, when both Suzuki racers will go all out for glory. Paul Denning Team Manager: “Last weekend saw full commitment from the full team and decent results. The Suzuki is a better bike than it’s been all season and part of that accolade goes to the latest generation of Bridgestone tyres. “It was also hopefully the catalyst that John needs to step up and claim his first podium and win in the near future. I know that he is determined to get to the top and we just have to give him the correct tools to do that job. “Kenny also had a very successful first two days at Motegi but he was really disappointed with the race itself something that I am sure we will be determined to correct this weekend. “Sepang is a very exhausting circuit due to the high humidity, but we regularly test here and both John and Kenny have ridden the track many times. We know what to expect, the plan is to beat our expectations! “We will be going all out to build on the promising performances at Motegi from both riders and keep going the high spirits that are throughout the team at the moment.”

Championships Still Close With Two WERA National Rounds To Go LEEDS, Ala. The WERA National Series heads to Barber Motorsports Park this weekend for the penultimate round of the season, but still the championship standings in both the WERA Dunlop National Endurance Series and the WERA Michelin National Challenge Series are closer than ever. After Vesrah Suzuki’s victory at Summit Point Raceway two weeks ago, the lead that Team Velocity Racing holds in the Endurance Series was narrowed to just 28.015 points. Team Velocity Racing won the Barber round last season after a crash for Vesrah, but by that time Vesrah had a long points lead. Despite the crash, they crossed the finish line with enough points to clinch the series championship. This year, the pressure is on as both teams try to build up a solid lead before the final race of the season. The race at Summit Point also helped close the points gap in Mediumweight Superbike, making it the closest championship of the series. Army of Darkness passed points leader Red Star in the final hour, closing in to 25.46 points in the class championship. The Lightweight Superbike championship is also heating up, with Blue Ridge just 27.425 ahead of Deals Gap Racing. The four-hour National Endurance Series race will begin at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, September 24. Sunday’s schedule includes the ten-lap National Challenge Series sprint races, beginning at noon. Mark Junge took over the Open Superstock points lead at Summit Point, but he has only ten points over Ben Thompson, who held the top spot much of this season. In Lightweight Twins Superstock, expert division leader Chris Parris has only nine points over Gary Schilling. Tickets for the WERA National Series at Barber Motorsports Park are available at the gate. The cost is $30 for Friday’s practice day and both days of racing, $20 for Saturday and Sunday, and $15 for Sunday only. More information about WERA, including a full schedule of the weekend at Barber, can be found at www.WERA.com. Directions to Barber Motorsports Park can be found at ~http://www.barbermotorsports.com~

The Billy Mitchell bridge over Road America’s turn 13 will be lengthened or removed before the sealer-striped, four-mile-long Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin road course will be repaved, according to track General Manager and President George Bruggenthies “We’re looking at doing a paddock expansion in the fall and adding pit lane garages, either adding garages or doing the change to the (turn 13) bridge,” Bruggenthies told Roadracingworld.com. “But whatever we do, we will ensure it works for motorcycles as well as cars. We have two (bridge modification) designs, and we’re looking into costing right now. It’s our number one priority.” Asked if he heard the negative comments made by top racers during the AMA event regarding Road America’s slippery sealer-patched surface, Bruggentheis added, “Yes, and I’m sensitive to that, and I want to deliver the best surface possible. That’s on the horizon. I want to take care of the bridge, first, then you’ll see a complete re-pave. It’s all in the plan. We’ll get it fixed.” Bruggentheis said he would like to have the bridge modification and complete repaving done within the next two years, and only then can he start thinking about attracting an International motorcycle event. “We’re looking into it. That’s all I can say,” said Bruggentheis when asked about the possibility of hosting a World Superbike event. “Nothing is eminent. We have some things to do before discussions can get serious.”