FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I wanted to pass along how I got screwed by a hotel for the ’05 U.S. GP. I contacted and made a reservation 8/20/04 with Roadway Inn, 2041 Fremont St. in Monterey for four nights at the rate of $89 the first night and $99 for the following nights and requested a faxed confirmation. A week later and still no confirmation so I called and they said they would send it but didn’t, this went on for about three weeks and they told me not to worry about it and just make sure I have my confirmation # (46680) and not to worry about it. When I arrived for the weekend I was told it would be $189.99 a day + all the taxes, When I questioned it and told them the situation they acted like I was crazy and proceded to show me on their computer the reservation, when she was flipping through the screens I saw the quoted rate and asked her to back up to it but she said that even though my name was on it that that rate had nothing to do with me. After more questioning the manager was brought out and I was told “Well, it sounds like what we need to do is just cancel your reservation and you can find somewhere else to stay.” I told them they knew that wasn’t possible now and sucked it up and paid them. I took it up with Amex when I got home and just got notice that they are unable to do anything because I signed the sales slip. So for anyone going to Laguna ’06 and beyond avoid this place and the Econlodge across the road as they own both. Or at a minimum have a faxed or email confirmation as well as a sleeping bag with you. For the now $3k it would cost two to go to Laguna again I’ll pass and hit a Euro GP. Rick Fairbairn Simpsonville, South Carolina

MLADIN WINS SIXTH AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Hayden, Duhamel and Yates score titles in support classes PICKERINGTON, Ohio (Sept. 8, 2005) The AMA Superbike event at Road Atlanta, Sept. 3-4, was a weekend of champions. All four AMA road racing titles came down to the final event and in one case to the final lap. Australian Mat Mladin highlighted the season finale by nailing down his sixth AMA Superbike Championship. Joining Mladin in collecting the prestigious No. 1 plate were Tommy Hayden in Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei, Miguel Duhamel in Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme and Aaron Yates in Repsol Lubricants Superstock. AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited It was another record-breaking season for Yoshimura Suzuki veteran Mat Mladin. The 33-year-old Australian not only won his sixth AMA Superbike Championship at Road Atlanta, he also broke Motorcycle Hall of Famer’s Fred Merkel’s long standing single-season win record of 10 wins set in 1984, by winning 11 AMA Superbike races in 2005. Mladin also extended his lead in the all-time AMA Superbike wins list to 43-career victories and pushed his record of AMA Superbike pole positions to 47. “The year was a good year for sure,” said Mladin. “Suzuki delivered us a motorcycle this year that certainly made life quite a bit easier than last year. But in no way was it easy. We had a couple of problems that certainly kept the championship interesting until the last race.” Mladin looked to be cruising to an easy championship win until he was caught up in a crash at the Mid-Ohio round, which closed the points race between him and Yoshimura teammate Ben Spies. In the end it was Mladin winning the title by 22-points over his rookie teammate. Eric Bostrom was third in the championship with Ducati Austin. A total of five riders, Mladin, Spies, Bostrom, Neil Hodgson and Aaron Yates, won AMA Superbike races in 2005. Mladin gave Suzuki its ninth AMA Superbike Championship, matching the nine titles owned by Kawasaki. Honda owns eight, Ducati two and Yamaha and BMW one each. This year was Mladin’s 10th year in AMA Superbike. He shows no sign of slowing down as he approaches his mid-30s. Mladin recently signed for three more seasons with Suzuki and said he would be disappointed if he doesn’t win three more titles. Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship presented by Shoei Tommy Hayden became only the third rider in series history to win back-to-back Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championships. The Kawasaki ace from Owensboro, Ky., won the championship in spite of suffering a broken hand in the middle of the season. Hayden, the oldest of the three racing Hayden brothers, sprinted off to a lead in the series by winning three of the first six rounds. He then suffered the broken wrist in a Repsol Superstock race at Laguna Seca in July. Despite racing with the injured wrist Hayden was able to finish sixth at Laguna Seca to hold on to his series lead. At the close of the year Kawasaki teammate and younger brother Roger Lee put on a serious charge, but in the end Tommy was able to finish strong enough to win the championship over Roger Lee by 19 points. Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo was third. I had the best bike, for sure, by far,” said Tommy. “That made things a lot easier. My hat’s off to those guys, my team. Mike Preston, he really does what it takes to win. He took me to Japan in the middle of last summer. I had a ton of input in that bike. They helped to really kind of build it around me. That meant a lot to me. I think it showed at Daytona at the beginning of the year. I was just really comfortable and really, really quick right out of the gate. It gave me a real good advantage straight out to start the season. And then about halfway it was just about finishing up and staying ahead.” Hayden joins Miguel Duhamel and Doug Polen as the only riders to win the highly-competitive championship in back-to-back years. It marked the fourth AMA Supersport title for Kawasaki. Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series Honda’s Miguel Duhamel made a dramatic late-season charge to defend his title in the Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series. The Canadian racing veteran won three of the final four races and came out on top in a head-to-head battle with teammate Jake Zemke in the final race to win the series. Duhamel trailed Zemke by five points going into the finale at Road Atlanta. He needed a perfect weekend of winning the pole, leading the most laps and winning the race to wrest away the series lead and thus the championship from Zemke. At Road Atlanta fans witnessed perhaps the best Formula Xtreme race in the history of the series. The epic race saw 18 lead changes. With the last lap beginning, both riders had led seven laps each. The title was literally up for grabs until Zemke crashed on the last lap. “From the beginning, the first half of the season, Jake was on fire,” said Duhamel, who earned his eighth AMA road racing championship “So we didn’t have a choice. My back was against the wall. This championship was the hardest – this is TV, I couldn’t believe it, I had the countdown on my board, laps led, and man, I was kind of hoping he would get it, just to get that. It was a battle. He’s sliding down the hill here, and sideways in the chicane, and tankslappers, front end flying off, and pumping brakes and almost running into each other, stuff that you just – it was incredible, and it was a beautiful race, and it would’ve been beautiful, for sure, if Jake would’ve just went wide and came back and got second and at least got the podium. It was a valiant effort. Unfortunately, he worked a little too hard there.” Duhamel took four wins on the year and moved into the lead on the all-time Formula Xtreme wins list with 12. Zemke finished second in the championship, and flat tracker, turned road racer Danny Eslick had a break through season taking third in the series. Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series It was a fantastic homecoming for Georgina Aaron Yates. The veteran Yoshimura Suzuki rider came into Road Atlanta with a 21-point lead over Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo and needed only a conservative finish to secure the title. And that’s just what Yates did, cruising to ninth and winning the Repsol Superstock Series after a nine years absence from the class. Yates won five of the 10 races en route to winning his second AMA road racing title. He outscored DiSalvo by nine points. Michael Jordan Suzuki’s Steve Rapp finished third in the series. For Yates it marked a triumphant return to the Superstock class. He won the class in 1996 in his first year as a factory Suzuki rider when the series was called AMA 750 Supersport. While Yates was gone the class became Repsol Superstock and the bikes were bumped up to 1000cc displacement. Yates moved from eighth to fifth on the all-time AMA Superstock wins list this season. He gave Suzuki its 13th title in the 18-year-old series. More, from a press release issued by Joe Rocket: ROCKET RACERS REPEAT ANOTHER SEASON! The 2005 AMA Superbike Championship came to a thrilling conclusion last weekend at Road Atlanta. Fans were treated to some of the best racing of the year as all four class titles were settled on this, the final event of the season. The Rocket Racing Team took 3 of 4 championship titles to show once again that they are the best in the business. For the 6th time in his illustrious career, Australian native and Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 pilot Mat Mladin has proved that he is among the world’s motorcycle racing elite by winning the AMA Superbike Championship. Mat has earned 10 race victories throughout the 2005 Superbike season to finish 22 points ahead of his teammate and first runner up, Ben Spies. Factory Kawasaki ace Tommy Hayden clinched his second consecutive AMA Supersport Championship aboard his Ninja ZX-6RR. Tommy finished the season 19 points ahead of his closest rival and teammate, Roger Lee Hayden. Enduring an injury to his throttle hand (that was potentially catastrophic to his Championship hopes) sustained at Laguna Seca, Tommy rode through the pain, maintaining his super smooth riding style all the way. Another man who is no stranger to the record books is American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel. The French Canadian, two-wheel wizard inks yet another entry by taking the 2005 AMA Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme Championship. In a truly amazing battle royale, Miguel and teammate Jake Zemke danced their Honda CBR600RR motorcycles around the racetrack with calculated abandonment. There were power slides through every corner and dramatic passing on every lap. To earn the Championship, either rider had to not only win the race but also lead the most laps to be awarded a one extra point to make the difference between Champ and runner up. In Canadian race action, Steve Crevier has once again ascended to greatness at Shannonville Raceway this past weekend where he secured the Hindle 600 Sportbike Championship. 2005 marks the second consecutive season that Crevier, a native of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, has dominated the class. Here at Joe Rocket we are sincerely proud of the Rocket Racing Team and their accomplishments throughout the 2005 race season. Like race fans around the world, we can’t wait to do it all over again. More, from another press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: AMA PRO RACING CALL TO ENTRY FOR RACE WIN ADVERTISING AWARDS PICKERINGTON, Ohio (Sept. 8, 2005) — AMA Pro Racing has announced that it will again recognize outstanding efforts in race win advertising at its annual Championship Awards Banquet. The AMA Pro Racing Championship Awards Banquet honors the champions from each form of AMA professional motorcycle racing and will be held this year at Paris Las Vegas on Nov. 19. Introduced in 2004, the Ad Awards were a highlight at last year’s AMA Pro Racing banquet. Fox Racing took the honor for best ad and Dunlop was the recipient of Best Campaign. Kerry Graeber, AMA Pro Racing Vice President, Director of Communications said the selection process was difficult. “A large number of outstanding, very well produced ads and campaigns were submitted last year,” said Graeber. “It was tough selecting a single winner for each category. With the great work being done again this year, we expect the selection process to continue to be a challenge.” The criteria for entry is simple and similar to last year. Individual ads can be entered into the Best Ad category or a group of ads can be submitted and entered into the Best Campaign category. Ads promoting racing from the 2005 AMA racing season are eligible as are ads that promote a 2004 championship victory. Ads from any medium are eligible. Graeber encourages anyone responsible for producing race win advertising to enter including agencies and advertisers. “We want to see great examples of race win advertising,” commented Graeber. “There is some great work being done in the category and we will showcase it at our banquet, in news releases and on our web site.” Finalists will be notified by October 25, and winning entries will be announced at the banquet. Complete information including rules and a downloadable entry form are available at www.amaproracing.com.

There are two remaining Motorcycle Excitement Track Days at Summit Point Raceway. On Friday September 23 and NEW date of Thursday October 6 (before CCS), racers and sport bike riders are welcome on the new Shenandoah circuit. This is the MOST track time and FUN for your money! Riders can test and tune their bikes with hours of quality track time complete with instructors, cornerworkers and a staffed ambulance. Get an advantage on your competition and come out and learn this new track with 17 turns, uphills, downhills, 2 sets of esses and 5 straightaways! Once you learn the layout, comfort and fun factor into a very enjoyable day at Summit Point. Tell your boss now that you will be sick (of work) those days and load up the truck, bike, and crew and come on out to the country. The new Shenandoah circuit has a cafe, showers, electricity, and restrooms in the paddock. Racers and riders who have ridden the new track love it for the smooth, grippy asphalt, and the many challenges that the layout has to offer. For more info and sign-up form, please e-mail [email protected] or call 301-933-2599. Tell your friends about this! Ride safe and have fun!

Cascade Tracktime Announces New Transport Service from the Pacific Northwest Cascade Tracktime is pleased to announce our new transport service. This service is designed to provide safe and secure transport of the rider’s motorcycle, gear, stands, and spares/tool kit, to and from the finest race tracks throughout North America. All this at a fraction of the cost of getting there yourself or with a buddy. The transport trailer is capable of hauling up to 26 bikes and is set up similarly to the transporters used by factory road race teams. Some of the ammenities include: 20’x40′ fully enclosed canopy, heat and ac, pit scooter, tool assortment, and much more. Save money with no unnecessary days off of work just for travel time. You’ll have more time for family and work, so you’ll have more fun at the track. For example, roundtrip transport from Portland, OR, to Willow Springs Raceway is just $239. Just bring your bike and gear to us, we’ll transport it to the event, you fly in like a rockstar, ride, then we return your bike and gear in a few days. If you live along the way to an event, we will accomodate you with pick-up and drop-off points. We will be announcing the 2006 schedule once completed. Stay tuned for some more exciting announcements from Cascade Tracktime. Visit www.cascadetracktime.com for more details.

This summer hotel operators in Monterey County, California were caught a little off-guard. For the most part, they underestimated the demand for hotel rooms surrounding the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, leading to overbookings, guests with confirmed reservations being bumped to other hotels and an investigation by the Monterey County District Attorney’s office. Hotel operators appear prepared for the 2006 U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, however, as readers of this website have reported 100-200% rate increases for the same room at the same hotel they stayed in during the 2005 U.S. GP, mandatory minimum-length stays and full payment at the time of the reservation. Still, many popular hotels in the area are quickly filling up for next year’s Grand Prix. And things may get even worse, in terms of hotel availability — and traffic, because the date of the 2006 U.S. Grand Prix, July 21-23, is also the traditional date of the California Rodeo Salinas, in nearby Salinas, California. 2006 will be the 96th year of the rodeo and because of scheduling obligations to the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association (PRCA) and television networks that cover the event, like ESPN and OLN, the rodeo’s date will not change, according to Barbera Balentine, sponsor coordinator of the California Rodeo Salinas. The 2005 U.S. GP was held in early-July, but the 2006 Grand Prix date was moved to July 21-23 as part of a ripple effect of schedule changes prompted by the World Cup of soccer going to Germany in 2006. “That’s a big deal in Europe, and a big deal here to be fair,” said Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca spokesman Reece White. “That pushed the Formula One schedule around a little bit — their North American tour is now about two weeks later, and that pushed it back into our weekend, which in turn pushes the Dorna schedule around a little bit. The new U.S. GP date “is basically where it fits in (Dorna’s) schedule, both in terms of their schedule and TV coverage, which I think has a lot to do with it not only here but on a worldwide level,” continued White. “It just comes down to that’s when it fit into Dorna’s MotoGP schedule, and, unfortunately, we don’t have a large amount of input into that.” White told Roadracingworld.com that the track is aware of the conflict with the rodeo and Laguna Seca management is coordinating with rodeo organizers, who estimate 80 percent of their attendance (45,815 over four days in 2004) is local, meaning they may or may not require lodging. For those still looking for accommodations for the 2006 U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Travelcraft has rooms available with three-night minimum stays for about $200/night, thanks to its long-term contracts with its partner hotels. Travelcraft can be reached at (800) 258-0755.

World Superbike Championship leader Troy Corser is looking for a better result at this weekend’s 10th round at the Eurospeedway, Lausitz in the former East Germany. In last weekend’s round at Assen, Corser missed out on a podium for the first time this season, so he is looking forward to improvement at Lausitz. For team mate Yukio Kagayama, the German track will once again be new territory and he will have to learn the circuit before he can start his attack. The last time the Superbike World Championship was there was in 2002 and then Ducati rider Troy Bayliss did the double. Neither Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders took part in the race that year but Corser has raced at Lausitz before: In 2001, he was fifth in race one and seventh in race two on an Aprilia. Troy Corser: “It feels like a long time ago that I was at Lausitz so I guess I will have to start all over again. I don’t remember it being a difficult track so I don’t think it is going to take a long time to learn. I know that some of our competitors have already tested there this year so we are going to start at a disadvantage, but I don’t think it is going to be so bad. Back-to-back races are always tough on the team but I have a great bunch of guys working away behind me so I am looking forward to getting back on the podium and maintaining my series lead.” Yukio Kagayama: “Lausitzring will be yet another new circuit for me to learn, but, as l I learn circuits pretty quickly, I don’t think it is going to be too much of a disadvantage. I spoke to Troy about it and I don’t think that it is a technically-difficult track to learn. I have had some problems in recent races so I am hoping that Lausitz will be a change of luck for me. I made some predictions in the last race at Assen and they didn’t work out. This time I will wait until Sunday night before talking about the race.”