REYNOLDS RIDES IN TO UNVEIL HIZZY MEMORIAL Steve Hislop Commemorative Statue Unveiling Hawick Saturday 1st October 2005 Triple British Superbike Champion John Reynolds will lead a cavalcade of bikers into Hawick on Saturday 1st October before unveiling the bronze statue of his friend and former rival Steve Hislop who was tragically killed in 2003. Created by sculptor David Annand, the event combines the annual Steve Hislop Memorial Run whereby fans are welcome to join the ‘ride in’ from various points as detailed below before the ceremony which takes place at Wilton Lodge Park, Hawick at 1pm. Friends of the late, great ‘Hizzy’ including organisers Alan Duffus and Jeff Henthorne will conduct formalities before Rizla Suzuki ace ‘JR’ and BSB pit lane reporter and long term confidant of Hislop, Larry ‘Scoop’ Carter, say a few words also. Afterwards, fans are welcome to visit the Steve Hislop Commemorative room in Hawick to see many of Steve’s trophies and racing memorabilia, or to visit the memorial cairn at the crash site as well as the Jimmy Guthrie rooms at Wilton Lodge Park. To join this historic ride, enthusiasts and fans can meet at the following points before the ride to Jedburgh whereby all parties will meet for a 12.00 noon departure from Woollen Mill Car Park. From the North: 07.45am (for 8.15 departure) Tay Road Bridge Car Park (Fife side) 09.00am (for 9.30 departure) Alan Duffus M/C, St Clair Street, Kirkcaldy 10.00am (for 10.15 depart.) Forth Road Bridge (south side) 10.45am (for 11.00 depart.) Fordell Filling Station (A68 south of Dalkeith) then on to Jedburgh via A68 From the South: 11.45am (for 12 noon depart.) Woollen Mill Car Park, Jedburgh (A68) From the West: 09.00am (for 9.15 depart.) Erskine Bridge East 10.00am (for 10.15 depart.) Harthill Services East 10.15am (for 11.00 depart.) Fordell Filling Station (A68 south of Dalkeith) then on to Jedburgh via A68 Please ensure that you are on time and fully fuelled up as the schedule is very tight. Please be aware that whilst this event has the full support and co-operation of the local police forces, they have insisted that all riders and their machines comply with the various Road Traffic Acts at all times. Further details available from Alan Duffus Motorcycles, 19-21 St Clair Street, Kirkcaldy, Fife. Tel: 01592 264135. www.alanduffus.com

NEW CHAMPION CHARPENTIER LEADS IMPRESSIVE HONDA CHALLENGE Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR), crowned World Champion after finishing second in last weekend’s Assen World Supersport race, will soon be back in action at the German circuit of Lausitzring, close to the city of Dresden. The lavishly-equipped 4.265km circuit, complete with outsize grandstand seating areas, has hosted two World Supersport races in the recent past, each holding special significance for Honda riders past and present. Charpentier’s team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) scored the 2002 victory while on a Suzuki, and Kevin Curtain took his Honda CBR600FS to the win in 2001’s deluged Lausitz race. After securing his first race win of the season at Assen, 2002 World Champion for Honda, Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) has good and bad memories of Lausitz, having been disqualified from the race there in 2002, despite crossing the line first. He has, however, scored both pole positions and both fastest laps at the previous two Lausitzring races, while riding for Ten Kate Honda. The Team Italia Megabike Honda squad also features another rider with ambitions to finish closest to Charpentier this year, Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR), who took his latest podium finish at Assen last weekend. WSS rookie Tatu Lauslehto (Klaffi Honda CBR600RR) is looking to Lausitz for yet another strong points scoring ride, maintaining his record of having taken points in every single round so far. Charpentier has kept his feet on the ground since his elevation to champion status, but knows that his season is far from over. “I had a very relaxed evening on Sunday – a meal with some friends and then back to the track to celebrate a little more with my team; but it was all very calm,” said the coolest head on the Supersport grid. “I went home to France on Monday to spend some time by the pool and the feeling of winning the championship is getting better and better each day. It’s a very good feeling but I still have a job to do this weekend in Lausitz and the test we had there a few weeks ago tells me that we should be strong again this weekend. Although we have won the title, there are still three more races to win.” Fujiwara hopes to add to his winning tally in Germany, looking for win number three this season. “Even if I have lost the chance to win the championship now, I know that this race is still very important for me and my team,” said ‘Kats’ in the run up to Lausitz. “I need to keep my focus on trying to take race wins, so that I can secure second in the championship. It’s important for me and my team to make sure we finish the season first and second.” Foret did his ambition to finish second overall this year no harm at all with an outstandingly effective ride at Assen. Memories of his 2002 performance have also helped his confidence pre-race. “In 2002 at Lausitz I won a fantastic race and I hope to repeat the result this season,” said the 2002 World champ. “The bike now is very good and with the help of Showa we have taken it to a very high level. Until the last round of 2005 I want to target the podium places – and I now know that this is possible. After the race of Assen. I feel good and I’m happy for the team also, who have all worked so hard during the last few months.” Fabrizio is a new rider to Lausitz, but feels that its predominantly slow layout, with frequent corners, will suit his personal preferences. After a podium at Assen last weekend, he is only two points behind his team-mate Foret. “In Assen I had a problem with an injured foot, and without this problem, I could probably been in front at the end of the race,” said the young Roman rider. “I have never ridden at the Lausitzring before, but I know that this is a difficult track, with more slow corners than fast ones. I like this kind of circuit and I believe the result of this race will be particularly important. So I will start out looking for a win. With this bike all is possible and the help of my team, which has got better and better round-by-round, I can go far. My main target is to get second place in championship.” Lauslehto, who remains tenth overall in the championship race, will experience yet another new challenge in his short international career this coming weekend. “For me the Eurospeedway is new race track,” explained the 21-year-old Finn. “Many of my competitors like it very much. But I know also that they are afraid of it when it is wet. So we’ll wait and see what will happen. I definitely know that my Klaffi Honda CBR 600 RR is perfect now and I want achieve a top ten position in the race at Lausitzring.” Once more Lauslehto will have a temporary Klaffi Honda team-mate, this time around local rider Steve Mizera. World Superbike Round 10 of 12 HONDA MEN AIM HIGH AT RETURNING SUPERBIKE VENUE Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) added a brace of race wins to his 2005 season total at the recent Assen World Superbike race, clawing back vital points to the championship leader, Troy Corser (Suzuki). His peerless display at Assen, and the positive experience of a recent Lausitzring test session put him firmly on course for more success this weekend. Two promising rides at Assen for Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) petered out due to fatigue from an injured hand and a lack of traction in the second race, but the 2005 season SBK rookie is determined to make the progression to a podium finish sooner rather than later. Assen was a meeting to forget for SBK legend Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) but his indomitable spirit will see him out to make amends at Lausitzring. Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) has more reasons than most to look forward to Lausitz, as it his only chance to shine in front of a home audience in 2005. Recent injury and subsequent illness did not stop Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji CBR1000RR) from posting a top ten finish at Brands, and with more time to heal, he may even improve on his top 15 placing in the championship series, before the final two races in Italy and France. The recent wet and dry track experience of Laustiz will stand Vermeulen in good stead as he aims for a perfect finish to his 2005 season. “We had a two-day test at Lausitzring in July and, although it rained on the second day, the test was good,” he stated. “The bike was working pretty well but there are a lot of areas where we can try to make the bike better so we’ve got a few things to try this weekend. One thing about Lausitzring is that, if it rains, it’s like an ice rink; but I’ve heard the forecast for the weekend is supposed to be OK. I said before Assen that I saw no reason why we couldn’t go for eight wins from the remaining eight races. It went to plan last weekend but now there’s only three rounds left and I’ve still got more races to win, so that’s what we’ll be concentrating on this weekend.” For Chili Lausitz is by no means a favourite venue, but he will be concentrating all his efforts on machine and set-up improvements to allow him to get back into contention for podium places. “At Lausitzring I always finished top ten,” said Chili of his previous experiences. “The track is not so nice for me but it is okay. It is only a pity that we had no tests there before this race. After the results at Assen we will give our all to achieve some better positions again.” Muggeridge made a breakthrough in the transition from Supersport World Champion to top level Superbike pilot at Assen, and hopes to translate that into results at Lausitz. “It’s really time to take the good from the bad here and put my words into action,” said Muggeridge. “The bike’s not bad but I have to start riding it like a Superbike. Assen was disappointing and a perfect example of riding it like a Supersport bike, which is all about corner speed. I finally found how to ride it at Assen but, the way we had it set up, it was too late. I need to maybe square off the corners a little more and spend less time with the bike on its side, because that’s what causes the grip to drop off so dramatically during the race. You need to manipulate the Superbike much more and press all the right buttons, so that’s what I’ll be trying to do here at Lausitzring this weekend. We had a pretty good test here after Brno so at least we have somewhere to start from.” Neukirchner’s return to his native Germany is a homecoming in the sense of both geography and track knowledge. “The last time I had a race at Lausitzring was in 2002,” said the 22-year-old. “In the 250cc race I finished third. The Eurospeedway is a special track. I like the long turns very much. But when it rains the track becomes very tricky. The asphalt becomes slippery right away and then the whole game gets dangerous. The Lausitzring is only two hours away from my home town and I’m looking forward to meet all my German fans. I hope to finish top ten again because I don’t want to disappoint them.” Bostrom hopes to have recovered from injuries which made his recent Assen weekend such hard, if grittily rewarding, work. He has raced at Lausitz in his previous SBK stint, and hopes this will allow him to be fast from the beginning of qualifying. “I’ve been to Lausitz before, know the track and think it’s pretty cool,” said Bostrom. “I now have almost a week to get healed up and the bike goes very well now. It’s good. Despite my illness and injuries we qualified very respectably at Assen, 13th fastest before Superpole. Considering there were about 36 guys on the entry list and I was so beat up, that was respectable.” The final racedays of the Supersport and Superbike seasons take place on consecutive weekends, at Imola on 2 October and Magny Cours on October 9.

AMA Pro Racing will be the first of five national organizations to race at Miller Motorsports Park, located near Salt Lake City, Utah, when the track officially opens next year. The track will host an AMA Superbike double-header June 16-18, 2006. The track layout and blueprints were drawn by noted track designer Alan Wilson, who will also serve as the facility’s CEO and General Manager. Miller Motorsports Park signed a sanctioning agreement with AMA Pro Racing (and four other sanctioning bodies) Wednesday in Salt Lake City, just before a ceremony at the Delta Center in which the track introduced itself to the general public and announced its 2006 schedule of events. Miller Motorsports Park will also host IMSA’s American Le Mans Series, SCCA Pro Racing’s SPEED World Challenge, Grand American Road Racing and Historic Sportscar Racing. According to AMA Pro Racing Superbike Series Manager Ron Barrick, it is undecided which version of the multi-configuration circuit the AMA series will run–the 4.50-mile, 24-turn “Main Track” or the 3.06-mile, 15-turn “Outer Course.” Both layouts incorporate a 3500-foot main straightaway, but the Outer Course may be the fastest track, in terms of average lap speed, in America, according to Wilson. Safety standards at the track are expected to be high. In addition to the National professional racing series, the track will also host (and actively promote) monthly club-level racing with the Utah Sport Bike Association (USBA), sharing race weekends with car racing clubs. AHRMA has recently requested a 2006 race date, and Miller Motorsports Park will become the summer home of Freddie Spencer’s High Performance Riding School, which normally runs in the winter months in Las Vegas, Nevada.

AMA SUPERBIKE EVENT CONFIRMED FOR MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK PICKERINGTON, Ohio (Sept. 7, 2005) — AMA Pro Racing and officials from Miller Motorsports Park announced today that the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited will visit the all new racing facility, currently under construction, in 2006. Located near Salt Lake City in Utah, Miller Motorsports Park features a 4.5 mile road course and will host a round of the AMA road race series on June 16-18, 2006. Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing and Ron Barrick, Series manager for AMA Superbike, were at the track today and participated in the meeting announcing the track’s 2006 schedule. “We’re thrilled to be part of this exciting new facility’s future plans and to be able to bring the AMA Superbike Championship to this part of the country,” said Hollingsworth. “The construction of this all new facility will also provide a valuable ‘shot in the arm’ to the sport of motorcycle road racing in the United States by allowing us to expose the sport to a completely new market.” AMA Pro Racing officials and riders have had the opportunity to offer input during the track’s design and construction phases. Proposed facility and track designs were shared with Barrick who in turn shared them with several riders. “Any time a track provides us and our riders the chance to offer our expertise on a layout it’s a good thing,” said Barrick. “Motorcycle racing has completely different requirements than car racing and we applaud Miller Motorsports Park for listening to us at the time when it can have the most bearing on the track’s final design.” The 2005 AMA Superbike Championship concluded last weekend at Road Atlanta. All four class titles were decided at the series finale and fans were treated to some of the most competitive, spirited racing of the season. Mat Mladin captured his record sixth AMA Superbike Championship, Tommy Hayden was crowned champion in AMA Supersport, Miguel Duhamel won the AMA Formula Xtreme title in a nail biter over teammate Jake Zemke and Aaron Yates grabbed the AMA Superstock trophy. The full 2006 AMA Superbike Championship schedule is being finalized and will be announced soon.

First visit of the year to Oulton Park for JR RIZLA SUZUKI British Superbike Champion John Reynolds will make his 2005 Oulton Park race debut this weekend at the 11th round of the British Superbike Championship. JR missed the fourth round of the BSB Championship at Oulton Park in May as he recovered from a badly broken right leg. Now he is back to full health and said: “Last time I raced at Oulton Park was a year ago and I won both races, so I have a lot of happy memories and high hopes for this weekend. “For sure, missing the round here earlier in the season will be a disadvantage; I don’t have the familiarity that the other riders have and the April test here was a bit of a washout, so I am going to have to adapt quickly to the circuit with my 2005 Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000. “My aim for the rest of the season is to be challenging for race wins and podium places. That is all I am focusing on.” Rizla Suzuki racer James Haydon was standing in for JR at Oulton Park earlier in the year when he scored his best result of the season with a fourth place in a damp but drying second race. He ended up less than four seconds behind the winner around the 2.692-mile long circuit. James said: “I really enjoyed racing at Oulton Park earlier in the year and my Rizla Suzuki felt good in both the races. We have made a lot of progress with the handling and feel of the GSX-R1000 since then, especially at the last round when we changed certain suspension settings. “Now I have a bike that is giving me the feedback and control I want and I’m really optimistic about this weekend. Oulton Park is a challenging riders’ circuit and I love the place, bring it on!” Superbike racing starts at 1325hrs on Sunday, September 11th, at Oulton Park in Cheshire. All the action will be covered live on Sky Sports and will be followed by a highlights package on Channel 4 the following Sunday morning, September 18th.

Superbike & Supersport World Championships, Superstock FIM Cup Eurospeedway Lausitz-GER, 11/09/2005: Wild-card riders – The wild-card riders who will race in the Superbike & Supersport World Championship rounds scheduled on the circuit of Eurospeedway Lausitz on September 11 next, are the following: Start number, Rider, Team Superbike: 14, Ralf Waldmann (GER-Honda CBR1000RR), Alpha Technik Van Zon Honda Team DMSB 15, Michael Schulten (GER-Honda CBR1000RR), Alpha Technik Van Zon Honda Team Supersport: 95, Jesco Günther (GER-Honda CBR 600RR), Alpha Technik Van Zon Honda 98, Tage Solberg (NOR-Yamaha YZF R6), Solberg Racing

WEBSTER RETIRES FROM SIDECAR RACING Team Suzuki Press Office – September 7, 2005. Team Castrol Suzuki’s sidecar racing legend Steve Webster M.B.E. has announced his retirement from the sport. His decision calls to an end a magnificent and unparalleled record-breaking career that has seen him rise from a 19-year-old club racer to the most successful sidecar racer in the history of the FIM World Championships. Said Webster: “I’ve had a fantastic career, I’ve enjoyed every minute but it just feels right to stop now as no-one can go on forever. I had a couple of months off due to illness which I’m now over and I found out I didn’t miss it anymore. Everyone has to stop sometime and that time for me, at 45, is now. I don’t feel sad about it. It’s been my decision to go now, I haven’t been forced into it so I’m going with a happy heart and a smile and taking with me so many good memories from friends and rivals. “I’ve had a great team around me over the years and it is that close teamwork that has given us the success. There are many people involved who all do a little bit behind the scenes and all that work adds up to win the Championships the team has won, so hanks to all of you – you know who you are. It’s truly been a great time, and it’s lasted for 25 years. It was something I started doing as a hobby, and I’ve managed to make it a profession – what more could I have wanted?” Unfortunately the team were not able to end on a high in Sunday’s penultimate round of the 2005 championship. Passenger Paul Woodhead had been thrown from the outfit under hard braking into the first right-hander during the Friday timed practice session. He sustained some heavy bruising to his arms and a possible broken bone in his wrist. The few fast laps they were able to complete in subsequent practice sessions put them fourth on the grid but despite treatment, the injury proved too much to bear for a full race distance on a long track that pushes passengers really hard. After two laps of the race, Webbo was forced to pull into the pits for the final time, when Woody could no longer grip safely. He said: “It was just too painful to hold on. The wrist is badly bruised and there may be ligament damage or even a break in one of the bones. “It wasn’t the way we wanted to finish but sometimes things don’t always go the way you want them to” Webster’s career began at Elvington Airfield circuit, near York, back in 1980 and along the way he amassed race wins and championships at every level, culminating in last year’s staggering achievement of an unprecedented triple crown of British, European and World titles. The first World Title came back in 1987 in only Webbo’s fourth season of World Championship events with Tony Hewitt in the chair. Further titles were added in 1988 and 1989. Gavin Simmons took over as passenger to record another title in 1991. A gap of six years followed – including an almost season-long retirement in 1995 – before three back-to-back titles in 1997, 98 and 99 with David James. In 2000, current passenger Paul Woodhead joined Webster, taking the 2000 World crown before adding two more in 2003 and 2004. Webster has also notched up the unique distinction of being the only FIM World Champion to win 10 road racing World Titles in one class.

Bologna (Italy), Wednesday 7 September: Italian Lorenzo Lanzi will step in to the factory Ducati Xerox World Superbike team this weekend at the Eurospeedway Lausitz alongside James Toseland, as a replacement for the injured Régis Laconi. Frenchman Laconi was injured in a crash during last Friday’s first qualifying at Assen and immediately flew back to France for further checks with physiotherapy specialists, but the nature of his injuries mean that he has been ruled out of the race in Germany. In the crash Laconi suffered a gashed right elbow, which needed eight stitches and an injured tendon, which will require several weeks to heal. After a difficult start to the season, the performances of 23-year-old Lanzi on the satellite Ducati Caracchi Team 999RS have taken a positive swing in the last eight races, in which he has never been outside the top 10. His best result this year is fifth place in race 1 at Misano Adriatico. The young Italian finished seventh and sixth at Assen on Sunday and will make his debut for the factory team at the imposing Eurospeedway in the former East Germany, a now-familiar circuit for Lorenzo, after a two-day test that took place in July. Ducati Corse wishes to thank Scuderia Caracchi and its sponsor GA for making Lorenzo Lanzi available for this weekend’s race.