Volkswagen Vans lines up on the grid with Rizla Suzuki VOLKSWAGEN VANS is lining up with Rizla Suzuki to race in the increasingly popular British Superbike Championship in 2005. By supplying Caravelle, Transporter Shuttle and LT vans to Rizla Suzuki, Volkswagen Vans is the Official Logistics partner to the current British Champions as well as a vital cog in a winning team. With capacity to carry seven passengers, the two Volkswagen Caravelles the team use are ideal for moving VIP guests around race tracks in supreme comfort. With 174ps on tap from their turbocharged diesel powerplants and sumptuous leather interiors, the Caravelles are ideal for making a good impression on the Rizla Suzuki VIPs. The team’s two Volkswagen Transporter Shuttles are used to move squad members to and from circuits and hotels in comfort with plenty of room for luggage. With fuel-efficient 130ps diesel motors there is plenty of power on tap while the tough vans stand up to even the hardest use and retain their rugged good looks. A Volkswagen LT35 van is used to transport road-going replica motorcycles and spare parts. Its enormous load carrying capacity is married to a powerful motor while the cabin offers plenty of luxuries, making its key a popular choice amongst team drivers Rizla Suzuki’s British Superbike Champion John Reynolds and his team mate Scott Smart will take care of the racing duties on 200mph Suzuki GSX-R1000 bikes as the British Championship visits 13 venues around the UK in 2005. Rizla Suzuki Team Coordinator Simon Green said: “Volkswagen Vans is the perfect partner to Rizla Suzuki. Its Caravelles and Transporter Shuttles are the absolute pinnacle of people carriers and the LT35 acts as a further spares store supporting the race team truck.” You can follow all the progress of the Volkswagen Vans supported Rizla Suzuki team on www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk or www.rizla-suzuki.co.uk.

Rossi-Gibernau duel boosts TV audiences for MotoGP opener The heart-stopping 45-minute battle between World Champion Valentino Rossi and his long-standing rival Sete Gibernau in MotoGP’s 2005 season opener, the Gran Premio Marlboro de España in Jerez, saw huge support from TV viewers worldwide. Unsurprisingly, the largest audiences were recorded in their respective countries, Italy and Spain, where viewers of both Mediaset (Italia 1) and Televisión Española enjoyed the thrilling showdown live in their homes, with the race remarkably taken to the final corner by both riders. An average of over 7 million spectators enjoyed Rossi’s win through Italia 1, representing a market share of 34.4%. At the broadcasting peak, during the last lap of the race in Jerez, almost 8 million fans were tuned in. In total, the transmission reached 11.5 million spectators. A similar phenomenon occurred in Spain. Although the huge 127,000 crowd present at the circuit and the TV viewers at home were unable to celebrate their home-hero’s victory, TVE’s main channel scored its largest race audience since Alex Crivillé’s World Championship win in 1999. The average viewing figures for the race were 3.7 million, with an average share of 38%. The “golden minute” of the broadcast, immediately before the dramatic outcome of the race, recorded 5.5 million viewers (46% market share). Another good example of the success of MotoGP’s first race of the season was the audience in the United Kingdom through the BBC. The average viewing figure for the show was 1.2 million (14% market share), one of the largest for MotoGP broadcasts, and well above the regular network audience for Sunday lunch-time. This data reflects the massive interest in the 2005 MotoGP World Championship, with fans across the globe eagerly waiting for the next round in the Rossi-Gibernau showdown, which takes place in Estoril on Sunday April 17th at the betandwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal.

Gauloises Yamaha Team Preview Portuguese Grand Prix Estoril, Portugal 15, 16, 17 April 2005 GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM LOOK TO REPEAT HISTORY AT ESTORIL Almost a year to the day since Valentino Rossi’s debut win for Yamaha in the opening round of the 2004 MotoGP World Championship at Welkom in South Africa, the Gauloises Yamaha Team head to Portugal this week with the adrenaline still pumping after an intense start to the new season. Fresh on the back of his breathtaking final-corner victory over Sete Gibernau at Jerez on Sunday, Rossi and his Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards stayed on at the Spanish circuit to complete an extra day of tests on Monday and now travel west across the Spanish border to prepare for the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril. Originally scheduled for its traditional September slot later in the season, the Portuguese Grand Prix has been brought forward to April in place of the cancelled Rio event, giving Yamaha’s engineers the perfect opportunity to compare the performance of the 2005 version YZR-M1 machine just six months after racing the ’04 bike at the same circuit. Located on the western tip of Europe, just seven kilometres from the Atlantic coast, Estoril is always exposed to the elements and a springtime visit promises to deliver similarly wild and windy conditions to those regularly encountered in autumn. Rossi and Edwards will be hoping the weather does not tamper with their Grand Prix preparations as significantly as it did at Jerez, where high winds rendered the good set-up they had found during three days of tests virtually obsolete. Edwards, in particular, found it difficult to adjust and was forced to make last-minute changes to the setting of his YZR-M1 on race day after qualifying in 15th place. The American fought bravely in the face of adversity to finish in the top ten but he will benefit from strong support from his team this weekend as they aim to propel him to the front of the pack. Edwards’ disappointment was counterbalanced on the opposite side of the garage by Rossi’s joy at a determined victory, which came in the final corner of a 27-lap thriller against Gibernau. The reigning World Champion is now citing the Spaniard as his main challenger for the title, as he has been for the past two seasons, and expects another close race as he aims to continue a winning run at Estoril that stretches back to his first triumph there in 2001. VALENTINO ROSSI: TOUGH AT THE TOP Twelve months on from his momentous debut win for Yamaha in South Africa, Rossi finds himself back on top of the MotoGP World Championship and with another slice of history in his sights. Victory this Sunday would make him the first Yamaha rider in the factory’s 50-year history to score five consecutive wins in the premier class, having equalled Eddie Lawson’s 1986 record at Jerez. “It is always nice to make records but I don’t really think about that too much,” commented Rossi. “Sunday was a different feeling to winning at Welkom last year because it wasn’t so much of a surprise, but it was an amazing race and an important way to start the championship. The level was very high and the race showed us which aspects of the 2005 bike we need to improve. We have a lot of work to do but the motivation of the whole team to defend the title is very high and I want to say thanks to all of my mechanics, to Yamaha and to Michelin for their efforts. “Estoril will be another hard battle the second one of seventeen! For sure Sete Gibernau is my strongest challenger this year. We have sixteen more races to go and if he is at that level in every one of them he will be very difficult to beat. “The Estoril track is full of bumps and it is important to find a good direction early on during the weekend. We want to focus on doing a great job again during the practice in Portugal and Sunday should be another fantastic show.” Rossi’s Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess added that, whilst Jerez was a good opportunity to compare data from the updated YZR-M1 with the 2004 version at the same early stage of last season, Estoril will provide a more realistic reflection of the progress they have made with the new bike over the recent winter tests. “The bike we raced at Jerez last year was in a very early stage of its evolution but by Estoril it was very well developed,” explained the Australian. “The date change for Portugal this year means it’s a comparatively short time since we last raced there and we will be able to judge more accurately just how far we have come with the new machine.” COLIN EDWARDS: DETERMINED TO FIGHT UP FRONT The Portuguese Grand Prix cannot come soon enough for Colin Edwards, who is itching to get back on board his YZR-M1 after a disappointing debut with Yamaha at Jerez on Sunday. The American felt that his ninth place in the race from 15th on the grid was below his and the team’s expectations but he is happy to have the chance to put the record straight so quickly. “We struggled on Sunday, I’ve got to be honest,” explained Edwards, who became the first rider in MotoGP to race four-stroke machines from three different factories. “We made a big change to the bike in the morning to try and cope with the dust on the track but it only made things worse. However, we sorted a few things out at the test in Jerez and I’m looking forward to getting to Estoril. “In my case it’s good to have the next round in just a few days’ time because I wasn’t entirely happy with the way things went on Sunday. We cost ourselves four or five points but now we’ve got the chance to make those up by putting our heads down and getting on with business. “It will be nice to get to another track because, if you include tests, we’ve now done seven days in a row at Jerez. It’s nice to have a change and go to a track that nobody’s tested at during the winter. It’s a chance for us to start afresh.” Still in just his third year of MotoGP competition, Edwards has made only two previous visits to the notoriously demanding Estoril circuit but says he is confident the hard work put in by the whole Gauloises Yamaha Team during the winter can bear fruit. “Over the winter we’ve found a base setting which has worked everywhere except Jerez, so I’m curious to see what’s going to work at Estoril. It’s got a long straight but in general it’s a tight and twisty circuit and the Yamaha should excel. I’m just looking forward to getting there, getting back on the bike and seeing exactly what we have to work with.” DAVIDE BRIVIO: HOPING FOR MORE OF THE SAME Gauloises Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio has finally recovered his breath after that heart-stopping last lap at Jerez and says he is hoping for a repeat performance from Valentino Rossi in Portugal. “The race in Jerez was great in terms of strategy and performance,” commented the Italian. “Although a lot of the focus has been on the last corner, both Valentino and Sete ran a very tactical race at a high level throughout. I think we can expect the same level of close racing from those two riders again at Estoril.” Like Jeremy Burgess, Brivio is looking forward to comparing the updated YZR-M1 to the data recorded by the 2004 machine at Estoril just over six months ago and says the whole team will be endeavouring to make sure Colin Edwards is as comfortable on the bike as Rossi. “We go to Estoril very interested to see how the bike performs because even though we won the race on Sunday, the 2005 version YZR-M1 is still very much in the development phase. Anyway, we will arrive there with the championship lead and we won the race last year, so we are confident. Our simple aim is to stay at the top. “For Colin it is very important to have another race so soon because we need the chance to work hard with him to make him comfortable on the bike. It was not a good start to the season for him but we made a short test on the day after the race and we found some good solutions for his settings which will be very useful for the next race. Our target is to get Colin to the front of the pack because we know he has the potential to be there.” BLAST FROM THE PAST: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF YAMAHA GLORY Yamaha head to Estoril this weekend looking to maintain an impressive win ratio at the Portuguese Grand Prix that currently stands at four out of seven, including the inaugural event in 1987 and the most recent, held at Estoril last September. The first ever Portuguese Grand Prix was actually hosted at the Jarama circuit in Madrid, with Yamaha riders filling all three steps of the podium. The race was won by Eddie Lawson, with a nine-second advantage over Randy Mamola and Kevin Magee, who clinched a surprise third place in just his third Grand Prix appearance. The following season the event was moved south to Jerez, where Yamaha again dominated. Once more it was Lawson who took victory, with Magee again making the podium in third place but this time behind new factory colleague Wayne Rainey. It was the first of Rainey’s 64 podium finishes for Yamaha in the 500cc class and confirmed the arrival of a man who would go on to become one of the sport’s true legends. After an absence of over a decade, Portugal returned to the calendar in 2000 and was again won by Yamaha, with Garry McCoy sliding his way to the top of the podium in the first ever race on Portuguese soil at Estoril. Valentino Rossi has won every race at the coastal circuit since then, including a masterful triumph over Makoto Tamada for Yamaha last season. TECHNICALLY SPEAKING The Autodromo Fernanda Pires de Silva is frequently blessed and cursed by the changing moods of the mighty Atlantic Ocean. At times wet and frequently windy, the 4.182km hilltop circuit is often a hostage of the elements; with accurate prediction of the race weekend weather a near impossibility. Estoril is a circuit of extreme contrasts. One of the lengthiest main straights in MotoGP allows speeds of over 340km/h to be reached and yet the chicane is one of the slowest corners on the 17-round MotoGP trail. The track itself has the slowest average speed and the throttle is seldom overworked on the extensively twisty and tortuous infield sections, riddled as they are by a host of second and third gear bends. However, the 200km/h turn five kink and final Parabolica corner are two of the toughest tests of any rider and machine’s cornering prowess. With such contrasting challenges to overcome, the team mechanics and Michelin tyre technicians have no choice but to opt for compromise settings. Suspension front and rear has to be generally set to work best towards the end of the race, to aid the tyres after such an extensive workout on the circuit’s nine right and four left hand corners. VALENTINO ROSSI: INFORMATION Age: 26 Lives: London, UK Bike: Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1 GP victories: 69 (30 X MotoGP, 13 X 500cc, 14 X 250cc, 12 X 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 141 (49 x MotoGP, 32 x 500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) GP Pole positions: 36 World Championships 6 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 3 x MotoGP) Estoril 2004 results (Yamaha): Grid: 2nd, Race: 1st COLIN EDWARDS: INFORMATION Age: 31 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1 GP victories: – First GP: Japan, 2002 (MotoGP) GP starts: 33 Pole positions: – World Championships 2 World Superbike Estoril 2004 results (Honda): Grid: 8th, Race: 9th Estoril MotoGP lap record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), 1m 38.423s – 2004; Circuit best lap: Makoto Tamada (Honda), 1m 37.933s 2004.

2005-04-11 Sete gibernau begins a physiotherapy rehabilitation treatment After the Spanish GP race, Sete flew to Barcelon. This morning he underwent a special medical visit to verify the conditions of his left shoulder, an especially weak shoulder that has already undergone two surgeries. Here below is the medical report. Following the contact made during the final lap of yesterday’s Spanish GP, the rider, Sete Gibernau, has acquired a lesion to the rotatory caps of his left shoulder and to the tendon which will require rest and a treatment of anti inflammatory and analgesic treatment. His participation in the next race as of now is still in doubt. Sete Gibernau has already begun a treatment of physiotherapy rehabilitation in order to recuperate the use of his shoulder and perfect physical form as quickly as possible.

Gauloises Yamaha Team Test Jerez de la Frontera, Spain Monday 11th April 2005 GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM BACK AT WORK FOR SHORT TEST FOLLOWING OPENING VICTORY Less than 24 hours after his stunning win in the first Grand Prix of the season, Valentino Rossi was back out on the Jerez circuit alongside his Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards, who finished a battling ninth yesterday in his first race for Yamaha in MotoGP. The two riders and their crews made use of the good weather to complete a half-day of testing and were joined on the track by Fortuna Yamaha riders Toni Elias and Ruben Xaus, as well as one rider from each of the Kawasaki and Ducati teams. The Gauloises Yamaha Team spent the afternoon trying some new tyres for Michelin, working on engine mapping and making small adjustments to the settings on Rossi and Edwards’ 2005 prototype YZR-M1s. Edwards was the fastest man on the track out of the six riders, setting a best time of 1’40.98 from 52 laps, over a half-second’s improvement on the best lap of 1’41.596 that he set in yesterday’s race. Rossi was next fastest with a best lap of 1’41.00 after 41 laps, just ahead of Ducati rider Carlos Checa, who set a fastest lap of 1’41.01. The team now moves on to Portugal for the second race of the year, which takes place in Estoril next Sunday, 17th April. COLIN EDWARDS (1’40.98, 52 laps) “After this test we basically understand what happened yesterday and where we’ve been going wrong lately. Once we had worked out the problem, the lap times came easily and I was lapping consistently in the 1’41s all afternoon. My best lap was on a race tyre. It’s frustrating because we really could have done with knowing this before the weekend! I tried two tyres for Michelin and worked a bit on mapping, but mostly we were just getting the settings and geometry back to where we wanted it. I really needed this after not such a great race yesterday and it’s left me feeling much more positive about Estoril. I hope we can put today’s work to good use there.” VALENTINO ROSSI (1’41.00, 41 laps) “I am happy because this was a positive test; although it was very short, it was worthwhile. We worked on some settings on the suspension to try to find more feeling with the bike, and we made some good progress. We also looked at the engine mapping to try to find a way to make the bike smoother during acceleration, which is of course very important. We tried some new tyres from Michelin to improve the performance of the bike and they were not so bad. We didn’t change anything big from the weekend, this was really just a test to play with some small but very important details, and we have learnt quite a lot. Now I am ready for a short rest before we start again on Friday in Portugal for round two of the Championship.” DAVIDE BRIVIO ROSSI’S CREW CHIEF “This was a good test. The target was to go through the problems that arose during the weekend and it was definitely worthwhile; we made steps forward with both riders. Now we hope to be able to use this to our benefit during the next weekend in Portugal.” UNOFFICIAL LAP TIMES: 1. COLIN EDWARDS (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 1’40.98, 52 laps 2. VALENTINO ROSSI (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 1’41.00, 41 laps 3. Carlos Checa (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1’41.01, 54 laps 4. Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team) 1’41.90, 63 laps 5. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1’42.00, 46 laps 6. Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team) 1.42.80, 73 laps

Stobart Honda 2005 British Superbike Championship Team Press Information For Immediate Release 11th April 2005 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Round 2 Thruxton, Hampshire 9th/10th April BIRD DEMANDS RESULTS AFTER THRUXTON Stobart Honda team boss Paul Bird has demanded a massive improvement all round after his team’s disappointing results at Thruxton this weekend. Despite Jeremy McWilliams overcoming a race one crash to post a top ten placing in the second race at round two of the Bennett’s British Superbike Championship, the Penrith businessman, who has masterminded four domestic titles for his team, wasn’t happy. “That’s two meetings whereby we have underachieved and it’s simply not acceptable for a team with our reputation” fumed Bird. “I need to see some positives over the next couple of meetings now otherwise there’ll be some big changes, I promise” he continued. “We should be up there battling for race wins and podiums instead of just scraping into the points like we are doing at present. To say I’m unhappy is a massive understatement and things will have to improve from now on.” Having celebrated his 41st birthday during the week, Ulsterman McWilliams was hoping to party in style by kick-starting his season after problems at Brands Hatch over Easter but gremlins during qualifying relegated him down the grid and onto row five. But any hopes of glory ended before he’d even completed a lap when the rear wheel broke away accelerating out of the Club Chicane, unceremoniously dumping McWilliams on the track. However, the former GP winner took to his spare machine for race two and ended up in ninth place at the flag after a gutsy ride around the fast and bumpy airfield circuit which he’d never raced on before. “In the first race something went wrong with the rear end but I’m not sure what meaning I had to run my number two bike in race two which wasn’t set up perfectly. To be fair we haven’t really ran that bike a lot and the biggest problem for me in the second race was trying to get grip. We’re testing at Oulton Park later this week so we’ll see what happens there” said McWilliams. Meanwhile team-mates Gary Mason and Michael Laverty also suffered with set up problems during the weekend but both recorded disappointing finishes aboard the Mob, VK and Vent Axia supported Fireblades. 25 year old Mason scored more points for the team with 12th in race one followed by 13th in race two whilst 23 year old Laverty ended up in 15th and 17th place respectively for the Paul Bird Motorsport Team. Reflecting on his woes during qualifying, Mason commented: “The bike was definitely better during the races but I ended up in a battle for the lower leaderboard placings. It’s frustrating because we are not yet in a position to get to the front like we’d hoped” said the Lichfield rider. Laverty meanwhile was upbeat despite his lowly placings: “The first race wasn’t so bad but I was so far down the grid I couldn’t get away with the faster riders. In the second race I messed my start up when I nearly ran into someone then I just got stuck with the slower riders and couldn’t get past. I had a good dice with Gary, Steve Plater and John Reynolds in the first race and learned a lot from riding with them and it’s just a shame I didn’t get the chance again in race two” said the young Ulsterman. The next round of the Championship takes place at Mallory Park, Leicestershire in two weeks time on April 23/24th but prior to that, a BSB test session is planned at Oulton Park later this week whereby the team is hoping to make the strides forward as demanded by the boss. Superbike Race One Result 1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 28m05.231s, 2, Michael Rutter (Honda) +9.672s, 3, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +12.111s, 4, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +15.791s, 5, Sean Emmett (Yamaha) +15.817s, 6, Karl Harris (Honda) +17.628s, 7, Scott Smart (Suzuki) +18.340s, 8, Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +18.615s, 9, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +25.311s, 10, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +32.655s”¦. 12, Gary Mason (Stobart Honda) +45.149s”¦ 15, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) +46.296s. Superbike Race Two Result 1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 28m45.734s, 2, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +0.444s, 3, Michael Rutter (Honda) +1.298s, 4, Sean Emmett (Yamaha) +7.055s, 5, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +8.896s, 6, Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +9.066s, 7, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +9.188s, 8, Karl Harris (Honda) +10.392s, 9, Jeremy McWilliams (Stobart Honda) +21.668s, 10, Steve Plater (Kawasaki) +21.833s “¦13, Gary Mason (Stobart Honda) +23.462s “¦ 17, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) +31.019s. Superbike Championship Standings (after Round 4) 1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 100pts 2, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 72pts 3, Michael Rutter (Honda) 69pts 4, Sean Emmett (Yamaha) 46pts 5, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 43pts 6, Karl Harris (Honda) 38pts 7, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 35pts 8, Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) 31pts 9, Scott Smart (Suzuki) 17pts 10, John Reynolds (Suzuki) 16pts 10, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 16pts 10, Jeremy McWilliams (Stobart Honda) 16pts 11, Gary Mason (Stobart Honda) 13pts 16, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) 3pts 2005 BSB Race Dates R1: 2628 March, Brands Hatch, Kent (Indy) www.motorsportvision.co.uk R2: 810 April, Thruxton, Hants www.barc.net R3: 2224 April, Mallory Park, Leics www.mallorypark.co.uk R4: 30 April2 May, Oulton Park, Cheshire www.motorsportvision.co.uk R5: 1315 May, Mondello Park, Co Kildare www.mondellopark.ie R6: 35 June, Croft, N Yorks www.croftcircuit.co.uk R7: 2426 June, Knockhill, Fife www.knockhill.co.uk R8: 810 July, Snetterton, Norfolk www.motorsportvision.co.uk R9: 19-21 August, Silverstone, Northants www.silverstone-circuit.co.uk R10: 27-29 August, Cadwell Park, Lincs www.motorsportvision.co.uk R11: 911 September, Oulton Park, Cheshire www.motorsportvision.co.uk R12: 2325 September, Donington Park, Leics www.donington-park.co.uk R13: 79 October, Brands Hatch, Kent (GP) www.motorsportvision.co.uk