2003 World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson is very close to finalizing a deal that would see him return with the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin team for the 2006 AMA Superbike Championship. “My priorities are stay in America and stay with Ducati,” Hodgson told Roadracingworld.com during a recent interview at his home on the Isle of Man. “I’m still working on the second one, but it’s looking pretty good.” “It’s very close,” Paolo Ciabatti, Director of Ducati Corse’s Superbike Racing program, told Roadracingworld.com during the World Superbike races at Brands Hatch. “It’s about 90 percent done. We should know for sure very soon.” Ducati has asked AMA Pro Racing for some rule concessions in the 2006 AMA Superbike technical regulations to make their V-twin-powered 999 more competitive, but AMA Pro Racing officals have said they find it hard to give rule concessions to a bike that is still winning races. Ducati has won four AMA Superbike races this year with Eric Bostrom and Hodgson, four British Superbike races with Gregorio Lavilla and Leon Haslam, and four World Superbike races with Regis Laconi and James Toseland.

American Ben Bostrom will race his Pirelli-shod Team Renegade Koji Honda CBR1000RR August 19-21 at the British Superbike Championship round at Silverstone, in England, and will continue with his current team in next year’s World Superbike Championship. “Ben is a lot more comfortable with the bike. We’re changing fewer and fewer things these days. I think the more time we can give him on the bike the more dividends that will pay for us now as we enter the end of the year,” Renegade Koji Honda team owner Mark Griffiths told Roadracingworld.com August 7 at Brands Hatch. “We have four rounds left. We’re doing a British Championship round in two weeks time as a wild card. So we have five events left. Obviously, we’re approaching those with a lot more optimism following Ben’s display this weekend.” Asked if he had given thought to his team’s 2006 plans, Griffiths said, “We have a two-year contract with Ben, so this always was going to be the development year. And, obviously, going into next season, we would expect to capitalize on what we’ve learned this time around and put that to good use in running at the front or the very front next season.” “I’m looking forward to that (British Superbike) race, because it’s a really aggressive series,” said Bostrom, who was third-fastest in a British Superbike test August 2 at Silverstone. “We’re going on the Pirellis, so we’ll be underdogs, but it’s important for us to go there.” Bostrom was 10th-fastest heading into Superpole at Brands Hatch, when his Honda suffered an electrical problem that prevented him from attempting a lap and relegated him to 16th on the grid. After a clutch-related bad start in race one, Bostrom charged from 25th on the first lap to finish 12th. A new clutch and better launch in race two netted him 10th, his second-best result of the season.

Fastrack Riders Association is announcing the transfer of their September 10th and 11th Barber Motorsports track day event to Sportbike Track Time. All Fastrack Rider members can register for this event through Sportbike Track Time and the membership fee will be waived for this event only. The price will be $195 per rider per day or $375 for two days. Lunch will be provided each day at no cost to the paid riders and on Saturday evening there will be a free two hour tour of the museum for all attendee’s compliments of Sportbike Track Time. Fastrack Riders will be taking their trailer to the event and will transport motorcycles out and back from Southern California for only $325 which includes one bike and one gear bag. Spaces are limited and reservations must be made by calling 877-560-2233. No fuel can be transported. Go to www.sportbiketracktime.com to register for the Barber event or call 888-390-4020. This event will be a sell out so do not miss out on an opportunity to ride the awesome Barber Motorsports track.

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (Aug. 10, 2005) — AMA Pro Racing announced today that officials representing the AMA Superbike Championship will visit Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, Utah, this Thursday, Aug. 11. The purpose of the visit is to explore the feasibility of holding a national event at the 4.5-mile permanent road course facility currently under construction. As part of an initial dialogue with Miller Motorsports Park, AMA Pro Racing officials reviewed proposed facility and track designs and gathered input from top competitors such as Mat Mladin and Neil Hodgson. AMA Pro Racing then provided significant feedback to the track prior to the onset of construction. “We have been in conversations with track principals since the beginning of this year and have had the opportunity to share our opinions, as well as those of some of our riders,” said AMA Superbike Series Manager Ron Barrick. “The track’s response to our comments has been positive. Depending on the outcome of this meeting and the desire of both groups to move forward, one of our next steps could be to conduct a team test later this year.” This week’s meeting, while still exploratory in nature, is expected to further the working dialogue regarding possible event scenarios. One such scenario could result in an AMA Superbike race as early as 2006. John Farris, AMA Pro Racing’s Vice President of Commercial Development looks forward to the possibility of adding a race at Miller Motorsports Park to the AMA Superbike Championship calendar. “So far our conversations are progressing nicely,” said Farris. “Under the right business terms, we would welcome the opportunity to bring an AMA road race to this part of the country.” Farris added that it has been very beneficial that AMA Pro Racing officials and riders have had the opportunity to review and comment on track designs. The 2006 AMA Superbike Championship schedule is expected to be tentatively announced before the season-ending Road Atlanta round, scheduled for Labor Day weekend, Sept. 2-4. About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the THQ AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Motocross Championship, the AMA Superbike Championship, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.

Nowland and Cudlin in good shape for 24-hour With the Endurance World Championship’s biggest event, the Suzuka 8 Hours, now over for another year, all the attention will now turn to Germany this weekend for the title’s toughest gathering the 24-hour at Oschersleben. The 24-hour, now in its seventh year, is the quintessence of “endurance”, and places an absolute premium on machine preparation, pit work, concentration and skill, with just a little bit of luck thrown into the mix. And, just to add to this year’s intrigue, the long-range weather forecast has factored in the possibility of thunderstorms! Australians Warwick Nowland and Damian Cudlin and Britain’s Andi Notman will compete at Oschersleben for the British-based Yamaha Phase One Endurance (YZF-R1). It’s an event that Nowland, a two-time world endurance champion, loves competing in, especially since it’s now the centerpiece of the German “Speedweek” festival. “Not only is Speedweek a festival, it is the most important race in the 2005 Endurance World Championship,” said Nowland. “I love coming to Oschersleben, but Phase One is here to do one thing – win the race. “It has been a difficult year with very few races for the team to develop and improve our bike, but after our test here in June and our race at Suzuka, we are in pretty good shape.” Phase One, which finished second in the 2003 24-hour, the same year it won the last of its three world titles, is third in this year’s standings on 37pts, behind Yamaha Austria Racing Team (Igor Jerman, Gwen Giabbani, Horst Saiger, 46) and Suzuki Castrol (Keiichi Kitagawa, Vincent Philippe, Matthieu Lagrive, 74). Phase One jumped two championships spots at Suzuka, but now realises that the spectre of double points at Oschersleben must see them post a top-two position to keep its championship hopes alive. “Our main goal this weekend is to gain maximum points and close the gap to Castrol Suzuki,” said Nowland. “Yamaha Austria is also a big threat and will be hard to beat after being supported this season with technical and human resources from last year’s world championship-winning team, GMT94 Yamaha. “My goal is to improve our bike’s traction. This is our biggest problem. We have been equal to, or better than, the other bikes in all areas except for drive of the corners. This also affects our tyre wear and makes life difficult after 10 or 12 laps. I spoke with Yamaha last weekend at the world Superbike round at Brands Hatch, and this is an area under revision for the 2006 model.” Since 2001, teams that have finished first or second at Oschersleben have gone on to win the world championship. Nowland was second in 2002, the year he won his second title on a Chinese-entered Suzuki. Last year’s 24-hour was won by the now-defunct GMT94 squad, ahead of two other Yamaha collaborations. In fact, the last non-Yamaha team to win was Suzuki in 2001, with Kawasaki victorious in the preceding two years. This year’s race will see 11 separate manufacturers in action, including entries from KTM (Super Duke), BMW (K1200 S and K1200 R), MZ (1000S), Triumph (Daytona 955) and Aprilia (RSV1000 and RSVR Tuono). The race starts at 3.00pm on Saturday.