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.

Hopkins is on target for Brno Team SUZUKI MotoGP racer John Hopkins is well on target to be fit for the next round of the MotoGP World Championship following an operation last week to repair his broken left foot. Hopkins crashed heavily during the Sachsenring race last month and broke a metatarsal bone. Upon returning to America the Suzuki star visited Dr Ting in San Francisco and Ting immediately operated on Hopkins’ foot and plated the broken bone. Hopkins left the hospital two hours after surgery and was able to drive home the next day. He immediately began his rehabilitation to enable him to gain full fitness to race his Suzuki GSV-R at Brno in the Czech Republic on August 28th. A strict training programme of cycling, swimming and gym work will help the Anglo-American rider to reach his goal of being on the start-line for the race. John Hopkins: “The operation went well and all I’ve got is a small splint on my foot. I am working hard on my fitness as I really want to be ready for Brno as I have a lot of fun there and know I can go well. “Dean Miller is helping with my rehab and I’m doing a lot of work, I’m not running yet but that will come soon. I was disappointed that the injury has caused me to miss the Red Bull seat swap that I was due to take part in. It was a great opportunity to be able drive the Red Bull Formula 1 car and I hope we can re-schedule it for later in the year. “I have seen my crash from Sachsenring and I’m sure I should have earned Air Miles for going that high! Probably I shouldn’t have been racing due to my injuries from Friday which was an even bigger crash but I just love racing and if I can get out there I will. That is why I am so determined to be at Brno.”

FIRST PERSON/OPINION: Via e-mail: My wife and I attended The U.S.GP this year and would love to return for 2006. However, we have just discovered that the hotel we stayed in has tripled in price with a minimum 4-night stay. Essentially, we would almost pay the same amount for Friday night next year as we did for all 4 nights this year. The website of the hotel (Residence Inn Salinas) also shows no open rooms. I was number 4 on the list that was provided during check-in this year to be contacted once the dates were announced. We have received no call. They had told us at check-in that prices would change from this year since it was a “promotional rate” for this year’s race. I had a great time at the GP and would love to go back. I just find it very hard to justify plane tickets, race tickets, food and then $1460 for a hotel. Even if we got more people to split the room, the expense is a bit much. I am a very big fan of motorcycle racing and attend numerous rounds a year. Attending race weekends is essentially the only vacations my wife and I take. As much as I loved the U.S.GP, for that amount of money I could attend one in Spain. Thank you, Nate Church Xenia, Ohio