Home fans to give Rizla Suzuki a boost THRUXTON is Rizla Suzuki’s home circuit and the team will be cheered on by legions of local fans when it rolls up for the second round of the British Superbike Championship this weekend. British Superbike Champion John Reynolds was hailed as a hero after scoring two ninth place finishes at Brands Hatch one week ago with his right leg broken in five places. Since then the 39-year-old Nottingham ace has been spending time with his doctor and resting as much as possible to prepare himself for racing again. Rizla Suzuki racer Scott Smart is looking forward to Thruxton with relish. The 28-year-old York-based rider is sure the sheer horsepower of the GSX-R1000K5 will make it a difficult bike to beat at Thruxton, the fastest closed circuit on the BSB calendar with an average lap speed of 112mph. Thruxton in Hampshire is just 45-minutes drive from Rizla Suzuki’s HQ in Verwood, Dorset. The circuit hosts the second round of 13 in the 2005 British Superbike Championship and thanks to a tradition of producing exceptionally close racing, it is one of the most popular events of the year. Superbike racing starts at 13:45 on Sunday, April 10th. It will be televised live on Sky Sports with a highlights programme on Channel 4 the following Sunday morning. John Reynolds: “I feel stronger with every passing day and hope the fast open nature of Thruxton will allow me to be more competitive than the tight turns at Brands Hatch. On a tight track you are leaning the bike as much as possible to maintain corner speed and my special Alpinestars boot and cast were limiting how far I could lean – meaning I wasn’t cornering as fast as I would normally. “At a higher speed circuit like Thruxton you are more upright and driving through the corners. The more upright the better for me as my boot and cast are thick and are limiting ground clearance. “I have been with my doctor and he says my leg continues to heal, which is good news. Thanks to all the fans for their words of support since the opening round – that makes a big difference to me. ” Scott Smart: “Thruxton is a track that will suit the Rizla Suzuki with its very powerful engine. I have the best bike and team in the paddock and this weekend I mean to back that statement up by getting good results. “At Brands Hatch I proved that the GSX-R1000 was capable of fast lap times. Now the opening round nerves are gone and we can concentrate on putting in fast laps every lap and fighting at the front where we belong. Thruxton is the home circuit for the Rizla Suzuki team and I am sure the extra fans in the crowd will give JR and me a real boost.”

By Mike Solis AFM Round 1 at Buttonwillow Raceway Park Former number one plate holder Jeff Tigert put his Marin Cycleworks CBR1000RR on the top step of the podium in the Mach I Motorsports Formula Pacific race in the opening round of the 2005 AFM season at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, his first win in the AFM premiere class since 2003. David Stanton finished second on his Arclight Suzuki GSX-R1000, with Rob Mesa third after Chris Siglin was disqualified for weaving on the front straight to break the draft on the final run to the checkered flag. Ken Hill moved up to fourth following Siglin’s disqualification, riding a borrowed RC-51 after his own CBR1000RR suffered mechanical problems in practice. Pacific Tracktime’s Michael Earnest coasted across the line to take fifth, with the motor of his GSX-R1000 smoked heavily towards the end of the race. Despite a dismal fifth row grid position, Jordan Suzuki rider Steve Rapp stormed to the front of the Dial It In Track Time 750 Superbike race on his GSX-R750, charging past a number of talented riders including Robert Campbell, Open Twins front-runner Eric Gulbransen, Formula One champion Jon Bawden, and defending Formula Pacific champion David Stanton, who introduced Rapp to road racing in the early 90s. Stanton finished second, with Bawden third. AFM Round 1 April 3, 2005 Buttonwillow Raceway Park Unofficial Results 500 Twins 1. Kurt Spencer (Suz 400) 2. Bobby Lee Broussard (Suz 500) 3. Jon Forman (Suz 500) 4. Josuf Zobairi (AND 500) 5. Jay Jacobson (Suz 500) 6. Patrick Aldinger (Kaw 500) Mazda Technologies Formula II 1. John Davis (Yam 250) 2. Wil Morton (Hon 250) 3. Phil Torres (Yam 250) 4. Phil Snowden (Hon 250) 5. Richard Snowden (Hon 250) 6. Mark Goodrich (Hon 125) 650 Twins 1. Michael Earnest (Suz 650) 2. Kurt Spencer (Suz 650) 3. Brian Long (Suz 650) 4. David Civiello (Suz 650) 5. Jason butler (Suz 650) 6. Felipe Cabezas (Suz 650) Open Grand Prix 1. Rob Mesa (Suz 1000) 2. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 3. Kim Nakashima (Yam 1000) 4. Mike Thompson (Yam 1000) 5. Lyle Brown (Suz 1000) 6. Scott Wilson (Suz 1000) Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production 1. Andy Carman (Yam 600) 2. Grant Riggs (Yam 600) 3. Berto Wooldridge (Suz 600) 4. David Glenn (Yam 600) 5. Matt Weathers (Hon 600) 6. Bobby Fong (Yam 600) Dial It In Track Time 750 Superbike 1. Steve Rapp (Suz 750) 2. David Stanton (Suz 750) 3. Jon Bawden (Suz 750) 4. Eric Gulbransen (Duc 999) 5. Robert Campbell (Suz 750) 6. Jeremiah Grant (Suz 750) Zoom Zoom Track Days Formula IV 1. Jeff Tigert (Suz SV650) 2. David Civiello (Suz SV650) 3. Kurt Spencer (Suz SV650) 4. Tim Wheeler (Kaw 400) 5. Jason Butler (Suz SV650) 6. Brian Long (Suz SV650) 450 Production 1. Ross Wells (Yam 400) 2. Douglas Goldman (Yam 400) 3. Edward Yoast (Yam 400) 4. Dave Norgard (Yam 400) 5. Peter Licht (Yam 400) 6. Karolyn Bachelor (Yam 400) Open Production 1. Mike Mullin (Suz 1000) 2. James King (Suz 1000) 3. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 4. Corey Sarros (Suz 1000) 5. Kim Nakashima (Yam 1000) 6. Joey Hrenko (Yam 1000) Desmoto Sport Open Twins 1. Ken Hill (Hon 1000) 2. Eric Gulbransen (Duc 749) 3. Brian long (Suz 1000) 4. Kurt Spencer (Suz 1000) 5. Jack Pfeifer (Apr 1000) 5. Simon Williams (Duc 998) Kilowatt 250 Superbike 1. Jove Shapiro (Yam 250) 2. Cliff Farrar (Yam 250) 3. Tommy Okuhira (Yam 250) 4. Shawn Herrera (Yam 250) 5. Dylan Benjamin (Hon 250) 6. Clif Jordan (Apr 250) 450 Superbike 1. Tim Wheeler (Kaw 400) 2. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 3. Ross Wells (Yam 400) 4. Erick Crabtree (Hon 400) 5. Paul Yoshimune (Hon 400) 6. Kenyon Kluge (Hon 400) Mach I Motorsports Formula Pacific 1. Jeff Tigert (Hon 1000) 2. David Stanton (Suz 1000) 3. Rob Mesa (Suz 1000) 4. Ken Hill (Hon 1000) 5. Michael Earnest (Suz 1000) 6. Eric Gulbransen (Duc 999) Aftershocks 250 Production 1. Jay Kinberger (Kaw 250) 2. David Crone (Hon 250) 3. Rick Cramer (Kaw 250) 4. Bob Simmons (Kaw 250) 5. John Anner (Kaw 250) 6. Richard Lesher (Kaw 250) Formula Singles 1. Ben Welch (Yam 426) 2. Chris Keane (Hon 450) 3. Charles Statman (Hon 650) 4. Greg Creech (KTM 598) Super Dinosaur 1. Ross Wells (Yam 400) 2. David Worthington (Suz 750) 3. Mac Rob Castro (Yam 400) 4. Peter Blum (Yam 400) 5. Paul Kieffer (Hon 600) 6. Ed Haazer (Kaw 1000) Scuderia West Formula I 1. Jon Bawden (Suz 750) 2. Garry combs (Suz 750) 3. Tim Kamholz (Hon 600) 4. Jack Pfeifer (Apr 1000) 5. Robert Campbell (Suz 750) 6. Jeremiah Grant (Suz 750) Hare Racing Open Superbike 1. Rob Mesa (Suz 1000) 2. Harley Barnes (Suz 1000) 3. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 4. David Kunzelman (Suz 1000) 5. Jack Pfeifer (Suz 1000) 6. Joey Hrenko (Yam 1000) Strictly Sport 750 Production 1. Robert Campbell (Suz 750) 2. Craig Weirman (Suz 750) 3. Bob Klatt (Suz 750) 4. Don Rudolfs (Suz 750) 5. Liko Miles (Suz 750) 6. Matthew Guilbert (Suz 750) Pacific Track Time600 Superbike 1. Chris Siglin (Suz 600) 2. Tim Kamholz (Hon 600) 3. Andy Carman (Yam 600) 4. Jeremiah Johnson (Suz 600) 5. Lenny Hale (Yam 600) 6. Berto Wooldridge (Suz 600) Formula 40 1. Mike Thompson (Yam 1000) 2. Greg Davis (Yam 1000) 3. Bud Anderson (Hon 1000) 4. Pete Demas (Suz 600) 5. Mike Owieki (Yam 1000) 6. David Paslay (Yam 600) Formula III 1. Carlos Neves (Hon 125) 2. Michael Jarrard (Hon 125) 3. Tyler Reiswig (Hon 125) 4. Dave Heinricks (Hon 125) 5. Jay Pilster (Hon 125) 6. Mark Goodrich (Hon 125)

2005-04-04 SPANISH GRAND PRIX PREVIEW The wait is finally over. Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri ready for the 2005 challenge After an intense pre-season which has seen the riders of the Team Movistar Honda busy in places like Malaysia, Australia, Qatar and Spain, the 2005 Championship finally is about to begin! For the first time the Championship kicks off in Europe, in a location that we can readily define the Heart of Motorcycle passion, Spain. Jerez de la Frontera is one of the most awaited appointments of the season thanks to the over 130,000 passionate spectators who every year fill the stands and hills of this beautiful Andalusian track. “There are no words to describe the atmosphere in Jerez. The spectators’ warmth is unique. This has always been the first European GP, this year it is the first GP of the Championship so I think the affluence of people will be overwhelming” comments Sete Gibernau. The 2005 challenge begins on the Spanish circuit of Jerez de la Frontera, a circuit much loved by the Spanish rider of the Team Movist! ar Honda MotoGP. Here he triumphed last season, winning the race during a torrential rain storm. The victory of Sete during the 2004 Spanish GP was the first of four victories and ten podiums (ten out of sixteen races!) which allowed Sete to become Vice World Champion for the second year in a row. SETE GIBERNAU will take on the 2005 championship with a renewed determination and all his strength. Thanks to the support of HRC, Michelin and the Team, Sete worked all winter developing the bike, putting together the best package for his riding style. Test after test the Spanish rider has found the correct direction in development regarding both single lap times and racing distances. His incredible results during winter testing are a confirmation of his work, he got great results both on race simulation and fast lap, his first place at the Barcelona Irta test, is a consequence of the work done. “This year the Spanish GP will be an ex! traordinary event. Jerez has always been an incredible place, especially because of the spectators. This year it will be even more incredible as it is the first race of a challenging and amazing Championship season. My best memory of this track is definitely the victory during the 2004 GP. It was the first of a challenging season where I fought for the title until the penultimate race. Aside from my liking to this track, I am coming to Jerez concentrated on myself and on the team. We are strong after all the work we have done this winter. To strengthen the relationship with the Team, HRC and Michelin was one of my pre-season objectives, and I must admit, I reached my goal. During the winter testing we all worked together, focusing in one direction and I am very pleased with the results we have made. There is more work to be done but the single lap times and race pace has been very satisfying and has confirmed that we have a very strong base to work with. Compared to l! ast year, I feel much stronger, both physically and mentally. I have grown a lot, and the team has grown with me. I feel ready and, after a lot of hard work during winter testing, I can’t wait to start racing.” The Team Movistar Honda lines up for the 2005 challenge the experienced Sete Guibernau and the young hope Marco Melandri. With a 250cc World Championship title and 2 years experience in MotoGP, the 22- year-old MARCO MELANDRI arrives to the Honda family with the Gresini Team to be, together with Sete Gibernau, the bearer of the colours of the Team Movistar in the MotoGP class. Marco will take on the first race feeling strong and reassured after his brilliant winter apprenticeship. The “step by step” approach during the winter tests gave fantastic results and Marco learned and worked serenely. After the November 2004 debut with the RC211V, Marco’s confidence with the bike soared test after test. With more trust in! both himself and the bike his lap times started to better. An incredible race simulation in Qatar, a great fourth place in the Barcelona qualifying tests, and a good result this last weekend in Jerez have represented for him a great step forward. “The work brought forward in Jerez has been very important as I have been able to better my race pace. Every day I did about 90 laps and on the third day I dedicated myself to a race simulation. During this testing occasion in Jerez, I have been able to try the bike in wet conditions. It is the first time in fact that I have tried the RC211V in wet conditions and I have had very positive feedback. On Sunday I even had the chance to make my single lap time better as Michelin allowed me to use qualifying tyres. Therefore I was able to practise and I must admit that I am very pleased with my timed lap, the second best time overall on Sunday 27th March. Now I feel as though I am a more complete rider and I am rea! dy for the 2005 challenge,” comments Marco Melandri. Marco begins his first season on the RC211V with a new spirit: “I have finally found once again the desire to ride. I am having fun on the bike and I have found a team that believes in me and supports the work I do. In the Gresini team I have found the ideal work environment and with the RC211V an extraordinary bike which adapts well to my riding style. I really like the bike, and each time I ride it I try to get to know it better, to listen to it. I can’t wait to get onto the track in Jerez. It is a circuit I really like because it is technical and it is complete. The circuit requires a fluid ride. The time is made on the quick corners, especially the last two right ones. The best places to overtake are at the end of the two straights. Jerez is nice not only for the track but also for its spectators. The sensation that you feel when you enter the stadium is incredible. From a spectator point of view! , I think it is the most fascinating GP of the entire Championship”. JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA THE TRACK circuit: Jerez de la Frontera Opened: 1986 Modified : 2002 Length: 4,423 m Width: 11 m Pole position: left Right turns: 5 Left Turns: 8 Longest straight: 600 m RECORD: best lap: 2003 Rossi (Honda) 1’41″900 Track Record: 2003 Rossi (Honda) 1’42″788 pole position: 2004 Rossi (Yamaha) 1’40″ 818 2004 GP: 1° Gibernau (Honda) 2° Biaggi (Honda) 3° Barros (Honda) More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Racing: Team SUZUKI MotoGP looking forward to season opener Team SUZUKI MotoGP begins its quest for Grand Prix glory at the first round of the MotoGP World Championship in Jerez, Spain, on April 10th. Kenny Roberts Jr and John Hopkins are both confident of improved results following successful tests this year, where they have been able to get closer to the top of the timesheets. Less than two-weeks ago the Suzuki racers posted competitive lap times at the Jerez circuit, and they are hoping to turn this potential into solid results. The latest version of the GSV-R Grand Prix prototype has undergone many changes since the end of the 2004 campaign. It has benefited from a rise in power to increase acceleration and the Suzuki Factory has also focussed on improved controllability. These improvements have helped the superb handling GSV-R to become a better all-round package for Roberts Jr and Hopkins to compete with. The Jerez race is the first in a 17 round season that will see the Suzuki team compete in Europe, return to the USA for the first time in 10 years and visit new circuits in China and Turkey. Jerez will also mark the first race for new team manager Paul Denning, who joined Team SUZUKI MotoGP in January following a successful season in British Superbikes where his Rizla Suzuki outfit won both the manufacturer and rider Championships. The Spanish Grand Prix from Jerez begins at 14.00CET and will be televised globally to an audience in excess of 320 million fans. Kenny Roberts Jr: “Suzuki, Bridgestone and the team have made some big steps this winter and the package is at a much better position than before. There are certain issues that we need to still work on, and we don’t know yet where we are at over race distance, but I’m looking forward to racing the bike and finding out.” John Hopkins: “I’m really excited about this weekend. We’ve done so much testing I can’t wait to get racing again. I’m feeling confident for the coming season and I need to start winning again – it’s been so long since I last won a race I need to start doing it again and remind myself how good it feels.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “All the team are enthusiastically anticipating the first GP of 2005. Pre-season testing has gone well and clearly Team SUZUKI MotoGP is going in the right direction. There is no doubt that we still have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but everybody will be working to their full potential to secure the best possible finishes for Suzuki at Jerez.” More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: Camel Honda starts off MotoGP 2005 at a favourite track The MotoGP World Championship 2005 gets under way this coming Sunday, April 10th, with the first race taking place at the Spanish Jerez track, a circuit which has seen Camel Honda colours on the podium both in 2003 and 2004. The Andalusian track also holds good memories for both of the team’s riders, Alex Barros and Troy Bayliss. Alex Barros took his first podium of 2004 at the circuit, whilst Troy Bayliss made his first ever podium appearance in MotoGP there in 2003. With tests coming to a close ten days ago, the positive work done by the team throughout the winter became apparent, and the riders cannot wait for the new season to begins. Sito Pons Camel Honda “This is an important moment for us, because we are beginning a new season, and we have high expectations. We are beginning a new project, with two new riders; one of whom, Barros, already rode with us in the past and is a returning friend, whilst the other, Bayliss, is the kind of guy we have already begun to appreciate. They are both experienced, quick and are full of determination. Another reason to be happy is that the 2005 season kicks off in Spain, and at Jerez, a charismatic place which will undoubtedly play host to another fantastic event once more. We did some great work over winter and I am sure that our two riders will be taking the team to the front of the pack from the very start.” Alex Barros #4: “We have worked hard during winter, and in Jerez even more so. The last test day I did over a hundred laps, testing everything required both on the bike and the tyres. At the beginning the RCV was a little nervous and I wasn’t able to ride it cleanly, but by the end we have found a good set-up. I think we are quite ready for the race, which will certainly be hard-fought. From what I have seen during the winter tests, there was hardly anything to choose between so many riders on several occasions, so I think this season will be very, very tough and extremely competitive. I feel good, comfortable with my bike, and more in shape than I have been for so long. I’m ready to begin.” Troy Bayliss #12: “Finally the tests came to an end, and the championship is now beginning. During winter not everything was rosy for me, but despite a few difficulties, we have made a lot of progress. In Jerez I wasn’t as quick as in the December tests, and frankly, I still don’t know why, but the effort both myself and the team put in has been enormous. This Sunday we will see if we are able to capitalise on the hard work we have done up to now. I simply can’t wait for the race to come around.”

CONFIDENCE HIGH AS KAWASAKI HEAD FOR SEASON OPENER The 2005 MotoGP World Championship season opens with the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on Sunday 10 April, with Kawasaki factory riders, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, eager to begin the 17-race campaign. After seemingly endless days of winter testing with the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR it is finally time to go racing. This will be the longest ever MotoGP season, during which the sport will continue its global expansion with new races in China and Turkey. In a welcome return America, the single largest motorcycle market in the world, rejoins the calendar with the USGP to be held at Laguna Seca for the first time since 1994. Jerez will mark the race debut of the latest evolution of the Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machine, now powered by a big-bang version of Kawasaki’s 990cc, inline four-cylinder engine. The revised motor only made its public debut in February, but has already shown promising performance potential despite still being in the early stages of development. However, combining the race programme with the experimental demands of testing and research will be a challenging, and at times thankless, task during a busy Grand Prix campaign. Riders Nakano and Hofmann will be familiar faces aboard the Ninja ZX-RR machines, but there are some new men behind the scenes, which reflects Kawasaki’s on-going commitment to achieving MotoGP success. Acclaimed Japanese engineer, Ichiro Yoda, has been appointed Technical Director, while experienced Italian race engineer, Fiorenzo Fanali, is the new crew chief for Nakano. The Kawasaki team completed pre-season preparations at the official IRTA test session at Jerez just last week. Impressive performances by Nakano and Hofmann on their Bridgestone shod Ninja ZX-RR machines have put the team and the riders in a buoyant mood going into the opening race. Both chassis balance and tyre consistency are important factors at the 13-turn Jerez circuit, which is known for a track surface that offers high levels of grip but is also highly abrasive. As usual, the hillsides and grandstands surrounding the stadium style Jerez circuit will be packed with upwards of 140,000 race fans, guaranteeing a unique atmosphere for the opening Grand Prix of 2005. Shinya Nakano: #56 “I like the Jerez track and the sheer number of fans packing the stands and the hillsides make this race a great one with which to start the new season. We have a lot of data from our tests here, both with the big bang engine and the latest chassis. It is important that you have a good chassis balance at this track, because there are so many direction changes, and that you don’t attack the track too aggressively. Push hard at Jerez and you usually end up with a slower lap time than you were expecting. I like the final section of the track in particular, from the fast left corners leading into the flowing right-handers, and it is this section that is critical to a fast time around this circuit. After all the testing, I can’t wait to go racing now.” Alex Hofmann: #66 “At long last I get to go racing. It’s been a long wait through all the testing, but the first race is finally here. Jerez is a good track for me and it should definitely suit the characteristics of the Ninja ZX-RR, especially because outright top speed isn’t so important to a fast lap here. I’ve had limited time with the new big bang engine, but my initial impressions have been positive; it’s definitely a step forward. Throttle connection and overall balance through the fast corners are the key factors to a fast lap at Jerez. I want to make a strong start to my championship campaign, so it’s maximum attack from the word go at Jerez for me.”

DUCATI MARLBORO MEN RARING TO GO RACING Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa are raring to go racing next weekend after a long winter of testing and development work. The pair has covered thousands of kilometres at tracks in Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia and Australia, working to make sure their Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP5s performs at their best throughout the 2005 MotoGP World Championship, from Sunday’s season-opening Marlboro Spanish GP, all the way through to the 17th and final race in November. Capirossi and Checa have enjoyed some success during winter testing. Capirossi topped the time charts twice – at Valencia last November and at Sepang in January – proving that he is full of fight. Checa meanwhile set the pace at Jerez last November but had to miss last month’s final Jerez tests after sustaining a shoulder injury at Catalunya. Both men are confident in the performance of the 2005 Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP5, the latest version of the immensely powerful V4 which roared onto the World Championship scene in 2003, taking its first pole position at Jerez and its first victory at Catalunya. The 2004 bike took longer to get up to speed but was a real force by the end of last season, scoring podium finishes at the final two races and taking a new lap record at the Australian GP. During the winter Ducati Marlboro Team engineers have worked closely with their technical partners, including Bridgestone and Shell Advance, to build on that progress and create a totally balanced machine for 2005. The big red Duke is already one of the most awesome machines in MotoGP, producing more than 230 horsepower and capable of exceeding 330kmh. “Our off-season testing has gone very well, we’re in much better shape than we were at the start of last season,” says Ducati Marlboro Team MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo. “The factory and the team have worked hard this winter and I think we’ve done a good job. The bike has improved in many areas, but while the most difficult thing to achieve at this level of performance is overall balance, I think this year’s machine is a very balanced package. “Both our riders have done many thousands of kilometres of testing, now they finally get to do what they love doing – racing! Loris has shown his speed throughout the winter, he is definitely ready to race. Carlos has also been very fast during testing. It was a real shame he missed our most recent Jerez session but he went very well when we tested there last November, so I don’t think missing the tests should be a problem for him”. Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli has been working with Capirossi and Checa throughout the winter and knows exactly what is required for this vital season-opening GP. “There are some fast corners at Jerez and riders need a lot of confidence to attack these turns,” he says. “Plus they need good power delivery because you use a lot of gas through these corners. Riders also need big confidence in the front end so they can attack the turns. The track is a good mix – it’s got no long straights but plenty of fast turns and some hairpins, so you need a well balanced bike.” CAPIROSSI UP FOR FIRST JEREZ MotoGP PODIUM Hard to believe, but Loris Capirossi commences his 16th World Championship season at Jerez this weekend, which means the 32-year old has spent exactly half his life on the GP circuit! And, maybe even harder to believe, the evergreen Italian will be going for his first premier-class podium at the track. Although Capirossi has been racing at Jerez since 1990 he has only scored three podiums at the track (in 125s and 250s, including a 250 win in 1998). “I like the track a lot, but there have been times when I’ve not had so much luck at Jerez,” says Capirossi, the second most experienced rider on the MotoGP grid, after Alex Barros. “Jerez is a very interesting track for the rider – there are a lot of fast corners and the circuit is very up and down, so you have to deal with changing camber. But the best thing about Jerez is the fans – they are really into the racing and they make a lot of noise! Most of all I’m just really happy to be racing again this weekend. We have worked hard all through the winter, working towards the racing season. The bike is much better than the first part of last year, much more balanced, and I’m impressed with the work Bridgestone is doing. The qualifying tyres I tested at Jerez a few days ago were excellent, the rear race tyres were also good and even the fronts worked well.” CHECA SHOULD BE 100 PER CENT FIT Carlos Checa had enjoyed some impressive winter tests until he took part in last month’s session at Catalunya. The Ducati Marlboro Team’s newest signing had been fastest at Jerez last November and in the top three at Valencia and Phillip Island, but he fell at Catalunya, suffering a dislocated left shoulder and a badly bruised left calf. The shoulder injury forced him to miss final testing at Jerez but the Spaniard believes he should be fully fit for the season-opening GP. “The crash was a big impact but I’ve been able to recover quite quickly,” says ‘El Toro’, who has been undergoing intensive physiotherapy in a Barcelona clinic. “I could even have taken part in the Jerez tests but the doctors and physios recommended that I should not, because it would probably aggravate the shoulder injury. Now the shoulder has had plenty of rest, so I should be 100 per cent fit for the first race.” Despite this setback Checa is full of confidence after some promising performances at other tracks. “The bike worked well at Jerez, Valencia, Phillip Island and Sepang,” he adds. “The only places where I wasn’t really happy were Losail and Catalunya. Overall the bike is at a good level but we need a bit more from it to fight for the win. We need to work on chassis performance, especially in slow corners, and Ducati has some ideas to give us what we need. The first race is in Spain so this is a very big weekend for me – my first race for Ducati and in front of my home crowd. I think we should be close to being right on the pace, I can’t wait.” THE TRACK Jerez is one of the most popular events on the MotoGP calendar, regularly attracting weekend crowds in excess of 200,000. Constructed in 1986, the track hosted its first Grand Prix the following year and has remained on the World Championship calendar ever since. But this is the first time that Jerez has hosted a season-opening GP. Most riders love the Andalucian venue because it’s a track that can reward real rider talent over pure machine performance. Many of the circuit’s 13 corners flow into one another, placing the emphasis on smooth, neat riding and stable, all-round machine performance. The circuit character places particular emphasis on front-tyre grip, though the many slow-speed turns also require MotoGP riders to control wheelspin as they power out of the corners. Three years ago the track underwent resurfacing and total reconstruction of its infrastructure. JEREZ: 4.423km/2.748 miles Lap record: Valentino Rossi (Honda) 1:42.788, 154.909kmh/96.256mph (2003) Pole position 2004: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), 1:40.818 DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM RIDER DATA LOGS LORIS CAPIROSSI Age: 32 (born April 4, 1973) Lives: Monaco Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP5 GP victories: 23 (1xMotoGP, 2×500, 12×250, 8×125) First GP victory: Britain, 1990 (125) First GP: Japan, 1990 (125) GP starts: 216 (46xMotoGP, 59×500, 84×250, 27×125) Pole positions: 36 (3xMotoGP, 5×500, 23×250, 5×125) First pole: Australia, 1991 (125) World Championships: 3 (125: 1990, 1991, 250: 1998) Jerez 2004 results: Grid: 15th. Race: 12th CARLOS CHECA Age: 32 (born October 15, 1972) Lives: London, England Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP5 GP victories: 2 (500) First GP victory: Catalunya, 1996 (500) First GP: Europe, 1993 (125) GP starts: 168 (47xMotoGP, 92×500, 27×250, 1×125) Pole positions: 3 (2xMotoGP, 1×500) First pole: Spain, 1998 (500) Jerez 2004 results: Grid: 3rd. Race: 6th

Rojo Racing’s Jason Perez was injured April 1, at Buttonwillow Raceway Park practicing for the upcoming AFM event on April 3, 2005. At the time of the accident, he was riding his Yamaha R6. Jason said “I was riding hard on Friday trying to get the R6 setup, the sessions were very crowded, it seemed like you were passing someone in every other corner. Towards the end of the day, we were getting close to a good setup, but made an error in predicting a slower riders’ line and collided with him causing both of us to crash. I’m very sorry for my actions and I’m glad the other rider was not injured.” After further evaluation, doctors have determined that his elbow is broken, and that it will require surgery. Perez will most likely miss the 2nd round of the AMA Superstock Series to be held at Barber Motorsports Park and will be questionable for the 3rd round of the series at California Speedway. He will also miss the 4th round of WSMC at Willow Springs, which he currently leads the overall points standings.

1. Corser, Suzuki GSX-R1000 2. Kagayama, Suzuki GSX-R1000 3. Neukirchner, Honda CBR1000RR 4. Vermuelen, Honda CBR1000RR 5. Nieto, Ducati 999R 6. Corradi, Ducati 999R 7. Laconi, Ducati 999F05 8. Abe, Yamaha YZF-R1 9. Bussei, Kawasaki ZX-10R 10. Sanchini, Kaw ZX-10R 11. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR1000RR 12. Andrew Stroud, Suzuki GSX-R1000 13. Lanzi, Ducati 999R 14. Paria, Yamaha YZF-R1 15. Alfonsi, Yamaha YZF-R1 More, from a press release issued by FGSport: 2005 CORONA EXTRA SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PHILLIP ISLAND (AUSTRALIA) 1/2/3 APRIL 2005 RACE REPORT CORSER DOUBLES UP FOR SUZUKI AT WINDY AND WET PHILLIP ISLAND Weather Can’t Keep Corser Down: The wet start to raceday at Phillip Island cleared shortly after morning warm up but the strong north winds gathered pace as the first Superbike race of the day got underway, at 12 noon local time. Race one was taken, in convincing fashion, by local hero Troy Corser (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki). The 25 knot winds, gusting to 40 knots on occasion, did not help any of the riders in their quests, especially during fast changes of direction into the prevailing gales. As the winds abated slightly, the rains duly returned to halt race two after 12 laps, and leave a ten lap ‘wet’ race to be completed. The result was declared as an aggregate of leg one and two, delivering a magnificent double to Troy Corser who now leads the World Championship from twice second place finisher, Yukio Kagayama. Race 1: Troy Corser took the lead into the first corner and kept it for all 22 laps of the race, winning by a margin of 8.279 seconds, from his own team-mate, Yukio Kagayama. The fight for third place, which was to be determined some 12.551 seconds down on Corser at the flag, was a seven rider battle at one stage, as early runner Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) eventually faded from his impressive start to finish fifth, behind an awesome fight between Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) and Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda). Touching fairings at one stage, the pair battled it out right to the very end, with Vermeulen scoring the podium, but Neukirchner covering himself in glory. The 21-year-old German’s success was consolation for his Klaffi Honda team, as their lead rider Pierfrancesco Chili suffered a broken collarbone on Saturday. Race 2: In the second race, a harsh fall of rain stopped the race, and as the contest had not yet reached the two thirds stage, a second leg was called. This second ten lap race was run under ‘wet’ rules, with the aggregate leaders from the first race being Troy Corser, Regis Laconi (Ducati Xerox) and Max Neukirchner. Corser, leading for a period, was re-passed by Kagayama, but won the aggregate race by 5.822 seconds, from his Japanese team-mate. Third, on the track and on aggregate, was German sensation, Max Neukirchner, his first podium score in only his fourth-ever World Superbike race. Off Podium Fights: Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) ended the day in fourth place in the championship fight, after a fourth in race two and fifth in race one. Starting from row three these were impressive results, and unlike many other riders, he was to finish both races. His team-mate Karl Muggeridge, finished eighth in race one, but fell in race two – after a collision with fellow crasher world champion James Toseland (Xerox Ducati). Laconi Battles Hard: After a lowly seventh in race one, Regis Laconi (Ducati Xerox) looked on course for a second place finish in the re-run. When the rains came, he had to make an acrobatic save of a potential high side approaching Lukey Heights, fell from his Ducati, and then bravely restarted, to finish his day with a pair of seventh places. His team-mate Toseland had an even tougher day, finishing race one only 14th, after a bad start and some grip issues throughout. After his second race tangle with Muggeridge at the hairpin, he slipped to eighth in the championship, on 22 points. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati SC 999RS) was disqualified from the race when his machine was found to be underweight, promoting all riders behind him up one place, and earning Toseland his two points. Yamaha Riders Tough It Out: A challenging day for the Yamaha Motor Italia squad saw Andrew Pitt’s fifth place in race one become the highlight of the weekend, as he crashed out in race two on two occasions. Noriyuki Haga also had woes as the Japanese rider suffered a retirement in race one and a crash at exactly the same corner in the wet part of race two as Pitt. The Yamaha Motor France pairing of Norick Abe and Sebastien Gimbert had different fortunes in race trim, as Abe scored a sixth in the dry and an eighth in the interrupted race two. Gimbert had clutch troubles which left him 11th in race one, and an electrical problem in race two robbed him of any more points. Jose Luis Cardoso (Yamaha DFX Extreme Sterilgarda) burned his clutch in race one, pulling in on lap one and he once more failed to finish race two. Kawasaki Nearly There In the Wet: Chris Walker (PSG-1 Ducati) had the pleasure of leading the second wet leg of race two, but like three other riders, crashed around turn eight, and was unable to continue. He thus had a high point of ninth in race one. In race two, Giovanni Bussei (Bertocchi Kawasaki) was the highest placed Kawasaki rider, confirming himself in ninth place on aggregate. Bostrom Scores: Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji) had to retire from race one, but after being outgunned in the dry section of race two, he had greater pace in the second wet leg, finishing 11th, and adding his name to the points table. Petronas Riders Out of Luck: Garry McCoy and Steve Martin failed to take a race finish between them, as neither Petronas FP-1 made it through race one, and then Martin crashed out on race two, in a bizarre double fall. He jumped off right in front of the following Andrew Pitt, without either rider’s machines touching each other, and with neither rider to blame for the other’s accident. Nieto Nets A Goal: Fonsi Nieto (SC Ducati 999RS) took a convincing fifth place in race two, thanks in part to his wet weather prowess. The big-name Spaniard has great experience of Phillip Island, but not on his current Ducati four-stroke. This was his first top five in World Superbike. Supersport: High winds delayed the start of the 21-lap Supersport race, as trackside advertising hoardings, two TV towers and pit lane awnings blew over. With grey clouds rushing past overhead, the 19-strong Supersport grid formed up for battle, in a contest eventually taken by Winston Ten Kate Honda rider Sebastien Charpentier. His win propelled him to the top of the championship table with 45 points. Young Italian charger Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike) took an early lead, but was rebuffed by the charging Yamaha Motor Germany R6 of experienced rider Kevin Curtain. Fabrizio failed to finish the race, with only three laps to go, but Curtain finished second, to take third in the championship with 33 points. Qatar race winner Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda) lost his personal battle with third place man Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda), taking fourth place in the race and now sitting second overall, on 39 points. A strong ride on a circuit he knows well gave Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Ducati Selmat) a fine fifth place. The next rounds of both World Superbike and Supersport take place back in Europe, at Valencia in Spain, from 22-24 April. More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: 2005 World Superbike championship, round two Phillip Island, Australia Race two Sunday, 3 April 2005 MORE POINTS FOR VERMEULEN BUT DISAPPOINTMENT FOR MUGGERIDGE Chris Vermeulen finished in fourth place in a rain-interrupted second race at Phillip Island this afternoon in round two of the 2005 World Superbike championship. The race was won by fellow-Australian, Troy Corser, but Vermeulen’s Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Karl Muggeridge retired after crashing out on lap six of the 22-lapper. Starting in dry but very windy conditions, race two was red-flagged on lap 13 as further rain fell on the 4.4km Phillip Island circuit. Vermeulen collected a further 13 points from the restart to follow up his third place in race one and retains fourth place in the championship standings. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “It’s a pity about the weather here today because in the first dry part of that second race, Chris’s lap times were improving and he was making another charge towards a podium finish just like in race one. Unfortunately we couldn’t complete the job in the wet second half but that’s how it goes sometimes. At least he collected another handful of points. I feel sorry for Karl, who has endured a tough day. I feel he deserved a lot more after qualifying so well but we’ll regroup and hope for better things when we return to Europe.” Chris Vermeulen fourth “I had some good starts today but it just span up like crazy in the wet restart so I couldn’t get away as well as I needed to. It was really slippery out there worse than in warm-up and the wind didn’t help. I was going fine again in the dry and felt really comfortable but at least I got a few points today. A third and a fourth from ninth on the grid isn’t so bad. Imagine what we could do from pole position; but I haven’t had that pleasure yet. Then again, I’ve never started from the third row either!” Karl Muggeridge DNF “It was getting pretty aggressive in that first part of race two but I was comfortable and the bike was feeling good, even though I hadn’t got a great start. I was battling with James Toseland and we got into a situation at turn 10 where I just had nowhere to go. It’s disappointing because we’d been making steady progress right through the weekend and had a pretty good qualifying and Superpole. After the crash in warm-up this morning I wanted a couple of good results for the team, who have worked really hard, but I guess that’ll have to wait until Valencia.” World Superbike, Phillip Island – race two results, aggregate times (22 laps, 97.79kms): 1 Troy Corser AUS (Suzuki) 37m34.183s, 2 Yukio Kagayama JPN (Suzuki) +5.822s, 3 Max Neukirchner GER (Honda) +10.897, 4 Chris Vermeulen AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) +18.757, 5 Fonsi Nieto ESP (Ducati) +53.089, 6 Alessio Corradi ITA (Ducati) +54.127, 7 Regis Laconi FRA (Ducati) +58.076, 8 Norick Abe JPN (Yamaha)+1:03.328, 9 Giovanni Bussei ITA (Kawasaki) +1:04.355, 10 Mauro Sanchini ITA (Kawasaki) +1:08.754. Championship points after two of 12 rounds: Corser 91, Kagayama 85, Laconi 54, Vermeulen 50, Neukirchner 37, Abe 33, Andrew Pitt AUS (Yamaha) 31, James Toseland GBR (Ducati) 22, Bussei 20, Nieto 17, Muggeridge 15. Next round: Valencia, Spain 24 April More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: CHANGEABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS BRING MIXED FORTUNES FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM AT PHILLIP ISLAND Phillip Island (Australia), Sunday 3 April: Ducati Xerox Team riders Régis Laconi and James Toseland came away from the second round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island with mixed results as they were hampered by a lack of grip in race 1 and then had to deal with changeable weather conditions in a rain-affected two-part second race. Seventh and fourteenth respectively were all Régis and James could manage in a windy race 1 after starting from rows 2 and 3 of the grid as Corser (Suzuki) took the win. “I never had to ride so hard to stay on the bike because the front was just going away all the time” declared Laconi. “I lost it five times at the same place at 220 kph because of the wind or the tyres, I don’t know which. It was so crazy that I couldn’t even stay on the bike and I just did the best I could do. I passed everyone to move up to fourth and thought I was OK but then it was so difficult because after 6 or 7 laps the bike was just so hard to ride”. Toseland instead had problems with his rear tyre, which prevented him from making an impact on the race after just a few laps. “I got a bad start and almost went off at the first corner and that dropped me down to fifteenth. After that I just started to lose grip very early on and that was it for my race” he declared. Race 2 was red-flagged for rain after just over half-distance, with Laconi four seconds behind Corser in second place. In the final ten laps, which were run on full wets, Laconi did his best to maintain that position but had a nasty moment when he lost control of the rear of his 999 at Lukey Heights and crashed. The Frenchman was able to restart but eventually finished seventh overall. “I made a good start and had a good first lap to be immediately up with the leaders. Troy was a bit faster than me but I kept second place well. I was happy because we changed the bike totally from the first race and now it was so good, so thanks to my team for giving me something different for the second race. I started to ride it in the wet but the rear shock was too hard and after three laps the rear tyre was finished. When I crashed, the rear went away and I made a big highside. I restarted the bike with the starter and got back in the race to finish seventh”. Toseland meanwhile was already out of his one-hundredth world superbike race on lap 6 after being taken out from behind by Muggeridge (Honda) at Honda Corner. “I’m going away from here with two points after working so hard this weekend. I was up there in top 5 in every practice on race tyres, so it wasn’t a coincidence. In Superpole the time I did would have put me second in every other session and I was tenth, then we had problems with the rear in race 1 and with Muggeridge who cut me up in race 2. What more can I say?”. RACE 1: 1. Corser (Suzuki); 2. Kagayama (Suzuki); 3. Vermeulen (Honda); 4. Neukirchner (Honda); 5. Pitt (Yamaha); 6. Abe (Yamaha); 7. Laconi (Ducati Xerox); etc. RACE 2 : 1. Corser ; 2. Kagayama ; 3. Neukirchner; 4. Vermeulen; 5. Nieto (Ducati); 6. Corradi (Ducati); 7. Laconi; etc. POINTS: (Riders) Corser 91, Kagayama 85, Laconi 54, Vermeulen 50, Neukirchner 37, Abe 33, etc. (Manufacturers) Suzuki 100, Ducati 56, Honda 53, Yamaha 41, Kawasaki 21, Petronas 1. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: HONDA RACING INFORMATION World Supersport and Superbike Championships 2005 Round 2 of 12 Phillip Island Circuit Australia Phillip Island Race Report 3 APRIL 2005 CHARPENTIER THE WINNER AT WIND TORN PHILLIP ISLAND Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) secured the lead in the World Supersport Championship after a masterful win in the high winds which plagued Phillip Island. With the morning rains clearing away before race action started in earnest, 25 knot winds – with gusts up to 40 knots, took over the attentions of all 19 Supersport entrants and eventually delayed the start of the 21-lap Supersport race. Charpentier, starting from pole, had to fight hard for his win, after a poor start left him eighth off the line. Into the lead for the first time on lap four he had an almost race long fight with Yamaha rider Kevin Curtain, who eventually faded to finish second, 3.595 seconds down. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) and Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) were left to fight it out for the final podium position, after their fellow podium challenger Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda CBR600RR) slipped out of the race with only three laps remaining. Foret was to take this coveted third place, by only 0.021 seconds, with Fujiwara fourth and Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Ducati) fifth. A knee injury for Foret, after a crash in the wet morning warm up, left his knee in a tender condition, affecting his early pace. World Supersport rookie Tatu Lauslehto (Klaffi Honda CBR600RR) took a confident ninth, only troubled by the high winds, which made the final two high-speed corners a real test of rider nerve with each passing lap. Qualifying has been something of a Honda whitewash, as Charpentier, Fabrizio and Foret led the order, with Charpentier setting the best lap of 1’35.746. Charpentier, who lost a huge lead in the first championship race in Qatar five weeks ago, was understandably relived and delighted to secure the top points score, and with it the championship lead. “I am especially happy with this win because of the disappointment from Qatar. I came here with a lot of confidence because we had a very good test at Valencia a couple of weeks ago. I had a very enjoyable race with Curtain but the main problem was the wind. It was blowing differently at every corner, changing lap by lap, but it was the same for everyone.” Foret, battling hard throughout and with the experience that his 2002 World Championship win brings, is now fourth in the title chase. “I crashed this morning in warm up and I had a problem with my knee, so at the start I was very worried about leaning into left corners, in case I banged it on the ground. So I closed the throttle a lot on these corners at the start! Afterwards, I got the measure of it and I am happy with this podium, because Qatar was not a good race for me. There is more work to do again to overtake Ten Kate but for now this is a good step.” For Fujiwara, fourth was hard won, and was good enough to keep him second overall, on 38 points. “I am obviously very disappointed to lose a podium finish for the width of tyre. That was very frustrating, but I am happy for Sebastien and the rest of the team. The wind made the bike very difficult to control but I had an amazing fight with Foret and Fabrizio, and I tried as hard as I could the whole way through.” Finnish rider Lauslehto was new to the demands of the magnificent Phillip Island circuit, only disliking the wind. “The track is very fast, with a great layout but the only problem was the wind. It was particularly bad in the last two corners. It would have been good if I could have caught Stephane Chambon in front of me but I did not want to push too hard in that wind.” Fabrizio, looking as likely as any of the other riders to take the last podium place, nonetheless increased his Supersport reputation once more. “I started very fast and I thought I would stay in the group with Foret and Fujiwara at the end, but a few laps from the finish I had a problem with front grip. It was never a problem during practice we did 25 laps with no problems – but today it arrived. The slow MG corner, where I slipped up, was the only one where I had to close the throttle completely. Around the others I could keep even 5% throttle, and that helped the front to stop pushing. Even then, I had to take very wide lines to take the pressure off the front.” World Superbike Round 2 of 12 Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) wrote his name large in the World Superbike skies over Phillip Island, running to a fourth and third in only his second ever Superbike race, swapping race finishes with Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) who was first third then fourth. 21-year-old German Neukirchner was revelation at such a difficult track, in only his second World Superbike race. Weather conditions played a menacing part in proceedings, with the high winds affecting all the riders in race one, while the rains returned midway through race two, making it an aggregate result of leg one and leg two. Each points scoring race delivered the same Suzuki 1-2 out front, Troy Corser heading up Yukio Kagayama, with Corser’s double giving him the championship lead, on 91 points. A wet start to the day meant that the 20-minute warm up sessions were run on rain tyres, but despite a few spots of water on the visors of the main protagonists the sun re-asserted its dominance on race one’s proceedings – just as it had done in qualifying and Superpole. The best placed Honda rider in Superpole proved to be rookie rider Neukirchner following up his second best qualifying performance in the regular sessions with an equally impressive third place in Superpole behind winner Yukio Kagayama and Petronas rider Steve Martin. In the first race of the day, Suzuki pairing Corser and Kagayama secured a 1-2 finish, with third place hotly contested in the final stages of the race. Chris Vermeulen secured third, after a hard and sometimes tactile battle with Neukirchner. Up to seven riders battled it out for the final podium place in the early stages, with Vermeulen and Neukirchner making best use of their tyres and machines to outpace eventual fifth place rider Andrew Pitt (Yamaha). In race two, the rains came after lap 12, and the contest was eventually completed after a wet race of 10 laps. In this battle against the elements Neukirchner was third on the road and third overall, a career best for rider and his Klaffi team. Raceday was a tough challenge for some other Honda riders, most of all Pierfrancesco Chili, who missed out on a start in either race, after falling in qualifying and breaking his left collarbone for the third time in five years. He is taking medical advice on his return to his native Italy, but may miss the next round at Valencia on April 24th. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) had an eighth place in race one, and fell while contesting a corner with Ducati rider James Toseland in the dry section of race two, and could not complete the race. Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji CBR1000RR) was forced to retire in race one with a single lap to go, but finished race two 11th, enjoying the rain conditions on a machine which is still to reach its full race specification. Vermeulen remains fourth in the standings, with 50 points, while Neukirchner has jumped to fifth, on 37. Muggeridge holds 12th, on 15, just ahead of Chili, with 11. Bostrom’s five points for 11th put him 20th in the rankings. Neukirchner has been the find of the season so far, following up on his Rookie of the Year status in World Supersport 2004 with some astoundingly good rides in SBK already. “For my first time on a Superbike at Phillip Island, I’m really happy for the third and the fourth place. Many riders crashed in front of me, Walker, Haga – a lot of riders. I thought I should keep cool and relax, so taking third place was not so bad. It was good to be the first Honda in race two as well.” For Vermeulen, a return to home ground gave him his wished for podium. “I had a real battle with Max on another Honda towards the end of that first race. He was riding really well so well that I have a big black mark from his front tyre on my leathers! It’s just a pity that we had to start from the third row, and had to push so hard in the early stages. In race two it was really slippy out there, worse than in warm-up this morning. A third and fourth from ninth on the grid isn’t so bad.” Muggeridge had a less successful day than his team-mate Vermeulen. “I was having real problems getting the power to the ground in race one. In the second race I was battling with James Toseland and we got into a situation at Turn 10, where I just had nowhere to go. After my crash in warm-up this morning I wanted to have a couple of good results for the team, who have worked really hard.” Bostrom was forced to race with a less than full-spec race engine, and was most competitive in the wet leg of race two. “The bike is coming together but I have to get to grips with the tyres better. In the dry I wasn’t particularly special, we were only special in the wet. I haven’t been here for three years so I was pretty lost on Friday as well.” Chili, after breaking his collarbone and missing the races, was keen to get back to track action. “I will have to go home to have an operation and then they will be able to see how long the recovery will be. Just as I get to the stage of being able to have the plate removed, the bone breaks again.” Results SUPERSPORT: RACE : (Laps 21 = 93,345 Km) Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time /Gap 1 / S. CHARPENTIER / FRA / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 34’28.920 / 2 / K. CURTAIN / AUS / Yamaha Motor Germany / 34’32.515 / 3.595 3 / F. FORET / FRA / Team Megabike / 34’38.561 / 9.641 4 / K. FUJIWARA / JPN / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 34’38.584 / 9.664 5 / J. VD GOORBERGH / NED / Ducati Selmat / 34’58.522 / 29.602 6 / J. STIGEFELT / SWE / Stiggy Motorsports / 35’03.088 / 34.168 7 / B. PARKES / AUS / Yamaha Motor Germany / 35’11.615 / 42.695 8 / S. CHAMBON / FRA / Gil Motor Sport / 35’15.280 / 46.360 9 / T. LAUSLEHTO / FIN / Klaffi Honda / 35’17.896 / 48.976 10 / C.COGAN / FRA / Moto 1 – Suzuki / 35’25.779 / 56.859 11 / J. FORES / ESP / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 35’49.276 / 1’20.356 12 / D. GARCIA / ESP / Lightspeed Kawasaki / 35’49.381 / 1’20.461 13 / T. MIKSOVSKY / CZE / Intermoto Czech Republic / 35’57.621 / 1’28.701 14 / P. SZKOPEK / POL / Intermoto Czech Republic / 34’46.990 / 1 Lap Fastest Lap 14° Sébastien Charpentier 1’37.438 164,228 Km/h Lap Record: 2003 Katsuaki Fujiwara 1’36.642 165,580Km/h Riders Championship Standings: 1 CHARPENTIER 45, 2 FUJIWARA 38, 3 CURTAIN 33, 4 FORET 27, 5 PARKES 19, 6 CHAMBON 17, 7 FABRIZIO 16, 8 FORES 13, 9 LAUSLEHTO 13, 10 VD GOORBERGH 11, 11 STIGEFELT 10, 12 NANNELLI 7, 13 MIKSOVSKY 7, 14 COGAN 6, 15 BERTA 5. SUPERBIKE Race 1: (Laps 22 = 97,790 Km) Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time /Gap 1 / T. CORSER / AUS / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 35’15.199 / 2 / Y. KAGAYAMA / JPN / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 35’23.478 / 8.279 3 / C. VERMEULEN / AUS / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 35’27.750 / 12.551 4 / M.NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Klaffi Honda / 35’27.960 / 12.761 5 / A. PITT / AUS / Yamaha Motor Italia WSB / 35’28.403 / 13.204 6 / N. ABE / JPN / Yamaha Motor France-Ipone / 35’30.315 / 15.116 7 / R. LACONI / FRA / Ducati Xerox / 35’32.394 / 17.195 8 / K. MUGGERIDGE / AUS / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 35’49.020 / 33.821 9 / C.WALKER / GBR / PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse / 35’49.209 / 34.010 10 / G.BUSSEI / ITA / Kawasaki Bertocchi / 35’57.793 / 42.594 11 / S. GIMBERT / FRA / Yamaha Motor France-Ipone / 35’58.050 / 42.851 12 / M.SANCHINI / ITA / PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse / 35’59.755 / 44.556 13 / I. CLEMENTI / ITA / Kawasaki Bertocchi / 36’00.003 / 44.804 14 / J. TOSELAND / GBR / Ducati Xerox / 36’16.210 / 1’01.011 15 / A. STROUD / NZL / Superbike New Zealand / 36’47.355 / 1’32.156 Fastest Lap 2° Troy Corser 1’34.917 168,589 Km/h Race 2 : (Laps 22 = 97,790 Km) Combined Results Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time / 1 / T. CORSER / AUS / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 37’34.183 / 2 / Y. KAGAYAMA / JPN / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 37’40.005 / 5.822 3 / M.NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Klaffi Honda / 37’45.080 / 10.897 4 / C. VERMEULEN / AUS / Winston Ten Kate Honda / 37’52.940 / 18.757 5 / F. NIETO / ESP / Ducati SC Caracchi / 38’27.272 / 53.089 6 / A. CORRADI / ITA / Team Pedercini / 38’28.310 / 54.127 7 / R. LACONI / FRA / Ducati Xerox / 38’32.259 / 58.076 8 / N. ABE / JPN / Yamaha Motor France-Ipone / 38’37.511 / 1’03.328 9 / G.BUSSEI / ITA / Kawasaki Bertocchi / 38’38.538 / 1’04.355 10 / M.SANCHINI / ITA / PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse / 38’42.937 / 1’08.754 11 / B. BOSTROM / USA / Renegade Koji / 38’48.630 / 1’14.447 12 / A. STROUD / NZL / Superbike New Zealand / 38’50.893 / 1’16.710 13 / L. LANZI / ITA / Ducati SC Caracchi / 38’54.187 / 1’20.004 14 / M.PRAIA / POR / DFXtreme Sterilgarda / 40’18.656 / 2’44.473 Fastest Lap 6° Troy Corser 1’34.979 168,479 Km/h Lap Record: 1999 Troy Corser 1’33.019 172,030 Km/h Riders Championship Standings: 1 CORSER 91, 2 KAGAYAMA 85, 3 LACONI 54, 4 VERMEULEN 50, 5 NEUKIRCHNER 37, 6 ABE 33, 7 PITT 31, 8 TOSELAND 22, 9 BUSSEI 20, 10 NIETO 17, 11 HAGA 16, 12 MUGGERIDGE 15, 13 CHILI 11, 14 GIMBERT 11, 15 SANCHINI 11 More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA 3rd April 2005 Race Report 3rd April 2005 Phillip Island (Australia) High winds, and rains which came and went, were a feature of raceday at Phillip Island, a particular problem given that all previous testing and qualifying had been held in warm and dry conditions, with the wind a constant yet predictable companion. Six thousand Pirelli tyres were transported to the Australian circuit, with Superbike and Supersport classes each supplied with the latest Pirelli products. The second Superbike race of the day was affected by rain and was halted and re-started, while the Supersport race was delayed due to the high winds, which had knocked down two TV towers, plus other paddock equipment. Race 1 TRACK CONDITION Dry AIR HUMIDITY 64% TRACK TEMPERATURE 24° C AIR TEMPERATURE 33° C The first race went to the red-hot pre-race favourite, Troy Corser, who held off his team-mate Yukio Kagayama for his second win of the season. Kagayama, running his Suzuki well clear of the battle for third, was once more a true force in his rookie World Superbike season. The battle for third, which went to Chris Vermeulen, over Max Neukirchner, was so close that each rider touched on the last couple of laps, with Vermeulen’s defence only just adequate in the final run to the flag. Andrew Pitt had been third for long periods, but dropped back to a battling fifth. All riders chose the same spec rear, but only Corser used the softest possible front tyre. Race Standings: Rider Bike Team Race time 1 Corser Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki 35’15.199 2 Kagayama Suzuki GXR Alstare Suzuki +8.279 3 Vermeulen Honda CBR1000RR Winstone Ten Kate +12.551 4 Neukirchner Honda CBR1000RR Klaffi Honda +12.761 5 Pitt Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha Motor Italia +13.204 Race 2 TRACK CONDITION Dry-Wet AIR HUMIDITY 63% TRACK TEMPERATURE 31° C AIR TEMPERATURE 20° C The second 22-lap race on the Superbike card was halted after 12 laps, with a 10-lap restart carried out in wet, but drying track conditions. Corser won this contest once more, being fast in both wet and dry conditions. Kagayama benefited from the crash suffered by Regis Laconi’s Ducati, although he restarted to finish seventh for the second time. Pirelli Racing Manager Giorgio Barbier, stated, “What we missed this weekend were the results we got in the January Yamaha and Suzuki tests, in terms of the lap time at least. Same with Petronas last weekend. In January we had Troy doing a long run with 1’33 high and 1’34 low laptimes. Even with Petronas we got 1’34 lows. This weekend we never saw this except with the qualifying tyres. We are disappointed with this and we cannot explain it. Apart from the wind direction changing from Friday and Saturday. So, I am not happy with the grip and performance, of the rear tyres especially. The wind was at such a level today that we could have stopped the race, and it was hard for the riders to keep the correct lines. The rains brought a lot of dust onto the track as well. None of this helps the grip on the racetrack. In race two all the riders used the softest wets, and they finished the tyre by the end of the race. Kagayama told us that he understood now why Haslam won in BSB at Brands last year, because even when it is worn you can play and use it and keep the lap time. So we were pleased with that. All the riders used an A rear slick, while only two used the softest front, and one of them won the race. Mostly they used the hardest and two them got onto the podium. I think the weather did not allow the riders to find a set-up where they could use one tyre only, which they normally do. It was great to see such a young rookie SBK rider like Neukirchner taking a podium. It shows that you don’t need just one type of Honda to get good results, and that is very good for the championship.” Standings: Rider Bike Team Race time 1 Corser Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki 37’34.183 2 Kagayama Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki +5.288 3 Neukirchner Honda CBR 1000 RR Klaffi Honda +10.897 4 Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000 RR Winston Ten Kate +18.757 5 Laconi Ducati 999 F05 Ducati Xerox +53.089 World Championship Standings: Rider Bike Team Points 1 Corser Suzuki GXR Alstare Suzuki 91 2 Kagayama Suzuki GSXR Alstare Suzuki 85 3 Laconi Ducati 999 F05 Ducati Xerox 54 4 Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000 RR Winston Ten Kate 50 5 Neukirchner Honda CBR 1000 RR Klaffi Honda 37 6 Abe Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha Motor France 33 7 Pitt Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha Motor Italia 31 8 Toseland Ducati 999 F05 Ducati Xerox 22 9 Bussei Kawasaki ZX10 Kawasaki Bertocchi 20 10 Nieto Ducati 999 RS Ducati SC Caracchi 17 Supersport TRACK CONDITION Dry AIR HUMIDITY 70% TRACK TEMPERATURE 31° C AIR TEMPERATURE 20° C After losing a commanding lead at the previous round in Qatar Sebastien Charpentier had to fight for his win again, this time succeeding in his quest with his Honda. He chose a hard front tyre and had experienced Yamaha runner Kevin Curtain for close company for most of the race. Fabien Foret scored an excellent podium, having hurt his knee in a pre-race fall. Pirelli Racing Manager, Giorgio Barbier, stated, “All the riders in Supersport had more settled weather conditions, and a dry track, so they all seemed to use the same front, except Charpentier, who used a harder front after his experiences in Qatar. And this was the best solution” Race Standings: Rider Bike Team Race time 1 Charpentier Honda CBR 600 RR Winston Ten Kate 34’28.920 2 Curtain Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor Germany 3.595 3 Foret Honda CBR 600 RR Team Megabike 9.641 4 Fujiwara Honda CBR 600 RR Winston Ten Kate 9.664 5 VD Goorberg Ducati 749R Ducati Selmat 29.602 World Championship Standings: Rider Bike Team Points 1 Charpentier Honda CBR 600 RR Winston Ten Kate 45 2 Fujiwara Honda CBR 600 RR Winston Ten Kate 38 3 Curtain Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor Germany 33 4 Foret Honda CBR 600 RR Team Megabike 27 5 Parkes Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Motor Germany 19 6 Chambon Honda CBR 600 RR Gil Motor Sport 17 7 Fabrizio Honda CBR 600 RR Team Italia Megabike 16 8 Fores Suzuki GSX 600 R Alstare Suzuki Corona 13 9 Lauslehto Honda CBR 600 RR Klaffi Honda 13 10 VD Goorberg Ducati 749R Ducati Selmat 11

2005 World Supersport championship, round two Phillip Island, Australia Sunday, 3 April 2005 CHARPENTIER TAKES AUSTRALIAN WIN, FUJIWARA JUST MISSES PODIUM Sébastien Charpentier took victory in today’s World Supersport championship second round race at Phillip Island in Australia, crossing the line 3.5 seconds ahead of local rider, Kevin Curtain. His Winston Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara, finished in fourth place, just fifteen hundredths of a second behind Honda-mounted third placed man, Fabien Foret. It was Charpentier’s second win in world championship supersport racing his first coming seven years ago at Nurburgring in Germany and gives the Frenchman the championship lead after his second place at the opening round in Qatar. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “It was a fantastic race to watch and I’m so happy for Sébastien after being so close to winning here last year. He has been consistently fast since we first started testing and thoroughly deserves this victory. Kats was so close to getting on the podium, which would have been the perfect way to follow-up his win in Qatar. This is the ninth consecutive win for the team and, overall, I’m really pleased to be heading back to racing in Europe with first and second place in the championship.” Sébastien Charpentier first “It’s been a long time since my last win but I am very happy, especially after the mystery with the front that we had in Qatar. I love Phillip Island and its fast corners, and I was very confident coming here after the successful test we had at Valencia. I had a great race with Kevin Curtain but the wind was very difficult for all of us because it would change strength from lap to lap. The team has been great and we made a really good tyre choice today with a hard front and a medium rear it was the perfect combination.” Katsuaki Fujiwara fourth “It is very disappointing to miss third place by the width of a tyre but I am happy for Sébastien and the rest of the team. The wind was so strong today and it made the bike very difficult to control. I had an amazing battle for third with Fabien Foret and Michel Fabrizio on other Hondas and I tried as hard as I could the whole way through. I’m still learning with the CBR but the team is helping me all the time.” World Supersport, Phillip Island results (21 laps, 93.345kms): 1 Sébastien Charpentier FRA (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 34m28.920s, 2 Kevin Curtain AUS (Yamaha) +3.595s, 3 Fabien Foret FRA (Honda) +9.641s, 4 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN (Winston Ten Kate Honda) +9.664, 5 Jurgen vd Goorbergh NED (Ducati) +29.602, 6 Johan Stigefelt SWE (Honda) +34.168, 7 Broc Parkes AUS (Yamaha) +42.695, 8 Stephane Chambon FRA (Honda) +46.360, 9 Tauto Lauslehto FIN (Honda) +48.976, 10 Christophe Cogan FRA (Suzuki) +56.859. Championship points after two of 12 rounds: Charpentier 45, Fujiwara 38, Curtain 33, Foret 27, Parkes 19, Chambon 17, Michel Fabrizio ITA (Honda) 16, Javier Fores ESP (Suzuki) 13, Lauslehto 13, vd Goorbergh 11. Next round: Valencia, Spain 24 April