Racer Jack Pfeifer, the privateer who made his name finishing 4th in the 2004 Daytona 200 and was seriously injured during an AFM event at Thunderhill Raceway July 17th, has returned home to Las Vegas. Pfeifer spent 11 days in a hospital in Chico, California after his bike stalled coming off the starting grid, setting off a multi-bike pileup; his injuries included 4 fractured vertebra in his back, a broken right forearm and 4 broken ribs. Pfeifer is wearing a neck and back brace but is walking around at home. He cannot yet look down far enough to see a computer keyboard and cannot type anyway, with his right arm in a cast. However, Pfeifer is reading e-mails sent to [email protected] . “I’m actually doing pretty well,” Pfeifer told Roadracingworld.com Monday afternoon. “I’m looking forward to healing up and getting back out to the racetrack. They say I’ll be in this back brace for another four weeks, and they say there’s a 60% chance this ulna bone will heal on its own, or they’ll need to put in a plate and some screws. I’m hoping to get back out there. We need to figure out why that bike died, before I can ride it again. “I’m definitely looking forward to getting back on a bike and doing some riding. I have a brand new Kawasaki ZX-6RR sitting in the garage, and I want to get it ready for Daytona.”

By Shan Moore Typhoon Racing’s Ty Howard overcame challenges from Logan Young, Shane Kuehler and Heath Small and survived a crash with Danny Eslick to take top billing at round seven of the CMRA Championship Road Racing Series at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas. In Howard’s first race of the day, the Racing Performance Services B Superstock Expert race, which features a $150 purse, he and the Suzuki-mounted Eslick locked horns over the first-place position on lap three after Eslick had worked his way up from the rear of the starting grid. After the two riders took a turn at the front, Eslick attempted to go under Howard in a rough corner on the back side of the track, but lost the front end, taking both riders out. Eslick recovered for the second place position, behind Yamaha YZF-R6-mounted Shane Kuehler, while Howard was not able to finish the race. “I was going for a pass in turn seven and he was going above some bumps and I was going below them,” said Eslick. “We were running two different lines and I wasn’t being too aggressive, but got in there and lost the front and took Ty out. I’m sorry Ty, but that’s racing, it’s sometimes a contact sport and I apologize.” Despite the crash, Howard rebounded to win five races on the day, including the C Superstock Expert, which features a $500 purse, the Unlimited A Superbike Expert Race, which features a $150 purse, the Pace American Trailers Formula 1 Expert, which features a $1000 purse, the Sum of all Parts A Superstock Expert, which features a $150 purse and the RaceworX C Superbike Expert, which features a $150 purse. And while Eslick was shut out of the win department, he did manage to grab the Mr. Corder Racing Fast Lap Award, which pays $150 for the fastest sprint lap, a 1:44.836 which he turned during his race with Howard in the B Superstock Expert event. Other money winners included Dane Westby, who won the Twins Expert, which features a $500 purse and the South Central Race Center D Superbike Expert, which features a $150 purse; Will Gruy, who claimed the lion’s share of the $250 purse for winning the Super Motard class; Heath Small, who won the Komodo Racing B Superbike Expert, which features a $250 purse; Jon Francis, who won the AF1 Racing Heavyweight Twins Expert race, which pays a end-of-the-year purse; and Tyler McDonald, who won the 125 GP, which features a $250 purse. Cory Burleson and Brandon Spradling wrecked havoc in the Novice divisions, with Burleson adding four class wins to his resume and Spradling taking three. In round five of the Shogun Motorsports CMRA Endurance Series, held on Saturday, Northwest Honda Racing survived a battle of attrition to take the win. The Houston-based team extended their lead in the series title chase win the win and now sits 270 points ahead of KNMotorcycles.com, who finished third overall and top C Superstock team on Saturday. Second overall in the 6-hour event went to GMAN Racing. 2Wheelz.com finished fourth overall and third in the Formula 1 division, while Desert-Rats.net won the A Superstock class with a fifth overall. Lone Gunmen was tops in the C Superbike class with a seventh overall and Fireball Racing finished ninth overall and won the Formula 2 class. In Saturday’s Mini Sprint action, Tyler McDonald set a lap record for Formula 4 machines with a 1:21.110, en route to the Formula 4 class win over Nick Gruy and Zac Chapman, while Conner Blevins topped the Formula 6 division, ahead of Dennis Dudley and Pat Brown. Jesse Davis topped Derek Wagnon and Brandon Warren for the Formula 5 win, while Conner Blevins returned to take the Formula 7 win over Dirk Anderson and Pat Brown. Despite temperatures that neared the 100 degree mark, 543 sprint entries and 52 endurance entries graced the grids for the seventh round of the CMRA series. The club returns to action for round eight of the series at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit, near Hallett, Oklahoma, on August 19-21.

Öhlins USA, Inc. in partnership with the Frank Kinsey Racing School and Mike Fitzgerald of Thermosman Suspension will be hosting a two day suspension clinic and track day at Barber Motorsports Park on October 8 & 9 of this year. This will give motorcyclists of all skill levels a chance to learn about proper suspension set-up regardless of what brand they are currently riding on and the opportunity to apply what they learned on the famous Barber Motorsports Park road course. The track day portion will be conducted by Frank Kinsey, an experienced racer and instructor and will offer riding groups for beginner, intermediate and expert level riders. AMA Superbike Champion Jamie James will be on hand with his new JJP Yamaha R1 to guest ride in the expert group. A technical seminar will be presented on Saturday evening with Öhlins technicians available throughout the event to offer individual advice and set-up. Öhlins products will be available for purchase and personalized set-up for those not currently riding on Öhlins. For more information contact: Mike Hensley at 800-336-9029 or [email protected]

BLATA’s legal fight against Chinese manufacturers and worldwide importers of illegal copies yields significant success Brno–BLATA CZ has recently stepped up its relentless fight to protect its worldwide intellectual property rights. Cheap imitations of the Minibike, Mini Motard and flagship Origami B1 range and now the new Quadard have been manufactured by Chinese companies and sold across all corners of the world. The copied bikes not only infringe European and worldwide registered designs and trademarks but are also found to be extremely poor quality and in some cases fatal, all of the copied bikes are sold without any form of Public or Product Liability at any stage of the supply chain. The lack of technical backup and spare parts has caused many purchasers of the copies to be very disappointed. Buyers often believe they are actually being sold a genuine BLATA bike when in fact all they receive is a cheap copy. If a deal looks too good to be true then invariably it is too good to be true. BLATA CZ the inspiration behind the Minibike craze have been working with the official bodies worldwide to establish a strategic plan to legally fight for protection of any serious infringements these include European, American and Chinese Trading Standards offices, customs & excise departments, internet companies and hosts and local government agencies. Success has already been achieved with many of the internet sites with instant removal of infringing items advertised on many websites. These range from the man in the street selling his used copy bike to the dealers advertising new imitation products but more importantly now the fight against the illegal manufacture of the copies is yielding success. The Chinese government departments that deal with this growing problem are working very closely with BLATA CZ and it legal council to eradicate this problem. What should be clear to all companies and individuals who are illegally using intellectual property of BLATA CZ under false pretences is that we BLATA CZ will aggressively defend our rights to protect the integrity of this company.

MOTORCYCLISTS JOIN MARYSVILLE RIDE FOR KIDS® TO RAISE FUNDS TO FIGHT PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMORS It was a spectacular summer day in Marysville, Ohio, as 500 motorcyclists, fundraisers and patient families gathered for the 13th annual Marysville Ride for Kids® on Saturday, July 30. The group raised $114,567 for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s research and family support programs. The police-escorted motorcycle ride left from the Honda of America Manufacturing plant in Marysville, where the annual Honda Homecoming was taking place. The motorcyclists rode past the beautiful rolling hills and tall corn fields of the Ohio countryside before returning to the Honda plant for a moving Celebration of Life program. There three young brain tumor survivors””the Ride for Kids® “stars” of the day””shared their stories with the crowd. Seth, 6, and Zack, 9, were joined by 17-year-old Matt, who praised the fundraisers for their hard work. “Thanks for coming. It means a lot to me, and God bless you,” he said. Top individual fundraiser honors went to Carol and Ken Denman, who raised $12,400. The top club, GWRRA Ohio Chapter B2, brought in $17,603, and the customers of Wing Dreams of Bellefontaine, Ohio, raised $16,500 to make it the top motorcycle business. “We came last year and the kids had us in tears and it just energized us to help find a cure,” said Tim Harmon of Wing Dreams. Richard C. Bell of Coeymans Hollow, N.Y., was the lucky winner of a brand-new Honda motorcycle. Special thanks went to Marysville Ride for Kids® task force leaders Altrece Hogans and LouAnn McKeen, along with their dedicated volunteers, for hosting an outstanding event. Proceeds of the events fund the medical research and family support programs of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Since 1984, the national Ride for Kids® program and PBTF have supported childhood brain tumor research and family support programs. Programs include free literature about brain tumors, the Helping Hand and Caring Hand national newsletters, the Informed Parent Internet Conference series and college scholarships for young brain tumor survivors. Thanks to the thousands of caring and generous motorcyclists and motorcycle dealers who have supported the program since its inception, PBTF has become the world’s largest non-governmental source of funding for pediatric brain tumor research. The next Ride for Kids® events are on Sunday, Aug. 7 in Hudson Valley, N.Y., and Madison, Wisc. For more information about the Ride for Kids® and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, please visit rideforkids.org or pbtfus.org, or call (800) 253-6530.

ALICE MOTORRAD G.P. DEUTSCHLAND Sachsenring MotoGP Results Of 5-lap First Part, Before Red Flag 1. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda 2. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, -0.418-second 3. Alex BARROS, Honda, -0.524 4. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, -0.766 5. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, -2.929 seconds 6. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, -3.022 7. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, -3.539 8. Max BIAGGI, Honda, -4.080 9. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, -4.384 10. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, -4.807 11. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, -5.417 12. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, -6.065 13. Toni ELIAS, Yamaha, -7.337 14. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, -7.727 15. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, -11.737 16. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, -13.823 17. Franco BATTAINI, Blata, -21.082 18. Troy BAYLISS, Honda, -3 laps, DNF 19. James ELLISON, Blata, -4 laps, DNF 20. Olivier JACQUE, Kawasaki, -5 laps, DNF, crash 21. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, -5 laps, DNF, crash 22. Shane BYRNE, Proton, -5 laps, DNF, crash MotoGP Results Of 25-lap Restart 1. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 25 laps 2. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, -0.685-second 3. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, -0.885 4. Max BIAGGI, Honda, -2.365 seconds 5. Alex BARROS, Honda, -2.855 6. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, -4.557 7. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, -12.269 8. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, -14.849 9. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, -23.489 10. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, -27.829 11. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, -42.099 12. Toni ELIAS, Yamaha, -47.304 13. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, -60.175 14. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, -67.714 15. Franco BATTAINI, Blata, -1 lap 16. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, -4 laps, DNF, crash DNS second part of race Troy BAYLISS, Honda Olivier JACQUE, Kawasaki John HOPKINS, Suzuki Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki Shane BYRNE, Proton James ELLISON, Blata SIGHTING LAP START 12:10:00 WARM UP LAP START 12:28:27 RACE START 12:31:07 crashed out – Rider OK Alex HOFMANN 12:31:27 crashed out – Rider OK Olivier JACQUE 12:31:27 crashed out – Rider OK Shane BYRNE 12:31:27 retired James ELLISON 12:34:35 crashed out – Rider OK Alex HOFMANN 12:35:06 crashed out – Rider OK Troy BAYLISS 12:35:21 crashed out – Rider OK John HOPKINS 12:40:19 race stopped due to accident 12:41:00 SIGHTING LAP START 12:45:00 WARM UP LAP START 12:57:59 RACE RESTART 13:00:23 250cc Grand Prix 29 laps 1. Daniel PEDROSA, Honda 2. Alex DE ANGELIS, Aprilia, -7.940 seconds 3. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Honda, -11.171 4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Honda, -11.346 5. Sebastian PORTO, Aprilia, -11.444 6. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, -17.536 7. Casey STONER, Aprilia, -17.949 8. Hector BARBERA, Honda, -22.193 9. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Honda, -42.288 10. Anthony WEST, KTM, -42.696 125cc Grand Prix 20 laps 1. Mika KALLIO, KTM 2. Thomas LUTHI, Honda, -0.134-second 3. Marco SIMONCELLI, Aprilia, -0.288 4. Gabor TALMACSI, KTM, -0.481 5. Julian SIMON, KTM, -1.435 seconds 6. Lukas PESEK, Derbi, -1.628 7. Fabrizio LAI, Honda, -15.039 8. Joan OLIVE, Aprilia, -15.256 9. Aleix ESPARGARO, Honda, -15.305 10. Pablo NIETO, Derbi, -15.524 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Rossi snatches another victory from Gibernau at Sachsenring Valentino Rossi clinched his eighth win of the 2005 MotoGP World Championship and the 76th of his Grand Prix career on the occasion of his 150th appearance at the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland on Sunday. A mistake by Sete Gibernau on the final lap handed Rossi a crucial advantage that the Italian was unlikely to waste, eventually crossing the line just 0.685 seconds ahead of the Spaniard to extend his advantage to 120 points over Marco Melandri in the championship standings. “It was a hard race throughout, in some places we were fast and some slower but the bike was working well after all the hard work we put in yesterday,” said Rossi, who moved level third with Mike Hailwood in the all-time Grand Prix winners’ list. “Sete made a small mistake at the first braking marker, which is an easy thing to do at this speed, and I was able to take the lead. I don’t know if I would have won if he hadn’t made the mistake but I would have tried! I made a small flag to apologise to Mike Hailwood for matching his 76 wins in Grand Prix because when another rider arrives at your level it is always disappointing! Mike is one of the greatest riders ever and now I am beside him on the all-time winners’ podium which is a fantastic achievement.” Despite coming so close to victory in a 30-lap race that was stopped after five laps when John Hopkins crashed his Suzuki and left it stricken in the middle of the track, Gibernau will be more than satisfied with second place today after the disappointment of crashing out of the lead at Donington Park just seven days ago. The Honda rider also ousted Colin Edwards from third spot in the championship and now lies just a single point behind his team-mate Melandri as the series takes a four-week summer break before the next round at Brno on August 28th. After taking his debut pole position at Laguna Seca three weeks ago Nicky Hayden started from the front of the grid twice today, having led from pole for the opening five laps until Hopkins’ crash. His lead in the second part of the race only lasted one lap before he was passed by both Gibernau and Rossi but the American fought back bravely in the second half of the race, taking second back from Rossi and holding on for seven laps until the Italian launched his late attack. However, Hayden’s second podium of the season was a fitting way to celebrate his 24th birthday yesterday and the HRC rider now lies level with Alex Barros in sixth place overall. After three crashes and a front row start Barros ended an eventful weekend with fifth place in today’s race after conceding fourth to Max Biaggi in a tough battle over the final few laps. Shinya Nakano produced his best performance of the season to take sixth place, crossing the line just 4.557 seconds behind Rossi to provide a welcome boost for Kawasaki after both his team-mates, Alex Hofmann and Olivier Jacque, crashed out in a first-corner collision with Shane Byrne. Whilst Rossi looks to have his fifth MotoGP title in the bag at the top of the standings, the battle for second place is heating up after Melandri could only manage seventh today. With Gibernau just one point behind him, Edwards is now a further point back after taking eighth place today whilst Biaggi trails the American by the same gap. Loris Capirossi missed out on the lap record by just 0.003 seconds as he launched a charge in the middle of the race before suffering problems with the left side of his tyre. His time of 1’23.708 was only beaten by Gibernau’s best effort of 1’23.705 as he lapped with the lead group on the Ducati before eventually slipping back to ninth place. Makoto Tamada completed the top ten ahead of Kenny Roberts, Toni Elías, Rubén Xaus, Roby Rolfo and Franco Battiani. Troy Bayliss was the only other faller. Dani Pedrosa took his fifth win of the 250cc World Championship to extend his advantage in the series to 50 points. The Spaniard recovered from a collision with Jorge Lorenzo on the fifth lap that bent his exhaust pipe and saw him lose ground on the lead group. The incident proved more costly for Lorenzo, who crashed out of the race and lost two places in the championship standings to Alex de Angelis and Hiroshi Aoyama, the next two men over the line after stunning recovery from Pedrosa. Whilst De Angelis took a lonely second place Aoyama was forced to fight for third with Andrea Dovizioso and Sebastián Porto until the final lap. Casey Stoner, who suffered with a hand problem, was a distant seventh place behind Randy de Puniet but the Australian remains second in the championship with a seven-point advantage over Dovizioso. Mika Kallio was handed his second victory after starting from his seventh pole of the season when the 125cc race was stopped with just six laps remaining. A crash for former World Champion Manuel Poggiali saw the red flags emerge on the 21st lap, when Kallio was leading the race from Thomas Lüthi and Marco Simoncelli, who both happily accepted podium finishes. Lüthi now leads the championship by three points from Kallio after fourth place for Gabor Talmacsi and a crash for Mattia Pasini, the joint leaders going into the race. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2005 ROUND 10 – ALICE MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX DEUTSCHLAND 31 JULY 2005 – MOTOGP RACE SUPER SHINYA SUPERB SIXTH AT SACHSENRING Super-smooth Shinya Nakano finished in a superb sixth position in today’s German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. Nakano was in top form in the crash-delayed race, which was stopped after six laps and then restarted over the reduced distance of 25 laps. Riding his Ninja ZX-RR fitted with the latest dual-compound Bridgestone tyres, Nakano made a fast start and challenged the top group throughout the race. Nakano was the first Bridgestone rider to finish the race and consolidated his ninth place in the World Championship standings with 65 points. The race was a bitter disappointment for Kawasaki team riders, Alex Hofmann and Olivier Jacque, who collided at the first corner at the first start. Both had qualified at a similar pace to Nakano and there was an expectation that Kawasaki’s three riders would all challenge for top ten positions. Both Hofmann and Jacque had differing versions of the turn one crash. Six laps after the turn one pile-up the German GP was stopped when American rider John Hopkins was stranded on the track after a huge highside crash. The red flag came out and a full restart was ordered. With minor adjustments to his Ninja ZX-RR settings Nakano set-off on his stirring ride that saw him finish well ahead of a squadron of factory rivals from Honda, Yamaha, Ducati and Suzuki. At the finish Nakano was just 4.5s seconds behind race winner Valentino Rossi, having closed the gap to Alex Barros (fifth) and Max Biaggi (fourth) to just over one second in the final laps. Shinya Nakano: #56 – Sixth “That was an exciting race for me, it makes such a big difference when you see the top group and can race close to them. In the second race I was able to do fast and consistent times and overtake Capirossi and chase the front group. The tyre performance from Bridgestone was very good today in these conditions and I was very comfortable at this pace. Towards the end I had a couple of front end slides so I just made sure I finished. Kawasaki and Bridgestone are back challenging the front group, which is exactly where we should be.” Alex Hofmann: #66 – DNF “It’s very frustrating to be out of a 30-lap race after just 250 metres, especially my home Grand Prix, and it is not a good situation for the Kawasaki team. I made a good start and going into turn one Shakey Byrne was way too late on the brakes and I knew he would crash, so I opened some room for him. Then I flicked into the corner, it was open and clear, and then my rear end was gone when OJ hit me. I haven’t got eyes in the back of my head. Shakey being late on the brakes is not the reason we crashed. I had a chance today to show what I could do, it’s very disappointing.” Olivier Jacque: #19 – DNF “I’m sorry for Alex, I know how bad he must feel about this incident at his home race. In turn one Shakey Byrne came from behind, very hard on the brakes and crashed in front of Alex who just had to wait a moment to flick into the corner. I was behind and on the inside a little and able to turn into the corner, and then Alex had some room and turned in and we just touched, it was an unfortunate incident. It’s very disappointing for me, I need to race and do laps and get more experience on the Kawasaki.” Ichiro Yoda: Technical Manager “A very good race by Shinya. From today we saw that the current tyre direction from Bridgestone is very good for the Ninja ZX-RR. Bridgestone brought special tyres here for the ZX-RR to match a request from Shinya and he delivered a great result. It is a great pity that Alex and OJ crashed, both could have finished in good positions this weekend.” Harald Eckl: Team Manager “I’m smiling and crying at the same time. Shinya rode a fantastic race, he was fast and consistent, so thanks to the excellent effort from Bridgestone this weekend. I can understand that the situation with Alex and OJ crashing at the first corner is a huge disappointment for Alex with many home fans at this race. Alex was matching Shinya’s pace in practice and had the same tyres and set-up for the race, I’m confident he could have finished in the top ten also.” MOTOGP RACE RESULT 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team 35’04.434; 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +0.685; 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda +0.885; 4. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda +2.365; 5. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda +2.855; 6. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +4.557; 7. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +12.269; 8. Colin Edwards (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team +14.849; 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +23.489; 10. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda +27.829; DNF. Alex Hofmann (GER) Kawasaki Racing Team; DNF. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Alice German Grand Prix, Sachsenring Race Day, Sunday July 31 2005 SACHSENRING PROVES TOUGH FOR DUCATI RIDERS Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa were unable to match their pre race performances in race conditions at the Sachsenring, with Capirossi, who set one of the fastest laps of the race (1’23.708), eventually ninth and Checa a non-finisher after a fall. The race itself was shortened from the expected 30 laps, after highside crash suffered by Suzuki rider John Hopkins left his bike stranded on the racing line. This incident led to a delay in proceedings and a shortened 25-lap race, with Capirossi in sixth place on the grid, Checa tenth, due to their finishing positions in the aborted five lap start. The race was won by championship leader Valentino Rossi, from Sete Gibernau and Nicky Hayden. Capirossi sits eighth in the championship, with Checa tenth. “It’s a disappointing result after our warm up performances this morning, when we were second and third,” said Livio Suppo, Ducati MotoGP Project Manager. “It was particularly disappointing as Carlos had such a good rhythm and pace, so it was a pity to lose him at the beginning of the race. Loris, who was able to set a very fast lap, was not able to maintain the rhythm in the race that he showed in the warm up and that is really a pity. Bridgestone proved to have done a very good job in practice this weekend, so we can enter the summer break hoping for a better result when we get to Brno.” CAPIROSSI DROPS DOWN THE ORDER Loris Capirossi looked good for a top five finish in the re-start but a drop off in lap times saw him fight hard to finish ninth, taking seven championship points to maintain his eighth place in the championship. “In the second part I did not start so well,” stated Capirossi. “I worked hard to go faster so I passed Nakano and Melandri and I stayed with them. Then the front pushed hard a couple of times, the first time at the bottom of the fast downhill curve. Towards the end the bike began moving at the back so my pace went down. Here you stay longer on the left hand side of the tyre than that caused problems at the end of the race. We have made a step forward with Bridgestone and we are almost satisfied. We must keep on working. Today I could have done better but I could also just as easily have lost everything. In Brno the second half of the season will begin and it will be the moment to make the real advance.” CHECA LUCKLESS IN RACE CONDITIONS Carlos Checa was pushing his pace to try and get back into contention with a group of riders just in front when he lost the front at the final corner of lap five, ending his race in the gravel trap. “I’m very sorry because we worked a lot for all the weekend”, said Checa. “It is slightly uphill in that area where I crashed and a little bumpy. I think I was a little bit late on the brakes there and probably a bit too strong. It went past the limit when I let the brakes off and the front lost contact.” More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Yamaha: German Grand Prix Sachsenring, Germany Sunday 31st July 2005 ROSSI SIGNS OFF FOR SUMMER WITH HIS EIGHTH WIN OF THE SEASON Just one week after his stunning wet weather win at Donington Park in England, reigning MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi was back on top of the podium at the Sachsenring circuit as he snatched victory from Sete Gibernau (Honda) on the final lap of the German Grand Prix today. The tenth round of the 2005 campaign and Rossi’s 150th Grand Prix appearance in all was stopped after five laps when John Hopkins (Suzuki) crashed out and left his machine strewn in the middle of the circuit. By that time Rossi had made his way up to second place and when the race restarted he quickly began to pile the pressure on early race leader Nicky Hayden, taking the lead on the second lap. One lap later Gibernau passed both Hayden and Rossi, who was then relegated back to third place by the American on lap 13. The Italian mounted a typical late charge, passing Hayden and closing in on Gibernau during the closing stages of the race as he prepared an attack on the final lap. It proved unnecessary however, as a mistake from Gibernau in turn one handed the Italian his 76th Grand Prix victory, moving him third in the all-time Grand Prix winners list, level with Mike Hailwood. Whilst Rossi now leads the championship standings by 120 points over Marco Melandri (Honda), his Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards finished a difficult weekend with eighth position in the race today, and drops to fourth overall behind Gibernau. The Texan nonetheless remains in close contention at the top end of the championship table, where four riders are separated by just four points. VALENTINO ROSSI (1st 35’04.434) “It’s been a difficult weekend for sure. On Friday we arrived with a bad setting for this track and had some big problems. The team and Yamaha have done a fantastic job to recover from a bad situation and have worked step-by-step to resolve the issues. It was a hard race throughout, in some places we were fast and some slower, but the bike was working well after all the work we put in yesterday. At one point I lost second place to Nicky, but luckily I was able to take it back and then I prepared for a last lap battle with Sete. Then Sete made a small mistake at the first braking marker, which is an easy thing to do when you are racing at this speed, and I was able to take the lead. I don’t know if I would have won if he hadn’t made the mistake, but for sure I would have tried! I made a special flag to apologise to Mike Hailwood for matching his 76 wins in Grand Prix, because when another rider arrives at your level, it’s always disappointing! Mike is one of the greatest riders ever, and now I am beside him on the all-time winners podium in Grand Prix, which is a fantastic achievement!” COLIN EDWARDS (8th +14.849) “We worked as hard as we could this weekend, but looking back over some of the decisions we’ve made, it seems like we should have tried something different. We just never made that big jump in performance that Valentino made, after we both had problems on Friday. For once my start in fact both starts were okay, but unfortunately the first one was the better of the two, which was the wrong way round! I really struggled in the race and I just couldn’t hold on to the leading group. Sections one, two and four were okay but I was losing three tenths of a second in section three, it’s only about 19 seconds through there but I really couldn’t afford to be losing that much time on nearly every lap. The good thing going away from here is that Sete, Max, Marco and I are still all within four points in the championship standings. I’ll come back after the break and do better in Brno.” DAVIDE BRIVIO GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR “We won a race at the end of what has been a difficult weekend, so this is another great achievement. Now we go on holiday with an even stronger lead after ten races we are leading all the categories: the rider, team and manufacturers’ championships. Also Colin remains close to the top of the championship. He is in good shape at the top of the table with all the best riders, despite not having such a good race today. Now everyone will take a well-deserved rest after the first half of the season, and let’s hope we can return in Brno and continue in the same way for the second half of the year.” RESULTS 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team 35’04.434 2. Sete Gibernau ISPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +0.685 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.885 4. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda Team +2.365 5. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda +2.855 6. Shinya Nakano (JAP) Kawasaki Racing Team +4.557 7. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP +12.269 8. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team +14.849 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +23.489 10. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda +27.829 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) 236 2. Marco Melandri (ITA) 116 3. Sete Gibernau (SPA) 115 4. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) 114 5. Max Biaggi (ITA) 113 6. Alex Barros (BRA) 101 7. Nicky Hayden (USA) 101 8. Loris Capirossi (ITA) 72 9. Shinya Nakano (JAP) 65 10. Carlos Checa (SPA) 51 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Sachsenring July 31st, 2005 German Grand Prix 4.5 sec off the Leader A Special 6th Place for Shinya Nakano The new Bridgestone tyre made a difference for Kawasaki star Shinya Nakano, who rode to a brilliant sixth place in today’s action-packed German Grand Prix, with a gap of only 4.557 seconds on race winner Valentino Rossi. Following intense analysis of all available data and the requests of Kawasaki Racing Team, Bridgestone came up with new rear tyres, with new compounds for improved side-grip and traction for the Sachsenring with its unique layout of long and mainly left-hand turns. After qualifying in 12th position, the real strength of this tyre started to show in the decisive second part of the race, when Nakano overtook Ducati star Loris Capirossi to take sixth place, and to defend this position amidst a pack of hard-charging Honda riders. Not so lucky were his team-mates Alex Hofmann and Olivier Jacque. After being squeezed into one garage with three riders and six machines throughout the weekend, the pair ran out of space one more time in the first corner of the race, when Jacque ran into Hofmann to take both of them out. Havoc continued for the Bridgestone line-up of seven riders on the Sachsenring, when Suzuki rider John Hopkins suffered a high-side crash on lap six of the race. The American came down hard on the track, but even though he eventually walked away unharmed, the race was red-flagged and re-started with 22 laps to go. Ducati rider Carlos Checa crashed soon after the second start, leaving his team-mate Capirossi in ninth position, and Suzuki’s former world champion Kenny Roberts in 11th place as the only other Bridgestone riders besides Nakano to finish the race. Shinya Nakano Kawasaki Racing Team 6th position “My bike and the new tyres that Bridgestone prepared for this race worked very well today. I was able to go at a fast and consistent pace, and I felt very comfortable at that speed. I managed to overtake Loris Capirossi and then chased the front group of riders racing is good fun when you see the top guys, and when you’re actually able to stay with them. Towards the end of the race, I had a few front end slides and couldn’t attack any more. But even though, we made a big step forward, which boosts all of our confidence for the races to come!” Tohru Ubukata Manager – Motorcycle Racing Tyre Development – Bridgestone Motorsport “A special thanks to Shinya Nakano and Kawasaki Racing Team for a superb race! They did an amazing job setting up the bike, and 6th place is a fantastic finish when you are only 4.5 seconds behind the top finisher Valentino Rossi. The new tyres we brought here to the Sachsenring has shown its potential and we are happy about the advances we have made through these last 10 races. However, there are still some things we need to improve, since not all our riders had such a race, we need to analyze the reasons behind this difference and make adjustments. The Ducati bikes were very strong in practice so we were all expecting better results, but we confirmed a good improvement with the package so I am confident the results will follow after the summer break. Suzuki’s John Hopkins rode courageously despite the pain and it’s great to see that even after the crash he was OK. We will go back to Tokyo now and make the best use of this holiday away from racing, our tyre development never stops going! “ Bridgestone Results: 6. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki, 35.08,991, 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 35.27,923, 11. Kenny Roberts (USA) Suzuki, 35.46,533, DNF: Alex Hofmann (GER) Kawasaki, Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki, Carlos Checa (E) Ducati, John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki Temperature Track Air Weather Afternoon 29 C 21 C Sunny More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: RACE REPORT – GERMAN GRAND PRIX – 31/07/05 SACHSENRING ALEX FIFTH IN CHALLENGING GERMAN GP Alex Barros had a good race today, battling in every corner until the final lap. In the end he was left out of the scrap for podium positions after losing some rear grip, sliding out of the turns. Alex, who brought his yellow Honda home in fifth place, nevertheless managed to collect vital points for the overall standings, which sees six riders within fifteen points. Troy Bayliss crashed on the sixth lap of the race, just as he was beginning to recover positions. Sito Pons Camel Honda “I’m so sorry about Troy’s crash because despite the problems he had in yesterday’s qualifying, he had a good rhythm and even in the warm-up this morning felt the bike was well set-up. In the last three races he has shown that he can still do it, but he has had a lot of misfortune. As regards Alex, he had a race up at the front, and rode determinedly, but in the end he had a few problems with grip on the rear and he lost contact with the group which battled for victory. Anyway, he is riding well, he works in harmony with the squad and with the Michelin technicians and soon he will be able to pick up some more top results.” Alex Barros Camel Honda 5th “I’m a little bit disappointed with fifth place, obviously, but I feel I did everything I could, getting a pretty good start amongst the front group and pushing without a moment’s respite to try and get in front. What I am unhappy with is that eight laps from the end I began to lose rear grip and whatever I tried, including changing the power delivery to save on the tyres, not only was I unable to get amongst the battle for the podium, but I lost the duel with Max as I tried to control the bike which was sliding so much out of the bends. I didn’t’ give up though, and I tried to hang in there, but I couldn’t do anything. Anyway, I’m fifteen points off second position in the championship now and there are still seven races remaining after the summer break.” Troy Bayliss Camel Honda crash “Damn! When things are going wrong there’s not too much to say except I’m sorry, because the weekend hadn’t been going at all bad until qualifying. We were able to sort out the situation though because in the warm-up I felt good with the bike and the tyres and so I was confident for the race. Then I got caught up in the confusion at the first corner where several riders crashed out and I went really wide, almost stopping. I put my head down and tried to recover, and got good draught off Tamada but as I tried to pass him I went into the corner a bit too hard.” More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Racing: Roberts Jr scores points as spectacular crash sidelines Hopkins at Sachsenring Kenny Roberts Jr raced his Suzuki GSV-R to 11th place in the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, after the race had to be re-started following a terrifying high-side crash for team-mate John Hopkins. Roberts Jr and Hopkins began the initial race well and were sitting in 10th and 12th places respectively. Hopkins then lost control of his GSV-R and was catapulted out of the seat and landed heavily on the circuit. The race was stopped as both the rider and machine were removed from the track. Unfortunately, Friday pm’s injuries were compounded and more significantly the fracture to his left foot became a full dislocation of the broken bone. The race was re-started with all riders in the position they had finished the original race. Roberts Jr began the 25-lap race reduced from 30 in 11th place and managed to move up to 10th on lap five. He battled hard with Makoto Tamada before finally finishing just outside the top-10. Today’s race was held in cloudy but warm conditions and was watched by 95,364 fans, pushing the overall weekend total of spectators to a record-breaking 216,457. World Champion and runaway series leader Valentino Rossi won the race and equalled Mike Hailwood’s record of 76 Grand Prix wins. The next round of the MotoGP World Championship will be in four weeks time at Brno in the Czech Republic on Sunday 28th August. John Hopkins: “Well, I’m battered and bruised. I had one of the worst high-sides I’ve ever had on Friday and then came close to topping that one off this afternoon. “It was my fault really. I’ve been taking a few painkillers that I’ve been getting from Dr Costa. I just tried to do the best I could and stick with the lead group, but unfortunately my foot was bandaged up and I just lost feeling in it. That was really dangerous because you are on the edge of the tyre so much here. With a broken foot, I just couldn’t feel it on the shifter and I tried to keep my foot clear but accidentally hit the lever on that corner, the bike shifted to second and then I was flying. “Looks like I won’t be doing too much moto-crossing at home now. I was also planning to do some promotional events with Red Bull and Crescent during the break, but I need to be at home and recover for Brno. I went well there last year and I’m desperate to get a good result” Kenny Roberts Jr: “Today was about where I expected to finish in the dry. Basically that’s where we seem to be bike-wise right now. We still need help to get something a little bit more competitive inside the chassis. For me that’s just the way it is at the moment.” Mr Masahito Imada General Manager, Suzuki Racing Department: “I have now seen the team in action at the last two races and I understand what we have to do to make more advances with the Suzuki GSV-R. It was very good for Kenny to get on the podium last weekend and it showed that the bike can be competitive in the right conditions. “This weekend John looked very fast until his Friday crash and then today was brave but very unlucky. “I will now take all the information I have from the races and study it carefully back in Japan. I will see what steps we can take to make the bike a better machine and to strive for better results whatever the weather.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “We started the weekend in high spirits and with big hopes for a decent result wet or dry. John confirmed on Friday that he was amongst the quickest riders and should have been able to build from there. But unfortunately Friday afternoon’s huge accident put paid to that. His injuries to his foot meant that the flexibility wasn’t there and caused him to knock the bike into the wrong gear in the middle of a corner. That led to a massive high-side that everybody saw, the great news is that he’ll be back Brno, and I think he is relieved to be leaving Sachsenring under his own steam. “Kenny also turned in some decent lap-times during practice but we didn’t have the durability as a mixture of what the bike and tyre package needed for Kenny to be comfortable after the first third of the race. “There is a lot to achieve during the summer break and the Factory will be working hard to continue development in the same direction. I think Bridgestone will have learnt valuable lessons this weekend, and a lot of positives from the performance of Shinya Nakano and the speed displayed during the practice sessions by all the Bridgestone racers.” More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda: SETE SO CLOSE TO VICTORY AT SACHSENRING The Spaniard returns to the podium in his best race of the season so far and promises another victory attempt at Brno GERMAN GP – MOTOGP RACE Sete Gibernau kept his promise of turning his season around at the Sachsenring circuit as he stepped up to the second step on the podium in the German Grand Prix. Only a mistake under braking in the first corner of the final lap denied the Spaniard victory in a race he had led with authority from the third of a 25-lap second race after the planned 30 laps were interrupted by the red flag, caused by a crash for John Hopkins. Sete started the second race with a new lap record (1’23″705) and held his concentration to lead a group of five riders. Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi both applied the pressure until the final lap, when the Italian made the most of Sete’s mistake to take victory. However, second place for last year’s World Championship runner-up represented his fourth podium of the season and lifts him to third place in the championship standings. Marco Melandri set the best time in the morning warm up but! his rhythm was broken by the interruption after five laps. Marco then became embroiled in a fight in the second group with Capirossi, Nakano and Edwards, overcoming his difficulties to pick up valuable points that see him hang on to second in the championship over the summer break. SETE GIBERNAU (2nd): “I’m really happy to have been fighting to win again this should be our natural habitat and I promise it will continue to be so after the holidays. It has been a good weekend and it almost ended with a perfect race, it was just a shame that I made a mistake on the final lap. I got distracted and lost a precious tenth of a second that cost me victory. The important thing is that we are on our way back and this weekend I had fun on the bike once again. I can guarantee that I will win races this season.” MARCO MELANDRI (7th): “We found a good set-up in the warm up and that gave me a real boost ahead of ! the race. I was relaxed at the start and held on to fifth place but I just didn’t feel as comfortable in the second race I didn’t have the same level of traction. I didn’t want to force the pace because my objective was to finish the race as high as possible. Now it’s time for the holidays, which are always nice, and then we’ll get ready to get back on the podium at Brno.” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: German Grand Prix at The Sachsenring Sunday 31 July, 2005 GIBERNAU AND HAYDEN RUN ROSSI CLOSE FOR WIN A crowd of more than 95,000 sun-baked race fans watched a thrilling race unfold here in eastern Germany. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) won by just 0.685 seconds from Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) in second with Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) third. After heavy overnight rain, the race began under clear skies with an ambient temperature of 22 degrees and with the track at 34 degrees. Hayden rocketed into turn one from pole and headed Alex Barros (Camel Honda RC211V) and Rossi into turn two. Rossi took second place off Barros on lap two and on the next lap Troy Bayliss (Camel Honda RC211V) fell, without injury, at the bottom of the hill. But a more significant crash was when John Hopkins (Suzuki) fell at turn two. He lay prone in the track long enough for the red flags to emerge and stop the race. As it turned out Hopkins was uninjured but he did not take part in the new 25-lap race that followed with riders taking up grid positions based on their positions during the last full lap before the race was stopped. The front row was therefore Hayden, Rossi, Barros. Again, Nicky powered away from the grid to head the field into turn one, this time with Rossi in second and Gibernau third. On the next lap it was Rossi in the lead after he edged past Nicky into turn one. Gibernau then overtook the American on the same lap and swept past Rossi at the bottom of the hill to lead. A group of five riders had now broken away the front. Gibernau, Rossi, Hayden, Barros and Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda RC211V). Shinya Nakano made a brave effort to get near them from sixth. He had the gap down to 0.7 seconds by lap 11, but he dropped back in the final laps. Gibernau, Rossi and Hayden had now left Barros and Biaggi to their own duel for fourth and were 2.5 seconds ahead of the Honda men as they began their penultimate lap. As they braked into turn one for the final tour of this 3.671km track, Gibernau ran wide and Rossi slipped past to lead. Hayden could not take advantage of Gibernau’s error and the Spaniard regained his composure to accelerate after Rossi with Hayden right in his wheel tracks. Neither could catch the reigning World Champion over the last hectic lap. But their efforts made this a tough, enthralling contest. Sete said, “At the end Rossi’s won and that’s all there is to it. Maybe my mistake was meant to be a birthday present for Nicky, but Rossi got it instead. But we gave away a win in what’s been a difficult year. Today the bike was good enough to win if I hadn’t made that mistake. But we move on from here and try to finish the season strongly.” Nicky was disappointed not to have given himself the best birthday present he could have a second win of the season. He said, “That was a strange race with the red flag and I didn’t feel quite so good on the bike in the second part. It was really good in the first race, but thanks to the team who worked so hard for me here.” Max finished fourth and said, “Not so good I’m afraid. I had to start from the third row as I was eighth when the race was stopped. I made it past Barros in the end for fourth but how can I be satisfied? We are still fighting the same problem we’ve had all season front-end chatter. We can only finish at the back and that’s very frustrating. But I’ll train hard over the summer and come back fighting as hard as ever.” Alex Barros was disappointed with fifth place. He said, “I felt I could have gone better. I gave all I could but towards the end of the race I lost grip at the rear and no matter how gently I got on the power it kept sliding and so I lost fourth to Max.” Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V), who finished seventh, said, “We found a good set-up in the morning warm-up and I was confident for the race. I didn’t want to make a mistake at the start and was cautious, so when the race was stopped I was lying fifth. But in the restart the bike didn’t feel the same and I couldn’t push it hard. I just rode for points in the end.” Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) was tenth. The Japanese said, “That wasn’t good. In the second part of the race I lost feeling and lost grip. It’s not an excuse but we’ve got a lot of small problems to solve and I hope things will be better after the summer break.” Troy Bayliss had a miserable weekend, struggling in practice and crashing in the race. He said, “Well, there’s bad and there’s bad. I couldn’t do anything right here this weekend. The bike felt good in the warm-up but then I got a bad start in the race and got pushed wide. Then I got sucked into a turn too fast and crashed.” Rossi now has 236 points at the top of the World Championship table, Marco Melandri lies second with 116, Sete has 115, Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 114 and Max has 113. Dani Pedrosa (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) won the 250cc race with an imperious display of talent. Alex de Angelis (Aprilia) was second and Dani’s team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) was third. But Dani’s race could so easily have ended in disaster when Jorge Lorenzo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) ran into him on lap four at the final turn. Lorenzo crashed, but damaged Dani’s left-hand exhaust pipe when he clipped the World Champion. Dani continued regardless and after he’d taken the lead by lap 12 of this 29-lap affair, he set about extending it. He reeled off two fastest laps of the race on laps 15 and 16 and put 1.09 seconds between himself and de Angelis by the next lap. By the end of the race his lead was 7.940 seconds. The fight for third place was first a two-way battle between Aoyama Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Racing Team Honda RS250RW) until Sebastian Porto (Aprilia) entered the fray in the closing laps. Porto had to settle for fifth, and Aoyama crossed the line a mere tenth of a second ahead of Dovizioso. “That was a difficult race,” said a relieved Dani. “There was a lot of traffic at first and I was trying to get clear of the group when I felt a push from behind. I just tried to stay on, then I looked back and saw that the bike was damaged. I just tried to get back into a rhythm and stretch out a lead.” Aoyama said, “My pace was fast at the beginning and so by the end of the race my tyres were really worn. But I’m happy to be going away from here with a podium result. I really enjoyed this race today.” Dani tops the World Championship points table with 181 points. Casey Stoner (Aprilia), who finished seventh today, has 131, Dovi is third overall with 124. What promised to be an excellent 125 race was stopped short when Manuel Poggiali crashed on the big downhill section on lap 22. His Gilera machine lay in the middle of the track forcing a premature end to an enthralling race. With two-thirds race distance already completed, the race order on lap 21 of what was scheduled to be a 30-lap race was declared as the result. So Mika Kallio (KTM) won from Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) in second with Marco Simoncelli (Aprilia) third. The three were part of a six-rider lead group who were inseparable all race a full 11 seconds ahead of a second group led by Fabrizio Lai (Kopron Racing World Honda RS125RW) and including Aleix Espargaro (Seedorf Racing Honda RS125R). Lai finished seventh, Espargaro ninth. Luthi looked well-placed to make a move on Kallio in the final moments of a race finish denied this enthusiastic crowd, but the young Swiss will have to settle for leaving Germany ahead of his rivals in the World Championship points standings instead. Previous leader Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) crashed out of the race on lap nine. Luthi said, “My plan was to take Kallio on the final lap and I was just waiting for that to happen. The last lap did happen, but too early and by surprise. I’d been following him all race and we had a good, fast rhythm going. But sometimes surprises happen.” The overall points table now looks like this: Luthi on 119, Kallio on 116, Gabor Talmacsi (KTM) with 113, Simoncelli on 101 and Pasini with 100. There are now seven races left in the 2005 World Championship series. HONDA TEAM QUOTES: MotoGP: Sete Gibernau, Movistar Honda MotoGP: 2nd: “I’m really happy to have been fighting to win again this should be our natural habitat and I promise it will continue to be so after the holidays. It has been a good weekend and it almost ended with a perfect race, it was just a shame that I made a mistake on the final lap. I got distracted and lost a precious tenth of a second that cost me victory. The important thing is that we are on our way back and this weekend I had fun on the bike once again. I can guarantee that I will win races this season.” Nicky Hayden,Repsol Honda Team, 3rd: “I really thought I might have something for them at the end of the race but it wasn’t to be. In the last few laps I closed right up on them. I’m not happy about third but I’m happy about what I learned today. I was riding with two of the top guys in the world and I went to school on them for 30 laps. I feel like I learned a lot from them. I told my boys last night that we could be looking at 25 points but it wasn’t to be. They did a great job and got the bike set-up real well. Once you get that taste for winning you just want more. After so long being off the top of the box, Laguna felt so, so good. I just want that feeling back again real bad and soon.” Max Biaggi,Repsol Honda Team: 4th: “Well, not so good again I’m afraid. I had to start from the third row as the first race was not so good and I was lying in eighth place when the race was stopped. In the end I made it past Barros and we get fourth place but I am not satisfied, how can I be? We are still fighting with the same problems all season. The front is still jumping and has chatter. It really makes me mad as I know I still have the ability and the motivation to win. At the moment we can only finish on the back and I am very frustrated. I never give up. I will train hard over the next few weeks and will come back after the break at Brno full of spirit for the race and for the rest of the season.” Alex Barros, Camel Honda: 5th: “I’m a little bit disappointed with fifth place, obviously, but I feel I did everything I could, getting a pretty good start amongst the front group and pushing without a moment’s respite to try and get in front. What I am unhappy with is that eight laps from the end I began to lose rear grip and whatever I tried, including changing the power delivery to save on the tyres, not only was I unable to get amongst the battle for the podium, but I lost the duel with Max as I tried to control the bike which was sliding so much out of the bends. I didn’t’ give up though, and I tried to hang in there, but I couldn’t do anything. Anyway, I’m fifteen points off second position in the championship now and there are still seven races remaining after the summer break.” Marco Melandri,Movistar Honda Team MotoGP: 7th: “We found a good set-up in the warm up and that gave me a real boost ahead of ! the race. I was relaxed at the start and held on to fifth place but I just didn’t feel as comfortable in the second race I didn’t have the same level of traction. I didn’t want to force the pace because my objective was to finish the race as high as possible. Now it’s time for the holidays, which are always nice, and then we’ll get ready to get back on the podium at Brno.” Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda: 10th: “This hasn’t surely been a great race for me. The setting of the bike was a little better in comparison with this morning, but it still didn’t give me the right confidence to push my bike even more. It is a hard situation because it isn’t simple to understand with precision what doesn’t work. The race had a good rhythm, which before the red flag I could in part maintain. After, the tyres lost a bit of grip and I couldn’t keep going as I was doing before, but this doesn’t have to be an excuse for me. Now I hope that this vacation will help me to find back the best conditions to be ready for the next Grand Prix at the end of August in Brno.” Troy Bayliss, Camel Honda , crash: “Damn! When things are going wrong there’s not too much to say except I’m sorry, because the weekend hadn’t been going at all bad until qualifying. We were able to sort out the situation though because in the warm-up I felt good with the bike and the tyres and so I was confident for the race. Then I got caught up in the confusion at the first corner where several riders crashed out and I went really wide, almost stopping. I put my head down and tried to recover, and got good draught off Tamada but as I tried to pass him I went into the corner a bit too hard.” 250cc: Dani Pedrosa, MoviStar Honda: 1st : “That was a difficult race. There was a lot of traffic at first and I was trying to get clear of the group when I felt a push from behind. I just tried to stay on then I looked back and saw that the bike was damaged. I just tried to get back into a rhythm and stretch out a lead.” Hiroshi Aoyama, MoviStar Honda: 3rd.: “My pace was fast at the beginning and so by the end of the race my tyres were really worn. But I’m happy to be going away from here with a podium result. I really enjoyed this race today. Andrea Dovizioso, Scot Honda: 4th.: “It has been an hard race and the fourth is a good result for me. It would be better to be on the podium but, as I said before, I don’ t like this track and we haven’t found the right set up. However I want to thank the team because they have made the best they could. I’ve tried to catch the third place but Aoyama made maximum breaking and I didn’t want to take risks”. Hector Barbera, Fortuna Honda: 8th. : “In the warm-up we tried a number of new settings that we didn’t use in the race in the end. I got away well today and was able to battle with De Puniet. The main problem came when my tyres began to show signs of fatigue on about the tenth lap. From then on it deteriorated a lot and I could not stop Stoner getting past me right at the end.” Yuki Takahashi, Scot Honda: 9th: “I started very well but I’ve made a mistake in the first corner breaking too late and losing position till the last place. The bike was perfect and I’ve learned very well the track. I’ve recovered positions till the ninth. It is a pity: if I hadn’t made that mistake I could have made a front race.” Alex Debon, Wurth Honda BQR: 12th.: “I got a fantastic start and was up to 11th after a couple of laps. The engine was not fast today I didn’t have enough acceleration for this track. I am reasonably happy with 12th in the circumstances. If I am to finish as top private rider this season I am going to need some help from HRC.” Dirk Heidolf, Kiefer Castrol Honda: 13th: “Fantastic. The whole weekend has been good for us. In the morning warm up the mechanics found a good race set up for me. We chose to run with the harder compound tyres and that turned out to be the right decision. Now we are really working in a good direction and I’m looking forward to the next race. I have to thank all the fans who cheered me on at the Sachsenring today they helped me a lot.” Jakub Smrz, Molenaar Honda: 16th.: “Not such a good day for me. I crashed in the warm up and didn’t have time to check but the changes we had made to the bike overnight. I tried to give my best on the set up of yesterday but it wasn’t enough the rear wheel was spinning far too much. Now we go to Brno for a test and I hope to find good solutions to our setting problems before the Czech Grand Prix at Brno next month, my home GP.” Radomil Rous, Wurth Honda BQR: 20th.: “I got a bad start and couldn’t recover any ground in the race my rear wheel was spinning with the gearing I had and I couldn’t go forward. Now we go to my home GP t Brno where I’m sure we will have a better result.” Jorge Lorenzo, Fortuna Honda: dnf crash.: “I tried to get past Pedrosa very quickly because I was very quick out of the corners today, but he did everything to try and stop me. In the end he hit me, on another day I could have hit him. It’s one of those things. There’s no need to make a big deal out of it, luck evens itself out and perhaps we didn’t have any today. Everything was going perfectly until then, but just as happened at Montmelo (Barcelona) we had a bit of bad fortune.” 125cc: Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: 2nd.: “My plan was to attack over the last couple of laps. I decided to stay with Kallio who was riding constantly fast laps. I knew the places where I could attack him but the race was red flagged. But I’m not too unhappy because I am leading the championship. Now it’s time for a holiday. I might go to Lake Thun or take a last minute fly-away trip.” Fabrizio Lai, Kopron Racing World Honda: 7th.: “I made a wonderful start but I had problems to maintain contact with the lead group in T3 and T4 where I was slow. The bike was sliding at those places and I preferred not to push too hard in case I crashed.” Aleix Espargaro, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 9th.: “I am very happy. This has been a very good weekend, not only for the race, but also in practice. It has been funny riding here at Sachsenring. Everyday we are working better, all of us, the team and me. This is a result that gives us a lot of confidence for the next races. I will try to continue like this at Brno, a circuit I know. I want to thank my team for their hard work, and this result is for them.” Sandro Cortese, Kiefer Boss Castrol Honda: 14th.: “I didn’t get as good a start as I anted and lost a lot of places before the first corner. But from the start I knew it was not going to be easy for me because the front end was hoping under heavy braking, particularly at the first corner. We don’t know why yet. I had to work hard to get anything out of the race. I made up a lot of places but after 10 laps I had the rear tyre started sliding making things more difficult. Not the best way to race at my home grand prix.” Mike Di Meglio, Kopron Racing World Honda: dnf crash.: “I was near he back row off the start and at the first corner there was just too much traffic to get through. At the end of the first lap I was already up to 16th place and from the fourth lap on I began to ride faster. In a few laps I caught the second group. On the tenth lap I overtook Fabrizio (Lai) and also tried to pass Koyama. But he closed the door at the corner as I did the same thing. I lost the front end and slid out crashing into him. I’m sorry.” Alvaro Bautista, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: dnf crash.: “I have a few things to say. I was sure that I could have a good race here. Some inexperienced rider has made me crash, and that was the end for me. I think that the race pace was not too hard and I could have been in the leading without many problems. I think this kind of inexperienced riders must be a little be quite in some situations.” Alexis Masbou, Ajo Motorsport Honda: excluded.: “I didn’t know I had jumped the start and I didn’t see the board telling me to go into the pits for a penalty. When the black flag came out I was surprised to be disqualified. I am very disappointed with this day.” Tomoyoshi Koyama, Ajo Motorsport Honda: dnf crash.: “I had a lot of problems from the start of the race. On the warm up lap I was behind Faubel and he had some sort of problem with his fuel tank because I was sprayed with fuel. It covered the front of my machine and my helmet vizor. I was not sure if my front tyre was OK so I was careful from the start. Once I got going I was OK and got up to seventh place them Mike (Di Meglio) hit me. He braked late, lost the front and hit me and we both crashed out. “ Toshihisa Kuzuhara, Angaia Racing Honda: dnf crash: “I didn’t realise I had jumped the start but it didn’t matter because I got knocked down at the first corner by another rider.” Results MotoGP Race Classification MotoGP : (25 laps = 91.775 km) Pos/ Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time/ KM/H 1 / Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Gauloises Yamaha Team / YAMAHA / 35’04.434 / 156.997 2 / Sete GIBERNAU / SPA / Movistar Honda MotoGP / HONDA / 35’05.119 / 156.945 3 / Nicky HAYDEN / USA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 35’05.319 / 156.931 4 / Max BIAGGI / ITA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 35’06.799 / 156.820 5 / Alex BARROS / BRA / Camel Honda / HONDA / 35’07.289 / 156.784 6 / Shinya NAKANO / JPN / Kawasaki Racing Team / KAWASAKI / 35’08.991 / 156.657 7 / Marco MELANDRI / ITA / Movistar Honda MotoGP / HONDA / 35’16.703 / 156.087 8 / Colin EDWARDS / USA / Gauloises Yamaha Team / YAMAHA / 35’19.283 / 155.897 9 / Loris CAPIROSSI / ITA / Ducati Marlboro Team / DUCATI / 35’27.923 / 155.264 10 / Makoto TAMADA / JPN / Konica Minolta Honda / HONDA / 35’32.263 / 154.948 11 / Kenny ROBERTS / USA / Team Suzuki MotoGP / SUZUKI / 35’46.533 / 153.917 12 / Toni ELIAS / SPA / Fortuna Yamaha Team / YAMAHA / 35’51.738 / 153.545 13 / Ruben XAUS / SPA / Fortuna Yamaha Team / YAMAHA / 36’04.609 / 152.632 14 / Roberto ROLFO / ITA / Team D’Antin Pramac / DUCATI / 36’12.148 / 152.102 15 / Franco BATTAINI / ITA / Blata WCM / BLATA / 35’21.155 / 149.529 Fastest Lap (Unofficial new record): Sete GIBERNAU 1’23.705 157.883 Km/h Lap 3 Lap Record: Alex BARROS 1’24.056 157.223 Km/h 2004 World Championship Positions: 1 ROSSI 236, 2 MELANDRI 116, 3 GIBERNAU 115, 4 EDWARDS 114, 5 BIAGGI 113, 6 BARROS 101, 7 HAYDEN 101, 8 CAPIROSSI 72, 9 NAKANO 65, 10 CHECA 51, 11 BAYLISS 47, 12 TAMADA 42, 13 ROBERTS 36, 14 XAUS 36, 15 HOPKINS 32. 250cc Race Classification 250cc: (29 laps = 106.459 km) Pos / Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time / KM / H 1 / Daniel PEDROSA / SPA / Telefonica Movistar Honda 250 / HONDA / 41’35.089 / 153.602 2 / Alex DE ANGELIS / RSM / MS Aprilia Italia Corse / APRILIA / 41’43.029 / 153.115 3 / Hiroshi AOYAMA / JPN / Telefonica Movistar Honda 250 / HONDA / 41’46.260 / 152.918 4 / Andrea DOVIZIOSO / ITA / Team Scot / HONDA / 41’46.435 / 152.907 5 / Sebastian PORTO / ARG / Aprilia Aspar 250cc / APRILIA / 41’46.533 / 152.901 6 / Randy DE PUNIET / FRA / Aprilia Aspar 250cc / APRILIA / 41’52.625 / 152.530 7 / Casey STONER / AUS / Carrera Sunglasses – LCR / APRILIA / 41’53.038 / 152.505 8 / Hector BARBERA / SPA / Fortuna Honda / HONDA / 41’57.282 / 152.248 9 / Yuki TAKAHASHI / JPN / Team Scot / HONDA / 42’17.377 / 151.042 10 / Anthony WEST / AUS / Red Bull KTM GP250 / KTM / 42’17.785 / 151.018 11 / Sylvain GUINTOLI / FRA / Equipe GP de France – Scrab / APRILIA / 42’26.372 / 150.509 12 / Alex DEBON / SPA / Wurth Honda BQR / HONDA / 42’37.048 / 149.880 13 / Dirk HEIDOLF / GER / Kiefer-Bos-Castrol Honda / HONDA / 42’38.349 / 149.804 14 / Steve JENKNER / GER / Kiefer-Bos-Castrol Honda / HONDA / 42’48.437 / 149.216 15 / Martin CARDENAS / COL / Aprilia Germany / APRILIA / 42’48.902 / 149.189 Fastest Lap: Daniel PEDROSA 1’25.327 154.881 Km/h Lap 16 Lap Record: Sebastian PORTO 1’25.118 155.262 Km/h 2004 World Championship Positions: 1 PEDROSA 181, 2 STONER 131, 3 DOVIZIOSO 124, 4 PORTO 96, 5 DE PUNIET 89, 6 DE ANGELIS 87, 7 AOYAMA 87, 8 LORENZO 78, 9 BARBERA 59, 10 CORSI 54, 11 GUINTOLI 43, 12 TAKAHASHI 38, 13 DEBON 36, 14 WEST 26, 15 LOCATELLI 24. 125cc: Race Classification 125cc (20 laps = 73.42 km) Pos / Rider / Nat / Team / Motorcycle / Time / KM / H 1 / Mika KALLIO / FIN / Red Bull KTM GP125 / KTM / 29’46.795 / 147.925 2 / Thomas LUTHI / SWI / Elit Grand Prix / HONDA / 29’46.929 / 147.914 3 / Marco SIMONCELLI / ITA / Nocable.it Race / APRILIA / 29’47.083 / 147.901 4 / Gabor TALMACSI / HUN / Red Bull KTM GP125 / KTM / 29’47.276 / 147.885 5 / Julian SIMON / SPA / Red Bull KTM GP125 / KTM / 29’48.230 / 147.806 6 / Lukas PESEK / CZE / Metis Racing Team / DERBI / 29’48.423 / 147.790 7 / Fabrizio LAI / ITA / Kopron Racing World / HONDA / 30’01.834 / 146.690 8 / Joan OLIVE / SPA / Nocable.it Race / APRILIA / 30’02.051 / 146.672 9 / Aleix ESPARGARO / SPA / Seedorf RC3 – Tiempo Holidays / HONDA / 30’02.100 / 146.668 10 / Pablo NIETO / SPA / Caja Madrid – Derbi Racing / DERBI / 30’02.319 / 146.651 11 / Manuel POGGIALI / RSM / Metis Racing Team / GILERA / 30’02.372 / 146.646 12 / Michael RANSEDER / AUT / Red Bull ADAC KTM Juniors / KTM / 30’07.668 / 146.217 13 / Lorenzo ZANETTI / ITA / Skilled I.S.P.A. Racing Team / APRILIA / 30’07.840 / 146.203 14 / Sandro CORTESE / GER / Kiefer-Bos-Castrol Honda / HONDA / 30’07.981 / 146.191 15 / Raffaele DE ROSA / ITA / Matteoni Racing / APRILIA / 30’12.138 / 145.856 Fastest Lap: Mika KALLIO 1’28.522 149.291 Km/h Lap 6 Lap Record: Hector BARBERA 1’27.680 150.725 Km/h 2004 World Championship Positions: 1 LUTHI 119, 2 KALLIO 116, 3 TALMACSI 113, 4 SIMONCELLI 101, 5 PASINI 100, 6 SIMON 91, 7 LAI Fabrizio 88, 8 POGGIALI 64, 9 KOYAMA 52, 10 FAUBEL 50, 11 NIETO 47, 12 DI MEGLIO 45, 13 OLIVE 45, 14 GADEA 35, 15 BAUTISTA 28.

Impressive Buckingham tastes champagne JAMES BUCKINGHAM took a fairy-tale third place podium finish and set a new lap record at today’s Castle Combe Grand National during his debut ride for Rizla Suzuki. Buckingham, substituting for regular Rizla Suzuki rider John Reynolds, fought for the victory throughout a nail-biting dry second race that saw five riders fighting for the win from start to finish. He set a brilliant new lap record of 1min09.93s in the process. Rizla Suzuki’s James Haydon led for most of the second race. A coming together with a back marker with two laps to go relegated him to second and he was pushed back to fourth at the penultimate corner after running off the track to avoid colliding with another rider. He rejoined to finish fourth. The opening race of the day was held in wet conditions and cut short after just eight of the 15-laps. Haydon took fifth and Buckingham sixth on the bumpy and slippery 1.85-mile-long Wiltshire track. Yamaha’s Tommy Hill won both races. JR will join James Haydon at Silverstone in Northamptonshire for an official MCRCB test on Tuesday, August 2nd. James Buckingham will be defending his lead in the Superbike Privateer Cup at the ninth round of the British Superbike Championship at Silverstone on August 21st. James Buckingham: “I loved riding for Rizla Suzuki this weekend and I think I have proved that with a Factory bike and good team I can run at the front in the Superbike class. I was going for the win in the second race and that was a fantastic experience.” James Haydon: “I am disappointed not to have won the second race. We are getting a lot closer to winning every time we race and I am hungrier than ever for success. On the positive side, we got more miles under our belts this weekend and understand the Rizla Suzuki better now. We are in good shape for the rest of the season.” Dave Marton, Team Technical Support: “James Buckingham has really impressed us and done a superb job – he is a star for the future and we thank him for his efforts this weekend. James Haydon tested a lot of settings on his Rizla Suzuki and that was always our main objective for the weekend. He deserved to win the second race but a bit of bad luck intervened and the team will be content with the third place for Buckingham.” Race One Result: 1: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 10:28.75, 2: Karl Harris (Honda) +2.25, 3: Steve Plater (Honda) +6.99, 4: Jonathan Rea (Honda) +7.51, 5: JAMES HAYDON (RIZLA SUZUKI) +7.91, 6: JAMES BUCKINGHAM (RIZLA SUZUKI) +18.22, 7: Ollie Bridewell (Kawasaki) +18.46, 8: Richard Wren (Yamaha) +18.76, 9: Nick Pusey (Yamaha) +19.21, 10: Steve Brogan (Honda) +22.17 Race Two Result: 1: Hill 21:18.94, 2: Harris +0.47, 3: JAMES BUCKINGHAM (RIZLA SUZUKI) +1.88, 4: JAMES HAYDON (RIZLA SUZUKI) +4.40, 5: Wren +11.46, 6: Rea +20.17, 7: Bridewell +21.53, 8: Brogan +31.05, 9: Les Shand (Yamaha) +36.17, 10: Dean Ellison (Yamaha) +43.83. More, from a press release issued by Wayside Racing: Castle Combe Superbike Grand National Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st July 2005 SIX OF THE BEST FOR THE BRIDEWELL BROTHERS HAT TRICK HEROES TOMMY AND OLLIE CLEAN UP AT CASTLE COMBE Brothers Tommy and Ollie Bridewell, from Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire, both scored a superb hat trick of victories in their respective classes when big time bike racing visited their local Castle Combe circuit for the second annual Superbike Grand National this weekend. Younger brother Tommy, who celebrates his 17th birthday next month, took the Wayside Racing 600 Yamaha to a double victory in the Formula 600 class as well as adding the Stars of the Future Crown to his list of successes over the rain blighted weekend. Elder brother Ollie, 19, scored a victory in both races for the Independents Cup in the main Superbike races aboard his 1000cc Vivaldi Kawasaki as well as taking victory in the Pro Bike Open Class whereby he also finished in second place in the opening race. And just for good measure the 20,000 crowd went home happy when they had heard that Ollie had been awarded the Man of the Meeting Trophy. “What an awesome weekend. The weather conditions made it very difficult at times but having led both Superbike races outright in the early stages I know that that is where I can comfortably run and that is where I want to be next year. It’s been an unbelievable weekend and especially good because this is our local circuit” said Ollie. Younger brother Tommy commented: “I nearly crashed out of a couple of the races because the weather was making it very hard for us but once I got my head down and concentrated on the job in hand it was fairly easy. I’m delighted with my hat trick and with Ollie’s three wins as well, it’s been a good weekend for Team Bridewell.” Wayside Racing team owner Marcus Bridewell summed up his sons’ exploits at Castle Combe: “Simply brilliant, they have done us proud this weekend. Sometimes when things are going against you, you question your motivation but we’ve had a wonderful weekend here and both boys thoroughly deserve their successes.” Both Tommy and Ollie will be in action at the next round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Silverstone on 20th and 21st August.

SUZUKI CASTROL INCREASE SERIES LEAD Suzuki Castrol has extended its lead in the World Endurance Championship after finishing as the top full-time series entry at today’s third round at Suzuka in Japan. Keiichi Kitagawa and Vincent Phillipe overcame several crashes during the weekend on their SERT GSX-R1000 to post seventh position overall and increase their series advantage from 19 to 28 points. Watched by an estimated crowd of more than 140,000 over the four days, the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hour began in sunshine, but then ran into rain at the two-hour mark. Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari got a holeshot from Takeshi Tsujimura (Honda) and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Yukio Kagayama. Kagayama moved to second on the first lap and within 2.7 seconds of the Honda rider, but this slipped to 17 seconds after the first hour when Japanese Superbike ace Atsushi Watanabe took over the Yoshimura machine and a fire onboard forced a long pit stop and the team dropped down the leaderboard to 14th. Heavy rain caused several crashes including SERT rider Kitagawa on lap 60, although Kagayama moved the Yoshimura up through the ranks from 13th to sixth position, when he handed back to Watanabe. Watanabe then fell on his second lap, half-way into the race, forcing a 15-minute pit stop that dropped them down to 20th position. After six hours, Kitagawa and Vincent had moved up to fifth place but dropped two places in the closing stages, choosing to ride for points, rather than risking a further crash. Said SERT Team Manager Dominique Melliand: “It was very tough race! Unfortunately, Keiichi crashed but that is a World Endurance Racing. We repaired the bike very quickly and we did a good race. We did not win the Suzuka 8-Hour but we scored good points for the championship.” Yoshimura Team Manager Fujio Yoshimura said: “We had many accidents after the rainfall and the burn-up of our exhaust pipe. We didn’t have a good result but our team did a great job. I guess that the Suzuka 8 Hours is a very special race which is very difficult to win, but today we start planning to win the 2006 Suzuka 8 Hours.” SUZUKA 8 HOURS WORLD ENDURANCE RESULT: 1: R.Kiyonari / T.Ukawa (Honda) 204laps – 8:01’22.351. 2: C.Vermeulen / K.Fujiwara (Honda) 201 laps. 3: H.Aoki / T.Yasuda (Honda) 200 laps. 4: O.Deguchi / Y.Teshima (Honda) 199 laps. 5: T.Yamaguchi / K.Tokudome (Honda) 198 laps. 6: Y.Sugai / J.Brookes (Honda) 197 laps. 7: Keiichi Kitagawa / Vincent Phillip (Suzuki Castrol) 196 laps. 8: Hiroaki Kawase / Akira Tamitsuji (MotoMap WIS SUZUKI) 195 laps. 9: G.Giabbani / I.Jerman/ H.Saiger (Yamaha) 194 laps. 10: Yukio Kagayama / Atsushi Watanabe (Yoshimura Suzuki) Suzuki 193 laps. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: Suzuka 8 Hours SEVEN STARS HONDA 1-2 AT SUZUKA 8-HOURS, HARC PRO HONDA THIRD Saturday’s Superpole session to determine grid positions, contested by the fastest 20 teams in qualifying, saw Veteran Shinichi Ito FCC TSR Honda CBR1000RR take Superpole from the Seven Stars CBR of Tohru Ukawa and Kazuki Tokudome’s Masked Bandit CBR1000RR. Honda CBR1000RR machines filled the podium places at the 28th running of the Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance race held in Japan today, Sunday July 31. Ryuichi Kiyonari and Tohru Ukawa brought the Seven Stars Honda home 3-laps clear of team-mates Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Vermeulen with the HARC PRO Honda CBR1000RR of Haruchika Aoki and Tsuyoshi Yasuda in third place. The race win was Ukawa’s fifth victory in the high-speed classic, a record. Kiyonari scored his first ever victory in an international race at the circuit. “I am really happy and I can’t believe it. I expected a tough race so when Kagayama was pushing at the beginning, I was only thinking about my pace. Then I tried to concentrate on the race,” said a jubilant Kiyonari. Team mate Ukawa was equally pleased. He said, “Fantastic, the best machine, the best partner and the best team made it possible. Five wins is a great record, but I hope Ryuichi will break it one day.” Ryuichi ‘Kiyo’ Kiyonari was the chosen lead-off rider on the # 7 Honda and he quickly moved to the front chased by Ito on the FCC TSR Honda with the Yoshimura Suzuki of Kagayama close behind. At the pit-stop and rider change-over Kiyo handed team-mate Ukawa a 10 second lead over the Yoshimura team with Moriwaki up to third place. From that point on Kiyo and Ukawa were never under serious threat and steadily extended their lead. The two men held their nerve when the rain started to fall as the third hour began and the Seven Stars team made good use of their Michelin rain tyres lapping consistently faster than their rivals. Many others were not so cool, several of their leading challengers crashing in the heavy rain and consequent slippery conditions. Tokudome crashed the Masked Rider Honda at the Spoon curve but managed to get the machine back to the pits, eventually finishing fifth. At the end of the third hour Okada crashed the # 74 Sakurai CBR1000RR, riding the machine back to the pits on the grass. The Kiyo /Ukawa CBR was now well over a lap clear of Ito and Tsujimura in second and the Moriwaki pairing of Leon Camier and Naoki Matsudo in third. Camier crashed before hour five, getting back to the pits for repairs. The team eventually finished 15th. As the race passed the halfway stage the rain eased off but it didn’t help Ito and Tsujimura who were forced into the pits by a technical problem that cost them time and left the leaders with a clear run to the flag. Ito And Tsujimura eventually finished in14th place. Kiyo and Ukawa were in a class of their own and stretched their lead lap by lap leaving their rivals to dispute the minor places. The Harc Pro Honda of former 125cc World Champion Haruchika Aoki and Tsuyoshi Yasuda slotted into second place ahead of the second Seven Stars-liveried CBR1000RR of Fujiwara and Vermeulen in third with an hour to go. Fujiwara and Vermeulen then passed the Harc Pro pairing in the seventh hour to finish three-laps behind the winners with Aoki and Yasuda a further lap behind in third. Honda filled the top six places. Deguchi and Tejima brought their FCC TSR CBR home in fourth place just ahead of the Masked Rider Honda of Tokudome and Yamaguchi. Young Australian Josh Brooks and partner Yoshiyuki Sugai finished sixth. Katsunori Suzuki, team manager to Kiyonari and Ukawa, said after the ninth consecutive Honda win in the event: “I was worried when it started to rain and also when it started to dry out. We changed to wet tyres earlier than the other teams and that counted to our win. Yoshiteru Konishi, the reserve rider, advised us to do so. The total performance of our team resulted to the win.” HONDA RIDER AND TEAM MANAGER QUOTES: Ryuichi Kiyonari: 1st. “I am really happy and I can’t believe it. I expected a tough race so when Kagayama was pushing at the beginning, I was only thinking about my pace. Then I tried to concentrate on the race. When I handed the machine to Ukawa san for the last time, I told him about the remaining wet patches. I knew he could do it.” Tohru Ukawa: 1st. “Fantastic, the best machine, the best partner and the best team made it possible. My lap times were not so fast during the first stint, then it started to rain during Ryuichi’s second run. But Ryuichi was stable and I wasn’t worried at all. Then Ito san’s team was catching up. After they had machine problems, we were on our own and we had to concentrate on our race. I didn’t push too much during the last run. Five wins is a great record, but I hope Ryuichi will break it one day.” Katsunori Suzuki: Team Manager. “I was worried when it started to rain and also when it started to dry out. We changed to wet tyres earlier than the other teams and that counted to our win. Yoshiteru Konishi, the reserve rider, advised us to do so. The total performance of our team resulted to the win.” Tsutomu Ishii : General Manager Honda Racing Corporation: ” Seven Star Honda 7 was racing consistently. The reasons for the win are that the start was good and also the decisions to change tyres were made at the right time. It was a perfect race.” Seven Stars Honda #11 Chris Vermeulen: 2nd. “I truly understood that the Suzuka 8hr race is the most difficult race in the world. It was not so hot today so it was not so difficult physically, although the conditions were difficult. It was the first time for me using Michelin rain tyres and it was very good. I wanted to push harder but didn’t want to crash. Okada passed me and he was very fast and I was thinking of following him, which I didn’t. A few laps later, he crashed. I told Katsu “Good Luck” when he went out for the last run. He did a great job.” Katsuaki Fujiwara: 2nd. “My back was hurting very badly during my two last stints. I had a pain-killing injection to endure it. I couldn’t even stand up properly on the podium after the race. Ukawa san left the waiting room before me saying ” Let’s do a one-two finish” and I promised to grab second place. The conditions changed so much today and it was a tough race. But Chris was riding consistently and I want to thank him for that. Next week, we have WSB and WSS in England and we want to win there.” Kazuhiko Yamano: team manager to Fujiwara and Vermeulen. “We did a perfect job today. I was the manager of winning team last year, but I am happier this year than last year, as we had to start from the beginning this year. It was our total performance, which resulted in the second place.” Tsutomu Ishii: General Manager “The race was not so easy for the #11 team (Fujiwara Vermeulen). Still they did a good job. Everyone worked together for the common goal. The last thirty minutes was longer than eight hours for me.” AutoRace Team Harc Pro. Haruchika Aoki: 3rd. “The reason why I decided to take part in the race is to give some news to road racing world and also to let ordinary motorcycle fans to know about Autorace. It is great to get on the podium and I want to thank everyone who helped me to materialize the project.” Tsuyoshi Yasuda: 3rd “As Haruchika didn’t have time to test the machine, I did all the set-up and prepared the machine for the race. Haruchika was very fast and I was impressed by his attitude towards racing. I tried to learn as much as possible from him. Last year I crashed during the 8 hrs race so I concentrated not to spoil the team effort. To get on the podium is dream come true to me.” Results Pos / No. / Team / Nat. / Class / Bike / Riders / laps 1 / 7 / Seven Stars Honda 7 / JPN / SBK / Honda CBR1000RRW / Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN, Tohru Ukawa JPN / 204 2 / 11 / Seven Stars Honda 11 / JPN / SBK / Honda CBR1000RRW / Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN, Chris Vermeulen AUS / 201 3 / 73 / Auto Race – Team Harc-Pro / JPN / JSB / Honda CBR1000RR / Haruchika Aoki JPN, Takeshi Yasuda JPN / 200 4 / 55 / F.C.C. TSR – Dydo Miu Racing / JPN / XF1 / Honda CBR1000RR / Osamu Deguchi JPN, Yusuke Tejima JPN / 199 5 / 4 / Masked Rider Hibiki Honda RT / JPN / JSB / Honda CBR1000RR / Tatsuya Yamaguchi JPN, Kazuki Tokudome JPN / 198 6 / 18 / Team Yoshiharu & Idemitsu Maido Plus / JPN / XF1 / Honda CBR1000RR / Yoshiyuki Sugai JPN, Joshua Brookes AUS / 197 7 / 2 / Castrol – The 0123 – Suzuki Team / FRA / SBK / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / Keiichi Kitagawa JPN, Vincent Philippe FRA, Matthieu Lagrive FRA / 196 8 / 31 / Moto Map Wins / JPN / JSB / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / Hiroaki Kawase JPN, Akira Tamitsuji JPN / 195 9 / 7,5 / Yamaha Austria Racing Team #07 / AUT / SBK / Yamaha YZF-R1 / Igor Jerman SLO, Gwen Giabbani FRA, Horst Saiger AUT / 194 10 / 12 / Yoshimura Suzuki Jomo With Srixon / JPN / SBK / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / Atsushi Watanabe JPN, Yukio Kagayama JPN / 193 11 / 81 / Racing Team Honey Bee / JPN / JSB / Honda CBR1000RR / Hiroki Noda JPN, Takuma YamamotoJPN / 193 12 / 21 / YSP & Prest Racing / JPN / JSB / Yamaha YZF-R1 / Shin’Ichi Nakatomi JPN, Wataru Yoshikawa JPN / 193 13 / 53 / Itoh Racing – GMD Suzuka / JPN / JSB / Yamaha YZF-R1 / Takahiro Yagi JPN, Masao Okuno JPN / 192 14 / 778 / F.C.C. TSR Zip-FM Racing Team / JPN / XF1 / Honda CBR1000RR / Takeshi Tsujimura JPN, Shin’Ichi Itoh JPN / 191 15 / 19 / Moriwaki Motul Tiger Racing / JPN / JSB / Honda CBR1000RR / Naoki Matsudo JPN, Leon Camier GBR / 190 More, from a press release issued by Motorcycling Australia: Vermeulen 2nd in Suzuka 8 Hours, Brookes 6th Australian star Chris Vermeulen has finished a superb second in the 2005 Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race in Japan, as Honda’s all-conquering CBR1000RR machine claimed the top six placings in the high-speed classic. Vermeulen, an 8 Hour rookie, teamed with world Supersport campaigner, Katsuaki Fujiwara, to complete 201 laps of the famous Suzuka layout, three behind the second Seven Stars-liveried, factory Honda of Tohru Ukawa and Ryuichi Kiyonari. Another Australian, Josh Brookes (Yoshiharu & Idemitsu Maido Plus CBR1000RR), was sixth, while the all-Aussie combination of Warwick Nowland, Damian Cudlin and Paul Young (Yamaha Phase One Endurance YZF-R1) was 18th, despite a crash in the fourth hour. Other than a fuel spillage which saw them to spend a whopping 45 seconds in the pits during one scheduled stop, Vermeulen and Fujiwara, who qualified ninth, enjoyed a trouble-free run in the event aside from the omnipresent heat, with some heavy rain also thrown into the constellation. “I truly understood that the 8 Hour race is the most difficult race in the world,” said 23-year-old Vermeulen, who is currently running second in the world Superbike title. “It was not so hot today, so it was not so difficult physically, although the conditions were still tough. “It was the first time for me using Michelin rain tyres and it was very good. I wanted to push harder but didn’t want to crash. (Tadayuki) Okada passed me and he was very fast and I was thinking of following him, which I didn’t. A few laps later, he crashed. “I said to Katsu ‘good luck’ when he went out for the last run. He did a great job.” Meanwhile, Ukawa’s successful defence of the Suzuka 8 Hours crown on the #7 Seven Stars Honda has made him the most successful rider in the event’s history. He’s now won the iconic race five times in its 28-year history, moving clear of a deadlock with Australian Wayne Gardner, who was successful in 1985-86 and 1991-92. It was also Honda’s 21st win in the 8 Hours, with its current unbeaten run extending back to 1997. “Fantastic, the best machine, the best partner and the best team made it possible,” said Ukawa, a former MotoGP and 250cc GP rider. “My lap times were not so fast during the first stint, and then it started to rain during Ryuichi’s second run. But Ryuichi was stable and I wasn’t worried at all. I didn’t push too much during the last run. Five wins is a great record, but I hope Ryuichi will break it one day.” Kiyonari handed over to Ukawa with a 10-second lead after the first four of racing and, despite some sustained pressure from the FCC TSR Zip-FM Racing Team (CBR1000RR), led by 38-year-old Japanese stalwart Shinichi Itoh, they never really looked like losing the battle. That became even clearer in the fifth hour, when FCC TSR Zip-FM, the polesitter, was forced to pit with mechanical problems, eventually soldering on to finish 13th. Meanwhile, Brookes and teammate Yoshiyuki Sugai circulated consistently all day and night the race finishes at 7.00pm local time in finishing sixth, one position ahead of the first full-time world endurance team Castrol Suzuki (Keiichi Kitagawa, Vincent Philippe, Matthieu Lagrive, GSX-R1000). However, Castrol Suzuki officially ‘finished’ third in the race, because only 23 of the 80-odd entries were qualified to earn points towards the world endurance title. Brookes, whose CBR1000RR was entered under JSB (Japanese Superbike) guise, wasn’t one of those, in addition to the three teams which finished ahead of him on the track: Auto Race-Harc Pro (Haruchika Aoki, Takeshi Yasuda), FCC TSR Dydo Miu Racing (Osamu Deguchi, Yasuke Tejima) and Masked Rider Hibiki Honda (Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Kazuki Tokodume). Yamaha Phase One Endurance, as one of the permanent world endurance teams, could earn points, so despite finishing 18th in the race, collected points for a seventh place ‘effort’. Similarly, Castrol Suzuki’s seventh became an even more rewarding third place. Phase One is now third in the world endurance standings on 37pts, behind Yamaha Austria Racing Team (Igor Jerman, Gwen Giabbani, Horst Saiger, YZF-R1, 46) and Castrol Suzuki (74). Two rounds remain: a 24-hour in Oschersleben (Germany) on August 13-14, and a 320km event at Vallelunga (Italy) on September 25.