Hopkins and Team SUZUKI MotoGP looking to impress at ‘home’ Team SUZUKI MotoGP will be heading to Donington Park in England this weekend for the betandwin.com British Grand Prix, round nine of the MotoGP World Championship. The British based Suzuki factory team will make the short journey to its home GP looking to build on the promising result achieved by John Hopkins at the last round in America. Hopkins will again have strong support from his army of supporters and relatives. The ever-improving Anglo-American is now based close to Donington and will regard this as a second home race. The hard-charging Suzuki star comes to this event with almost double the points haul as at the same time last season and will be looking to add to his tally with a high placed finish in front of his ‘home’ fans. Kenny Roberts Jr will be hoping to celebrate his birthday on Monday 25th July with a good race at Donington. The ex-World Champion is long-overdue a result that his talent deserves and will be looking to repeat the podium position that he achieved at the British circuit in 2000. Friday and Saturday’s practice sessions will be very important this week as set-up is a main factor at Donington. Located in the heart of the English midlands, it is a track of two-halves. From the awe-inspiring and extremely fast Craner Curves right through to three slow corners at the end of the 4.023Km track Donington is a much a test for the crew chiefs and technicians as it is for the racers. Team SUZUKI MotoGP will be lining up on the grid at 15.30 local time (16.30CET) on Sunday 24th July waiting for the red light to change and the 30 lap race to get underway. Paul Denning Team Manager: “Donington is one of the most important races of the season for Team SUZUKI MotoGP. We will have many partners present and hopefully future – joining us and will be looking to put on a good show for them all. “After the excitement of Laguna Seca and the delivery of the awesome-looking Red Bull Suzuki one event partnership, we will be hoping to impress Red Bull and all potential partners with another positive step in on-track performance. We have some significant development parts arriving in time for Donington which the Suzuki factory has delivered in line with the direct requests of the riders. “This will be one of the few tracks where I have some decent knowledge of set-up and rider-feel required, after all the time spent here with Rizla Suzuki in BSB. I hope this will be of some small use to both riders and their superb crews as they tackle yet another demanding circuit on the MotoGP calendar.”

USGPRU West Coast Round 3 Results Iso and Morton Beat the Heat Odenton, MD–The USGPRU powered by AlwaysOnline.net held the third West Coast regional event at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, California this past Saturday. Run in conjunction with the AFM, the USGPRU fit practice, qualifying, and both 125GP and 250GP events into one day under a relentless triple-digit heat wave. Jon Schendel of Lake Elsinore, California took pole position in 125GP qualifying on a borrowed Honda owing to a mechanical failure on his Yamaha. Filling out the front row behind Schendel were Will Gruy of Dallas Texas, (an up and coming GP jockey for 2005), Nobi Iso of Japan, and long time AFMers Michael Jarrard and Carlos Neves. 24 of the 26 qualifiers beat the heat to make the grid. Neves took the holeshot off the line at the start to be passed by Iso going into Turn 1. A first lap red-flag was caused by a crash in Turn 6 by Ben Solis. Schendel also went down in Turn 13 on the first lap. Schendel managed to return for the restart but Tony Bell’s RS125 ridden by Solis did not. The restart of the 125GP was nearly a carbon copy of the first with Nobi Iso checking out with an immediate lead on his Aprilia RSV125R separating himself from the rest of the field with a comfortable 3 second lead, oblivious to the raging battle going on behind him. While Iso ran a perfect race, Gruy, Neves, and Jarrard slugged it out for positions testing their skills and nerve with late braking, Gonzo inside and outside passes, and drafting down the front straight. The heat took its toll on riders causing some to retire early and others to suffer heat exhaustion after the event. Tommy Aquino ran a good race against Erik Dadej while Dadej struggled with a broken silencer on his Honda. Iso took the checkered flag followed by Gruy and Neves. The 250GP was like a dream for former World GP tuner Roland Cushway. Three riders Cushway personally attended to waged war on each other for the lead and eventually all took a place on the podium. Jeff Hanford led off with Will Morton, John Davis, Phil Torres, Vincent Rolleri, and Sean Case in tow. As with the 125GP event, these 6 riders made enough passes on each other to keep all spectators deeply engaged. John Fosgate, under contract with the USGPRU to announce for the event added extra excitement to the tight racing. “These guys are literally beating the daylights out of each other!” he shouted. Hanford led for the first lap. Morton got by him to take the lead on the second lap, only to be chased down and passed by Davis on the fourth lap. Nobi Iso on a 2002 TZ250 fell back to 30th place with a horrible start, and spent the rest of his race making multi-bike passes to ultimately finish 7th. The USGPRU would like to thank Kevin Smith, the AFM staff, and the AFM corner workers for hosting the event this weekend. The USGPRU hopes that this weekend was as memorable for the AFM as we look toward next years’ calendar. 125GP Results 1 Nobi Iso Apr RSV125R 2 Will Gruy Hon RS125 3 Carlos Neves Hon RS125 4 Michael Jarrard Yam TZ125 5 Jonathan Schendel Hon RS125 6 Tommy Aquino Hon RS125 7 Erik Dadej Hon RS125 8 Jay Pilster Hon RS125 9 Steve Magri Hon RS125 10 Jeffrey Lim Hon RS125 11 Phillip Krenn Hon RS125 12 Debra Kuick Hon RS125 13 Michael Orien Hon RS125 14 James Eckerman Hon RS125 15 Nathan Coy Hon RS125 9 Laps 16 Bryce Prince Hon RS125 9 Laps 17 Herbert Wagner Hon RS125 9 Laps 18 Marcus Henderson Hon RS125 6 laps 19 Ryan Corey Hon RS125 DNF 20 Tiffanie Ragasa Hon RS125 DNF 21 Ryan Ferris Yam TZ125 DNF 22 Tyler Reiswig Hon RS125 DNF 23 Ben Solis Hon RS125 DNF 24 Mark Goodrich Hon RS125 DNF 250GP 1 William Morton Hon RS250 2 John Davis Yam TZ250 3 Jeffry Hanford Hon RS250 4 Phillip Torres Yam TZ250 5 Sean Case Hon RS250 6 Vincent Rolleri Yam TZ250 7 Nobi Iso Yam TZ250 8 Tyler Reiswig Hon RS125 9 Erik Dadej Hon RS125 10 Richard Denman Hon RS250 11 Jay Pilster Hon RS125 12 Johathan Schendel Hon RS125 13 Alex White Yam TZ250 14 Ty Piz Yam TZ250 15 Clif Jordan Apr RS250 16 Mark Lelchook Hon RS250 17 Brian Lowe UNKOWN 18 Joe Rust Apr RS250 19 Bob Drury Hon RS250 9 Laps 20 Andrew Edwards Apr RSV250R 9 Laps 21 Herb Wagner Yam TZ250 9 Laps 22 Andrew Duafala Yam TZ250 7 Laps 23 Mike Lytle Yam TZ250 6 Laps 24 Joji Tokumoto Yam TZ250 6 Laps 25 Richard Reynolds Yam TZ250 5 Laps 26 Gary Tritt Yam TZ250 DNF 27 Philip Snowden Yam TZ250 DNF

For the third year in succession, the support class action at the Phillip Island-hosted Polini Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix will be the province of Aussie 125 (125 GP), Supersport and Superbike competitors. Each class will have three, eight-lap races during the October 14-16 event, while practice and qualifying will be held on October 13. Entries are now open, and will close on Friday, August 26. Entries must be sent to Event Secretary, Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, PO Box 577, South Melbourne, Vic 3205, or faxed to (03) 9699 3727. For queries on entries, contact Laura Whelan at the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, tel (03) 9258 7100 or email [email protected]. For queries on Motorcycling Australia licences or General Competition Rules, contact Daniel Hutchinson at MA, tel (03) 9684 0555 or email [email protected]

The June 27, 2005 issue of People Magazine listed Nicky Hayden as one of its “50 Hottest Bachelors of 2005,”stating: “In his third year of racing for Honda on the top international circuit, the ‘Kentucky Kid’ will compete in July’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.” When the July 25, 2005 issue of People Magazine hit newsstands this week, however, its coverage of the U.S. Grand Prix was all but nonexistent. Instead of a story or even a note on how ‘hot bachelor’ Hayden had won the first MotoGP race of his career in storybook fashion, at the first U.S. Grand Prix in 11 years, People Magazine ran a Dorna Sports-supplied photo of Brad Pitt (also one of People’s 50 Hottest Bachelors of 2005) posing with the Yamaha MotoGP team umbrella girls. The caption for the photo read: “At the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix motocross championships, motorcycle enthusiast Brad Pitt brakes for a group of spokesmodels. The actor watched the race with pal and fellow racing fan Matt LeBlanc.” Seeing as Pitt has since checked into a Southern California hospital suffering from viral meningitis, we hope the girls didn’t get too much closer…

In the July 12 online edition of the Birmingham (Alabama) News ( ~http://www.al.com/search/index.ssf?/base/sports/1121159896202310.xml?birminghamnews?sauto&coll=2~ ), Gene Hallman, President and CEO of Zoom Motorsports, which manages Barber Motorsports Park, was quoted as saying, “We do believe at some point in the next two to four years, we will be given an opportunity to host the U.S. Grand Prix, or a second American Grand Prix.” Yet a Dorna spokesman says that the agreement between MotoGP rights holder Dorna and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (or technically SCRAMP — Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula) gives the California track exclusive rights to host the only U.S. Grand Prix through 2007 with an option for two more years, through 2009. While the possibility of a U.S. Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park does exist beyond 2007, Dorna Director of Communications Paco Lattore told Roadracingworld.com that no one from Barber Motorsports Park or Zoom Motorsports has contacted Dorna since the U.S. Grand Prix July 10. Meanwhile, SCRAMP/Laguna Seca officials are already talking about long-range plans with Dorna. “We’ve certainly been in discussion with Dorna for the future, and they were so thrilled with the show this past weekend that they’re wanting to extend our options,” Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca General Manager Gill Campbell told Roadracingworld.com. “We haven’t quite got to that point yet. We’ve got further discussions scheduled with them. I can tell you if we continue doing a good job, I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that it’s (U.S. GP) going to go anywhere else.”

LOCKHART PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME SERIES BATTLE COMES TO MID-OHIO Yates and DiSalvo in tight Repsol Superstock Series race PICKERINGTON, Ohio (July 19, 2005) — A year ago Miguel Duhamel came into Mid-Ohio Sports Car course protecting a 17-point lead in the Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series over teammate Jake Zemke. This year the two riders have traded places Zemke comes to the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire on July 22-24, sporting a seven-point lead over Duhamel as the series enters the homestretch. It’s a two-rider race in the Repsol Superstock Series as well. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates has scored three wins in the last four rounds and taken over the series lead, but Graves Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo is keeping in contention with solid podium performances. Last year’s Mid-Ohio Formula Xtreme race proved to be a turning point in the series. Honda’s Duhamel and Zemke traded the lead until Zemke crashed out in the infamous Keyhole section of the track. Duhamel went on to win, building an insurmountable lead in the championship. Duhamel comes into the race this year needing to defend his victory of a year ago. If he’s able to do so he could virtually tie the points race with two rounds to go and would become the first rider to win back-to-back Mid-Ohio Formula Xtreme races. Zemke, on the other hand, is looking to redeem himself after losing his shot at the title with his Mid-Ohio crash last year. The Californian rider has won four races in six rounds and knows that he’ll have to keep that pace if he’s to score his first AMA championship. “The season has gone really well so far,” said Zemke, who has been runner-up in AMA road racing championships four times. “Now that the series is coming into the final few rounds I have to really keep my concentration high. I don’t have a big enough lead to relax. The bottom line is that I’ll still probably have to win two of the last three races to win the championship and I know it’s going to be a tough battle.” While the Zemke/Duhamel battle was expected in Formula Xtreme, young Oklahoman flat tracker turned road racer Danny Eslick has been a surprise in the series. Eslick is third in standings on his MPTracing.com Suzuki after tallying four top-five finishes. Eslick hopes to hold off Erion Racing Honda’s Alex Gobert in the closing stages of the season. Aaron Yates won the Mid-Ohio Superstock race (then called 750 Supersport) back in 1996. The veteran Georgina rider is back in the series for the first time since ’96 and a strong surge in the second half of the season has given Yates the series lead coming into Mid-Ohio. There have been five different winners in the seven Superstock races so far this year, but Yates is the only rider to manage more than a single win. He has three wins so far and a victory at Mid-Ohio would move Yates past the legendary Hall of Famer Fred Merkel for fifth on the all-time AMA Superstock wins list. Graves Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo is the only rider who has been able to hang with Yates in the course of the grueling championship chase. DiSalvo scored a win in the series at California Speedway early this season and followed that up with four other podium finishes. DiSalvo is the defending race winner at Mid-Ohio and a repeat win could move him even closer to his goal of winning the Superstock title. If DiSalvo scores a repeat victory he would be the first rider to defend a Mid-Ohio Superstock win since Scott Russell completed a three-peat at the track in 1992. The Lockhart-Phillips Formula Xtreme and highlights of the Repsol Superstock races will air on Tuesday, July 26 at 2 p.m. EST as part of SPEED Channel’s Two Wheel Tuesday. For additional information contact Mid-Ohio at (614) 793-4600 or visit www.midohio.com.

AMA PRO RACING ON TV THIS WEEK (July 24-July 29, 2005) (All times Eastern) AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited (Superbike Race 1), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Sunday, July 24, 2 p.m. (SPEED Channel) AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited (Superbike Race 2), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Sunday, July 24, 3 p.m. (SPEED Channel) AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Sunday, July 24, 4 p.m. (SPEED Channel) AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Tuesday, July 26, 2 p.m. (SPEED Channel) AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited (Superbike Race 1), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Wednesday, July 27, 4 a.m. (SPEED Channel) AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited (Superbike Race 2), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Thursday, July 28, 4 a.m. (SPEED Channel) AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Friday, July 29, 4 a.m. (SPEED Channel)

Round 9: Donington Park, United Kingdom Track length: 4023 m Opened: 1977 Fastest Lap Ever: 1:29.973 (Colin Edwards, 2004) MotoGP lap record: 1:29.973 (Colin Edwards, 2004) Last year MotoGP winner: Valentino Rossi 2004 MotoGP Race Summary Threatening rain in the early laps of the 2004 British Grand Prix could not stop Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi from picking up his fifth win of the year in commanding fashion. In front of 82,091 spectators Rossi’s one-man charge at the Donington track increased his championship lead to 22 points ahead of Honda riders Sete Gibernau and Max Biaggi. Rossi’s team-mate Carlos Checa made a determined ride to sixth place. Rossi took control of the British MotoGP from pole position into the first turn as he attempted an early breakaway. Passes from Loris Capirossi (Ducati) and Gibernau prevented him from such a tactic until the second lap, when he managed to pull out a short gap of 0.7 seconds. The distance between Rossi and the rest of the pack increased until half race distance, and his cushion of time had grown to over two seconds. The Italian continued his race domination to build a four second gap which he guarded throughout the final laps. Having eased off to enjoy a victory celebration he crossed the line with a margin of 2.945 seconds over his current 2005 team-mate Colin Edwards. 2005 Set-up report YZR-M1 Donington was a circuit born with a reputation for being challenging on both rider and machine, a reputation that only gained further strength with the 1987 extension – carried out to allow Donington to form part of the GP calendar. It’s this ‘modern’ extension that has added to the complexity of the circuit layout, which can be separated into two contrasting components. The first, from the start finish line to the right-hander called Coppice Corner, is a flowing sequence of medium to high-speed corners that drop down Craner Curves into the Old Hairpin before climbing back out on the approach to Coppice. In an extreme contrast the circuit is completed with a sequence of stop-and-go switchback and hairpins between Fogarty Esses and Goddard Corner. This one feature alone makes setting up a motorcycle chassis difficult, as a fast lap will come down to a compromise in all-round set-up. Add to that the lack of grip, which some say is due to the jet fuel residue left by the nearby East Midlands airport, and the best result will be achieved by the rider who can make the most of the situation. The main aim is to find a chassis that offers a good pitching balance during braking and acceleration – to increase the much needed grip levels. However too much and you lose stability under brakes in the second half of the lap; not enough and the bike will be difficult to turn through the faster sweeping opening sequence of turns. The catch is that the first half of the circuit lends itself to a fast lap-time, while a good set-up for the second half – the stop-and-go addition – is where many riders can make an easy pass. What also needs to be taken into consideration is that the undulating layout of the first part of the circuit pushes the front of the bike a great deal, while the second half is pretty much ‘highside’ territory. With this in mind softer spring rates front and rear will be used, with the fine-tuning left to the spring preload. This approach will improve drive and front-end feedback, although it will come at the expense of a little braking stability into the two hairpins. As for the YZR-M1’s in-line four-cylinder engine, its linear character will prove ideal for the slick layout. Still it will be tuned to offer a strong midrange and a progressive and predictable delivery. Confidence to use that power on a slippery surface infested with changing cambers is the key to success here.