DiSalvo Wins for Yamaha’s 50th Anniversary Jason DiSalvo, of Stafford, New York extended his streak of pole positions to 5 consecutive while setting a new track record in the 1000cc SuperStock class at the American GrandPrix run in conjunction with the American Motorcycle Association SuperBike races held at Mazada Laguna Seca RoadRacing course, July 8th, 9th, and 10th. The weekend of racing brought back to the US the premier motorcycle event “World GrandPrix-Moto GP” which has not been run on American soil since 1994. Jason participated in the 1000cc SuperStock and 600cc SuperSport classes, with a full schedule, Jason began the weekend by posting the fastest time in both Friday practices then on Saturday July 9th during qualifying he set a new track record in the 1000cc SuperStock class of 1 min 26.294 sec giving him his 5th consecutive pole position in that class. Sunday with a very heavy schedule with practice and qualifying for the 600cc SuperSport event put Jason second to the championship leader on the front row. The first race at 11:30am telecast live on Speed TV where Jason started from the pole position he battled with the lead group until the final two laps where Jason and the championship leader broke away for a fantastic battle with Jason pressuring the leader in every turn. On the final lap in the last turn Jason made a heroic pass going into turn eleven for the dash to the finish line but came up short at the checkered flag having to settle with second place. During the 600cc SuperSport race Jason started from the front row. With a less than stellar start Jason got pushed wide in turn one and two along with 2 of his teammates. With one lap done he found himself back in 10th position. With determination and help from one of his teammates (Aaron Gobert) they fought their way to the front pack. He commented after the race, “I saw the leader and we had 6 laps to go but he was 4 seconds ahead and I didn’t know if I could catch him.” For the next 6 laps Jason ran almost a second faster per lap than the leader closing with two laps to go. He continued to pressure the leader to the final lap and last turn making the same courageous move he had done earlier. This time making it stick and winning a very hard fought race. With first place in 600cc SuperSport he is currently 3rd in the championship and his 2nd place in 1000cc SuperStock keeps him in 2nd place well in contention. Yamaha Motorsports celebrating their 50th anniversary used special colors and designs, which were from the 1970’s. The fans were treated to some of the best racing this year. Jason will be back in New York training for the up-coming Mid-Ohio race course event near Mansfield Ohio (the closest track to home) to be held July 24th, 25th, and 26th.

PARTS CANADA RENEWS DEAL TORONTO, ON Parts Canada has renewed its title sponsorship of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship for another three years. The new arrangement takes effect with the 2006 season and will continue through 2008. The Calgary-based business, a wholesaler of aftermarket motorcycle parts with sales representatives across the country, is the sister company of U.S.-based Parts Unlimited. The sponsorship extension was announced at the recent Parts Canada Superbike Championship doubleheader at Race City Motorsport Park. “We are owned by Parts Unlimited and their motto is ‘we support the sport.’ The people who come to these races are our customers. We want to support it on the backside,” said Parts Canada president James Danyluk. Parts Canada is the exclusive distributor for many leading motorsports products, including HJC, Alpinestars, DP Brakes, Dynojet, Hindle Exhaust, Vance & Hines and Yoshimura. The 2006 season will also see the Parts Canada Superbike Championship broadcast in High Definition television for the first time on TSN. The series recently concluded an arrangement with TSN to have the series shown this summer in one-hour episodes on the all-sports network. “We are thrilled to extend our affiliation with Parts Canada for another three years,” said Colin Fraser, president of series organizer Professional Motorsports Productions. “They are the perfect partners. They are a very well recognized and respected company in this industry, and we are proud to have them involved with our series. The continued success of this partnership speaks volumes about the respect our two organizations have for each other.” Parts Canada became title sponsor of the Canadian national road racing series at the start of the 2000 season, making this the sixth year it has been affiliated with the Superbike tour. The new deal will take the relationship to nine years and counting. The relationship between the two organizations began in 1997, when the national Superbike tour began using a Dynojet Dyno to monitor the series’ horsepower limits. In addition to its title sponsorship, Parts Canada also supports the national series through the HJC Pro Rookie of the Year award, which was introduced in 2000. This year Parts Canada will also award a cash bonus to the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike champion. “It’s gone very well. Everyone’s been great,” Danyluk said. “We know the job’s being done and renewing our deal wasn’t even a question. We consider ourselves as much a part of the series as the people working in the corners.” The 2005 Parts Canada Superbike Championship consists of eight races at five separate venues across the country. Blackfoot Suzuki rider Clint McBain swept the doubleheader at Race City to take over the points lead from Francis Martin after three events. The tour continues with another doubleheader at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, ON this weekend.

Yamaha/Graves Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking will not race at the next round of the AMA Championship series, July 22-24 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and will instead continue re-habilitating his injured elbows near Dr. Arthur Ting’s Fremont, California office. “I’m going to go home after this,” Hacking told Roadracingworld.com Sunday in the paddock of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, where he was participating in Yamaha’s 50th anniversary activities, “gather things up, turn around and go back out to Dr. Ting’s for about another three weeks and finish up my re-hab and get things back into working conditions. “I definitely won’t be at Mid-Ohio. I’m shooting for Virginia (International Raceway, VIR). If I don’t feel like I’m 100% for Virginia, for sure, I should be 100% for Road Atlanta. “My main goal is to be ready. I don’t want to be riding around still trying to heal. I want to be ready and ready to win. That’s all I want to do.” Hacking suffering bone fractures and tendon and ligament damage in both of his elbows when he crashed while training on his bicycle in Colorado in late-May. He had surgery a few days later at Dr. Ting’s office (resulting in 12-inch and six-inch incision scars on each of his elbows), and has been doing re-habilitation work ever since. At the time of his injury, Hacking was leading the Superstock Championship, with one victory, and was second in the Supersport standings, with two wins and five podiums in five races.

SPEED Channel’s Greg White sat down with MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi before last weekend’s race at Laguna Seca for an exclusive interview that will air tomorrow night on 2 Wheel Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET & PT). Rossi, the reigning MotoGP champion talks about his personal life, his riding history and the challenges of dealing with his immense popularity in Europe. SPEED Channel is the nation’s first and foremost cable network dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive. From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED Channel delivers quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in nearly 70 million homes in North America, SPEED Channel is among the fastest growing sports cable networks in the country.

EDWARDS AND MELANDRI TO STAR IN CHAT SHOW Tuesday 19th July, Club Amadeus, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, 8pm Two of the stars of Moto GP will be visiting the quaint market town of Northallerton in North Yorkshire for the tenth annual ‘Night With The Stars’ which takes place next Tuesday evening, 19th July at Club Amadeus. The ‘Texas Tornado’ COLIN EDWARDS, will be joined on stage by Italian sensation MARCO MELANDRI in the chat show organised by the North Yorkshire Road Racing Supporters Club and a bumper crowd is once again expected to attend this unique event which is only days before the British Grand Prix at Donington Park. Edwards, team mate to the legendary Valentino Rossi this season in the Gauloises Yamaha team, makes his fourth visit to the annual show whilst Movistar Honda ace Melandri will be making his debut. Accompanying the GP megastars on stage will be two big names from the British domestic racing scene. Eight times TT winner and outright lap record holder John McGuinness will be sharing the spotlight with British Superbike Championship sensation Michael Laverty in an evening of fun aimed at race fans getting up close and personal with the stars. The evening will be hosted by BBC Moto GP commentator Steve Parrish, ably assisted by BSB presenter Larry ‘Scoop’ Carter and as well as the chat show, there will be a raffle, auction and trade stands as well as a late bar and night club. Laverty’s BSB Honda Fireblade will be on display along with other bikes and as an added tempter, Honda Racing’s Chris Herring has procured a unique lot to be auctioned in aid of the 10 year old daughter of bike journalist Gus Scott, who was killed earlier this year. Two VIP paddock passes for the Donington Park British Grand Prix the following weekend will be on offer along with a prized vehicle pass for event and three lunches (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) with Repsol Honda, Movistar Honda and Gauloises Yamaha. Doors open at 7.30pm with the show starting at 8pm and admission is £8.00 per adult with accompanied children £2.00. All proceeds will be donated as usual to local riders. For further information please contact chief organiser Sue Symons on 01904 339647.

In addition to a general beating, Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden suffered an injury to his right hand when he mis-judged a pass on a lapped rider during Sunday’s AMA Superstock race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and crashed at high speed outside of turn four. Hayden, the AMA Supersport Championship leader coming into the Laguna Seca round, was unsure if he would race in the Supersport final later Sunday afternoon but did so, albeit in tremendous discomfort due to his hand injury. After that race, Hayden told Roadracingworld.com that he planned to have his right hand examined by Dr. Arthur Ting, who was on-site as the Medical Director at Laguna Seca and has offices in Fremont, California, not far from Laguna Seca, “soon.”

Superbike World Championship preview – round seven: Brno Round seven: Czech Republic, Brno Track length: 5403 m Opened: 1987 Superbike lap record: 2:04.019 (Troy Corser, 1996) The Superbike World Championship welcomes back the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic to its calendar, with the 2005 series passing the halfway point there this weekend. The long and flowing circuit is a firm fixture in the MotoGP calendar, but has been visited just twice by the superbikers – in 1993 and 1996. Yamaha Motor Italia riders Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt will not be strangers to the circuit however. The pair spent two days testing at Brno last month and found good base settings ahead of Friday’s first qualifying. Having gone into the last two rounds with no set-up data, Haga and Pitt are confident of continuing the R1’s development during the race weekend. Haga goes to Brno as the top Yamaha runner in the championship, with a brace of hard fought sixth places at Misano moving him up to sixth in the standings. “Misano was very tough but I think we did a good job to take two sixth places after qualifying down in 21st,” said the Japanese rider. “We’ve already spent two days at Brno, working on the chassis settings and finding a race set-up. That was all we did during the test there – working on the race set-up and not using qualifying tyres – so I am confident that we have a good base that won’t see me starting from the sixth row again!” Team-mate Pitt goes to Brno after a Misano nightmare that saw him fail to finish either race and slip back to ninth in the championship. However the resilient Australian feels that testing at Brno will give them a head start this weekend. He said: “After two tough weekends at new tracks for our R1 it will be good to get to a circuit where we at least have some data ahead of the race weekend. We’re going to Brno with a base setting and we should be able to spend Friday improving them rather than just trying to find something that works like we did in Misano and Silverstone.” Also looking for improved fortunes are the Yamaha Motor France team. Misano saw the team’s Norick Abe score just one point in “one of the worst weekends of my career” while team-mate Sebastien Gimbert looks to return to action after missing Misano with a leg injury. “The last three races have been tough,” admitted Abe. “The first three were held on courses of which I had experience from Grands Prix and I am looking forward to Brno, which is a circuit I know well. It is a course which I enjoy riding, although I have never finished on the podium there. Maybe that is something I can change this weekend.” Brno technical guide Although a new track for most of the superbike teams and riders, Brno is a popular stop on the MotoGP calendar. At 5.4km, Brno is the longest circuit the superbikers will race at this year. Combined with the wide, smooth, track surface, it’s a venue which also allows a variety of competitive racing lines and passing opportunities – majority of the time this takes place under brakes. Far from being a flat circuit the elevation changes are quite varied in the second half, while the corners themselves often feature a typically positive camber. The Brno tarmac also offers good grip, without the reputation for tearing up tyres. With this in mind, recent tests at the venue focused almost exclusively on chassis settings. By altering the height of the rear swingarm pivot, both Haga and Pitt were able to improve the steering characteristics of their machines, while Pirelli’s new, wider, 200 section rear tyres, introduced for the first time in Misano, should offer improved side grip and drive out of the many long radius corners. Brno features no really hard braking zones but, with so many constant radius corners, throttle connection and a linear power delivery are important, another key development area for the Yamaha Motor Italia team this year and an area where the machines have been transformed throughout the season. Supersport World Championship Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes go to Brno on a high after a hectic June that has seen them improve the settings of their YZF-R6 machines dramatically. Both joined their superbike colleagues to test at the circuit a few weeks ago and were delighted with the results: finding good suspension settings for the race and testing tyres for championship supplier Pirelli. This work was continued last weekend when the squad stayed on at Misano to compete in a national championship round at the Italian venue. Parkes won the race, his first victory on a Yamaha, but more importantly both riders reported improved front end suspension set-up. With six of the 12 rounds gone, Curtain lies third in the championship with Parkes in fifth. FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Occupying the top three positions in the Superstock FIM 1000 Cup, the internal battle between Yamaha’s officially-supported superstock riders should provide a fascinating appetiser in Brno. Just 10 points separate the R1 riders, with Italian class rookie Massimo Roccoli taking the championship lead at his home race in Misano three weeks ago. Early season pace setter Kenan Sofuoglu is set to return to action after missing out on Misano, albeit not yet 100 percent recovered from his a broken hand. The Turkish rider remains second in the series, eight points behind Roccoli but just two ahead of Yamaha Motor Germany team-mate Didier van Keymeulen. Van Keymeulen scored another second in Misano and goes to Brno with the advantage of a day’s testing at the venue last month. Another Yamaha youngster to look out for is Italian starlet Claudio Corti, who leads the European Superstock 600 Championship after winning three of the first four rounds on his YZF-R6.

CHARPENTIER JOINED BY CRAIG JONES FOR CZECH CHALLENGE World Superpsort championship leader, Sébastien Charpentier, will have a new team-mate for this weekend’s seventh round event at Brno in the Czech Republic. The Winston Honda rider will be joined by Britain’s Craig Jones, who replaces the injured Katsuaki Fujiwara. While Charpentier seeks his fifth win of the season and an extension of his series points lead over Fujiwara, Jones heads for the 5.4km Brno circuit direct from last Sunday’s British Supersport race at Snetterton, following which he holds second place in the UK domestic championship. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “We’re sorry that Kats (Fujiwara) won’t be with us in Brno but wish him a speedy recovery from his back injury. Gerrit (ten Kate) has been following Craig Jones’s career in the British championship for the last couple of years and, of course, we saw his performance as a wild-card at the recent World Supersport event at Silverstone. As one of the brightest young prospects in British racing, Craig was a natural choice for us to replace Kats at Brno. It’s always difficult riding as a replacement, though, so we won’t be putting any pressure on him. We just want him to enjoy the experience and to get a taste for life in a world championship team. Of course, it’s our first visit to Brno as a team so we’ll be working hard to give Sébastien a good race set-up that will allow him to continue his domination of the series.” Sébastien Charpentier championship position 1st, 140 points: “I was very sorry when I heard about Kats crashing in Japan and look forward to welcoming him back to the team at the Brands Hatch round. He has given me the strongest challenge this season and has taken two race wins to show how strong he is. But I’m looking forward to welcoming Craig to the team and giving him whatever help I can. It’ll be good to know that he’s on our side for this race because he was certainly impressive at Silverstone in May. I’ve heard a lot about the Brno circuit and think that it will suit both my style and the CBR’s characteristics. I know our main challengers from both Honda and Yamaha have tested there already so we will need to get up to speed very quickly to help the championship, which is our overall priority.” Craig Jones: “I feel very sorry for Kats and hope he recovers quickly but, as you can imagine, I am very excited to have been given this opportunity. I’d like to thank Gerrit and Ronald of course, but also my team manager in the UK, Gary Ekerold, who has been kind enough to release me for this ride. I really enjoyed the Silverstone event and managed to qualify on the front row, even though I had a mechanical failure in the race. I’ve wanted to ride for Gerrit for a long time and I can’t wait to get on one of the famous Ten Kate Hondas. I hope the fact that most of the other riders haven’t been to Brno either will give me a level playing field to start with, but I understand the team won’t put any pressure on me. I’m just really looking forward to the whole experience.” World Supersport Championship points after six of 12 rounds: 1 Sébastien Charpentier FRA (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 140, 2 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 106, 3 Kevin Curtain AUS (Yamaha) 93, 4 Fabien Foret FRA (Honda) 74, 4 Broc Parkes AUS (Yamaha) 60, 5 Stephane Chambon FRA (Honda) 46, 6 Michel Fabrizio ITA (Honda) 42, 7 Gianluca Nannelli ITA (Ducati) 41, 9 Tauto Lauslehto FIN (Honda) 36, 10 Javier Fores ESP (Suzuki) 36. Brno World Supersport event schedule: Friday 15 July 09.35-10.20 free practice, 13.15-14.00 qualifying; Saturday 16 July 10.00-10.45 free practice, 13.45-14.30 qualifying; Sunday 17 July 09.50-10.10 warm-up, 13.20 race (18 laps, 97.254km).