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).

WINSTON MEN SEEK BRNO BOOST Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Chris Vermeulen and Karl Muggeridge head to the Czech Republic this weekend for round seven of this year’s World Superbike championship in search of further points. The Brno event marks the return of the series to the Czech venue for the first time since 1996. With one victory to his name already and two second place finishes last time out at Misano leaving him second in the championship standings, Vermeulen will be looking to make further inroads into the points lead of his fellow Australian, Troy Corser. Muggeridge, meanwhile, will be hoping to build on the qualifying form that put him on the front row in Italy. Ronald ten Kate team manager: “It’s our first time at Brno as a team and, although some of our competitors have tested there this season, we’ll be looking for a similar performance to last year’s at Laguna Seca in America. Chris had never seen the circuit before and took a double victory there, so we know from experience that anything is possible. Of course, testing at a new circuit is always an advantage but I certainly don’t think it rules us out of contention. We’re hoping to test one or two new chassis components in Brno to help us build on the base setting that saw us perform well in Misano and I know that both Chris and Karl are growing in confidence on the bike with each outing.” Chris Vermeulen championship position 2nd, 181 points: “I’m looking forward to the new challenge that Brno brings and excited about going to a new track. I’ve spoken to a few other guys who have raced there in MotoGP and it seems to be one of their favourites because it’s fast and flowing. It’s a shame we haven’t been able to test there but with only two test tracks allowed, there’s always going to be a compromise. It’s certainly going to be difficult going out on the first day but we’ll hopefully get up to speed quickly enough because the bike’s been getting better and better over the last few rounds. I’ve spoken to the guys back at the workshop and they’ve got a couple of new things for us to try. I reckon Brno should suit the Fireblade so we’re ready to go. I’m pretty relaxed because I managed to grab a few days back home in Australia between a couple of Suzuka 8-hour tests and, since I got back to Europe last week, I’ve been playing around with my new Ford Coupe, which is fantastic.” Karl Muggeridge championship position 10th, 65 points: “I’ve heard Brno is pretty quick but pretty bumpy, too, so that could throw up one or two problems. I’ll make sure I get lots of laps in on a scooter as soon as I arrive to get myself properly familiar with it. We’ll be playing a bit of catch up with those who have already tested and one or two ex-GP riders who I’m sure will remember which way it goes. We certainly found a better way forward at Misano and everything was going well through qualifying and Superpole. I just felt so rough on race day that I wasn’t able to convert that good set-up into a couple of decent finishes but we’re making progress each time we go out so I’m looking forward to the weekend. I’m also looking forward to some more of our own testing at Lausitzring in Germany straight after Brno. The championship hasn’t been there for a few years either so hopefully that might give us a bit of an advantage.” Championship points after six of 12 rounds: 1 Troy Corser AUS (Suzuki) 254, 2 Chris Vermeulen AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 181, 3 Regis Laconi FRA (Ducati) 162, 4 Yukio Kagayama JPN (Suzuki) 148, 5 James Toseland GBR (Ducati) 124, 6 Noryuki Haga JPN (Yamaha) 88, 7 Chris Walker GBR (Kawasaki) 87, 8 Pierfrancesco Chili ITA (Honda) 86, 9 Andrew Pitt AUS (Yamaha) 70, 10 Karl Muggeridge AUS (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 65. Brno World Superbike event schedule: Friday 15 July 10.30-11.30 free practice, 14.15-15.15 qualifying; Saturday 16 July 11.00-12.00 qualifying, 14.45-15.45 free practice, 16.00 Superpole; Sunday 17 July 09.20-09.40 warm-up, 12.00 race one (20 laps, 108.06km), 15.30 race two (20 laps, 108.06km).

Superbike & Supersport World Championships, Superstock FIM Cup Brno-CZE, 17/07/2005: Wild-card riders The wild-card riders who will race in the Superbike and Supersport World Championships rounds scheduled on the circuit of Brno on July 17 next, are the following : Superbike 59, Jiri Trcka (CZE-Ducati 999RS) JTR Ducati Corse 74, Adam Badziak (POL-Suzuki GSX-R 1000) Poland Position 79, Jiri Drazdak (SVK-Yamaha YZF R-1) Maco Moto Racing 80, Marek Svoboda (SVK-Yamaha YZF R-1) Maco Moto Racing 81, Milos Cihak (SVK-Yamaha YZF R-1) Maco Moto Racing 94, David Checa (SPA-Yamaha YZF R-1) GMT 94 Supersport 90, Pavel Ouda (CZE-Honda CBR 600RR) Midland Racing Moto World 91, Wolfgang Kerbl (AUT-Honda CBR 600RR) WK Racing Honda

Race Report: Hotbodies Racing Honda at Laguna Seca AMA Superbike, July 8-10 Larry Pegram #72 During the combined AMA Superbike/Moto GP weekend, Larry Pegram qualified his #72 HRC-kitted Honda CBR1000RR in 17th place and finished 12th in the Superbike class. Pegram said, “The weekend started out bad with us getting little practice time and then we had a problem with the transmission. We had to tear down the engine before qualifying and this set us back a step so we only set a time putting us 17th on the grid. But the bike was all set for the race and in one lap I made up a couple places and soon was in tenth. While fighting for ninth place I ran into a lapper and went off the track. I came back on in 12th and wasn’t able to make up any positions before the race ended. So I’m sort of torn; I’m happy with how I was riding and know I could have taken more positions so I’m not that happy with how it ended up. We have really figured the bike out and have made up for our lack of testing so we’re still improving.” Pegram is now eleventh in Superbike points for the season. Jeremy Toye #57 Jeremy Toye qualified his nearly more-partially fully HRC-kitted Honda CBR1000RR in 18th for Superbike, and moved up in the race to finish 14th. Toye, the man I’m most interested in partying with, said, “Practice was really unusual. It went just as planned?! Well, almost. Prior to this event we built the engine as it should have been when the season started and we did some testing at Willow Springs and we had new suspension parts and took ten pounds off bike. So we had ten more hp and the bike worked great and everything was as it should be and it was almost overwhelming for my little brain. In the race we got up to 14th, which is nothing spectacular but we continued moving forward instead of backwards. I was focused and ready for others to add to our accomplishments but every racer had a near perfect weekend, so we only got what we earned. And that’s all you can ever expect. The cool thing was Larry and I had retro paint jobs on our bikes so they looked like 1983 Honda Superbikes. Roger Davis of Hotbodies had wanted us to do something special with the paint for this event. What made it was how three other teams had retro paint jobs too in celebration of their racing histories. I have the same number as one of Honda’s old riders and Cycle News ran a picture of the two of our bikes in a recent issue, before we even did our retro paint job.” Justin Filice #170 Competing in is first AMA Superbike event at Laguna Seca, Justin Filice qualified his Honda CBR600RR in 30th place for Supersport, finishing the race in 29th after an off-track detour. Filice said, “In practice and qualifying we struggled. The forks felt as if they were bound up. We only had an hour of practice so it was hard to make changes and have time to see how they felt. In Saturday’s practice I dropped five seconds off my times. Qualifying wasn’t until Sunday morning before our race and it went okay. I did my fastest lap up to then. At the beginning of the race gong into turn two some guy cut me off and I locked the front and by the time I got it together I was last, so I had a lot of work to do. The bike was much better for the race. I went the fastest I had gone all weekend and overall the bike was tremendously better for the race. This weekend we struggled but I like the track. It’s challenging and fun, and it’s hard to go fast here. It’s deceptive. And it was a good time; I saw Brad Pitt and met Colin Edwards, and Valentino Rossi. It was a great event.” More, from a press release issued by Team Hotbodies Racing Cory West #187 2004 Rookie of the Year, Cory West, qualified his Suzuki GSX-R1000 in 28th for Superbike, and then put the hammer down to move up ten positions to finish 18th. Due to logistics problems, West was unavailable for comment prior to deadline. Nicky Moore #28 Returning to race after recuperating from injuries suffered in a fall at the AMA Superbike event at Barber Motorsports Park, Nicky Moore qualified in 36th place for the Superbike race and finished 30th. But in Supersport, the class Moore has competed in all season long, Moore qualified 15th and finished ninth. Due to travel requirements, Moore was unavailable for comment. Taylor Knapp #38 In Supersport, Taylor Knapp put his Yamaha YZF-R6 in 26th place on the grid, proving by race time he’d solved his problems by finishing 17th. Knapp said, “We didn’t have a lot of time for practice and I’d never been here before. With the Moto GP race everything was short and I was still trying to figure out shift points during qualifying. After qualifying we tried a new gear that helped and the suspension was good so we were ready. In the race I had a good first lap. I passed a bunch of riders in the first lap. There were about ten guys doing about the same time as me and so I knew I had to work my way through them. I love Laguna’s track. It’s big and smooth and I like the elevation changes. It fits my style well. It’s a really hard track to learn but now I’ll be better for next year.” Heath Small #27 Heath Small qualified his Yamaha YZF-R6 20th for the Supersport race at Laguna Seca, and somehow in the flowing, roiling river of the race, Small finished 20th too. About his weekend Small said, “We arrived late for practice and it was our first weekend at Laguna. We had 18 minutes of practice on Friday. I dropped my lap times but had some front-end issues. The track felt real good. The next day, I don’t know why, the bike felt totally different and after a few turns I tucked the front and slid down the track. We fixed the bike but it still felt bad. We tried some changes but ran out of time. We tried to put the bike close to our baseline setting and it still didn’t fell very good. So we changed the tire pressure and it was way better. On my second lap of qualifying I pulled to the side to let some riders by and get ready for my flying lap but I missed the flag by four seconds, so we had to grid where we were. We set the bike up some more and it was better but we could never test for one long stint because they were all so short. After halfway through the race the bike went away. I wondered, am I doing something wrong? My times were consistent, but it felt like I was going slower. We did the best we could so we’ll take this and do the week prior to the AMA stuff at Mid-Ohio. All of the crew worked really hard. Maybe after my crash I rode a little differently and noticed things more. But it was awesome to ride in front of such a big crowd. I have to thank the racing fans for coming out to see us.” More, from a press release issued by Proforma: A BETTER WEEKEND FOR MILLENNIUM KWS SUZUKI Lee Acree and Blake Young of the Millennium KWS Suzuki team continued to work with the crew to improve the handling and balance of their Suzuki GSX-Rs at round seven of the AMA Superbike Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The combined MotoGP/AMA Superbike Championship event boasted a three-day attendance of over 153,000 person. Lee was able to make improvements to the forks on both of his GSX-R1000s, which resulted in 17th and 14th place finishes, respectively, in Superbike and Superstock. Blake had his best finish ever in Supersport with a fine 10th place, and he came from a fifth row starting position to finish 16th in Superstock. Lee Acree Saturday’s Superbike Final – 17th Place “It was a little nutty at the start,” said Lee. “I ended up behind more people than I wanted to be. But I got behind Cory (West) and sort of sat on him late in the race. Cory actually came by us when they were giving Clint (McBain) and I the blue flag. There were several places that I was stronger than him, and I didn’t really have to use the strategy I’d designed for my last lap pass. He sort of did it for me. In trying to prevent me from carrying out my plan, he ran a little wide in turn six, and went past him and got a gap to the finish.” Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 14th Place “The Superstock bike felt largely like the Superbike did yesterday, so we made a little improvement,” said Lee, a little disappointed. “It’s still not doing what I need it to do. There’s guys that earlier in the season I was running with, and I don’t know if they’re figuring stuff out and I’m not, or what. I got a few positions by virtue of people crashing, and I got by a few people that had qualified in front of me.” Blake Young Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 16th Place “I tried to make up ground on the guys in front of me,” said Blake. “But I ended up getting stuck where I was. I just kept pushing and pushing, and the harder I pushed the more mistakes I made. So I just tried to relax, and about that time Lee (Acree) and Mark Miller got past me. Mark and I went back and forth a few times, passing each other, basic high/low stuff. I tried setting him up for a last lap move, but I just couldn’t put it all together.” Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport Final – 10th Place “This is my best finish ever in Supersport,” said Blake, who was pleased with his race and his finish position. “Heading into turn two off the start, I was in that group from tenth through fourteenth place. Throughout the whole race, there was passing everywhere you could. I accidentally killed the bike on the front straight while I was adjusting the brakes, so everybody went around me and I was back to fourteenth. So I worked my way back up, then Jeff Tigert crashed in turn five. Chris Siglen had to check up, Robert Jensen ran wide and I went underneath them. I sat behind Nick (Nicky Moore) for a while, then I came down into turn two and Danny (Eslick) was off in the gravel trap. He came back on track in front of Nick, and we went around him. I was trying to run Nick down, but I wasn’t making up enough ground. The bike was awesome. It was real hot out there, so I’m sure everybody’s tires were slipping and sliding around. My tires worked the whole way. It was fun.” More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: MAY POSTS CAREER BEST SUPERSPORT FINISH AT LAGUNA SECA Team M4 EMGO Suzuki rounded out the high-profile USGP weekend at Laguna Seca on Sunday by claiming their best finish of the season in the AMA Supersport class. Geoff May rebounded from a poor launch off the line to battle in the top five throughout the 17-lap race aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R600. On the final lap, he held off the defending class champion by just 0.012 at the checkered flag to claim fifth place. After picking up the best Supersport finish of his career, May said, “My initial reaction at the very beginning was ‘Uh oh, this is not going to be fun.’ I got a horrible start. But it allowed me to see what was going on going into Turn 2 and I just rode around the outside of everybody. Those guys all slowed down in front there.” He continued: “I got past a couple guys and then I saw the leader go down and I realized I was in fourth. I thought at that point I might be able to get a podium, and I kept charging as hard as I could the entire race. The Pirelli tires were great the whole way — they had tons of grip — and the Suzuki worked great too.” Unfortunately, the Superstock final didn’t go as smoothly for Team M4 EMGO Suzuki. May was forced to pull his GSX-R1000 into the pits on lap five due to a minor mechanical problem. The team quickly repaired his racebike but elected not to send him back out on the track a lap down. Michael Barnes worked his way up from twelfth place on the opening lap to ninth on lap ten but crashed out of the race the following circulation. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki will be back in action in two weeks time as the AMA roadracing championships descend upon to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 22-24. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: KAWASAKI FINISHES STRONG AT LAGUNA SECA Roger Hayden scores third in Superstock and second in Supersport MONTEREY, Calif. Reigning AMA Supersport champion Tommy Hayden and series runner-up Roger Hayden had a roller coaster weekend aboard their Kawasaki motorcycles as AMA motorcycle road racing returned to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last weekend. In the AMA Superstock race, Tommy and Roger blasted off the grid with Tommy settling into second and Roger in third by the end of the first lap. Tommy rode strong and consistent throughout the race to eventually take the lead on lap ten. However, with only three laps to go, his chance for a victory was eliminated after he was edged off the track by a lapped rider and crashed. Roger held his position to capture his first podium of the day by finishing third. Tommy was evaluated by on-site physicians immediately following the crash and released after being diagnosed with a small fracture in his right hand. He is scheduled for further evaluation later this week. In AMA Supersport action, Attack Kawasaki rider Ben Attard had his best start of the season and moved into first place before the opening lap was complete. The affable Australian held his position until lap three before he crashed in a tight turn. Attard’s mishap allowed Roger Hayden to take over the lead until the final lap where he ended up in an intense battle with Jason Disalvo. Roger rode smooth and strong until a braking duel during the last turn opened the door for Disalvo to take the win. Tommy Hayden, who also earned his fifth pole position of the season earlier in the day, started in fourth despite enduring extreme pain in his right hand and soldiered towards the lead throughout the duration of the event. The elder Hayden gave a hero’s effort to finish a respectable sixth place and collect a valuable 26 points in the process. Roger’s runner-up finish also moved him into second place in the overall point standings. During the AMA Superbike race on Saturday, Attack Kawasaki rider Josh Hayes’ weekend was unfortunately over almost as quickly as it started. After qualifying in eighth, Hayes had a respectable start but crashed during the first lap. Racing resumes when the teams head to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, July 22-24. More, from a press release issued by Proforma: MICHAEL JORDAN MOTORSPORTS SUZUKI MOVES FORWARD AT LAGUNA SECA The Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki team had a satisfying round seven of the AMA Superbike Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in front of over 150,000 spectators at the combined MotoGP/AMA Superbike event. Jason Pridmore did well after several races off due to injury, his body fully fit after surgery to remove a ruptured spleen and plate a broken foot. Steve Rapp jumped from fifth to third in the Repsol Superstock point standings, and Montez Stewart continued to gain confidence as his experience grows in the AMA Superbike Championship. Jason Pridmore Saturday’s Superbike Final – 10th Place “It was good,” said Pridmore. “It was nice seeing a green flag and a checkered flag in the same day. Just a lot of chaos out there. That’s what happens when you qualify on the fourth row. There were people everywhere for the first 10 laps. I didn’t want to be caught up in the drama. I was focused on running down the guys in front of me. I saw Steve (Rapp) up there and focused on him. Really, this was about getting a weekend under my belt. I’m trying to make my bike better. It feels comfortable to me, and I feel like I’m riding well, just a little bit cautious.” Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 11th Place “I got a great start again,” Pridmore said. “I just had no grip, from lap one, I had zero grip. I couldn’t do anything with those guys. I couldn’t get the bike off the corners the way I wanted. I got by Bucky (Damon Buckmaster) pretty hard in turn four, then he passed me back. I passed him back and put my head down and started catching a couple of the other boys. With like seven laps to go, I went into turn two and it wouldn’t go into second gear. A couple more laps and it wouldn’t go into gear at all. It was stuck in third gear. Even when I ran off out in the gravel, it was still in third gear. I got back on but I had to go through there in third gear for the rest of the race. We got through the weekend and learned a lot about our bike. We’ll go from here and try to do better at Mid-Ohio.” Steve Rapp Saturday’s Superbike Final – 8th Place “We switched to the back-up bike just before the race,” said Rapp. “The clutch was slipping on my A bike. The set-up wasn’t exactly the same. I hadn’t ridden the back-up bike all weekend. The race went pretty well. I think it was like five laps to go, I got through a group of about six riders. Not that I could ride any harder, but I just tried to be careful and not overshoot corners, get on the gas good and brake good. I tried to keep my pace up the rest of the race, but Kurtis (Roberts) passed me on the very last lap.” Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 6th Place “The bike itself felt good,” said Rapp. “I was just lacking traction, that was my biggest problem. It’s kind of been the same problem all year, really. I don’t think it’s tires so much, just a set-up problem. But I got a pretty good start, and I was with them (the leaders), but I couldn’t gain on them. After three or four laps, it started spinning a little bit more, and that’s when (Jake) Holden and (John) Haner passed me. It was kind of an uneventful race after that. I knew I wasn’t going to catch them, so I just really tried to diagnose what the problem was so I could tell the crew so we can fix it. Montez Stewart Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 23rd Place “I had a pretty good day, considering I got down to my goal time of 1:32s,” said Stewart, pleased with his progress at the tricky Northern California circuit. “I did five or six 1:32s, and that’s what I was shooting for yesterday. I went out this morning and had a problem with the clutch, so I went out on my B bike. I could have raced it, but of course it didn’t feel the same. They fixed the clutch on the A bike, new brake pads, and it felt good. This is only my second time here, and it went well. I ran with J.J. (Roetlin) and a couple of other guys. It was a really good weekend overall.” More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: Pirelli Race Report: Laguna Seca July 8-10 Pirelli Privateers Tops in Two Classes The first finishing non-factory riders in AMA Superstock and Supersport, at this weekend’s AMA Superbike event at Laguna Seca, Mazda Raceway, each relied on the benefits of Pirelli tires for their achievements. In AMA Superstock, Lion Racing teammates Jacob Holden and John Haner nabbed fourth and fifth, respectively, on their Suzuki GSX-R1000s. Each rider finished less than five seconds behind the race’s winner, and barely two seconds from earning a step on the podium. After 17 laps of competing against the nation’s most seasoned racers on 1000cc big-bore bikes, Holden and Haner still had the race leader in sight as the checkered flag waved. In the AMA Supersport event, M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May finished fifth, right behind four full-fledged factory riders. Including the performances of Nicky Moore and Blake Young, Pirelli riders claimed three of the top ten positions in Supersport. With Pirelli-shod racers repeatedly grabbing great results, the argument of factory advantage is being eroded. Riders don’t need to own a motorcycle company to do well, they just a set of Pirelli race-spec tires.

PASSION, KANDO AND THE FUTURE UNITED AT YAMAHA’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION A glittering array of national and world champions were united for a unique celebration on Friday as Yamaha Motor Company toasted its 50th Anniversary in a memorable event at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. As giant octopus, sea otters, sharks and rays patrolled the tanks and towering kelp forests that provided a spectacular backdrop to the evening’s events, Yamaha Motor Company Chairman Mr Toru Hasegawa opened the festivities with a rousing speech to a packed audience, filled with legends in virtually every imaginable discipline of motorcycle racing. “Yamaha Motor Company is honoured to have a proud history, rich with innovation and leadership, based largely on our strong racing heritage,” said Mr Hasegawa. “This racing heritage is proven by names such as Kel Carruthers, Steve Baker, Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey and now Valentino Rossi, each of which have won World Championships for Yamaha throughout our 50 year history. “At Yamaha our business is based on three key words; Passion, Kando and the Future. Passion is what each of us shares in the heritage that has built this company for 50 years. Passion is what we share when Valentino Rossi kisses his M1 after a victory. And Passion is the underlying force that will guide us even further into the future. “Kando is the overwhelming sense of enjoyment, excitement and emotion each rider feels whenever they experience any Yamaha product. This sense often leaves meaningful memories that will last for the rest of their lives. And finally the future is about our vision for the next 50 years and the unlimited boundaries and inspiration that racing provides for our riders, race fans and customers throughout the world.” After Mr Hasegawa’s speech had ended, Bob Starr, Corporate Communications Manager at Yamaha Motor Corporation USA, had the honour of introducing no fewer than 25 of the factory’s most celebrated riders to the stage. Over a quarter of a century of World Championship titles were present as legendary names of the past including Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson, Kel Carruthers and Steve Baker were joined on stage by fellow road racing stars Randy Mamola, Rich Oliver, Don Emde, Jamie James and Thomas Stevens. From the off-road scene, former Motocross Champions Gary Jones, Marty Moates, Jeff Emig, Rick Burgett, Broc Glover, Doug Henry were joined by Supercross stars Mike Bell, Damon Bradshaw and Pierre Karsmakers. The glittering line-up was completed by Yamaha’s current stars and some of the factory’s brightest hopes for the future, including AMA Superstock and Supersport Champions Aaron Gobert and Jamie Hacking and AMA 250SX Champion Chad Reed. The last men on stage were Yamaha’s MotoGP factory pairing of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards and, fittingly, it was the reigning World Champion who had the last word. “Yamaha have the best riders in the world!” declared Rossi, before joining the party.