See Bazza’s World Championship Winning RG500’s ‘The Sheene Run’ 3rd July 2005 www.thesheenerun.com This year’s Sheene Run, the unique town centre event that sees a mile of permanent road closure in the centre of Rugby has been given another major boost as the Auto Cycle Union (ACU) announce that two of Barry’s World Championship bikes are set to return to the UK from Australia. The machines are those ridden by Barry in his World Championship years of 1976 and 1977. The RG500s have been out of the Country for 21 years since ‘Bazza’ emigrated to Australia in 1984. The machines will bring a very special addition to the event, which has already lined up 7 other machines ridden by the biking legend. Despite the RG’s having been dry stored for many years, it is hoped the machines will actually run at the event in Rugby on Sunday 3 July 2005. Barry’s mechanic, Martin Ogbourne and engine guru Nigel Everitt will be examining the machines when they return in a week’s time to determine what needs to be done to get them running again. Host for the day in Rugby is Steve Parrish who, in addition to being one of the commentators on the day, will also ride one of the machines. Discussions are still ongoing with another rider of Barry’s era to ride the second machine. Steve commented “It is incredibly exciting that the bikes are coming back and that the event organisers have every intention of getting them running. If Martin can make that happen, I have made it known that I want to be riding one of them! I know Stephanie is thrilled the event is happening again and that Barry’s memory is being kept alive.” The bikes will subsequently go on display at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu for an at present undefined period of time. The man behind the event, ACU’s Neil Hellings said: ” Bringing the bikes back is fantastic and I am extremely grateful to Stephanie for agreeing to it. I, like most people in the their late thirties or over, remember Barry as an icon and to once more see and hopefully hear and smell the bikes again is going to be magical.” The Sheene Run sees bikes of all shapes and sizes ‘enjoy’ the closed roads of the town centre. In addition to the growing number of Sheene bikes, making the most of the closed roads will be numerous other race bikes that are running on the day as well as cavalcades of road legal machines, stunt riders and even a Mitsubishi works World Rally Car is being lined up. An impressive collection of Brooklands racers will be attending the event and recreate a 1920’s paddock to create the atmosphere of those pioneering days of racing. Riders attending include Mick Grant, John Cooper, Bill Smith and fastest lady around the TT, Maria Costello. Rugby Borough Council and Warwickshire County Council have really got behind both the National Rally and The Sheene Run and it is great to see, local political support for motorcycle events. Anyone with a race or classic bike that wants to join in the fun can do so by contacting [email protected] or by calling 01788 566415. The event has a comprehensive website www.thesheenerun.com where you can get all the details of this event that takes motorcycling to the very heart of a town centre. This year’s event is also tying up with the National Rally, which finishes in Rugby that morning and the profits from the day are going to Mencap. Certain aspects of the day will be charged for, but an advanced ticket costs just £10 which will cover every aspect of the day from secure bike parking to programme and entry to the various paddocks. There is also a black tie dinner (tickets cost £58 each), on Saturday 2nd July, providing a chance to socialise and reminisce with friends who rode with Barry and the special people who engineered his bikes. For information on how to apply for tickets please log on to the website www.thesheenerun.com or call 01788 566415. For further information, on The Sheene Run please contact Tania Baker or Becky Cross on 01788 566415.

Silverstone (UK) As The partnership between Pirelli and World Superbike has delivered close and exciting racing since day one but at the last race of the 2005 championship, at Monza, some real world comparisons proved the progress of Pirelli’s technical development. After weather issues and occasional poor track conditions on raceday at most of the early season venues, Monza offered almost ideal track conditions. The fact that the pace improved by one second in race conditions, and eight tenths of a second in qualifying, demonstrated that Pirelli’s dedicated solutions performed as planned. The pace of development continues for the Silverstone round, but a relatively late change in the track layout means that the solutions Pirelli are bringing were produced with the full F1 circuit in mind, rather than the current International layout. Thus the Silverstone-specific tyres were made for the high speeds of the full circuit, not the much reduced pace of the shorter one. Nonetheless, a new carcass, produced after the Monza weekend, has been designed to work well during changes in direction through the slow chicanes. In addition to all the new products, Pirelli will also bring the most popular tyres from last year’s event, to give the teams a benchmark to work from. At this round there will be four different front tyre solutions in Superbike instead of three, to give the teams the chance to experiment with ever-softer front tyres, allowing them more grip in race conditions. The Silverstone qualifying tyre will be the same as those used – and greatly appreciated – by the riders at Monza With the notoriously fickle British weather expected to play its part once more at Silverstone, there will be three Supersport tyres available for this race. Leading British Supersport riders Craig Jones and Cal Crutchlow, (Team Northpoint Ekerold Honda) will be wildcard riders at Silverstone, backing up their outstanding abilities in the British series on Pirelli rubber. The scope and scale of Pirelli’s operations in World Superbike continue unabated, with 30 personnel on site, based in eight trucks. Some 6000 tyres are transported to each of the rounds, a fact which illustrates the efforts expended by Pirelli in this important global series. Last season results: Superpole: Laconi Race 1: Haga, Vermeulen, Chili Race 2: Vermeulen, Haga, Laconi TRACK CONDITIONS Dry AIR TEMPERATURE 20° TRACK TEMPERATURE 41° HUMIDITY 48%

Al Ludington, American Honda Crew Chief for Miguel Duhamel, and wife Jocelyn had a daughter, Veronica Mae Ludington, May 24 in Newport Beach, California. According to an e-mail from Ludington, he made it back from Pikes Peak International Raceway with 20 minutes to spare before the birth. Coincidently, today, May 26, is Duhamel’s birthday. According to the current AMA Superbike Series media guide, Duhamel is 37 years old today. Palomarpics.net owner, photographer and Roadracing World contributor Kent Willer and wife Jennifer had a daughter, Rachel Key Willer, May 26, in Rancho Bernardo, California.

AMA Superbike racer Eric Bostrom is confirmed as a featured guest on this week’s Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain on SPEED Channel at 9 p.m. ET. The show will be co-hosted by David Hobbs and will also include an interview with the winner of Indianapolis 500. Viewers may send e-mail questions to [email protected] or call 1-866-W-TUNNEL from 9pm-11pm ET Sunday nights to be a part of the LIVE call-in portions of the show. 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 more than 68 million homes in North America, SPEED Channel is among the fastest growing sports cable networks in the country.

DUCATI XEROX TEAM DUO AIM TO CONTINUE MONZA PROGRESS AT SILVERSTONE ROUND Silverstone (UK), Thursday 26 May: Silverstone Circuit in Northants is the venue for round 5 of the World Superbike Championship this weekend, but it won’t be the legendary Formula 1 track that greets Ducati Xerox Team riders James Toseland and Régis Laconi as they attempt to build on their positive Monza form. After last year’s high-speed thriller around the one of the fastest circuits in the world, the reigning world champion and his French team-mate will line up on the grid on Sunday for 28 laps of the shorter 3.561 km (2.213 miles) International Circuit, used in the popular British Superbike championship. The main change is that instead of powering down Hangar Straight towards Stowe, the riders will now veer off at Becketts and head directly for Abbey before completing the rest of the considerably shorter airfield layout. TOSELAND BACK ON TRACK: Toseland put his 2005 season back on track with a gritty ride to third place at Monza, immediately followed by a positive three-day test session at Mugello, and he now aims to produce more of the same in front of his home crowd. “After Monza I’m really looking forward to every round from now on but in particular Silverstone”, said Toseland. “All I can do is apologize to my British fans for my start to the season. For Silverstone and the home crowd I just want to prove exactly why I’ve got the number 1 on the bike. I didn’t buy it, it was earned last year and I want to prove that we can keep it, especially as it’s my first time back for a race in Britain since winning the title. “I was a bit sceptical at first about racing on the short circuit because we haven’t ridden it, but in fact there’s not much there that we don’t know so it should be OK” he added. “I really benefited from the Mugello test after Monza, because we tried a few things and I went 1.2 seconds quicker than last year so now I’m really looking forward to getting out there at Silverstone on Friday”. LACONI UPS THE PACE: Régis Laconi was unlucky not to win race 2 at Monza after leading until half-way round the final lap, but the 29-year-old Frenchman is confident that his Ducati team is on the right track for the rest of the season. “I believe we are coming better and better now. At Valencia I was on the pace but unfortunately I didn’t race, while at Monza I was very close to the win so I feel that the bike is getting more and more competitive as the season goes on”, declared Laconi. “I was surprised to learn that we are racing on the short Silverstone circuit, but for me it doesn’t matter if it is long or short, I will give everything as always to get a good result. It will be important in qualifying to get the bike set up right for the tight chicane, because we go through there more times in this year’s race. Now the circuit is not so fast, so the settings will be different, but it will still be a great track to race on”. WSBK vs FOOTBALL ALL-STARS: On Thursday media day, Ducati Xerox Team’s James Toseland, together with fellow Brit Chris Walker, championship leader Troy Corser, Aussies Chris Vermeulen, Karl Muggeridge and Andrew Pitt, and Ducati SC’s Gianluca Nannelli, will take on a number of ex-Premiership footballers – including former England, Newcastle and Tottenham striker Les Ferdinand, and ex-player turned BBC Radio Five Live broadcaster Mark Bright – in a five-a-side friendly football match. The game will take place on a purpose-built inflatable pitch located inside the circuit. Afterwards the roles will be reversed and Ferdinand and Co. will be taken for a thrilling pillion ride around the world famous Silverstone circuit on the back of the Ducati Xerox 999 twin-seater, piloted by Dario Marchetti. GUILD AWARD FOR TOSELAND: Further recognition for James Toseland’s 2004 World Superbike championship victory will come at his home round when the Guild of Motoring Writers presents the 24-year-old from Sheffield with its ‘Rider of the Year’ award, relating to his title win last year. The original trophy, which spends 364 days a year locked in the Guild’s display cabinet in the RAC at Pall Mall, London and on which James’s name will be etched, is a vintage bike single cylinder head in silver, mounted on a plinth, while James will receive an engraved pewter tankard for his efforts. Previous winners of the award include Valentino Rossi and Carl Fogarty. CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after 4 of 12 rounds) : Riders – 1. Corser (Suzuki) 182; 2. Kagayama (Suzuki) 130; 3. Vermeulen (Honda) 115; 4. Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 87; 5. Pitt (Yamaha) 60; 6. Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 57; etc.. Manufacturers – 1. Suzuki 191; 2. Honda 128; 3. Ducati 100; 4. Yamaha 86; 5. Kawasaki 66; 6. Petronas 1. THE CIRCUIT – Name: Silverstone International Circuit; Length: 3.561 km (2.213 miles); Pole Position: Left; Corners Left/Right: 8/10. STATISTICS – Lap record: Rutter (Honda) 1m26.890s; Race distance: 2 x 28 laps/99.708 km (62.31 miles). 2004 RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Haga (Ducati); 2. Vermeulen (Honda); 3. Chili (Ducati). Race 2 – 1. Vermeulen; 2. Haga; 3. Laconi (Ducati).

Super Dave to Return to AMA Competition Racer and Visionsports Riding School owner “Super” Dave Rosno will mark his return to American Motorcyclist Association Pro Road Racing competition at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin’s Road America June second through the fifth in Formula Extreme competition. Rosno began his AMA Pro career in 1989 and was contracted to the Roscetti Corporation as a rider with bikes that never materialized. “Super” Dave continued on and in 1993 finished eleventh in the AMA 750 Supersport National Championship on his private 600cc machine. “I took time off from AMA competition to race some priceless vintage machines for some really good people, most notably: Steve Spencer, Harlan Hadley, and Vic World. I expanded my instruction program, married my wonderful wife, Amy, and had two boys, Alex and John. But I never stopped competing locally,” Rosno stated. “My return is for the love of that competition that the AMA program always offered. Additionally, I’m doing it to raise funds for pediatric cancer research. The passing of my mother from cancer and friends encouraging me prompted me to start my race against childhood cancer a couple of years ago. I planned my return to the AMA in 2005 last year, and the recent passing of my father in April from cancer has given me more motivation to do this. My plan is to compete at a few select events this year with plans to do more in 2006.” More information is available at http://www.superdavesrace.com