Friday Morning’s MotoGP Practice Times From Le Mans: 1. Colin EDWARDS, Yamaha, 1:34.701 2. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:34.892 3. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:35.041 4. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:35.067 5. Carlos CHECA, Ducati, 1:35.285 6. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:35.364 7. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:35.583 8. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:35.623 9. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:35.625 10. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 1:35.628 11. Toni ELIAS, Yamaha, 1:35.637 12. Marco MELANDRI, Honda, 1:36.290 13. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:36.470 14. Troy BAYLISS, Honda, 1:36.595 15. Ruben XAUS, Yamaha, 1:36.817 16. Olivier JACQUE, Kawasaki, 1:37.462 17. Roberto ROLFO, Ducati, 1:37.977 18. Franco BATTAINI, Blata WCM, 1:38.547 19. Shane BYRNE, KTM Proton KR, 1:39.795 20. James ELLISON, Blata WCM, 1:40.019 21. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 1:43.252

Friday Morning 125cc GP Practice Times From Le Mans: 1. Gabor TALMACSI, KTM, 1:46.715 2. Mika KALLIO, KTM, 1:46.766 3. Joan OLIVE, Aprilia, 1:47.016 4. Manuel POGGIALI, Gilera, 1:47.381 5. Fabrizio LAI, Honda, 1:47.451 6. Mattia PASINI, Aprilia, 1:47.661 7. Mike DI MEGLIO, Honda, 1:47.921 8. Alexis MASBOU, Honda, 1:48.022 9. Lukas PESEK, Derbi, 1:48.110 10. Julian SIMON, KTM, 1:48.129

Pikes Peak International Raceway will hold Promoter’s Practice on Friday, May 20, before the two-day (May 21-22) AMA National at the Fountain, Colorado racetrack. That’s the word from Arlene Wanninger of PPIR, who said in a phone call to Roadracingworld.com today that the practice will be run by MRA officials from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There is no pre-entry for the practice, Wanninger said, and post-entry is $100 per rider. More information is available from Wanninger at 719-382-4323.

HODSGON LOOKS TO CLOSE ON CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AT INFINEON Sears Point, CA (May 12) — Neil Hodgson and Eric Bostrom will race their Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin 999s at Infineon Raceway this weekend at another doubleheader event, the fourth stop on the 2005 AMA Superbike tour. Neil and Eric will contest two 28-lap battles with the other competitors in one of the top national-level motorcycle racing series in the world at the scenic 12-turn, 2.22-mile course north of San Francisco. Hodgson is currently third in AMA Superbike points, but the Isle of Man resident actually gained ground to the Superbike points lead at the last round held at California Speedway two weekends ago. Despite a virus that dehydrated him over the weekend and required him to seek medical attention, Hodgson put in a courageous performance that impressed his team, rivals, and fans. “It’s all about the championship,” said Hodgson, who closed from 22 to nine championship points at California Speedway. “The bottom line is I was sick and we got through a race at a track I didn’t particularly care for in testing. Now we’ll continue to fight on.” Hodgson has been the only man this season to consistently challenge the Suzukis in America and has three podium finishes this season, his first in America. Eric Bostrom has finished every race in 2005 on his factory Ducati 999 Superbike, but the man who won the 2004 Pikes Peak Superbike race for the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin team is still looking to contend for wins more than anything else. The 28-year old California native has dramatically improved his feel for the machine since a break in the schedule allowed the Ducati Austin team to test. “Right now, we’re not really thinking about our place in the championship,” said Eric Bostrom. “I want to be up front. We’re still trying to find a little more pace. We found some more speed in practice at Fontana and we really need to keep up the momentum. Infineon’s going to be a challenging race for me.” Now a resident of Las Vegas, Bostrom was born in San Francisco and grew up north of the city. “We’re hoping for big things this weekend at Infineon,” said team manager Tom Bodenbach. “Neil is back to full health and he’s ready to go. He’s been very consistent this year and ridden at a high level. Eric has continued to improve this season and we saw he really bettered his lap times at Fontana.” Eric and Neil will appear at Sport Bike Night, held at the Hard Rock Café in Sacramento on Thursday Night at 7:00 PM. AMA Superbike Points (after 5 of 17 rounds) — 1. Spies (Suzuki) 155, 2. Mladin (Suzuki) 152, 3. NEIL HODGSON (PARTS UNLIMITED DUCATI AUSTIN 999) 146, 4. Yates (Suzuki) 143, 5. ERIC BOSTROM (PARTS UNLIMITED DUCATI AUSTIN 999) 122, 6. DuHamel (Honda) 118 THE CIRCUIT Name: Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California, 12 turns, 2.22 miles (3.57 kilometers). Permanent road course, Superbike races are 28 laps each. STATISTICS Lap record: Gobert (Yamaha) 1:31.692 (2002) Race distance: Mladin (Suzuki) 45:59.18 (2003)

MotoGP reaches dry land in France The MotoGP World Championship set up camp at the Le Mans circuit in bright and breezy conditions today with fingers crossed for a dry weekend at the Grand Prix Alice de France. After two consecutive wet races in Portugal and China, the fourth round of the season is again promising unpredictable conditions but the action is sure to be as spectacular as the first three rounds, which have seen Valentino Rossi open up a 25-point advantage at the top of the standings. Rossi was in typically relaxed mood today, taking a cruise along the river Seine in Paris as he spoke to various local journalists. The reigning World Champion has a score to settle with the Le Mans circuit, one of only five tracks at which he missed out on the podium last season. “Le Mans is not one of my favourite tracks, I had a difficult race there last year and only finished fourth,” said Rossi. “I hope we leave there having resolved our problems, whatever the conditions are, and I have a feeling that we will. It can be quite tricky there if the weather is bad, so I really hope we have a bit of luck and it’s dry, but at least if it rains we know we are in a much better position than in the past.” Whilst Rossi has dominated the championship standings ever since taking victory in the opening round at Jerez, his nearest challenger has changed with every Grand Prix. After Sete Gibernau and Alex Barros, the man now closest to the Italian after three rounds is his young compatriot Marco Melandri. However, Rossi admits that his biggest threat this weekend could come from home favourite Olivier Jacque, who is set for his second appearance after finishing just 1.7 seconds behind the race winner on his return to MotoGP as a replacement for Alex Hofmann in China. “I am a bit worried about Olivier Jacque now because before the Shanghai race he said that he was only riding in China as a kind of training to learn the bike, and then he could concentrate on racing in Le Mans. He finished second in China so who knows what might happen in France!” It has been a busy couple of weeks for Jacque since his incredible performance in China captured the imagination of the French public ahead of his home Grand Prix. The former 250cc World Champion was today joined by his team-mate Shinya Nakano at the opening of a new Kawasaki dealership in Le Mans and admitted he was looking forward to getting back to business on the track. “The phone has not stopped ringing since I got back from China and, after more than a year away from MotoGP, it was hard to get used to,” admitted Jacque, who will make way for Hofmann’s return at the next round in Italy. “Now I’m quite impatient to get on the bike and start racing. For the fans and the show I hope the weather is dry, but in terms of results it would probably be better for me in the wet.” Whilst several other riders, including John Hopkins and Rubén Xaus, took a tour of the Musée Automobile de la Sarthe within the Le Mans complex this afternoon, Makoto Tamada was at the Clinica Mobile undergoing physiotherapy on his injured right hand. The Japanese rider missed the last round in China but has confirmed he will be taking part in this weekend’s Grand Prix. “I’m ready to get back on the track,” said Tamada. “I still feel pain but I hope that day after day the situation will get better and I’m confident that I will be able to fight for the positions that count. If I didn’t feel I had the opportunity to compete with the best, then I would have probably taken a different decision and maybe I would have postponed my comeback on the RC211V.” Dani Pedrosa arrived in Le Mans in determined mood as he looks to wrestle the 250cc World Championship lead back from Andrea Dovizioso. The Spaniard was dislodged by the Italian for the first time in a year in China but is confident of building on successive victories at this circuit for the past two seasons. “I’ve always had good results at Le Mans and I think it’s the circuit to get us back where we belong,” said Pedrosa, who lies third in the championship behind Dovizioso and Casey Stoner. “We have information from last season that will be a good base for us to start from. I want to enjoy myself by riding fast again and I hope the weather is stable enough to allow us to work well all weekend.” Mika Kallio, who also visited the automobile museum with the MotoGP riders today, leads the 125cc World Championship by a single point from Fabrizio Lai. After Mattia Pasini’s debut victory in China, both riders will be looking to extend a forty-two race stretch without a back-to-back winner in the class.

San Jose Mercury News investigative sports writer Elliot Almond has written another piece on Dr. Art Ting, the orthopedic surgeon best known in motorcycling circles for patching together injured racers. Almond broke the original story on Dr. Ting’s problems with the California Medical Board, which has put him on probation twice, most recently for office supervision problems. As part of his research for the piece, Almond interviewed racers Jason Pridmore and Chris Ulrich. The story can be seen here after signing in on the newspaper’s site: ~http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/baseball/mlb/san_francisco_giants/11626667.htm~

Le Mans May 12th, 2005 French Grand Prix Preview Party time for Olivier Jacque After the thrilling China Grand Prix on the futuristic Shanghai circuit, where Olivier Jacque stunned the audience with a sensational ride to second place in the rain, the MotoGP championship returns to familiar territory with the French Grand Prix in Le Mans this weekend. Constructed in 1965 and based on a once over 13 kilometre-long road track, the Bugatti circuit became legendary for its epic 24-hour races in both car and motorcycle categories. Apart from its awesome, fast right-hand bend following the short main straight with only 450 metres of length, the circuit features tight corners with sharp entries rather than long and sweeping bends, with stability under brakes and traction on corner exits being the main parameters for the bike set-up. The stop-and-go characteristics offer great spectator views from almost everywhere around the track, but only very few good opportunities to overtake. A good start and therefore a good starting grid position is crucial for the outcome of the race, turning the qualifying session in Le Mans always into a very special event. 31-year-old Olivier Jacque, who had only jumped in for injured German Kawasaki rider Alex Hofmann on short notice, will certainly take his chances at his home Grand Prix, which is expected to turn into a big party for the former 250 cc world champion. “The atmosphere will be fantastic, with all the fans boosting my motivation even more. Our performance is hard to predict, because the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR is still very new to me. But Kawasaki and my team give me a lot of confidence, and the Bridgestone tyres were impressive in Shanghai, both in dry and wet conditions”, says Jacque, who will be the only French MotoGP rider at this year’s Le Mans Grand Prix. Bridgestone is equally well prepared for the Le Mans event. 1000 tyres were shipped in for the race, with special specifications for improved traction on the track that had been re-surfaced prior to last year’s race, and with ample choice for the unpredictable weather conditions at this time of the year. Hiroshi Yamada – Motorcycle Racing Manager Bridgestone Motorsport “Shanghai was not a course we had much data on, but we were able confirm the good performance of our new rain tyres with a podium finish. Le Mans is also a track for which we don’t have so much data, as it was resurfaced before the race last year. But we hope to achieve good results as we did in Shanghai. The circuit has a typical stop-and-go character, so we have brought some new specs that should handle the need for good traction.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2005 ROUND 4 – GRAND PRIX ALICE DE FRANCE, LE MANS 12 MAY 2005 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NAKANO AND JACQUE MEET THE FANS AT BEST WAY KAWASAKI More than 1000 Kawasaki fans greeted Shinya Nakano and Olivier Jacque, when the two riders arrived to officially open the new Best Way Kawasaki shop in Le Mans this morning. The new Best Way shop, which opened its doors just two days ago, is a purpose built facility offering the complete range of Kawasaki motorcycles, accessories and Kawasaki Racing Team merchandise. After posing for photographs on a number of Kawasaki ZX-10R road bikes painted as exact replicas of the Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machines they’ll race this weekend at Le Mans, Nakano and Jacque then sat down for a marathon autograph session. “The turn out was incredible; I couldn’t believe how many people were there on a Thursday morning,” commented Shinya Nakano. “The new shop is impressive. It was interesting to see so many Kawasaki motorcycles in one place and the number of people who turned up on race replica ZX-10R road bikes was fantastic. It was great to meet so many fellow Kawasaki riders ahead of this weekend’s race, and I hope they’ll all be in the stands cheering for us on Sunday.” “To meet the fans in such a relaxed atmosphere was a good experience, and it’s great to know that we have such strong support from our fellow Kawasaki riders,” said Olivier Jacque. “There were so many people there that I just hope we managed to sign autographs for everyone. Hopefully we’ll see some of the Kawasaki flags we signed being waved from the stands on Sunday.” To mark the occasion of their visit to the dealership, the staff at Best Way Kawasaki surprised the two Kawasaki riders as they prepared to return to the circuit, by presenting them with two race replica pocket bikes; one number 56 machine and one number 19 bike. “A big thanks to Best Way Kawasaki, not just for the pocket bikes they very kindly presented us with, but also for allowing us to meet the fans at such a well organised event. I look forward to returning next year,” added Nakano. Nakano and Jacque will get another chance to meet French Kawasaki fans at seven o’clock this evening, when they take part in an autograph session at the Place de la République in the centre of Le Mans.