World Superbike Superpole Results From Monza: 1. Yukio Kagayama, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:47.439 2. Troy Corser, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:47.446 3. Regis Laconi, Duc 999F05, 1:47.885 4. Karl Muggeride, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:48.054 5. Chris Vermeulen, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:48.128 6. Andrew Pitt, Yam YZF-R1, 1:48.580 7. Chris Walker, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:48.613 8. James Toseland, Duc 999F05, 1:48.695 9. Pierfrancesco Chili, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:48.908 10. Giovanni Bussei, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:49.245 11. Noriyuki Haga, Yam YZF-R1, 1:49.279 12. Gianluca Nannelli, Duc 999RS, 1:49.372 13. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yam YZF-R1, 1:49.401 14. Norick Abe, Yam YZF-R1, 1:49.911 15. Mauro Sanchini, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:50.038 16. Sebastien Gimbert, Yam YZF-R1, 1:50.353

Combined World Superbike Qualifying Results From Monza: 1. Karl MUGGERIDGE, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:47.143 2. Chris VERMEULEN, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:47.526 3. Yukio KAGAYAMA, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:47.726 4. Troy CORSER, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:47.788 5. Regis LACONI, Duc 999F05, 1:47.918 6. Andrew PITT, Yam YZF-R1, 1:48.065 7. James TOSELAND, Duc 999F05, 1:48.696 8. Gianluca NANNELLI, Duc 999RS, 1:48.809 9. Chris WALKER, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:48.967 10. Pierfrancesco CHILI, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:49.044 11. Giovanni BUSSEI, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:49.186 12. Noriyuki HAGA, Yam YZF-R1, 1:49.402 13. Jose Luis CARDOSO, Yam YZF-R1, 1:49.452 14. Norick ABE, Yam YZF-R1, 1:49.520 15. Mauro SANCHINI, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:49.561 16. Sebastien GIMBERT, Yam YZF-R1, 1:49.649 17. Luca CONFORTI, Duc 999RS, 1:49.705 18. Marco BORCIANI, Yam YZF-R1, 1:49.835 19. Ben BOSTROM, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:49.874 20. Gianluca VIZZIELLO, Yam YZF-R1, 1:49.943 21. Lorenzo ALFONSI, Yam YZF-R1, 1:50.172 22. Ivan CLEMENTI, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:50.332 23. Garry MCCOY, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:50.635 24. Steve MARTIN, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:50.666 25. Fonsi NIETO, Duc 999RS, 1:50.746

WINSTON SUPERSPORT PAIR HEADS MONZA FIELD Sébastien Charpentier and Katsuaki Fujiwara will start tomorrow’s fourth round World Supersport championship race from first and second places on the grid respectively after setting the fastest times in this afternoon’s final qualifying session at Monza in Italy. In warm sunshine and hotter temperatures than yesterday, the Winston Ten Kate Honda duo struggled at times to circulate alone on the 5.8km Monza circuit, with many riders seeking to maximise the benefit from the slipstreams created by their Honda CBR600RRs Ronald ten Kate team manager: “Sébastien and Katsuaki both suffered with other riders trying to follow them and match their lap times. I’m surprised that some of them clearly don’t want to win and a lot are local riders so you’d think they would know their way round Monza by know. It’s a shame because it seems to diminish the fantastic job that both the riders and the team have been doing. It may look easy from the time sheets but I can assure you it’s all very hard work. I am very proud of everybody especially the composure shown by both riders this afternoon.” Sébastien Charpentier fastest, 1m51.730s “Sometimes it was very difficult for me to concentrate out there this afternoon. I know Monza is a high speed circuit with a strong tow, but every time I left the pit box and looked behind me there are a surprising number of riders leaving their pit box too! They seemed to attach themselves to Katsuaki later on so I was able to get the track to myself and improve yesterday’s time. The gearing is perfect, the bike feels fantastic and I made many good laps on race tyre tyres. I’m in good physical shape so I think you can say I’m ready for tomorrow’s race which is very important for the championship.” Katsuaki Fujiwara second fastest, 1m52.126s “The track temperature was higher for today’s qualifying and the bike was sliding around a lot more than yesterday. But it’s OK for me and the CBR is feeling very strong and stable. Towards the end of the session, I found it very difficult to get away from other riders. At one point I looked behind me and saw about 12 of them the rest of the track must have been nearly empty! I had to wait and wait to go by myself and did my fastest lap right at the end. It’s important to get a good start tomorrow for sure, Sébastien is strong again but I will be trying very hard for another win here.” World Supersport, Monza final qualifying times: 1 Sébastien Charpentier FRA (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1m51.730s, 2 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:52.126, 3 Gianluca Nannelli ITA (Ducati) 1:52.364, 4 Michel Fabrizio ITA (Honda) 1:52.700, 5 Kevin Curtain AUS (Yamaha) 1:53.322, 6 Alessandro Corradi ITA (Ducati) 1:53.539, 7 Simone Sanna ITA (Honda) 1:53.542, 8 Barry Veneman NED (Suzuki) 1:53.843, 9 Stephane Chambon FRA (Honda) 1:54.007, 10 Javier Fores ESP (Suzuki) 1:54.313.

SPIES A RARE ROOKIE AMA SUPERBIKE POINTS LEADER COMING INTO INFINEON RACEWAY Hall of Famer Eddie Lawson last rookie to lead series PICKERINGTON, Ohio (May 6, 2005) — Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies recently won his first AMA Superbike Championship race and in the process pulled off one of the rarest feats in the history of the series. By taking his first Superbike win two weeks ago at California Speedway, in Fontana, Calif., the young Texan claimed the series standings and in the process became only the second rookie ever to lead the AMA Superbike Championship. Motorcycle Hall of Fame legend Eddie Lawson was the first to accomplish the feat in 1980. Spies brings his series lead to Sonoma, California’s Infineon Raceway and the Kawasaki Superbike Showdown Doubleheader, rounds six and seven of the 17-race AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited on May 13-15. The victory for Spies in Fontana not only gave him the series lead it also made him only one of four riders to win in every category of AMA road racing. Spies joins Miguel Duhamel, Nicky Hayden and Jamie Hacking as the only riders to win all four categories Superbike, Supersport, Formula Xtreme and Superstock. While Spies is happy to have the lead he admits that he may be an interloper to the top position. He won the first round of the California Speedway doubleheader two weeks ago after teammate Mat Mladin was forced to retire with a rare mechanical failure on his factory Suzuki. “It wasn’t the way I wanted to do it,” said Spies, who went on to say he would have much rather earned a win over Mat Mladin at full strength. “This (California Speedway) is one of my stronger tracks and I hope to get stronger as the season goes on, but I knew I rode well here and our first shot might have been here. Just the way things worked out, it was kind of a weird win. I really wish that I could have gotten good starts off the line and that Mat wouldn’t have had any problems.” Mladin returned strong in the second California Speedway race and took his fourth win in five starts. As the series moves to Sonoma he finds himself out of the series lead for the first time in two years (just three points behind Spies) but seemed to take his misfortune at Fontana in stride. “We had a clutch problem and that’s just the way it goes,” said Mladin after being forced to retire from Fontana’s race one after his bike’s clutch failed after two re-starts. “Fortunately, we’d built up enough of a points lead that we’re only a little bit behind. We’re five races into it and the championship starts again. “There is no better challenge for a rider than at Infineon (Raceway). It’s got elevation changes, tight corners and a number of other challenges. I love it. Any rider who says he doesn’t like a challenge like that is very different than me. That’s why we do this for a living.” Northern California racing fans will get their first opportunity to watch former World Superbike champ Britain’s Neil Hodgson go up against the AMA Superbike regulars. Hodgson also looks forward to facing the challenging Infineon Raceway road course. “I’ve only been on the track once (testing in March) but it’s one of my top 10 tracks in the world,” said Hodgson who is a close third in the standings. “It has all the characteristics that you want in a track. It’s the ultimate test for a rider. I’ve watched this track 1,000 times on video but that doesn’t do it justice. You just don’t realize how tough the track is until you ride a few laps.” Infineon Raceway (formerly called Sears Point) has one of the richest histories of all the AMA circuits. The 12-turn, 2.32-mile road course, nestled in California’s scenic wine growing region, has hosted AMA Superbike races since 1977. The all-time Superbike wins leader at Infineon is Honda’s Miguel Duhamel. Duhamel has five race wins at the track dating back to 1993. He hopes to find the combination to earn his first victory of the season this weekend. Another rider to watch at Infineon is Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates. The Georgian won his first AMA Superbike race at the track nine years ago with a dramatic last-lap pass on Mladin. Marty Craggill has climbed to the top of the non-factory Superbike riders in the series with four straight top-10 finishes on his Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki. “I’ve raced at Infineon twice,” said Craggill, who comes into the doubleheader ranked seventh. “I got on the box there in Formula Xtreme in 2002 so I feel good about that track.” Local riders have traditionally done well at Infineon Raceway, which hosts numerous AFM racing events. Many expect David Stanton, of Lafayette, Calif., to be a contender on the Arclight Suzuki. “I’m hoping to at least do as well as I did last year and maybe improve on that,” said Stanton, who was seventh in the first Superbike race last year and crashed while running sixth in the second. “I race at Infineon so much that it does give you a bit of an advantage. I raced there just last week in fact. It’s tough to compete with the speed of the factory bikes, but I’m hoping my knowledge of the track will give me an edge.” SPEED Channel will provide extensive coverage of the Kawasaki Superbike Showdown Doubleheader starting with Saturday’s Superbike event being televised at 12 p.m. EST on Sunday, May 15. Live coverage of Sunday’s Superbike final begins at 6 p.m. EST. Tickets to the Kawasaki Superbike Showdown Doubleheader can be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets including Tower Records, Wherrehouse Music, Ritmo Latino, select Save Mart Supermarkets and Rite Aid stores. For additional inquiries or questions please contact the Infineon Raceway Ticket Office at 1-800-870-RACE.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Arthur Ting is in the national headlines today for two reasons – having performed several recent surgeries on the knee of baseball’s all-star slugger Barry Bonds and for his problems with the Medical Board of California. While documents obtained from the Medical Board of California by general-interest reporters include 1993 allegations of Dr. Ting being “grossly negligent and/or incompetent in his treatment of a patient,” which resulted in probation, he continues to be the official team physician of the San Jose Sharks NHL and the San Jose Earthquakes MLS teams and the surgeon of choice for many professional athletes and motorcycle road racers. In fact, many of Dr. Ting’s professional athlete patients are repeat customers. “My experience with Dr. Ting has been nothing but good,” said racer Chris Ulrich, who is on the staff of Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. and has undergone several surgeries by Ting to repair crash damage. “He always gives me the best medical advice, not only for racing motorcycles but for life in general. I feel confident in letting him work on me. No matter what the injury, I feel based on my personal experience that he is always going to do what is best for me.” In addition to Ulrich, Dr. Ting is known to have consulted with and/or performed surgery on: five-time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan, multi-time AMA Champion Miguel Duhamel, Suzuki MotoGP racers Kenny Lee Roberts and John Hopkins, Nicky and Roger Hayden, Eric Bostrom, Jason Pridmore, Jimmy Moore, Jamie Hacking, Kurtis Roberts, Craig Connell and Grant Lopez, among others. Pridmore credits Ting with saving his career following a serious leg injury suffered while training on a motocross bike about 10 years ago. “They (other doctors) said it was fixed, and it was healed,” Pridmore told Roadracingworld.com. “I went three months in an external fixator. They said my leg was fixed and it wasn’t. I went to see Dr Ting and he put me back together, and that’s the reason I’m still racing. That was in ’95. Since then he’s been there so many times for me, gotten me back on my feet, as he has a lot of the guys. “If Dr. Ting retired, I’d probably stop racing,” continued Pridmore. “I have so much confidence in him. I have 1000% faith in him. Unfortunately, I’ve seen him more than a lot of people.” Moore says that Ting helped him when his original doctor couldn’t, following a June 2003 crash that ultimately took Moore out of racing for more than a year. “The doctor that fixed my arm originally told me, ‘Jimmy, you have to understand that the break to your bone was really bad, which is why it’s taking so long to heal,'” Moore told Roadracingworld.com . “The bone got to 60% healed but there was this little gap that wouldn’t change, every time I went in to see him it was still there. It wasn’t healed and I tried to ride and I reinjured it, and then I went to Dr. Ting and he fixed it. “I gave that other doctor 9 months to get it right, and I trusted him.” Moore continued. “He couldn’t help me. Ting fixed it in 3 months to the day. That’s pretty straightforward. You’ve got 9 months and it’s still not right or 3 months and it’s done. There’s not much more to say. That’s the difference between Ting and other guys. Ting knows what is going on. He’s used to dealing with athletes and I think there’s a really big difference between the two.” Recent stories relating to Dr. Ting and his recent involvement with Bonds are here: ~http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/06/MNGKLCL3V11.DTL~ ~http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/baseball/mlb/05/05/bonds.surgeon.ap/index.html~ ~http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2054193~ ~http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/giants/2005-05-05-bonds-surgeon_x.htm~

Yamaha Motor Italia are pleased to announce their partnership with Sony Italia, the Italian distributor of the world leading Japanese consumer and commercial electronics company. The Yamaha Motor Italia bikes will display the Sony branding prominently on the Yamaha YZF-R1 machines of riders Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt at the three Italian rounds of the Superbike World Championship; in Monza on May 8, Misano on June 26 and Imola on October 2. Sony and Yamaha share the same philosophies of innovation, high speed and customer satisfaction, with the partnership allowing Sony to reach an audience interested in and knowledgable about new technology. Monza is already a special race for the Yamaha Motor Italia squad, as thier headquarters is just a few kilometres from the circuit. The partnership with a prestigious company like Sony makes the event even more important. “It is a great honour for Yamaha Motor Italia to work with Sony Italia,” commented Claudio Consonni, General Manager Yamaha Motor Italia. “We are both market leading Japanese companies and we look forward to working with Sony at the three world superbike rounds this year.” “For Sony Italia the partnership with Yamaha Motor Italia confirms our commitment to marketing through the world of sport: first through football but also in basketball, powerboat racing, polo and golf,” added Massimiliano Alesi, Administrative Director of Sony Italia. “The partnership with Yamaha Motor Italia allows us to target customers interested in the field of technology and communicate our brand thanks to our partnership with the brand leader in the world of motorcycles.”

Friday’s Best World Superbike Trap Speeds From Monza: Yukio Kagayama, Suz GSX-R1000, 190.1 mph Regis Laconi, Duc 999F05, 189.5 mph Gianluca Nannelli, Duc 999RS, 189.5 mph Troy Corser, Suz GSX-R1000, 187.7 mph Karl Muggeridge, Hon CBR1000RR, 187.7 mph Steve Martin, Foggy Petronas FP1, 187.0 mph Marco Borciani, Yam YZF-R1, 186.4 mph Chris Vermeulen, Hon CBR1000RR, 185.8 mph Andrew Pitt, Yam YZF-R1, 185.8 mph Paolo Blora, Yam YZF-R1, 185.8 mph Chris Walker, Kaw ZX-10R, 185.2 mph James Toseland, Duc 999F05, 184.6 mph Pierfrancesco Chili, Hon CBR1000RR, 184.6 mph Fonsi Nieto, Duc 999RS, 184.6 mph Noriyuki Haga, Yam YZF-R1, 183.9 mph Jose Luis Cardoso, Yam YZF-R1, 183.9 mph Lorenzo Alfonsi, Yam YZF-R1, 183.9 mph Luca Pedercini, Duc 999RS, 183.3 mph Mauro Sanchini, Kaw ZX-10R, 183.3 mph Giovanni Bussei, Kaw ZX-10R, 182.7 mph Alessio Velini, Duc 999RS, 182.7 mph Sebastien Gimbert, Yam YZF-R1, 182.1 mph Garry McCoy, Foggy Petronas FP1, 180.8 mph Ivan Clementi, Kaw ZX-10R, 180.8 mph Norick Abe, Yam YZF-R1, 180.2 mph Ben Bostrom, Hon CBR1000RR, 179.0 mph Luca Conforti, Duc 999RS, 179.0 mph Miguel Praia, Yam YZF-R1, 178.3 mph Andrea Mazzali, MV Agusta F4-1000, 175.9 mph Michel Nickmans, Yam YZF-R1, 169.6 mph Luca Pedersoli, Duc 998RS, 169.0 mph