PICKERINGTON, OHIO The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum will celebrate eight decades of BMW sport bikes with an all-new exhibit, “BMW: The Mastery of Speed.” Opening July 20, 2005, this showcase of the German manufacturer’s sporting heritage features seldom seen and historically significant machines on loan from the renowned Peter Nettesheim collection. The exhibit will also include rare images and artifacts from Mr. Nettesheim as well as from Mobile Tradition, BMW’s division devoted to preserving the company’s heritage. Together, these elements tell the memorable stories behind BMW’s many technical innovations. The official dedication of “BMW: The Mastery of Speed” includes a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 pm, July 20, visits by special guests from BMW Motorrad USA, and a sampling of Munich’s best-loved culinary traditions. The event and exhibit are open to the public (regular admission prices apply). The opening also coincides with the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America 33rd Annual International Rally, held July 21 – 24 in Lima, Ohio, which is expected to bring up to 9,000 BMW enthusiasts to the area. “BMW understood and mastered the art of performance motorcycle design long before many other manufacturers discovered that performance sells,” said Mark Mederski, executive director, Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. “This exhibit not only traces BMW’s sporting DNA back to its source, but gives visitors the chance to see how it evolved through some of the most significant machines ever engineered and produced by the company.” The exhibit is created around Peter Nettesheim’s insightful and “consumer-friendly” approach to BMW motorcycle history. A master storyteller with a passion for uncovering little-known facts and stories about the motorcycles he collects and restores, Nettesheim and Mederski strategically selected vintage models that define each of BMW’s most important models, beginning with the Twenties””the period when BMW temporarily ceased their aircraft engine production and transitioned to engineering ground transportation. “BMW: The Mastery of Speed” opens just as BMW unveils the latest chapter in its sport-tuned model line, the 2005 K1200S and the soon-to-debut “naked” K1200R which will be added to the exhibit upon its arrival on U.S. soil. Visitors will enjoy some exceptional early and rare BMW designs. Particularly significant is the oldest motorcycle on display, a 1927 BMW R47, one of 1,720 machines sold between 1927 and 1928. As early as 1921, BMW was producing power plants like the two cylinder 494cc flat twin in the R47, which launched the bike to a then-sizzling top speed of nearly 70 mph. Motorcycles from nearly every decade of the company’s history are on view, including the R5, the road-going twin cam sport model based on BMW’s consistent race winner, the R5SS (Super Sport). BMW offered a sport motorcycle in each of its eight decades and it is this sporting heritage that enabled them to accomplish their “Mastery of Speed.” In addition to these magnificent machines, the exhibit includes an illustrative diorama of a BMW factory scene, as well as several technical displays that explore how designs not only contributed to BMW motorcycles’ performance cache, but also to the bikes’ reliability and safety. Advertising art from early brochures explains BMW’s driveline and enthusiasts will immediately recognize the familiar horizontally-opposed twin, direct bolted transmission with a right side driveshaft to a bevel rear drive. Most BMWs use a similar shaft drive layout to this day. The exhibit also presents period photos of BMW’s innovators in pursuit of performance. “BMW: The Mastery of Speed” joins the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum’s equally new “Motocross America” exhibit, opening this month. About the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum The goal of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is to tell the stories and preserve the history of motorcycling. Located on the campus of the American Motorcyclist Association in Pickerington, Ohio, the Motorcycle Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed notably to the sport, and three major exhibition halls showcase the machines and memorabilia that have shaped motorcycling. The Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; and is closed on New Year’s, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Adult admission is $10 per person; students 12 17, $3. AMA members $5. Seniors receive a $2 discount and members of motorcycle clubs and organizations are eligible for a $1 discount per ticket. A $25.00 family rate and group rates are also available. For more information, call (614) 856-2222, or visit the Museum’s website at www.motorcyclemuseum.org.

Excitement starts early at Estoril The main protagonists of the MotoGP World Championship resumed business at the Estoril circuit in Portugal this afternoon in more amicable fashion than they had separated at Jerez on Sunday, with Valentino Rossi making a veiled apology to his rival Sete Gibernau for the shoulder injury caused when the pair clashed in the final corner of the opening round of the new season. Whilst Gibernau missed the pre-event press conference for the betandwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal this afternoon as he continues to undergo treatment on an old tendon problem that flared up in the controversial incident, the Italian moved to cool the tension that has mounted in the short space of time between the two events. “I’ve watched the incident on television and you can see my brake hits his shoulder,” reflected Rossi, who went on to take victory as Gibernau ran into the gravel before clinching second. “At the time I didn’t understand why he was hurt because it was a slow corner and the contact was very soft, but I didn’t realise he has had operations on this injury in the past. I am sorry if he is not 100% but for sure this will be another great battle.” Looking ahead to this weekend’s race, at a circuit where Rossi has taken victory for the past four consecutive seasons, the reigning World Champion commented: “Estoril is a hard track, a technical track, and the unpredictable weather always makes it difficult. The track is tight, which can suit the Yamaha, and last year I had a good race and was able to escape. Hopefully the weather stays good and we’ll see what happens.” Whilst Marco Melandri lies third in the championship after scoring a debut podium for Honda at Jerez, perhaps the biggest danger to the leading pair this weekend comes from Alex Barros. With the betandwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal being rescheduled to replace his cancelled home event in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian is being backed by a group of travelling supporters who have made their way from South America to Europe to cheer their hero. “We did an exhibition with the bikes in Estoril yesterday and I was surprised by how many Brazilians were there a lot of them had also been in Jerez,” said Barros, who was joined at the spectacular event by Alex Hofmann, Makoto Tamada, Casey Stoner, Hector Barberá, Mika Kallio and Pablo Nieto. “Hopefully I can give them something to celebrate this Sunday because I was not happy with fourth place at Jerez and I think if I can find half a second per lap this weekend I can fight with Valentino and Sete.” Wednesday’s exhibition, which took place outside the famous Estoril Casino, proved to be a less rewarding occasion for Hofmann, who dropped his Kawasaki at less than 40km/h in a freak accident and hurt his wrist. X-rays have today revealed that the German has a cracked scaphoid and his participation in the Grand Prix is currently in doubt. Sebastian Porto has set his sights on the top step of the podium in the 250cc race after finishing third and second respectively over the past two seasons at Estoril. The Argentinean played second fiddle to reigning World Champion Dani Pedrosa at Jerez and, for now at least, sees the battle for honours as a two horse race. “I think myself and Dani proved at Jerez that we’re the top two riders in the class,” said Porto. “A few riders will get up to speed later in the season but at the moment it’s between us two and hopefully it will swing in my favour on Sunday. We’ve got a few improvements to make to the bike but I’m confident we’ll be even more competitive this weekend than we were last Sunday.” Meanwhile, Marco Simoncelli arrives in Estoril as leader of the 125cc World Championship for the first time in his career after victory in the first round. The Italian is also aiming to end a run of forty races in the minor class without a rider winning back-to-back races.

Team SUZUKI MotoGP will compete in the second round of the MotoGP World Championship at Estoril in Portugal this Sunday, with its sights set on improved results. Following last weekend’s season opener in Jerez, the team has had no time to make any significant updates to its GSV-R machine but is looking forward to getting back to the good potential demonstrated at the pre-season tests. Kenny Roberts Jr will be looking to get a full race under his belt following his DNF in Spain and is confident of an improved showing. He said: “I was upset not to finish the race at Jerez but I am looking forward to this weekend. I like the Estoril track, I had a second place finish here in my Championship winning season and would really like to go well after last weekend’s disappointment. If things go in our favour I know we can be a lot more competitive here.” John Hopkins is still in a confident mood after promising pre-season tests saw him setting some of the fastest lap-times. He commented: “I just want to get out and race, I need to be competitive again and here is a good place to begin. I had my best ever MotoGP finish here last season with a sixth place – I want to forget Jerez completely and go for it here.” Team manager Paul Denning commented, “It took the wind out of our sails somewhat to have suffered so badly for pace at Jerez. However, the team is highly motivated to improve dramatically this weekend. Our commitment is 100 per cent and we know where we need to concentrate our efforts to get a better result.” Team SUZUKI MotoGP has two practice sessions on Friday followed by another practice on Saturday morning in preparation for that afternoon’s timed qualifying session. The race is on Sunday 17th April at 14.00CET (13.00 local time).

RIZLA SUZUKI British Superbike Champion John Reynolds met with his doctor yesterday and was told his broken right leg is healing well. JR broke his right leg in five places during a testing accident in February. Yesterday’s examination at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham was the first time his doctor has noticed significant evidence of the bones knitting together. The good news comes just days after a difficult second round of the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton. JR was hampered by treacherously windy conditions at the Hampshire circuit and came away with only two points to show for his brave efforts. JR said: “Now I know for sure that my leg is healing, I can tune my thoughts into racing and focusing on the British Superbike Championship rather than worrying and fretting over my injury. I am on the road to recovery! “I’ll be at Oulton Park tomorrow testing my Rizla Suzuki in a new frame of mind. I will be pushing hard and testing parts on the bike for performance. I’ve had enough of just riding around on my GSX-R1000, it’s time I got back to racing, that is what I love and what my fans expect from me.” Rizla Suzuki will be at Oulton Park on Friday April 15th for an official BSB test before competing at the third round of the Championship at Mallory Park on Sunday, April 24th. One week later, the fourth round of the series visits Oulton Park in Cheshire on Bank Holiday Monday, May 2nd.

Bridgestone riders confident for tight and twisty Estoril After celebrating a strong fifth place with Kawasaki star Shinya Nakano in the season-opening Grand Prix of Spain in Jerez, Japanese tyre giant Bridgestone is looking forward to even better results at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril this weekend. Located close to the ocean in the north-west of Lisbon, just besides the famous seaside resort towns of Cascais and Estoril, the Portuguese circuit is the slowest track on the MotoGP calendar. Various hairpins and a tight and twisty up-hill chicane outweigh the one-kilometre-long main straight, and a well-balanced chassis for precise steering, easy handling and good feedback counts more than sheer horsepower. Besides general corner grip and durability for the nine right hand corners, traction for the crucial last and fast bend before the main straight is one of the basic requirements when it comes to tyre choice. Fine-adjusting all parameters on short notice is another art in Estoril. Fast and unexpected weather changes make the conditions on the bumpy and not very grippy surface hard to predict, with the right suspension set-up and the right tyre choice always being the decision of a moment. Relentless ocean winds make for an additional challenge, and it is remarkable that Bridgestone, a relative newcomer to MotoGP racing, overcame all obstacles with pole position and a second place in last year’s race. For this year’s Portugal Grand Prix, the expectations are high again, considering the similarity in track characteristics between Estoril and Jerez. “We are basically going to ride with the same tyres that we used in Jerez”, explains Shinya Nakano. “The speed is only averaging 154 kph, which should help us, too. Even though the set-up of our big-bang engine is getting better every time, there is still a slight lack of top speed. It’s good for us to be on one of the slower tracks again.” For the Portuguese Grand Prix, approximately 700 Bridgestone tyres have been shipped in from the factory in Tokyo. Modified constructions and new compounds compared to the 2004 tyre generation mean more grip, better handling and durability, “We have good reason to be confident”, says Nakano’s German team-mate Alex Hofmann, who had finished 11th in Jerez. Hiroshi Yamada – Motorcycle Racing Manager Bridgestone Motorsport “Shinya Nakano placed an excellent fifth in the season-opening round at Jerez, which was a better result for Bridgestone than at last year’s opener, and which boosts our confidence for the future. I am relieved to know that our pre-season tyre development program was a success, as we saw Shinya’s lap times being consistent throughout the whole race. Last year in Estoril, our top two riders placed 2nd and 6th, so we know that our tyres work well on this circuit. This year’s three Bridgestone teams, with Kawasaki currently leading the charge, are aiming even higher. Ducati and Suzuki are working hard to overcome the unexpected difficulties they had in Jerez, and I am confident that they will bounce back with strong results here in Estoril!”

Yamaha is proud to announce a two-year deal with MotoGP series promoter Dorna that has seen the Japanese motorcycling giant become the Scooter Supplier of the MotoGP World Championship. The agreement, which was sealed on the eve of the opening round of the 2005 season held in Jerez, Spain includes Yamaha supplying the championship organizer Dorna with a fleet of limited edition 50cc BW’s scooter which will be used through the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Yamaha Motor Europe’s Manager of the Power Two-Wheeler Marketing and Sales Division, Robert Landman, presented the new fleet of MotoGP liveried BW’s to Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta at the Jerez MotoGP event. The limited edition MotoGP BW’s livery features the official MotoGP logo, race-inspired colour scheme as well as track maps of each circuit featured on the 2005 and 2006 seasons. In addition, the liquid-cooled unit also boasts a carbon-fibre replica seat and trick instrument dash layout. Production replicas of the Yamaha MotoGP Scooter will be on sale from June.

EXHIBITION EMBARRASSMENT FOR KAWASAKI’S ALEX HOFMANN The Portuguese Grand Prix got off to a painful and slightly embarrassing start for Kawasaki’s Alex Hofmann when the 24-year-old German crashed his Ninja ZX-RR during an exhibition ride at Estoril’s seafront Casino on Wednesday afternoon. Hofmann joined fellow riders Alex Barros, Makoto Tamada, Pablo Nieto, Casey Stoner and Mika Kallio, for a short demonstration ride in front of a small, but enthusiastic crowd in the centre of Estoril, to promote this weekend’s race at the Autodromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, which is located on the outskirts of the resort town. A brief demonstration by the two-stroke contingent went off without any problems but the power of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR caught Hofmann out as he started his return run on the short demonstration course. The Kawasaki rider got on the gas a little too early as he prepared for the run back up the hill to the casino, with the result that the back of the bike span up on the slippery road surface and unceremoniously flicked him over the high side, much to the astonishment of the watching crowd and television crews. “I don’t know what happened,” declared Hofmann. “I didn’t get on the gas that hard, but the rear still came round on me without any warning. I guess it was just a combination of cold tyres and a slippery road. It’s bad enough crashing at any time, but to do it at 40 kph during a demonstration parade is incredibly embarrassing. I didn’t want to take my helmet off in front of the crowd, because they’d have been able to see how red my face was!” “And if crashing in front of a crowd wasn’t bad enough, there were also quite a few television crews in attendance. Most of the people in the paddock had already seen the crash on television before I’d even got back to the track, so I know I’m going to have to put up with a few jokes at my expense this weekend.” While damage to his Ninja ZX-RR was limited to a broken footrest and a few scratches on the fairing, Hofmann hit his left hand hard on the floor during the crash and was later diagnosed as having cracked two small bones in his wrist by staff at the Clinica Mobile. “I just can’t believe my bad luck. Other riders have had much bigger crashes during testing and have walked away unscathed. Even Shakey Byrne only suffered a bruised head after crashing his scooter at 50 kph, despite not having any protective gear on at the time. This was my first crash since the opening round at Welkom last season, but I manage to crack two bones in my hand falling off at almost walking pace. Unbelievable.” “I went over the top of the bike and hit my left hand quite hard on the ground. My wrist is quite sore and swollen at the moment, but I’m hoping that resting it today will mean it’s okay for the start of practice tomorrow,” added the bruised, but upbeat, Kawasaki rider. Free practice for Sunday’s Portuguese Grand Prix starts tomorrow at 10.00 in the morning, and continues at 14.00 tomorrow afternoon. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: HOFMANN SIDELINED BY INJURY AT ESTORIL Kawasaki’s Alex Hofmann will not race in this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril after being diagnosed with a fractured scaphoid in his left wrist, sustained in a crash during a pre-event promotion in Estoril on Wednesday afternoon. The 24-year-old German rider was taking part in an organised MotoGP parade at Estoril’s seafront casino when he was highsided from his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR and landed heavily on his wrist. Initially it was thought that Hofmann had only suffered bruising and swelling, but an x-ray taken today, once the swelling had reduced sufficiently, confirmed that the Kawasaki rider had fractured his scaphoid, together with another small bone in his wrist. Unable to grip the handlebars of his Ninja ZX-RR properly as a result of the injury, the Kawasaki Racing Team made the decision to withdraw Hofmann from the event, rather than risking further injury by him riding when not fully fit. Understandably, given his impressive performance in the opening race of the season at Jerez just five days ago, Hofmann is devastated not to be racing this weekend. “I am so disappointed and frustrated,” declared Hofmann. “After last weekend’s result at Jerez, I was so looking forward to coming here and scoring another good finish. I just can’t believe that a silly mistake during a promotional event has left me unable to race this weekend, and facing a real fight back to fitness for the next race in China.” “If there were any way I could race then I’d definitely be out there, but the scaphoid fracture makes it difficult to hold the handlebars at a standstill, never mind at race pace. Estoril is a very physical track and my wrist simply isn’t up to the job of muscling the bike around here.” “Too many top racers have ended their careers through coming back too early after fracturing their scaphoid, which is why we decided that the best course of action would be to withdraw from this weekend’s race, rather than risk further injury. Although I’m devastated to be missing the Portuguese Grand Prix, I need to put this weekend behind me and focus completely on getting myself back to full fitness for the race in Shanghai in two weeks’ time,” added a very dejected Hofmann. “For a motorcycle racer, a fractured scaphoid is a serious injury,” explained Kawasaki Team Coordinator, Michael Bartholemy. “It leaves the rider unable to grip the handlebars properly and makes controlling a bike as powerful as the Ninja ZX-RR at such a physical circuit as Estoril very difficult indeed.” “Also, if the scaphoid doesn’t heal properly then it can cause problems for a rider in the future. Obviously we want Alex to recover fully from this injury, which is why we made the decision to withdraw him from this weekend’s event, to give the fracture a better chance of healing before the next race.” The scaphoid bone is found on the thumb side of the hand, within the anatomical snuffbox (the hollow between thumb and index finger). Fractures to the scaphoid are common, especially amongst motorcycle racers, and are normally caused by falling on an outstretched hand and hyper-extending the wrist joint. But scaphoid fractures are also particularly slow to heal due to poor circulation to the bone, and even a rapidly immobilised fracture can require surgery. Under normal circumstances, a fully immobilised scaphoid fracture takes between six and eight weeks to heal completely.

Nixon & Springsteen Team Up! Racing legend Gary Nixon will be overseeing a Triumph Thruxton Cup effort fielding longtime friend and fellow legend Jay Springsteen as the rider. Springer will make his debut on the Thruxton at the Willow Springs round of this year’s AHMRA series and participate in selected AHMRA events. The effort will operate in conjuntion with Jerry Liggett’s STEEL BREEZE RACING, the team for which Nixon races an immaculate vintage Triumph Trident. Watch for Nixon and Springer to continue with their “Battle of the 9’s” in the F750 and Formula Vintage classes. Providing some truly exciting vintage racing battles, the two veterans create considerable attention both on the track and in the pits. Always happy to visit with fans, watch for these two in the Steel Breeze Racing camp! Made up exclusively of Triumph Tridents owned and prepped by Jerry Ligget and Charlie Barnes, Steel Breeze Racing’s riders includes Gary Nixon, Jerry Liggett and Craig Knapp. Gary Nixon is currently seeking additional sponsors and can be reached at garynixon.com