Smart cuts lap time while JR battles the elements RIZLA SUZUKI racer Scott Smart slashed more than a second from his previous best lap time to take 8th place and a second row start for tomorrow’s double-header second round of the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton in Hampshire. Smart spent much of the two qualifying sessions testing a new dual-compound Dunlop rear tyre. It features softer rubber for additional grip at the edges while the center of the tyre is a harder compound to aid longevity. Smart was able to lap consistently quickly using this rubber and is in good shape for the races. JR suffered more than most in the driving winds as he nursed his broken right leg during the qualifying sessions. The British Champion is happy with his Rizla Suzuki set-up but wasn’t ready to commit fully to a qualifying lap because of the gusting wind that was catching many riders out and causing crashes. Thruxton boasts the fastest average lap speed of any circuit the BSB Championship visits at nearly 112mph and is Dorset-based Rizla Suzuki’s home event. Honda’s Michael Rutter claimed pole position. Former Formula One commentator and friend to Rizla Suzuki, Murray Walker, will be joining the team for the racing. Superbike racing at Thruxton starts at 13:15 on Sunday, April 10th. It will be televised live on Sky Sports. A highlights programme on Channel 4 will be screened the following Sunday morning and feature the chance to win a pillion ride with Rizla Suzuki. Scott Smart: “I didn’t get a single clear lap during qualifying, so I am happy that I was able to get a second row starting position for the races. I would have preferred a faster qualifying time but thanks to back markers, gusting wind and me trying just too hard, I missed my window of opportunity. “I spent a lot of time testing a new Dunlop dual compound rear tyre and it’s given me a very competitive race pace. I think we can run at the front tomorrow, so I’ll be looking for a good start to get away with the leaders early on.” John Reynolds: “Gusts of wind were catching me at high speed and threatening to wash away the front end of my Rizla Suzuki. Normally I would grit my teeth and ride through that, but I am riding with an injury and cannot afford to crash under any circumstances, so I played it safe for the second day in a row. “I have a strong race setting and the speed of the GSX-R1000 is fantastic. I sincerely hope the wind dies down for tomorrow and if it does, then I am confident we can go out and score good points.” Stewart Johnstone, Chief Technician to JR: “JR did a good a job today given the weather conditions. He is wary of crashing again and hurting himself further and that is something none of us want to happen. He is here to score whatever points he can, test his Rizla Suzuki and build his confidence. “Scott was amongst the top two or three fastest on race rubber and is riding well. When it came to qualifying he wasn’t able to replicate that form but there are no points for today, they are only awarded tomorrow and we are confident he is going to be quick over all 22-laps of each race.” Qualifying Times: 1: Michael Rutter (Honda) 1:15.601, 2: Leon Haslam (Ducati) +0.134, 3: Sean Emmett (Yamaha) +0.146, 4: Karl Harris (Honda) +0.318, 5: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +0.345, 6: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +0.440, 7: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +0.538, 8: SCOTT SMART (RIZLA SUZUKI) +0.703, 9: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +0.764, 10: Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +0.775, 17 JOHN REYNOLDS (RIZLA SUZUKI) +1.804.

“We now plan for the Blata V6 to make its debut at the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic at Brno in August,” announced Pavel Blata. “This represents a considerable delay from our earlier hopes but we have realised that bowing to the pressure of being at the opening rounds of the season makes no sense in the longer run.” Following the unveiling of the V6 project and partnership between Blata and the WCM MotoGP team at last year’s Grand Prix in Brno, Blata have achieved a great deal. They have not simply been building the new machine that would be enough of a challenge in itself, but have been building a MotoGP race department from zero. “It is our intention to have a great deal of the engineering capability within our company,” explains Pavel Blata. “Of course we have partners who are being a great help but it makes no sense for us just to outsource everything. We do not do that with our production machines and we do not intend to do that in the racing department.” An engine dyno and a rolling road dyno are just a couple of the more obvious facilities now in place, there is also specialist rapid prototyping, casting and machining facilities that have taken time to set up but will pay huge dividends even in the short term. “We have made a long term commitment to race in MotoGP with WCM. They understand that we have to do things the right way and know it will pay off for all of us. We will support their continued use of the current four cylinder machine until the six is ready.” WCM backs the path taken by Blata. “It makes absolute sense,” says Peter Clifford, Director of Racing. “Setting up the race department and building the bike is a huge task. The progress has been incredible. There is simply no point in forcing the bike onto the track just so we can use it at this end of the season. We are much more interested in the quality of machine we will be using at the other end of the season.”

Satruday Morning 250cc GP Practice From Jerez: 1. Sebastian PORTO, Aprilia, 1:44.091 2. Daniel PEDROSA, Honda, 1:44.233 3. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, 1:44.472 4. Casey STONER, Aprilia, 1:44.763 5. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Honda, 1:44.952 6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Honda, 1:45.300 7. Jorge LORENZO, Honda, 1:45.371 8. Hector BARBERA, Honda, 1:45.508 9. Roberto LOCATELLI, Aprilia, 1:45.910 10. Alex DE ANGELIS, Aprilia, 1:46.151 11. Simone CORSI, Aprilia, 1:46.195 12. Steve JENKNER, Aprilia, 1:46.254 13. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Aprilia, 1:46.278 14. Alex DEBON, Honda, 1:46.461 15. Alex BALDOLINI, Aprilia, 1:46.693

With the start of the new season, the 56th in the history of the sport, MotoGP’s increasing popularity is being recognised in 2005 with a huge TV following in every corner of the globe. Thanks to extensive coverage through no less than 46 TV networks, the live broadcasts of the MotoGP races (or same day delayed on the different time zones) are reaching more than 200 countries in all five continents. Amongst these broadcasters, prestigious networks such as BBC (United Kingdom), TVE (Spain) or Mediaset (Italy) are increasing the quantity and quality of their shows. Other territories to watch MotoGP throughout main terrestrial free-to-air networks are: Japan (NTV), Australia (Ten), Brazil (Globo), Belgium (RTL Club), Finland (Nelonen), Switzerland (TSI, TSR and DRS), Austria (ATV+), and Russia (Center TV). Several pan-continental channels are also amongst the MotoGP broadcasters, meaning the races can actually be seen in every country in the world. A significant element in 2005 is the increase in the general coverage of MotoGP’s only qualifying practice. Interesting additions to the distribution list for 2005 are Greece (ET3), Colombia (Canal 1) and Morocco (2M). Other countries, such as the Netherlands (NOS), Malaysia (RTM), Ireland (RTE) and New Zealand (Prime TV and TVNZ) will have a huge increase in the TV coverage of MotoGP. In the case of China, the first visit to the new racetrack in Shanghai has led to the broadcast of the full championship through Shanghai TV and Dragon TV. For the 2004 season, the average global coverage for each round of the MotoGP World Championship was 327 million TV viewers, with a total of 5,226 million viewers for the year.

Saturday Morning 125cc GP Practice Times From Jerez: 1. Marco SIMONCELLI, Aprilia, 1:47.852 2. Mattia PASINI, Aprilia, 1:48.077 3. Thomas LUTHI, Honda, 1:48.602 4. Mika KALLIO, KTM, 1:49.130 5. Manuel POGGIALI, Gilera, 1:49.131 6. Fabrizio LAI, Honda, 1:49.138 7. Lukas PESEK, Derbi, 1:49.332 8. Gabor TALMACSI, KTM, 1:49.370 9. Jordi CARCHANO, Aprilia, 1:49.485 10. Julian SIMON, KTM, 1:49.723

AMA SUPERMOTO ROUND ONE POSTPONED Road America event to be opening round PICKERINGTON, Ohio (April 8, 2005) — AMA Pro Racing and Troy Lee Designs have announced that the AMA Supermoto Championship event scheduled to be held on May 14 at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, Calif., has been postponed. In making the announcement, Troy Lee Design’s Bob Weber said that his company was just made aware that a special state permit was necessary but that it would be impossible to secure the permit prior to the date. “Our pre-event planning was on schedule and things were in good shape for the event,” said Weber. “Unfortunately we then learned about the requirement for this permit, which came as a complete surprise to us. We had no choice but to postpone the event due to timing. The good news is that the Fairgrounds are enthusiastic about this race so we’re going to work with AMA Pro Racing to secure another date.” AMA Pro Racing’s Vice President of Commercial Development, John Farris concurred. “Obviously we’re disappointed that we can’t proceed with this event as originally scheduled,” said Farris. “However, we’re looking forward to working with everyone at Troy Lee Designs to find a suitable replacement date. We both agree that Southern California is an important market for Supermoto so we’re hopeful that this race can be rescheduled.” The event scheduled for June 4 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., will now be the opening round of the 2005 AMA Supermoto Championship.

Rizla Suzuki building speed at super-fast Thruxton RIZLA SUZUKI racer Scott Smart finished eighth and less than two-tenths of a second off a front row lap-time in today’s practice sessions for the second round of the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton in Hampshire. A bitterly cold wind gusting through the airfield-based circuit made practice difficult for everyone and Smart deliberately took his time building up his speed as the day progressed. He completed his fastest laps right at the end of the practice sessions on a race compound tyre. British Superbike Champion John Reynolds was 15th on the timesheets as he tested gearing on his Rizla Suzuki race bike. He found the cold conditions uncomfortable on his broken right leg and completed only a handful of laps, determined to rest as much as possible before Sunday’s races. Thruxton is Rizla Suzuki’s home round of the Championship as the circuit is based just 40-minutes drive from the team’s headquarters at the Crescent Performance Centre in Verwood, Dorset. It boasts the fastest average lap speed of any circuit the BSB series visits at nearly 112mph. Honda’s Michael Rutter was quickest today. Former Formula One commentator and friend to Rizla Suzuki, Murray Walker, will be joining the team on Sunday to catch all the race action. Superbike racing at Thruxton starts at 13:15 on Sunday, April 10th. It will be televised live on Sky Sports with a highlights programme on Channel 4 the following Sunday morning. Scott Smart: “Thruxton is a circuit I build up to over the course of a weekend. It is extremely bumpy and today the cold driving wind conditions made it even more treacherous than normal, so I was playing it safe. “I saved my best lap times until the end of the day on a race tyre and we have a strong direction to follow for developing the bike during tomorrow’s qualifying sessions. The Rizla Suzuki is fast and I am gaining in confidence with every lap.” John Reynolds: “Track conditions were difficult for me today and the gusting wind and cold didn’t help my broken right leg. “I worked on gearing and finding a comfortable setting on my GSX-R1000 so I can change direction quickly. There are no issues with the Rizla Suzuki – it is a fantastic motorcycle and I aim to improve my position dramatically in qualifying.” Robert Wicks, Team Manager: “It has been cold and windy at Thruxton and both the Rizla Suzuki riders have had a productive day. Neither rider went out on a qualifying tyre and instead they concentrated on testing various suspension and gearing settings and have finished with a lot of useful data for the technicians to work with. “Scott has again proved he can run with the fastest riders and JR continues to impress just by racing against the odds with his injured leg. We will be making changes to both our riders’ bikes this evening and will come out all guns firing in qualification tomorrow.” Friday Practice Times: 1: Michael Rutter (Honda) 1:16.492, 2: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +0.133, 3: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +0.712, 4: Karl Harris (Honda) +0.716, 5: Leon Haslam (Ducati) +0.775, 6: Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +0.795, 7: Sean Emmett (Yamaha) +0.952, 8: SCOTT SMART (RIZLA SUZUKI) +0.969, 9: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +1.057, 10: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +1.085, 15: JOHN REYNOLDS (RIZLA SUZUKI) +1.728.