THE DUCATI MONSTER CHALLENGE CONCLUDES AT DUCATI DAY DAYTONA Ducati North America narrowed the contestants down to just twelve finalists prior to Daytona Speed Week. After a nail-biting final we now know who has the coolest Monster. March 17th, 2005 Cupertino, CA Throughout the winter, Ducati searched the country for the coolest Monster in North America. Winning Monsters from eight different IMS shows were selected for the grand finale on March 11th, in Daytona, along with four wildcard bikes that were so exceptional they warranted inclusion. A celebrity panel of judges including editors from Moto-Euro Magazine, Cycle News, the Desmodromiclub of Rome, Neil Hodgson and Eric Bostrom from Team Ducati Austin and Ducati CEO Michael Lock. Bikes, owners and judges assembled in Daytona to carefully critique each entrant. The bikes ranged in style from vintage inspired to turbocharged performance, making judging difficult because all the bikes were so well crafted. With each bike, one could tell the owner’s intentions and what they thought a truly perfect Ducati Monster should be. In the end, Stuart Baker, who won at the IMS Show in San Francisco, was adjudged to have the most outstanding bike. Special mention was made by many judges of the ‘purity of purpose and classic café-racer lines’ of Stuart’s bike. Baker won a brand new, $13495, 117 HP 2005 Ducati Monster S4R as his vintage styled 1999 Monster 750 took 1st place in front of a large crowd of Ducatisti on a beautiful afternoon in Florida. “It’s easy for someone to look at the pictures, and modification lists on the Internet and make judgments about other motorcycles. It is a whole other matter when you are face-to-face with the machines. Each and every motorcycle in the final round of the Monster Challenge was full of thought, great modifications, and a lot of passion. I’m not surprised it took the judges an extra two hours to announce their decisions,” commented Stuart. 2nd place went Chris Nicolaou of Port Perry, Ontario, who won a trip to the 2005 US MotoGP, featuring the return of Grand Prix racing to the USA and the debut of Ducati’s V-4 engined, 216 mph Desmosedici machine. Chris was the only Canadian selected as a finalist and his Monster features an extended swingarm, amazing craftsmanship and a unique style. Kyle Brussich of Houston, Texas finished on the podium in 3rd place with her heavily modified 2000 Ducati Monster 900. Surprisingly, Kyle was the only female finalist in Daytona despite having many women-owned Monsters compete in the Monster Challenge. She wins a $1000 Ducati Performance gift certificate. Finally, Keith Myers of Las Vegas, Nevada won the “People’s Choice” award. This award is a result of polling show patrons to select their favorite Monster and usually goes to the shiniest, most extrovert bike. In Keith’s case, his 1999 Monster 900S is the bike he actually rides. The Monster Challenge finalists in Daytona showed creativity and a dedication to motorcycling that motorcycle enthusiasts all over the world can appreciate. Founded in 1926, Ducati builds racing-inspired motorcycles characterized by unique engine features, innovative design, advanced engineering and overall technical excellence. The Company produces motorcycles in five market segments which vary in their technical and design features and intended customers: Superbike, Supersport; Monster, Sport Touring and Multistrada. The Company’s motorcycles are sold in more than 60 countries worldwide, with a primary focus in the Western European and North American markets. Ducati has won thirteen of the last fifteen World Superbike Championship titles and more individual victories than the competition put together. For more information about the Company, please visit our web site at www.ducati.com.

Pedrosa pulls rank as 250cc test ends at Catalunya World Champion Daniel Pedrosa stamped his authority over his 250cc class rivals with a late surge of speed on the final day of tests at Catalunya on Thursday. With the MotoGP teams set to take over preseason development duties at the Barcelona venue on Friday morning, Pedrosa rode his quarter-litre Honda until track closure at 6pm today and posted the fastest lap with his very last effort, dipping under record pace with a time of 1:46.248 as the chequered flag was waved. Despite having dominated the time sheets for much of the day, Pedrosa seemed to have conceded bragging rights to Aprilia’s Sebastián Porto, the runner-up from last season. The two riders were the last men out on track as they battled for supremacy in an entertaining end to the day, but the Argentinean was unable to improve on his previous best and was forced to settle for second place after the Spaniard’s late effort. “It was a difficult day today because we’ve had problems with the carburetion of the bike, as we did yesterday,” explained Pedrosa, who ran up 99 laps today a total bettered only by his Honda team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama, who completed a marathon 104 circulations of the 4727m track. “We also had a few problems with the front tyre and it seems as though they didn’t bring enough here, but I guess that was the same problem for all the riders. These problems disrupted our programme a little but in the afternoon it was a lot better. We parked the number one bike and worked solely on the spare, which I felt more comfortable with, and we got the time down in the end. Hopefully we can solve the problems at Jerez next week.” Randy de Puniet completed the third highest number of laps and ended the test with the third fastest time ahead of Aprilia colleague Alex de Angelis and Honda’s Jorge Lorenzo, who completed the top five. The 250cc teams now head south from Catalunya through Spain to the Jerez circuit in the region of Andalucía, where they will continue testing from 23-24 March. Several MotoGP riders were on hand to watch the 250cc session today as they finalise preparations for their first official confrontation of the preseason, which starts on Friday morning at 10.00h and runs until Sunday. The highlight of the weekend promises to be a timed 40-minute session on the final day, when the fastest rider will be handed the BMW Award MotoGP Test and will drive away in a brand-new BMW 1-series car. Official 250cc GP Test Times: 1. Daniel PEDROSA, Honda, 1:46.248 2. Sebastian PORTO, Aprilia, 1:46.438 3. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, 1:46.756 4. Alex DE ANGELIS, Aprilia, 1:46.787 5. Jorge LORENZO, Honda, 1:47.018 6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Honda, 1:47.021 7. Hector BARBERA, Honda, 1:47.199 8. Roberto LOCATELLI, Aprilia, 1:47.379 9. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Honda, 1:47.546 10. Simone CORSI, Aprilia, 1:47.550 11. Casey STONER, Aprilia, 1:47.642 12. Alex DEBON, Honda, 1:48.274 13. Chaz DAVIES, Aprilia, 1:48.520 14. Mirko GIANSANTI, Aprilia, 1:48.535 15. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Aprilia, 1:48.703 16. Steve JENKNER, Aprilia, 1:48.818 17. Jakub SMRZ, Honda, 1:48.898 18. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Honda, 1:48.961 19. Andrea BALLERINI, Aprilia, 1:49.428 20. Taro SEKIGUCHI, Aprilia, 1:49.498 21. Alex BALDOLINI, Aprilia, 1:49.525 22. Gregory LEBLANC, Aprilia, 1:49.694 23. Radomil ROUS, Honda, 1:49.867 24. Martin CARDENAS, Aprilia, 1:50.382 25. Dirk HEIDOLF, Honda, 1:50.890 26. Arnaud VINCENT, Fantic, 1:52.584 27. Gabriele FERRO, Fantic, 1:54.447

The 2005 GSX-R1000 frames of Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates and Ben Spies that were found to be missing their Vehicle Indentification Numbers (VIN) after the races at Daytona International Speedway were otherwise legal, according to AMA Pro Racing. “It’s a little bit silly to worry too much about those things as long as the frames meet the production specifications, which they did. That (missing VINs) kind of triggered us to go ahead and do some measuring while we were at Daytona. Everything looked fine from what our tech guys could see,” AMA Pro Racing Road Race Series Manager Ron Barrick told Roadracingworld.com in a telephone interview Thursday. “Don Sakakura (Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager) said that they were pre-production frames. Obviously, they weren’t able to get regular production bikes as early as they would like to get started working on the bikes. I think even the Corona (Suzuki) team didn’t have ’05 bikes to work with at Daytona. So I guess they’re in somewhat short supply. “Obviously, the manufacturer has the capacity to manufacture whatever frame they want and stamp whatever number they want on it. Just the fact that these didn’t have a number on them doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything unusual one way or the other. And the same can be said for a frame that does have a number on it. That doesn’t mean it’s standard. The process is the same whether they have a VIN number or not. We occasionally have to look at them and measure them and make sure they’re playing by the rules in that regard.” Barrick said that all of the motorcycle manufacturers have supplied sample 2005-model bikes and parts to AMA Pro Racing for comparisons during technical inspections.

An auction of an autographed Tommy Hayden AMA Supersport Championship T-shirt and personalized Kawasaki Road Racing hat is currently underway on eBay at”¦ ~http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5176246030~ All proceeds from the auction will go to the Roadracing world Action Fund, a non-profit corporation dedicated to reducing the number of injuries at racetracks by educating and advocating the use of soft barrier technology. The T-shirt is one of only a very limited number produced for Hayden and his Kawasaki team members to wear in winner’s circle after winning the 2004 AMA Supersport Championship at Virginia International Raceway last season. The XL-size, 100% cotton T-shirt was donated by Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. and autographed by Tommy Hayden on the front right chest area with a Sharpie permanent marker. The hat is an L-size Flexfit baseball style cap produced by Shift specifically for Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden to wear at races in 2004. The cap is 98% cotton, displays “Kawasaki Road Racing” on the front, a Kawasaki “K” under the bill and “HAYDEN” embroidered at the rear, which makes the hat very unique and collectable. Both the T-shirt and hat are in brand-new, never-worn condition. The auction is scheduled to end at approximately 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday, March 25.

MUNROE MOTORS PREPARE FOR DUCATI CONTINGENCY RACE PROGRAM Following Ducati North America’s announcement last month of a substantial U.S. road racing contingency program, Munroe Motors Ducati San Francisco & East Bay announced today they are joining forces with Tag Team Racing to contest the 2005 AFM Formula Pacific & Opens Twins Championships. Tag Team Racing’s pilot, Eric Gulbransen, is a long standing Ducati Superbike racer and championship winning veteran – originally from the Loudon Road Race Series, now an AFM series front runner. The team will campaign a 2005 Ducati 999R and a 2005 749R prepared at the new Munroe Motors East Bay Ducati dealership in San Leandro, California. Munroe Motors has been racing Ducatis for many years at the local and national level, winning the 2001 AMA Pro-Thunder championship on their 2001 Ducati 748R. “This year we decided to focus on our local Northern California racing scene, and the folks at Ducati wanted to support a team at the regional level” said Nick Hayman of Munroe Motors. “Their new regional and national contingency program is a great incentive for racers around the country to race Ducati’s”. For some national exposure, the team will also enter the 749R in the AMA Formula Xtreme round at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, and the 999R in the AMA Superbike class at Infineon and at Laguna Seca. As Eric Gulbransen put it, “I’m stoked for our entire team. We’ve all worked hard to get to where we are with Ducati – together as a part of Tag Team Racing, and individually in years past. I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge everyone who has worked with us – if not for them I’d be racing shopping carts right now, and some moms these days are fast as hell.” For more information about Tag Team Racing please go to www.GoTagTeam.com

West and KTM 250 looking ahead to french debut Australian rider Anthony West is scheduled to make a delayed start to the 250cc Road Race World Championship with the Red Bull KTM GP250 team in the French Grand at Le Mans in May. The all-new KTM 250 project is in the early stages of development and is part of KTM’s carefully planned expansion into grand prix road racing. The 2005 season was always planned as a development and evaluation year for the 250cc project as part of KTM’s long term strategy of a full scale world championship campaign for 2006. With a planned focus on the three-rider 125cc KTM squad the 250cc prototype is still being prepared by Austrian engineer Harald Bartol prior to its first test sessions. It is anticpated that West, who is already set-up in Europe at his Austrian base, will race the KTM 250 at Le Mans, the fourth race of the season. “The KTM 250 was always planned as a development project for 2005 so not being present for the opening race in Jerez is not a major issue for us,” said KTM motorsport manager Kurt Nicoll. “The 125cc team is our primary focus for 2005 and it makes sense to complete evaluation trials of the the new 250 before we start racing. “Harald Bartol and his team have done a tremendous job on advancing the 250 bike from design phase to prototype over the winter and we are sticking with KTM’s policy of testing before racing.” The KTM 250 will not be at the current IRTA tests scheduled for Barcelona and Jerez (next week). Private test sessions will be completed in advance of the race debut of the KTM 250. “The 250 is progressing according to our target which was always to have a bike that would be begin show its potential in the second half of the 2005 season,” said Bartol. “There is no reason to rush our technical plan which is focussed on the 125 team and some support for the MotoGP V4 project. The 2006 season is our priority with the 250 and that’s why we signed Anthony West to a two year with that development program in place.” The KTM 250 is part of overall strategy by KTM to increase its involvement in the Road race world championship with the Austrian manufacturer now represented in the three FIM world championship classes – 125, 250 and MotoGP. The Red Bull KTM GP125 team will be spearheaded by three talented and committed riders – Mika Kallio (Finland), Gabor Talmacsi (Hungary) and Julian Simon (Spain). The MotoGP project is a joint effort with TeamKR with British rider Shakey Byrne riding a KTM V4, 990cc powered machine.

SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED FOR 2005 RED BULL U.S. GRAND PRIX FEATURING ROUND 8 OF THE MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AMA Pro Racing and Superstars of Super Karts Also Part of Historic Weekend MONTEREY, Calif. (March 17, 2005) – The first MotoGP World Championship race in the U.S. since 1994 highlights the schedule of events released today for the 2005 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix July 8-10 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Sunday, July 10 will be one of the biggest days in the 47-year history of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, as round 8 of the prestigious MotoGP World Championship will take the green flag at 2 p.m. The race will be shown live in the U.S. on SPEED Channel and televised coverage will be seen over 300 million people in more than 200 countries. The historic weekend officially begins Friday, July 8 at 8:30 a.m. (all times Pacific Daylight Savings Time) with a one-hour practice session for the AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship. That will be followed by reigning MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi, who has won four consecutive championships, and the rest of the MotoGP field taking to the challenging 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course at 10 a.m., for the first of two one-hour Friday practice sessions. Friday also features practice sessions for the AMA’s Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited (11:55 a.m.) and Repsol Superstock Series (4 p.m.) as well as the Superstars of Super Karts (11:10 a.m. and 3:15 p.m.) featuring former world champions Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz competing in 250cc-powered racing karts with semi-enclosed bodywork and rear wings. The MotoGP field takes to the track twice again on Saturday, beginning with the third one-hour practice session of the weekend on Saturday at 10 a.m. Qualifying for Sunday’s race takes place from 2-3 p.m. Also qualifying on Saturday are the AMA Repsol Superstock Series (9 a.m.) and AMA Superbike Championship (11:50 a.m.). Saturday concludes with two races: the Superstars of Super Karts at 3:55 p.m., followed by round 11 of the AMA Superbike Championship, a 28-lap race starting at 4:35 p.m. Sunday’s MotoGP race will be preceded by the AMA Repsol Superstock Series contest at 11:30 a.m. and followed by the fifth and final race of the weekend – the AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship race at 3:15 p.m. Throughout the weekend, fans will find the lakebed area (inside turns 2 through 5) filled with hundreds of displays and vendors. The area, officially called the Yamaha Marketplace, features manufacturer displays – including the always-popular Ducati Island – and vendors selling a wide range of motorcycle accessories and apparel. Additional off-track activities are being finalized and will be announced in the near future. Tickets to the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix are on sale now at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca office, or by calling (800) 327-SECA or (831) 648-5111, or logging on to www.ticketmaster.com or www.laguna-seca.com. Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix July 8-10, 2005 Schedule Subject to Change Friday, July 8 8:30-9:30 a.m. Practice: AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship 10:00-11:00 a.m. Free Practice 1: MotoGP World Championship 11:10-11:40 a.m. Practice: Superstars of Super Karts 11:55 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Practice: AMA Superbike Championship 12:45-1:30 a.m. Lunch 2:00-3:00 p.m. Free Practice 2: MotoGP World Championship 3:15-3:50 p.m. Practice: Superstars of Super Karts 4:00-5:00 p.m. Practice: AMA Repsol Superstock Series Saturday, July 9 8:30-8:50 a.m. Warm-Up: Superstars of Super Karts 9:00-9:30 a.m. Qualifying: AMA Repsol Superstock Series 10:00-11:00 a.m. Free Practice 3: MotoGP World Championship 11:15-11:40 a.m. Qualifying: Superstars of Super Karts 11:50 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Qualifying: AMA Superbike Championship 12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch 2:00-3:00 p.m. Qualifying Practice: MotoGP World Championship 3:10-3:45 p.m. Practice: AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship 3:55-4:20 p.m. RACE: Superstars of Super Karts 4:35 p.m. RACE: AMA Superbike Championship Sunday, July 10 9:00-9:30 a.m. Practice: AMA Repsol Superstock Series 10:00-10:20 a.m. Warm-Up: MotoGP World Championship 10:40-11:10 a.m. Qualifying: AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship 11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. RACE: AMA Repsol Superstock Series 12:00-12:30 p.m. Track Entertainment 12:35-1:30 p.m. Lunch 2:00 p.m. RACE: MotoGP World Championship 3:15 p.m. RACE: AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship

CMRA/WERA racer William “Lee” Brennan married Sharon Oldham March 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

ODENTON, MD. – March 16, 2005 – The United States Grand Prix Riders Union (USGPRU) today announced Dialitintracktime.com as the official sponsor for 250GP class. Along with the cash payment for the 250GP class sponsor title, Dialitintracktime.com will be awarding a $50 off certificate in the 250GP class and $30 off certificate in the 125GP class. The class sponsorship extends beyond USGPRU race events to include a ten percent discount to all USGRU members to any Dialitintracktime.com event in 2005. “Dialitintracktime.com brings major sponsorship to the 2005 USGPRU National Series and offers a fantastic compliment to the 125GP class sponsor, Acid Cigars”, said Stewart Aitken-Cade, President of the USGPRU. “The USGPRU has put together an outstanding program to promote GP racing in the US, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it”, said Will Willis, President of Dialitintracktime.com. “We’ve seen the USGPRU gain traction and we’re enthused to take an active role in supporting the series.” About dialitintracktime.com Dialitintracktime.com welcomes you; club racer, track day perpetual, and anyone who enjoys the thrill of roadracing. Join us at LVMS, Laguna-Seca, Buttonwillow and Streets of Willow for 2005. Free lunch and Red Bull provided to all riders. Giveaways from Repsol, Tomahawk, Powerstands, Plexus, K&N and Liquid Asphalt. To register and view a full schedule, visit us at www.dialitintracktime.com.” About USGPRU The USGPRU is the officially recognized Motorcycle 125 Grand Prix National ChampionshipR and 250 Grand Prix National Championship TM series. The USGPRU emulates true World MotoGP racing experience and serves to attract young riders to gain experience in a professional environment and provide a path to world-class motorcycle racing. The USGPRU structures events with extended length grand prix racing exclusive to the GP machines, timed qualifying and strong contingency and sponsor support. For additional details, visit www.USGPRU.net