Aussie Pair Set Sights on Valencia Progress Foggy PETRONAS Racing pair Garry McCoy and Steve Martin make an expectant return to track action this weekend for the second official Superbike World Championship winter test at Valencia, Spain. The two Australians will be pleased to return to familiar territory after unpredictable weather at the first race in Qatar denied them the chance to make maximum set-up progress at the new venue. But the tight and twisty Valencia circuit is expected to provide a more realistic gauge of the size of the gap that the team needs to close before race action resumes at Phillip Island, Australia, on April 3. The team will be focused on testing a number of chassis and engine package modifications, while background progress continues to be made on the next stage of engine development. Race team manager Jack Valentine said: “I want both riders to do a substantial amount of laps with the base settings from Qatar and then we will test things like new suspension links, new swinging arms and modified shocks. We will also be trying a different cooling package, featuring larger water radiators and different oil coolers.” Steve said: “The track in Qatar was a difficult one for our bike at this stage of development. That, along with having to dust off a few cobwebs, made it difficult to get myself up to speed quick enough. So I want the team to go nuts at Valencia and use me to test as much as possible. I also need to try a lower centre of gravity and I haven’t really had the chance to make changes to the suspension internals. We will also be trying a few changes to the geometry to help the braking.” Garry said: “The test will be important for having more track time on the bike, which we have lacked so far, so hopefully we won’t have too many dramas. The time in Qatar felt like I was starting again from our previous test at Valencia in November, which turned out to be a small one for me. But I have had good results at Valencia and it’s a circuit I know well and it is close to home in Andorra, so I am hoping for a very positive couple of days.” The team also have a two-day test planned for the Easter weekend at Phillip Island.

Provisional Thursday Morning AMA Superbike Practice Times: 1. Mat Mladin, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:40.176 2. Ben Spies, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:40.659 3. Aaron Yates, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:40.738 4. Miguel Duhamel, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:40.857 5. Jake Zemke, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:41.042 6. Neil Hodgson, Duc 999F05, 1:41.457 7. Geoff May, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:41.528* 8. Vincent Haskovec, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:41.752* 9. Jason Pridmore, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:41.919 10. Josh Hayes, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:41.973 11. Steve Rapp, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:42.288* 12. Eric Bostrom, Duc 999F05, 1:42.401 13. Tommy Hayden, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:42.634* 14. John McGuinness, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:42.911 15. Larry Pegram, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:43.378 16. Kurtis Roberts, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:43.448 17. Jake Holden, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:43.724* 18. Marty Craggill, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:44.025 19. John Haner, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:44.295* 20. Brian Stokes, Yam YZF-R1, 1:44.525 * Superstock-spec motorcycle

Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden earned pole position for the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race during a rescheduled qualifying session Thursday morning at Daytona International Speedway. Riding his all-new ZX-6RR, Hayden turned a 1:43.510 to claim pole and set a new Supersport lap record for the revised 2.95-mile course. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies (1:43.905) was second-fastest on his GSX-R600, well clear of Yamaha factory riders Jamie Hacking (1:44.637) and Jason DiSalvo (1:44.691). Aaron Gobert crashed his factory Yamaha YZF-R6 on the out-lap of the re-started session, ran back to the pits, got on his back-up bike (which he hadn’t ridden yet at Daytona) and qualified fifth with a 1:44.733. The 35-minute session was stopped approximately 15 minutes in due to a crash and oil spill in the chicane. Representatives from the Yamaha and Kawasaki factory teams were very critical of AMA Pro Racing converting Thursday morning’s Supersport practice seesion into a qualifying session, saying they had 10 minutes of notice, that they were not prepared for a qualifying session and that the track (which still had damp patches) was not in good enough condition for a qualifying session. Yesterday, AMA Pro Racing announced that the 600cc Supersport grid would be set by 2004 points, order of pre-entry and order of post entry. The change to setting the grid by times in what was originally scheduled to be a practice session was announced just before the session started. The session was not split into two groups of slower and faster riders, as has been standard qualifying procedure for the past year. Rain disrupted yesterday’s schedule, eliminating planned Supersport and Superstock qualifying sessions. AMA Pro Racing does not conduct qualifying sessions, practice sessions or races in the rain on Superspeedway courses, although F-USA/CCS and AHRMA run rain or shine at Daytona. Provisional AMA Supersport Qualifying Results: 1. Tommy Hayden, Kaw, 1:43.510 2. Ben Spies, Suz, 1:43.905 3. Jamie Hacking, Yam, 1:44.637 4. Jason DiSalvo, Yam, 1:44.691 5. Aaron Gobert, Yam, 1:44.733 6. Danny Eslick, Suz, 1:44.878 7. Roger Lee Hayden, Kaw, 1:45.006 8. Michael Barnes, Yam, 1:45.111 9. Scott Greenwood, Kaw, 1:45.437 10. Chris Peris, Yam, 1:45.628 11. Robert Jensen, Yam, 1:45.812 12. Geoff May, Suz, 1:46.054 13. Mike Smith, Yam, 1:46.188 14. Blake Young, Suz, 1:46.705 15. Pascal Picotte, Yam, 1:46.981 16. Ben Attard, Kaw, 1:47.011 17. Nicky Moore, Yam, 1:47.366 18. Matt Furtek, Kaw, 1:47.396 19. Ryan Elleby, Suz, 1:47.424 20. Ty Howard, Yam, 1:47.433

Thursday morning’s AMA Supersport and Superstock practice sessions at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) have been changed to qualifying sessions, according to an announcement made by AMA Pro Racing Superbike Media Manager Donnie Clark moments ago in the Daytona Media Center. This reverses the ruling–made after the Supersport and Superstock classes’ originally-scheduled qualifying sessions were rained out Wednesday afternoon–that grids for those classes would be determined by 2004 Championship point standings, order of pre-entries and order of post entries. At post time, AMA Pro Racing has not providing any reasoning for this sudden reversal. Thursday’s first session was delayed due to various clean-ups around the track.

Provisional Starting Orders Supersport: 1. Tommy Hayden, Kaw 2. Roger Lee Hayden, Kaw 3. Aaron Gobert, Yam 4. Ben Spies, Suz 5. Jason DiSalvo, Yam 6. Michael Barnes, Yam 7. Jamie Hacking, Yam 8. Ben Attard, Kaw 9. Chris Peris, Yam 10. Danny Eslick, Suz 11. Giovanni Rojas, Suz 12. Blake Young, Suz 13. Nicky Moore, Yam 14. Nathan Hester, Yam 15. Damon Buckmaster, Yam 16. Pedro Valiente, Yam 17. William Meyers, III, Yam 18. Chad Klock, Hon 19. Joseph Ford, Yam 20. Alan Schmidt, Yam 21. Taylor Knapp, Yam 22. Ty Howard, Yam 23. Dirk Sanchez, Kaw 24. Scott Greenwood, Kaw 25. Jeremy Haiduk, Yam 26. Jason Moss, Yam 27. Dan Ortega, Yam 28. Barrett Long, Yam 29. Jason Mathiason, Yam 30. Justin Meyer, Yam 31. Russ Intravartolo, Kaw 32. R. Todd Keesee, Yam 33. Johnny Rock Page, Yam 34. Jesse Janisch, Suz 35. Jeremiah Johnson, Suz 36. Matt Furtek, Kaw 37. Brian Hall, Kaw 38. Craig Montgomery, Yam 39. Trey Yonce, Yam 40. Donny Kelley, Suz 41. Keith Marshall, Suz 42. Darin Scherer, Yam 43. Geoff May, Suz 44. Leslie Gerber, Kaw 45. Mark McCormick, Yam 46. David McPherson, Yam 47. Justin Filice, Hon 48. Ricky Orlando, Kaw 49. Declan Swanton, Yam 50. Kristipher Lillegard, Yam 51. Mike Smith, Yam 52. Robert Jensen, Yam 53. Pedro Bravo, Kaw 54. William Sheridan, Yam 55. Paul Vitale, Yam 56. M. Ivan Garza, Suz 57. Pascal Picotte, Yam 58. Bostjan Skubic, Hon 59. Nahun Alvarez, Hon 60. Benjamin DeLeon, Hon 61. Ryan Elleby, Suz 62. Myron Bell, Suz 63. Tim Knutson, Yam 64. Jason Farrell, Suz 65. Victor Chirinos, Yam 66. Armando Ferrer, Yam 67. J.C. Gibbs, Kaw Superstock: 1. Aaron Gobert, Yam YZF-R1 2. Jamie Hacking, Yam YZF-R1 3. Tommy Hayden, Kaw ZX-10R 4. Jason DiSalvo, Yam YZF-R1 5. Roger Lee Hayden, Kaw ZX-10R 6. Steve Rapp, Suz GSX-R1000 7. Jake Holden, Suz GSX-R1000 8. Jason Pridmore, Suz GSX-R1000 9. Eric Wood, Suz GSX-R1000 10. Damon Buckmaster, Yam YZF-R1 11. J.J. Roetlin, Suz GSX-R1000 12. Geoff May, Suz GSX-R1000 13. James Kerker, Hon CBR1000RR 14. Montez Stewart. Suz GSX-R1000 15. Lee Acree, Suz GSX-R1000 16. Sean Wray, Yam YZF-R1 17. Jimmy Moore, Suz GSX-R1000 18. M. Ivan Garza, Suz GSX-R1000 19. Brian Boyd, Suz GSX-R1000 20. Eric Haugo, Suz GSX-R1000 21. Johnny Rock Page, Yam YZF-R1 22. Blake Young, Suz GSX-R1000 23. Brent George, Suz GSX-R1000 24. James McConnell, Suz GSX-R1000 25. Aaron Yates, Suz GSX-R1000 26. Mark Vandal, Hon CBR1000RR 27. Jason Perez, Yam YZF-R1 28. Tony Meiring, Suz GSX-R1000 29. James Lee, Suz GSX-R1000 30. Matt Lynn, Suz GSX-R1000 31. Jeremy Haiduk, Yam YZF-R1 32. David Loikits, Suz GSX-R1000 33. Reno Karimian, Suz GSX-R1000 34. Vincent Haskovec, Suz GSX-R1000 35. John Haner, Suz GSX-R1000

VALENCIA TEST OFFERS EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL IN SBK One Down: An early start to the 2005 Corona Extra World Superbike season has seen the first two races already decided, at Qatar on 26th February. After Suzuki riders monopolised the top step of each podium at the Losail International Circuit, the forthcoming test session at Valencia offers the rest of the 30-rider SBK grid the chance to prepare their next challenges to this early Suzuki supremacy. World Tour: The first two races in the 12-round/24-race World Superbike season were taken by Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki riders Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama respectively, with the lone Xerox Ducati of 2004 season runner-up Regis Laconi interjecting a vee-twin boom into the 1000cc four-cylinder wails. With so many strong entries from the main Japanese manufacturers, and Ducati fielding six competitive riders – including world Champion James Toseland (Xerox Ducati) – the competition for wins will be the greatest ever no mean feat for a championship now in its 18th year. Closest Ever: World Superbike’s outstanding level of competitiveness this season is the result of not only an invigorated gridful of world class riders, but the balanced technical rules, which allow universal competitiveness of machinery, irrespective of engine configuration. Spec Pirelli tyres for all competitors have also helped make World Superbike increasingly accessible and popular, with manufacturers and teams alike. Leading Off: With one win apiece after round one, 1996 World Champion Troy Corser and his Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki team-mate Yukio Kagayama, have been fastest out of their starting blocks. Nonetheless, they face a solid wall of competitors at this test, all determined to catch up before the season moves on to round two, at Phillip Island in Australia on April 3. The Valencia circuit, a stadium style 4.005km venue much used for testing in all classes of global Motorsport, has been the site of many an official World Superbike shakedown session and race in previous years. The teams will use their track time as a valuable opportunity to make preparations, not only for the Phillip Island race, but also for the third round, at Valencia itself, on 24 April. Old World, New Order: The youngest ever World Champion is also the current number one plate holder, James Toseland (Xerox Ducati 999F05). After a tough first round in Qatar, Toseland sits equal fifth in the series, thanks to two sixth place race finishes. His team-mate Laconi had a much more successful time, and is third overall, behind Kagayama and Corser. Ducati’s factory runners will relish the chance to make further set-up improvements on their heavily revamped factory 999F05 machines. Works in Progress: For riders like the Winston Ten Kate Honda duo of Chris Vermeulen and Karl Muggeridge the first round at Qatar was a fight against illness and occasional misfortune. Other Honda riders will also be thankful for more track time before the next race and the ability to make a comparison with other riders’ lap times in their quests to fine tune their 2005 CBR1000RRs. Pierfrancesco Chili and Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda), plus Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji) are other top Honda runners in the high class 2005 rider line-up. Yamaha Step Changes: Numerically strong this year, Yamaha riders have good reasons to look forward to the Valencia tests. The leading Yamaha rider thus far is 2001 World Supersport Champion Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia), equal fifth after his Qatar experiences. His team-mate Noriyuki Haga is in more need of testing than most riders at this stage, having not had the same amount of track time as Pitt. Two leading Yamaha riders with great experience of race-spec Yamaha R1s are Jose-Luis Cardoso (Yamaha DFX Extreme Sterilgarda) and Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France). The ten-strong regular Yamaha line-up also includes GP winner Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) in its ranks. Kawasaki Thrust: PSG-1 Kawasaki rider Chris Walker, teamed up with Mauro Sanchini in 2005, enjoyed some strong performances in round one, if little good fortune overall, and will be looking to Valencia as an opportunity to enhance the consistency of his machine set-up. The Bertocchi Kawasaki riders, Giovanni Bussei and Ivan Clementi, have the comparative luxury of their team’s 2004 season experiences of the ZX-10 Kawasaki. Private Ducatis: Among the private Ducati entries this season, the Scuderia Caracchi pairing of Fonsi Nieto and Lorenzo Lanzi stand out as two potential race winners. At the Valencia tests Nieto especially will have a familiar track on which to enhance his relationship with a very different machine from the ones he has been used to. Three Into Two: With two new 2005 riders in the shape of Garry McCoy and Steve Martin, the Foggy Petronas squad, armed with the technically innovative three-cylinder Petronas FP-1, are keen to make inroads into the increasingly competitive grid. Valencia has been a scene of glory for the Petronas team before, making their track time particularly revealing for their immediate prospects. Supersport: Winston Ten Kate Honda riders Katsuaki Fujiwara and Sebastien Charpentier currently head a strong leading pack in World Supersport, with riders like Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) out to reclaim the distance shown between the leading duo and the rest at Losail. Fabien Foret and Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda), plus WSS rookie Tatu Lauslehto (Klaffi Honda) continue the Honda sweep in this largely 600cc class. From Ducati, Gianluca Nannelli (SC Caracchi Ducati) and Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Ducati Selmat) return to the scene of their initial tests in the build up to the 2005 season. Two days of testing at Valencia (12 13 March) will make way for round two of the series, at Phillip Island on 1-3 April. After Losail’s Saturday race, the regular SBK schedule of first qualifying on Friday, Superpole on Saturday and races on Sunday will be in place for the remainder of the season.

For the 11th year in a row, central Ohio race fans will gather to watch the Daytona 200 in Columbus, Ohio. This year’s party will be at Kacy’s Sports Bar, 480 E. Wilson Bridge Rd, Worthington, OH 43085, 614-847-0780. For info check www.ohiomotorcycleinfo.com, or call 614-848-9777.

GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM TEST Phillip Island, Australia Thursday, March 10, 2005 Ambient temperature: 21 degrees Track temperature: 31 degrees Humidity: 64% YAMAHA MEN WORK HARD IN PHILLIP ISLAND DESPITE MORE RAIN The pre-season testing programme of Gauloises Yamaha Team duo Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards was interrupted by rain again today at Austalia’s Phillip Island circuit. However, after a wet morning, higher temperatures than yesterday made for more effective testing conditions this afternoon. Both riders continued to test tyres for Michelin and work on settings and it ended as a useful day despite the poor weather. World Champion Rossi, testing alongside the Fortuna Yamaha Team of Ruben Xaus and Toni Elias as well as his team-mate, was the fastest man on the track today. He completed 74 laps with a fastest time of 1:30.65. His time was a big improvement on that recorded yesterday, and well within lap record pace (1:31.102), but it was still shy of the 1:29.68 set at the circuit three weeks ago in warmer, drier conditions. Gauloises Yamaha debutant Edwards completed 71 laps with a best lap of 1:31.00 – again, slightly slower than the 1:30.60 the American recorded last month. Spaniard Xaus was third fastest of the four, setting a time of 1:32.32 from 68 laps with his new Fortuna Yamaha Team. Team-mate and countryman Elias completed 90 laps with a best time of 1:32.70 as he continues to adapt to the MotoGP class and Yamaha’s YZR-M1. Valentino Rossi (1:30.65, 74 laps) “Unfortunately it was raining again and we lost all of the morning. We did some good work in the afternoon, but the conditions were not really right for us to do effective testing. We continued to work on the bike settings but it was difficult to judge our progress in these bad conditions. I really hope tomorrow will be better as we still have to fix some settings on the bike.” Colin Edwards (1:31.00, 71 laps) “We woke up to more rain and the track was soaked in the morning. I did a couple of laps in the wet just to check settings. It then dried up and we actually did some good work, spending most of the afternoon testing front tyres and a few rears. It was a good day despite the weather and the bike was working well; I feel a lot happier than I did two weeks ago.” Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha Team Director “Another wet day! We really hope that tomorrow will be better, as it’s a long way to come for most of the time to be useless! We got some work done, but not as much as we expected. Colin did some laps in the wet and then it dried out a little, but the track never got dry enough to allow us to do really good work.” More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha: RAIN HINDERS TESTING PROGRAMME FOR FORTUNA YAMAHA Fortuna Yamaha riders Rubén Xaus and Toni Elías concluded their second day of tests at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia today in difficult weather conditions which, for the second day running, interrupted their testing programme. Fortuna Yamaha rider Rubén Xaus completed 68 laps with a best time of 1:32.32. Rubén concentrated on his front suspension and tested different configurations related to the set-up of his YZR M1. His team-mate Toni Elías took the opportunity to gather some wet experience on the bike and clocked up 90 laps with a best time of 1:32.70. The Spaniard was very satisfied with the performance of his Yamaha in these conditions. Gauloises Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi completed 74 laps and set the best time of the day with a lap of 1:30.65. His team-mate Colin Edwards completed 71 laps and set a best time of 1:31.00. Rubén Xaus, (1:32.32, 68 laps) “I am happy because we have set a rhythm in low 1’32 over the course of the day. I didn’t even get on the bike until 1pm because of the weather conditions, which have messed up our plans a little. We tested a new configuration for the front suspension with very positive results. I’m happy because we’re doing a great job and we’re making progress. We’re making the bike a little longer and, even though it is heavier, I like it. I’m happy.” Toni Elías (1:32.70, 90 laps) “We’ve tested some different technical aspects in general although I think the most positive thing to come out of today was the fact that I could test the way the bike reacts in the wet and I liked it. We’ve also tried some different suspension settings but it’s still too early to draw any conclusions. We’re improving every day thanks to the great job being done by the whole team I’m really happy. In any case, we’ve still got a full day to go and we have to keep working as we have done up to now to make sure we continue evolving”.