The new 2005-specification Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1s were displayed for the first time in their new livery today, during a press conference attended by Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards. The reigning World Champion and his new team-mate were the guests of honour at Yamaha’s ‘2005 Motor Sports Press Conference’, which took place in Tokyo this morning. Team Director Davide Brivio and Senior Management representatives from Yamaha Motor Company joined the two riders on stage to talk about Yamaha’s plans for MotoGP in 2005 and beyond. Valentino Rossi, now in his second season as a Yamaha rider, talked about his year so far and his goals for the forthcoming season. “We have done a lot of test runs during the off-season. Things aren’t quite 100% yet, but the machine and the engine are already much better than last year. It’s nice to see the M1 in its final 2005 livery. I hope I can win the title again this year on this new bike, but winning is never easy! I was very happy to win nine rounds in last year’s Championship and I think that is a good target for this year too. I hope everyone will be cheering for me!” Rossi’s new team-mate Colin Edwards, who recently turned 31, spoke about his return to Yamaha after a seven-year absence. “I was last with Yamaha in the 1998 season in the World Superbike Championship and I am very happy to be back. I saw how good the team and machine were last year, so I was excited when I got the offer to come back to the Yamaha side. I am also glad that there will be a US round at Laguna Seca this year for the first time in a while. I hope to have a bit of an advantage there, but I will be giving my best shot in all the races.” Team Director Davide Brivio, who enters his fourth season as the Yamaha Factory Team Director, commented on the new bike and the task facing the riders. “We’re very pleased with the look and design of the new bike, as well as with its performance so far during testing. This is going to be a very exciting season and a big challenge for both riders. After this we are flying directly to Phillip Island for our fourth test of the year and we hope to continue the good work we’ve been doing so far with the development of this new bike, with the aim of having it ready for the first race in a month’s time.” Senior Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Company Tsuneji Togami, Senior General Manager Masao Furusawa and Shigeto Kitagawa, head of the Engineering Department in charge of developing the 2005 YZR-M1, were three of the Yamaha Motor Company representatives present at today’s Japanese event. Mr. Togami launched the press conference by stressing the importance of Yamaha’s race activities for fulfilling Yamaha’s corporate mission of “We create Kando Touching your heart”, saying, “Through our motorcycle racing activities we want to stimulate the motorcycle racing scene, to bring motor sports closer to people and to help raise the next generation of people who will lead these sports into the future.” Mr. Kitagawa then highlighted the four key goals of the YZR-M1 development project in 2005 as improving the balance of the machine’s handling stability, boosting acceleration performance and top speed, balancing high power with fuel economy, and making the machine more robust in terms of its adaptability to different track conditions. “Besides winning a second consecutive rider title,” he commented, “We also intend to go for the manufacturer’s title with the new M1.” Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards now fly directly to Phillip Island, Australia for three days of testing from 9th-11th March, before returning to Europe next week for the first of the two official IRTA tests in Barcelona.

Racing Performance Services goes to Daytona with 3 riders representing the company’s suspension products and services. AMA veterans Ricky Orlando and Ty Howard will lead the team with up and comer Justin Meyers looking to gain experience and get a credible finish. With the late arrival of the 2005 Kawasaki ZX-6R and the corresponding required race parts, Orlando was left with less than 2 days to shake down the bike before loading up for the famed banking of Daytona. Ty Howard will be pulling double duty in the 600 Supersport race as well as the Daytona 200. Despite early delivery of his Supersport R-6 and the GP Tech FX R-6, Howard was left with little setup time on either bike as the need to develop quick-change hardware left the Texas rider without either R-6 to ride during the pre-season. Justin Meyers has been put himself in an intensive off-season program that has seen the Colorado rider frequent Laguna Seca, Fontana, Pahrump, and several other facilities constantly over the last several months. RPS is very excited about the team’s line-up for the 64th running of the Daytona 200. Ty Howard Howard spent much of the off-season recovering from a shoulder injury. This did not diversely affect the tough Texan and Ty looks to be back in top form. Racing in both the Supersport and FX classes does not concern Howard, although the main focus is on the 200. Ty went on to mention, “Geoff Maloney of GP Tech is providing a really trick R-6 for the 200 that I can’t wait to throw a leg over. I really feel confident with the preparation that Geoff puts into the race bikes and the suspension tuning of RPS that there is no reason we can’t have a great finish!” Ricky Orlando The Colorado rider who has seen many years in the AMA ranks spent much of the off-season regrouping after an excellent 2004 AMA season. With a 6th place finish in last year’s 200 and great television coverage during his excitement in the chicane, Orlando has had to switch gears a bit to get ready for Daytona 200 that is not based around the traditional Superbike class structure. Fortunately for Ricky, he has one of the most diverse backgrounds any racer could ask for and he also credited one particular person that constantly gets him on the racetrack. Orlando took a moment to note, “I can’t thank Marv Rosencrans enough. He has really poured it on to get the bike together in basically less than a week. I am also excited about the new Traxxion Dynamics Cartridges, although we weren’t able to put in a full test, the initial feeling from them is excellent.” Justin Meyers The young Colorado rider spent much of the 2004 season turning heads by running up with some the fastest Colorado veterans during his rookie expert year. Meyers took some time to thank those for both last year’s success and this years continued efforts, “I really want to thank Marcus McBain of RPS and of course the Comcables team in Colorado. It takes a lot of individual efforts to provide the level of success I have enjoyed. With such good people around me, I always feel confident that my motorcycle will perform the way I need them to.” The excitement at Daytona begins Wednesday March 9th and RPS owner Marcus McBain is looking forward to helping these riders do their best.

Jensen Victorious In Formula USA SportBike Final DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., – Robert Jensen came out on top of an intense four-rider last-lap battle to the flag Sunday in the Formula USA SportBike final at historic Daytona International Speedway. Jensen used the draft to perfection to take the victory over Geoff May, Jason Perez and Jeff Wood with only 10 bike lengths separating the top four finishers. “Normally I’d pass them every time coming into Turn 2,” said Jensen, the defending F-USA SportBike champion from Chaffee, N.D. “This time, I let those two stay up there and I stayed right behind them. (In the) chicane, I backed off just a second just to get into the chicane and get a good run at them. “I was drafting the guy on the Yamaha (Perez) and he was getting us up to May and then when those two got together and began pushing on to each other I went on the outside and got to the lead. I was sitting up off the seat trying to get a good nice smooth (draft). It worked. It was great. I lucked out.” M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Vincent Haskovec won the SuperBike class in a good battle with Floridian Michael Barnes. “We were riding slicks, Barney was on DOT tires,” said Haskovec, a native of the Czech Republic. “That was a major difference. My bike is definitely faster than his because they are on a Supersport bike. We definitely have some power on them. On the other hand, I didn’t have any practice. I just jumped on a bike and rode it for the first time.” Jeff Wood broke away early and took victory in the Formula SportBike class on his Arclight Suzuki. Wood thought the new 2.95-mile motorcycle course layout played a part in helping him pull away. “It adds more technical riding to the track,” Wood said. “I think it’s a good thing.” Michael Barnes won the ThunderBike race on a Suzuki SV650 and donated his earnings and trophy to a fellow rider who was injured in an accident Homestead-Miami Speedway earlier this year. Racing resumes at the Speedway with the American Historic Motorcycle Racing Association races on Monday and Tuesday. The AMA Road Racing program begins on Wednesday. Tickets to any of the motorcycle events at Daytona International Speedway are available online at ~http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com~ or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. Sunday’s Results Formula SportBike (15 laps) 1. Jeff Wood, Mansfield, Mass., Suzuki 2. Lee Acree, Greensboro, N.C., Suzuki 3. Scott Harwell, Lincolnton, N.C., Suzuki SuperBike (15 laps) 1. Vincent Haskovec, Athens, Ala., Suzuki 2. Michael Barnes, Boca Raton, Fla., Yamaha 3. Jeff Wood, Mansfield, Mass., Suzuki ThunderBike (10 laps) 1. Michael Barnes, Boca Raton, Fla., Suzuki 2. David Yaakov, Rockville, Md., Suzuki 3. Dan Bilansky, Delafield, Wisc. Sportbike (15 laps) 1. Robert Jensen, Chaffee, N.D., Suzuki 2. Geoff May, Cumming, Ga., Suzuki 3. Jason Perez, Brentwood, Ca., Yamaha Expert Middleweight Grand Prix 1. Chris Peris, Calgary, Alberta, Yamaha 2. Heath Small, Waller, Texas, Yamaha 3. Trey Yonce, Charleston, S.C., Yamaha Amateur Middleweight Grand Prix 1. Gustavo Laya, Miami, Fla., Honda 2. Brian McCormack, Waterford, Ireland, Yamaha 3. Chris Porter, Warrington, Pa., Honda Expert Speedscreen Unlimited GP 1. James McConnell, Orlando, Fla., 2. Takashi Tezuka, Tokyo, Japan, Honda 3. Gary Berbaum, Washington, N.J., Ducati Amateur Speedscreen Unlimited GP 1. Andrew Moates, Casselberry, Floa., Suzuki 2. Gene Gilchrist, Columbus, Ohio, Suzuki 3. J.B. Layman, East Ellijay, Ga., Yamaha Expert Lightweight GP 1. Mark Stiles, Darien, Wisc., Yamaha 2. Nate Kern, Phoenixville, Pa., BMW 3. John Costa, Miami, Fla., Buell More, from a press release issued by Michael Barnes’ publicist: BARNES GOES WIRE-TO-WIRE IN FORMULA USA THUNDERBIKE Daytona, USA Michael Barnes won the opening round of the Formula USA Thunderbike series today in a convincing fashion with a dominating wire-to-wire performance. Riding the Prieto Racing/Mike Mills Suzuki SV650, Mike earned the pole position on Saturday in qualifying with a time of 1:49.313, more than a second faster than the rest of the field. In Sunday afternoon’s race, Mike never relinquished the lead. “I got the hole shot at the start, and was looking for a good race with Dave Estok”, said Mike. “Unfortunately, he had a mechanical on the first lap and dropped out, and it was a pretty easy ride from that point on.” Again getting the hole shot on both of the two restarts after red flags interrupted the race, Mike was never challenged for the lead and won with a very comfortable margin. Mike will be donating all of his Thunderbike winnings to “Scuba” Steve Servis, who suffered a cervical fracture earlier this year in a CCS race at Homestead. More, from another press release issued by Michael Barnes’ publicist: Venemotos Yamaha Venezuela/Prieto Racing’s Michael Barnes finished on the podium in the opening round of the Formula USA Superbike series today. After posting the fourth fastest qualifying time on Saturday just behind the contingent of AMA Supersport factory riders in attendance, Mike was awarded the pole position when the Yamaha team elected to yield. During Sunday’s race, Mike battled on his Yamaha YZF-R6 Superbike with Rob Jensen for the lead until the race was stopped for a red flag. On the restart, Mike kept Vincent Haskovec, the eventual race winner, within sight and finished second. “Vincent was on his AMA FX bike, and it was real fast. We just didn’t have the power to keep up with him on that bike today.” Starting in ninth place on the grid in the Sportbike race, Mike suffered a punctured radiator on the first lap and had to park the bike when all coolant was lost. “We caught a stone in the radiator and that was the end of my race”, said Mike. “The bike overheated real fast and I couldn’t continue.” Other Venemotos Yamaha Venezuela/Prieto Racing team members had good results, all also riding Yamaha YZF-R6’s. Armando Ferrer finished ninth in both the Superbike and Sportbike races. Victor Chirinos placed twentieth in Sportbike, but was unlucky to be out of the Superbike race after just nine of the fifteen laps. The team will remain at Daytona for action in the AMA Supersport event next week.

Damon Buckmaster, Shawn Higbee and Jerry Wood were each taken to Halifax Medical Center after crashes in Sunday’s Formula USA races at Daytona International Speedway. Buckmaster crashed on lap 10 of the 15-lap Superbike race, causing the race to be stopped. “Damon was the red flag,” Buckmaster’s Yamaha teammate Jason DiSalvo told Roadracingworld.com. “He highsided in turn seven. It was like black mark, then Damon was over there where that fence is (approximately 30 feet) then his bike was where that building is (another 30 feet away). It looked pretty gnarly. We’ve all had our moments there.” DiSalvo said that he rode on the same set of tires in the Superbike race that he used in the 15-lap Formula Sportbike race in order to test the endurance of the tires. He said Buckmaster may have been doing the same thing. No one on the Yamaha team knew Buckmaster’s condition at post time, but DiSalvo reported seeing him sitting up at the accident scene. Shawn Higbee crashed his new Buell XB12R in turn one of the Thunderbike final and was taken to the hospital to have a hand injury examined. Jerry Wood also crashed in the Thunderbike final, highsiding his Ducati 1000 Supersport at the exit of the International Horseshoe. Wood was seen moving immediately after the crash but was taken to the hospital. Wood’s son Jeff Wood did not know his father’s condition at the end of Sunday’s race program. In addition, Roadracingworld.com’s Chris Ulrich was involved in a chain-reaction crash in turn one at the start of the Superbike race. Ulrich suffered a mild concussion but was treated and released from the Infield Care Center Sunday. The incident was set off when Heath Small highsided exiting turn one and his bike tumbled up into the air, hitting Ulrich’s bike at steering-stem level.

Copyright 2005, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. F-USA Formula Sportbike 1. Jeff Wood, GSX-R750, 15 laps 2. Lee Acree, GSX-R750, -5.802 seconds 3. Scott Harwell, GSX-R750 4. Robert Jensen, GSX-R750 5. Chris Ulrich, GSX-R750 6. Ryan Elleby, GSX-R750 7. David Weber, GSX-R750 8. Shawn Conrad, GSX-R750 9. Brandon Parrish, GSX-R750 10. Derek Keyes, GSX-R600 11. Scott Carpenter, GSX-R750 12. Bill Green, GSX-R750 13. Eric Haugo, GSX-R750 14. Joe Spina, GSX-R750 15. Chris Lynds, GSX-R750 16. Andy Feuersthaler, GSX-R750 17. Jason DiSalvo, YZF-R6, 14 laps 18. Ryan Andrews, 999 19. Joe Ribeiro, GSX-R750 20. Michael Cusano, 636cc ZX-6R 21. John Briody, GSX-R600 22. Kevin Tate, ZX-6RR 23. Nick Walsh, GSX-R600 24. Rick Beggs, ZX-6RR, 12 laps 25. Brian Stokes, GSX-R750, 9 laps 26. Bill Strandahan, GSX-R600, 8 laps 27. Shannon Huffman, GSX-R750, 6 laps 28. Kevin Gordon, GSX-R750, 2 laps F-USA Superbike (After red flag and restart) 1. Vincent Haskovec, GSX-R600, 16 laps 2. Michael Barnes, YZF-R6 3. Jeff Wood, GSX-R600 4. Jason Perez, YZF-R6 5. Chris Peris, YZF-R6 6. Scott Greenwood, Yam YZF-R6 7. Blake Young, GSX-R600 8. Carlo Gagliardo, YZF-R6 9. Armando Ferrer Perez, Yam YZF-R6 10. Barrett Long, Yam YZF-R6 11. Chris Rockwell, YZF-R6 12. Matt Hall 13. Ryan Patterson, YZF-R6, 15 laps 14. Brandon Parrish, GSX-R600 15. Mark McCormick, YZF-R6 16. Nathan Hester, YZF-R6 17. Robert Lombardi 18. Steve Vento, 636cc ZX-6R, 14 laps 19. Rodolfo Ramirez, GSX-R600, 13 laps 20. Rob Jensen, YZF-R6, 12 laps 21. Joe Arico, 11 laps 22. Josef Brenner, CBR600RR 23. Roger Bell, GSX-R600, 10 laps 24. Victor Chirinos, YZF-R6, 9 laps 25. Geoff May, GSX-R600, 5 laps DNF, collision and crash lap 1: Heath Small, Chris Ulrich Docked one lap for jump start: Roger Bell, Mark McCormick Docked one lap for wrong grid position: Nathan Hester, Brandon Parrish, Steve Vento, Ryan Patterson F-USA Thunderbike 1. Michael Barnes, Suz SV650, 10 laps 2. David Yaakov, Suz SV650, -38.112 seconds 3. Dan Bilansky, Buell XB12R 4. Sam Rozynski, Buell XB12R 5. Joe Rozynski III, Buell XB12R 6. Clint Brotz, Buell XB12R 7. Darren Danilowicz 8. Robert Fisher, Suz SV650 9. Nate Kern, BMW 10. Tim Hall, Buell XB12R 11. Paul James, Buell XB12R 12. David White 13. Scott Korol, Buell XB9R 14. Walt Sipp, Buell 15. Josh Guyer, Buell XB12R 16. Kiyo Watanabe 17. John Linder, Suz SV650, 9 laps 18. Micahel Delage 19. Pete Moravek, Suz SV650 20. Matt Buck, Suz SV650 21. Chris Young, Buell 22. Bryan Bemisderfer, Buell XB12R, 6 laps 23. Pete Willemse, Hon, 5 laps 24. Randy Rega, Buell, 2 laps 25. Darla Martinelli, Buell XB9R, 1 lap F-USA Sportbike (Revised) 1. Robert Jensen, YZF-R6 2. Jason Perez, YZF-R6, -0.291-second 3. Geoff May, GSX-R600 4. Jeff Wood, GSX-R600 5. Scott Greenwood, YZY-R6 6. Chris Peris, YZF-R6 7. Scott Harwell, GSX-R600 8. David Weber, GSX-R600 9. Armando Ferrer Perez, YZF-R6 10. Carlo Gagliardo, YZF-R6 11. Trey Yonce, YZF-R6 12. Shawn Conrad, GSX-R600 13. Barrett Long, YZF-R6 14. Gio Rojas, YZF-R6 15. Ryan Elleby, GSX-R600 16. Scott Jensen, YZF-R6 17. Jesse Janisch, GSX-R600 18. Joe Arico 19. Raymond Bowman, CBR600RR 20. Victor Chirinos, YZF-R6 21. Ryan Andrews, 749R 22. Brad Graham, CBR600RR 23. William Myers, YZF-R6 24. Brandon Parrish, GSX-R600 25. Jason Farrell, GSX-R600 26. Johnny Rock Page. YZF-R6 27. Donny Kelley, GSX-R600 28. Benjamin Perez De Leon, CBR600RR 29. John Ashmead, ZX-6RR 30. Matt Prentice 31. William Sheridan, YZF-R6 32. Scott Harwood, CBR600RR 33. Neil Pollard, YZF-R6 34. Jim Stanley, GSX-R600 35. Nathan Hester, YZF-R6, 14 laps 36. Steve Vento, 636cc ZX-6R 37. Darin Scherer, YZF-R6, 13 laps 38. Aaron Bell, GSX-R600 39. Greg Melka, YZF-R6, 11 laps 40. Nick Walsh, GSX-R600, 6 laps 41. Russ Intravartolo, 636cc ZX-6R, 5 laps 42. Roy Cadoo, ZX-6RR Unlimited GP Expert 1. Vincent Haskovec, GSX-R1000 2. Geoff May, GSX-R1000 3. Cory West, GSX-R1000 4. Eric Wood, GSX-R1000 5. Jason Perez, YZF-R1 6. Heath Small, YZF-R1 7. Brian Stokes, GSX-R1000 8. Jimmy Moore, GSX-R1000 9. Chris Ulrich, GSX-R1000 10. Anthony Fania, GSX-R1000 Unlimited GP Amateur 1. Andrew Moates, GSX-R750 2. Gene Gilchrest, GSX-R1000 3. JB Layman, YZF-R6 4. Tony Leong, GSX-R600 5. Scott Layman, YZF-R6 6. Michael Pietrzak, GSX-R600 7. Carlas Vargas, GSX-R750 8. Frank Giles, CBR600RR 9. Brian McCormack, YZF-R6 10. Denis Yalkut, GSX-R750 Lightweight Grand Prix Expert 1. Mark Stiles, TZ250 2. Nate Kern, BMW 3. John Costa, XB12R 4. John Cadreact, SV650 5. David White, 1000SS 6. John Linder, SV650 7. Jamie Hall, TZ250 8. Scott Korol, XB9R 9. Tom Fournier, TZ250 10. Kevin Weir, 1000SS Lightweight Grand Prix Amateur 1. Scott Robertson 2. Bob Buroker, SV650 3. Nathaniel Mendell, SV650 4. Domingo Navarro, 900SS 5. Guenther Weickert, SV650 6. Stephen Clark, SV650 7. Bret Marshall, SV650 8. Justin Hunter, SV650 9. Darren Coulson, RS250 Middleweight Grand Prix Expert 1. Chris Peris, YZF-R6 2. Heath Small, YZF-R6 3. Trey Yonce, YZF-R6 4. Carlo Gagliardo, YZF-R6 5. Hector Jimenez, GSX-R600 6. Ryan Patterson, YZF-R6 7. Brent Lilly, CBR600RR 8. Jonathan Lawrence, YZF-R6 9. Michael Murray, YZF-R6 10. Joe Arico, YZF-R6 Middleweight Grand Prix Amateur 1. Gustavo Laya, CBR600RR 2. Brian McCormack, YZF-R6 3. Chris Porter, CBR600RR 4. Greg Richards, GSX-R600 5. Gustavo Marquez, CBR600RR 6. Larry Karpinsky Jr., YZF-R6 7. Michael Pietrzak, GSX-R600 8. Scott Layman, YZF-R6 9. JB Layman, YZF-R6 10. Trivillus Lewis, ZX-6RR

Former Daytona 200 winner John Ashmead has returned to Daytona International Speedway in hopes of racing in the 2005 Daytona 200 by Honda and eventually eclipsing Rick Shaw’s all-time Daytona 200 mileage record. “Yeah, that’s what I want to do,” Ashmead told Roadracingworld.com during CCS’s event at Daytona March 5. “I was hurt last year, so I didn’t make it.” “I saw that,” said Shaw, when asked if he knew Ashmead was at Daytona and looking to ride in the 200-mile AMA race. “We went out on track together this morning, and I gave him the finger the number-one finger not the other finger. This may just kick me in the ass to come back and do it next year.” Shaw, 56, had planned to retire from Daytona 200 action after 2004, but the possibility of claiming the record for number of Daytona 200 starts (23) from Warren Sherwood and the challenge of doing the race on a 600cc Formula Xtreme bike drew Shaw back to the “World Center of Racing” in 2005. Shaw currently holds the Daytona 200 mileage record at 3365.48 miles. Ashmead currently has 2821.41 miles, a difference of 544.07 miles. While age is in 41-year-old Ashmead’s favor regarding his pursuit of the mileage record, 56-year-old Shaw will attempt to qualify for this year’s Daytona 200 on a well-prepared 2005 Yamaha YZF-R6 while Ashmead will attempt to qualify on a 2005 Kawasaki ZX-6RR that still wears the stock exhaust and bodywork. “Yeah, but Johnny always has a way of stepping up,” said Shaw. “He’s won the damn thing, so he knows what it takes. It’ll be fun.”