From a press release issued by FGSport Group:

ROUND ONE APPROACHES FOR REVITALISED SBK CHAMPIONSHIP.

Coming of Age: For seventeen years the World Superbike Championship has provided production-based machinery with a truly global racing series, making it an accurate reflection of trends and advances in high performance sportsbike technology. As the first qualifying sessions of the 2005 season begin at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on Thursday 24th February, the eighteenth season of World Superbike promises to be a true coming of age for this category of racing. With machines from six manufacturers on the grid, and technical rules and regulations making it easier than ever for both manufacturers and private teams to compete at the highest level, World Superbike has effected a resurgence of impressive proportions.

World Tour: SBK now hosts a full-time grid of 30 riders, shortly to take part in a 12-round championship trail, from the new SBK venues like Losail and Brno to established favourites such as Monza, Phillip Island, Brands Hatch, Assen and Valencia.

Qatar, Australia, Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and France will feature on the SBK path this year, with the promise of more new venues in the near future.

New Beginnings: SBK’s new look entries, with Japanese produced four-cylinder machines in the forefront in terms of outright numbers, will line up for the first time at the magnificently appointed Losail International Circuit, already the scene of a pre-season test on 19 and 20 February. These sessions were a great success for most of the competitors there present, and some new names thrust themselves into the public consciousness after two hard days at the fast 5.380km track.

Old Versus New: The established order in World Superbike is headed by the 2004 champion James Toseland (Xerox Ducati 999F05), but his testing experience at Losail was an ultimately painful one, after suffering a huge highside crash on a fast right-hander on the second day. Largely uninjured and typically resilient, Toseland will face a seemingly endless list of potential race winners in the races at Losail, such is the even match between machines and riders in this year’s series.

Enter at Will: Toseland will find 2004 runner-up Regis Laconi a tough competitor as always, especially as he is the Englishman’s team-mate in the factory Ducati squad once more. Ranged against the big Bologna twins is an impressive phalanx of war machines from Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha, plus the technically fascinating three-cylinder, 900cc Petronas FP-1.

Leading Wing: Former WSS champion Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) provided a true challenge to Ducati power in 2004, and this year he is joined by his old Supersport team-mate Karl Muggeridge, 2004’s WSS champion.

The biggest challenge this pre-season has nonetheless come from the Alstare Corona Extra Superbike duo of 1996 champion Troy Corser and fastest rider in pre-season testing at Losail, Yukio Kagayama. Only two in number, the Suzuki effort nonetheless formed the top two at the Losail test sessions.

Yamahammers: With more bikes on the grid than any other single manufacturer, Yamaha has won the numbers fight already. In pre-season, the supposed established order of Yamaha riders has been rearranged, with Jose Luis Cardoso (Yamaha DFX Extreme Sterilgarda) and Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) putting in some sparkling performances, whatever the circuit or riding conditions.

Gimbert is one of four main supported Yamaha entries, with his team-mate, Norick Abe, a fellow SBK rookie, but a star all over the world. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) is an SBK Superstar of long standing, while his team-mate Andrew Pitt is making a long-desired jump to the Superbike class, having been a World Supersport Champion in 2001. Another Yamaha rider to watch in the heat of battle is Cardoso’s team-mate, Marco Borciani, a seasoned SBK competitor, while wild card rider from Spain, Ivan Silva Alberola (La Glisse Yamaha) was a true sensation at the recent Losail tests.

Zed at the Beginning: Kawasaki’s main two man thrust in World Superbike, Chris Walker and Mauro Sanchini, come from the PSG-1 squad, and in Walker they have a proven podium finisher. The Bertocchi squad, represented by Giovanni Bussei and Ivan Clementi, is a long-standing fixture in SBK, with a year’s experience of the ZX-10 Superbike.

Honda Packs Them In: Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda) has ripped up SBK tarmac for over ten years, and in his 239 races has scored 17 wins. A little behind some other teams in terms of race readiness for Qatar, the Klaffi Honda squad are first timers in SBK. Chili is nonetheless a serious player in this or any other year. Max Neukirchner joins him in the Klaffi Superbike squad from the Supersport class.

A strong one rider effort from the Renegade Honda team sees an old SBK favourite Ben Bostrom back into the fold, bringing previous experience of the CBR1000RR with him from his past two years in American racing.

Ducati Duo: Two fierce Ducati entries, each a rookie SBK rider, will help break up the wail of four-cylinder machines with their booming Ducati exhaust notes. Fonsi Nieto and Lorenzo Lanzi, each from the Scuderia Caracchi team, are proven competitors in other race classes, each with a major point to prove in 2005.

Three Into Two: The technically interesting and challenging Petronas three-cylinder 900cc SBK machine enjoyed podium success in 2004, as did its two new riders, Garry McCoy and Steve Martin. The latter is still looking for his first SBK race win, while McCoy’s triumph at home in Phillip Island was one of the most well-received result of 2004.


Supersport: After a virtual domination of the series last year, by Ten Kate Honda rider Karl Muggeridge, this year’s Supersport battle looks to be a very open and novel affair. The traditional top two powers of Honda and Yamaha are represented by five and two supported riders respectively, each morwe than capable of securing race wins. Honda’s five-rider push includes Winston Ten Kate Honda pairing Sebastien Charpentier and Katsuaki Fujiwara, Team Megabike runners Fabien Foret and Michel Fabrizio, plus WSS rookie Tatu Lauslehto, from the Klaffi Honda team. Aussie pairing Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes head up the Yamaha Motor Germany team. From Ducati, Gianluca Nannelli poses one of the biggest twin-cylinder threats on his SC Caracchi 749R, while Jurgen van den Goorbergh makes another change of machinery in his long racing career, on a Ducati Selmat 749.

With raceday at Losail breaking with usual SBK tradition, and taking place on a Saturday, the two days of qualifying and Superpole take place on Thursday 24 and Friday 25th. The 18 lap races, two for Superbike and one for Supersport, take place at the usual local times, with Qatar three hours ahead of GMT.

From a press release issued by Parts Unlimited:

TEAM M4 EMGO SUZUKI CHOOSES ÖHLINS SUSPENSION FOR AMA NATIONAL ROADRACE TEAM

Team Hammer, Inc., racing as Team M4 Emgo Suzuki, has signed a deal that will see team riders Vincent Haskovec and Geoff May using Öhlins suspension systems for the 2005 and 2006 AMA race seasons.

Haskovec will be competing for the AMA Superstock and Formula Xtreme titles. He finished third in the AMA Formula Xtreme Championship in 2004, with three podium finishes.

“I’m very happy to be using Öhlins suspension,” said Haskovec. “They have a lot of experience working with teams using Pirelli tires in the World Superbike Championship and I think that experience will really help us here. I’m really looking forward to working with them.”

May will be competing for the Superstock and Supersport titles. He was the top AMA Superbike privateer in 2004, finishing fifth in the championship.

“In my experience, there’s nothing else out there that compares to Öhlins,” said May. “So I’m really glad the team has switched to Öhlins.”

Both riders will be using the new Öhlins 25mm fork cartridge kit. This kit gives Superbike fork internals to stock forks. This same kit is available at your local Parts Unlimited dealer, www.parts-unlimited.com

2005 marks the 25th year of professional motorcycle racing by Team Hammer, Inc.

From a press release issued by Max McAllister of Traxxion Dynamics:

This guy came to our shop yesterday with an ’04 R6 to have a shock mounted on his bike, and to have his forks built, and then to have the chassis setup before he went to the track. He hands me a Penske Triple Adjustable Piggyback that looked brand new. It had a Traxxion Titanium Spring, a Traxxion Fingertip High Speed Adjuster, and a Hyperco Hydraulic Spring Perch, all of which are products that are only available from Traxxion Dynamics. I thought, man this shock has everything we can throw at it to make it trick. He said he had bought it on the WERA Classified Board, and along with it, had purchased a Power Commander III, a Dynojet Quick Shifter, a Graves Titanium Pipe, and a set of Vortex Rearsets.

After the shock was mounted up, I went to set it up, and low and behold, the ride height was already set exactly where I would set it for Pirellis. Then I started setting the clickers, and they were set exactly how I would set them. Then it sorta hit, me and I asked the customer for the name of the guy on the WERA Board. He said “Joe Perry, I have the receipts out in the car”.

I looked on our computers, we had never sold any of this to a Joe Perry. I went back to look at the bike again, I look down at the rearsets, and sure enough, there were notches in the tips of the footpegs that I had PERSONALLY filed into the pegs to add a little extra grip in the rain.

I knew then, that these were parts off of the racebike stolen from Jason Smith’s raceshop last November. Smith owns Smith Brother’s Harley Davidson, and his shop was broken into, and a complete R6 was stolen, a CBR1000RR that belonged to a local police officer (and racer, Jason Lewis), and several dressed out Harley road bikes. Total estimated loss was well over $100,000.

The customer of Traxxion who has agreed to cooperate with police, had receipts of the entire transaction, as well as the email trail, and the paypal account addressed to “Joe Perry.” Oddly enough, to make sure he wasn’t buying stolen parts, this innocent victim had asked for a VIN number on the receipt for the bike the parts were removed from. Perry is apparently so stupid, he put Jason Smith’s complete actual VIN number off of the stolen bike and changed the last three digits. A check with Yamaha has confirmed that the VIN number supplied by Perry was invalid, and no such bike exists.

I was intimately familiar with all of the parts, since I personally handbuilt them, and served as Jason’s suspension tuner in the FUSA Series during 2004. I called him up and told him I had found his stolen racebike parts, and knew the name of the guy who stole them. He said “NO WAY! WHO WAS IT?” I told him Joe Perry, and he nearly dropped the phone, and then asked me to tell him I was kidding. It turns out this Perry guy was a long time personal friend, and they had given him thousand and thousands of dollars worth of parts to help his drag racing effort. He even had a key to the Smith Brother’s race shop! They allowed him to use all of their facilities to sponsor his drag bikes.

Anyway, Officer (and victim) Jason Lewis and a crew of other police got to raid Perry’s shop and arrest him and throw his a$$ in jail! Sweet! They found the rest of Jason’s bike dismantled and organized for sale, as well as tons of Harley parts from the Smith Brother’s shop, and piles of Jason’s take off tires nobody could figure out that kept disappearing. They filled a 7X16 trailer from front to back and from floor to the ceiling with stolen parts.

To top it off, they found a fully automatic UZI with the serial numbers milled off. This brought in the ATF, and the Feds came and put their hammer down on the guy this morning. According to Smith, who also buys and sells firearms, that one illegal weapon carries a felony conviction and minimum 10 years in prison.

SO THIEVES BEWARE! Enjoy prison, sucka! HAHA!

Max McAllister, President
Traxxion Dynamics, Inc.

From a press release issued by the FIM:

Sidecar World Championship
2005 provisional entry list

Start number, rider, passenger, nationality/nationality, engine, chassis, team

1. Steve Webster, Paul Woodhead, GBR/GBR, Suzuki, LCR, Team Castrol Suzuki

2. Martin Van Gils, Tonnie Van Gils, NED/NED, Suzuki, LCR, Maton Racing

3. Billy Gallros, Peter Berglund, SWE/SWE, Suzuki, LCR, BG Sidecar

5. Pekka Päivärinta, Peter Wall, FIN/SWE, Yamaha, LCR, Päivärinta Sidecar Racing

8. Richard Gatt, Paul Randall, GBR/GBR, Suzuki G4, LCR, GRS Racing

9. Thomas Foukal, Jiri Pertlicek, CZE/CZE, Yamaha, LCR, Fuki Racing Team

11. Tom Hanks, Phil Biggs, GBR/GBR, Suzuki, Windle, Halton Fabrications

21. Brian Gray, Steve Pointer, GBR/GBR, Yamaha, LCR, Powerbiking

22. Jörg Steinhausen, Trevor Hopkinson, GER/GBR, Suzuki, LCR, Steinhausen Racing

26. Ged Canfield, Darren Harper, GBR/GBR, Honda, LCR, Canfield Racing

27. Johan Reuterholt, Mika Ilonen, SWE/SWE, Suzuki, ART, Reuterholt Motorsport

29. Ben Birchall, Tom Birchall, GBR/GBR, Yamaha, Windle, Birchall Racing

36. Steve Norbury, Scott Parnell, GBR/GBR, Yamaha, Windle, Team Lockside Racing

37. Gary Knight, Dan Knight, GBR/GBR, Suzuki, LCR, Redline Superbikes

41. Sepp Doppler, Bernard Wagner, AUT/AUT, Yamaha, LCR, Gemini Racing

55. Mike Roscher, Adolf Hänni, GER/SUI, Suzuki, LCR, Hänni Racing Team

75. Bryan Pedder, Rod Steadman, GBR/GBR, Suzuki, LCR, Team Roberts Racing

77. Tim Reeves, Tristan Reeves, GBR/GBR, Suzuki, LCR, Team Roberts Racing

84. Andy Laidlow, Patrick Farrance, GBR/GBR, Suzuki, LCR, LFR Racing

88. Tero Manninen, Pekka Kuismanen, FIN/FIN, Suzuki, LCR, Manninen Sidecar Racing

87. Michael Grabmüller, Bernd Grabmüller, AUT/AUT, Yamaha, LCR Gemini Racing

99. Daniel Morrissey, Robert Biggs, GBR/GBR, Suzuki, LCR, Team Advan/Excalibur

From a press release:

ATTENTION REGISTERED PIRELLI ROAD RACERS: CORRECTION TO RACE-TIRE SALE ANNOUNCEMENT

(Rome, GA) Pirelli has issued a correction to the recent “Race Tire Sale Announcement” sent to all registered North American Pirelli road racers.

The website for Trackside Racers Supply is incorrect. It should read www.tracksideracerssupply.com. However, Moose and Teresa Kuykendall said they would actually prefer that their racers contact via phone, at (828) 235-8400, or email at [email protected].

Copyright 2005, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Racer Jason Smith credits Max McAllister of Traxxion Dynamics with uncovering a series of thefts police say were committed by a drag racer Smith described as being “my best friend.”

The thefts came to light after a drag racer sold parts from Smith’s Yamaha YZF-R6 on the WERA BBS to a road racer who took the parts to McAllister to be set-up and installed on his own YZF-R6 racebike. McAllister recognized the parts and alerted Smith.

The drag racer police have charged with the theft “was my best friend for 15 years, Joe Perry,” said Smith when Roadracingworld.com called him for comment. “Max McAllister has done a really good job seeing that this guy gets brought to justice. It’s really good that he thought enough of me to remember that my bike had been stolen and to watch out for the parts.”

Perry has been charged with breaking into Smith’s family dealership in Johnson City, Tennessee and stealing, among other things, a CBR1000RR belonging to former racer Jason Lewis, a Patrol Officer working for the Johnson City Police Department.

Reached by phone, Lewis told Roadracingworld.com that the theft involved “in excess of $115,000 in merchandise,” that Perry had been arrested on suspicion of burglary and that he had “bonded out on $16,000 bond.”

Lewis said that his own bike had been recovered “in about five different boxes.”

Copyright 2005, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Here for your reading enjoyment are the current AMA Pro Racing homologation forms.

Note that manufacturers are not required to have new models available at dealerships prior to the season opener at Daytona, contrary to recent rumors.

(While the question of whether or not current homologation requirements are fair is open for discussion, it is clear that the existing rules are not being broken.)

From a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team:

RAIN IN SPAIN AS KAWASAKI TEST AT JEREZ

Following on from successful tests in Malaysia earlier in the year, the Kawasaki Racing Team arrived at a cold and cloudy Jerez circuit today to start the European phase of their preparations for the 2005 MotoGP season.

With the continued development of the Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machine a priority in the run up to the new season, Kawasaki’s regular MotoGP pilots, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, were joined at Jerez today by Japanese test rider Kazuki Shimizu.

Cold track temperatures delayed the start of testing, and the onset of rain at noon forced a long break in the test schedule, but both Hofmann and Shimizu managed to work their way through a shortened test programme despite the conditions.

While Hofmann evaluated a number of new components aboard his Ninja ZX-RR, Shimizu worked closely with Kawasaki engineers from Japan and Europe to develop further the ‘big bang’ engine that Nakano debuted during early season testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.

Nakano’s test programme, also centred around the big bang engine, was brought to a premature end when the 27-year-old Japanese rider suffered a minor injury after colliding with the fuel tank of his Ninja ZX-RR under heavy braking.

Nakano underwent a precautionary examination by doctors at Jerez hospital, where he received stitches in a small cut to his inner thigh, but returned to the circuit later in the afternoon. The Kawasaki rider will make a decision in the morning about riding in tomorrow’s second day of testing at Jerez.

Alex Hofmann: #66
“Track conditions haven’t been ideal today. Even before the rain arrived the track was slippery and quite dirty because of the building work going on around the circuit. The track started to dry out in the afternoon, but there are always spots on this circuit that seep water long after the rain has gone, which means the track was never completely dry. We only managed to test a few things on the bike this afternoon, but at least we got a feel for the circuit ready for a full day of testing tomorrow.”

Shinya Nakano: #56
“I didn’t get in one fast lap today. We started testing late because of the low track temperatures and then I managed to pick up an injury just as the rain arrived. I’ve had stitches in a small cut, which is quite painful whenever I move, so I’ll wait until tomorrow morning before making a decision about riding during the second day of the test.”

Kazuki Shimizu: Test Rider
“This is my first time in Europe, so part of today was spent learning the circuit as well as continuing the test and development work on the latest ZX-RR engine that we started in Malaysia. Hopefully the track conditions and the weather will improve tomorrow and we’ll be able to put in a full day of testing.”

From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

DUCATI XEROX TEAM’S 2005 SUPERBIKE CAMPAIGN GETS UNDERWAY IN PERSIAN GULF STATE OF QATAR

Losail (Qatar), Wednesday 23 February: World Superbike heads to the Middle East for the first time in its history as the Losail International Circuit in Qatar plays host to the opening round of the 2005 championship. Last October James Toseland became the youngest-ever WSBK champion when he beat off the attacks from team-mate Régis Laconi to take the 2004 title and the Anglo-French duo will be lining up on the grid again as team-mates on the red 999 machines from Borgo Panigale, this time in the colours of new title sponsor, Xerox.

The world’s leading office technology supplier has linked its name to the Ducati Corse factory squad for the next two years and in the first year of the partnership the Ducati Xerox Team has every intention of continuing the Italian manufacturer’s winning streak, which has seen it take 11 Riders’ and 13 Manufacturers’ titles since the start of the World Superbike Championship in 1988.

Last weekend Toseland and Laconi made final preparations for the championship in a two-day test session at Losail, which left the British rider with tenth quickest time and several bruises after a nasty highside on Sunday. But Toseland was quick to play down any fears that he would not be competitive this weekend:

“I’m still feeling a bit black and blue but apart from that, I’m fine” declared Toseland. “I was quite relieved because it was probably the biggest crash I’ve had in my career. Before the crash, I was quite happy with my performance even though I didn’t get the chance to try a qualifying tyre on Sunday.

“As far as the whole package and the team is concerned, I believe that the Ducati is still the bike to beat, we have put a lot of effort into retaining this title and for my part I’m not going to be giving up that number 1 plate without a fight”, he concluded.

Laconi, fourth fastest last weekend, was satisfied with his progress during the pre-race testing. “We did a lot of laps and worked very hard last weekend and found everything we were looking for, reliability, speed and tyre endurance so I’m happy with the progress” declared Régis.

“The track will be different for sure during the race, but now it’s important to get good results this weekend and start the championship in the best possible way. The track is new for everyone and will be slippery, but it will be interesting to see how many riders stay fast lap after lap until the end of the race. I am pretty happy with my performance, so we will see what happens”, concluded Laconi.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP: The 2005 championship promises to be tougher than ever as Ducati’s traditional Japanese rivals, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki together with Honda, already present last year with Vermeulen, and Malaysia’s Petronas, line up on the 30-strong grid with their latest four-cylinder machinery. Toseland and Laconi also face a stellar field of competitive riders, including former champions from Superbike (Corser) and Supersport (Vermeulen, Muggeridge, Pitt), proven race winners (Chili, Bostrom), a powerful Japanese trio (Haga, Abe, Kagayama) and WSBK regulars (Martin, McCoy, Walker). Other names to watch out for are Italian youngster Lorenzo Lanzi, who lines up in Stefano Caracchi’s satellite Ducati team together with 250GP refugee Fonsi Nieto.

THE CIRCUIT: Name: Losail International Circuit; Length: 5380 metres; Pole Position: left; Corners Left/Right: 10/6; Finish Line Length: 1068 metres.

STATISTICS: Best lap: new circuit; Lap record: new circuit; Superpole: new circuit; Unofficial best lap: Kagayama (Suzuki), 2:01.480.

TV COVERAGE: British Eurosport (UK): Friday 25 February 17.45 – 18.45 Superpole (delayed), Saturday 26 February 07.30 – 13.45 SBK 1 + SSP + SBK 2 (live); Eurosport (Europe) Sunday 27 February 21.30 – 22.30 all races (highlights).

Copyright 2005, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins has given his fan website a complete makeover, including the addition of a discussion forum where Hopkins exchanges messages with and answers questions from race fans.

The re-made website is at the same address, www.hopperracing.com.