From a press release issued by Ducati North America:

RX-7 DUCATI HELMET BY ARAI

During the WDW2004 (World Ducati Weekend), Ducati and Arai will introduce a brand new helmet, the RX-7 Ducati. This new helmet is the result of a co-branding project developed by two market leaders.

Bologna, May 2004: Ducati and Arai, high-ranking companies in the motorcycle field, have joined their experience in a co-branding project, aimed at offering all Ducati riders a unique helmet in terms of style, quality and attention for detail.

This teamwork has given birth to the new RX-7 Ducati helmet by Arai, which combines the best of the two companies, both leaders in technology and style. The RX-7 Ducati helmet, manufactured using the most innovative materials, perfectly synthesizes their focus on quality and craftsmanship, which make this product incomparable and unique.

The project is based on the revolutionary SNC shell of the RX-7 Corsair helmet, which stands at the top of the range of Arai’s product line. Italy’s top designer Aldo Drudi has specially designed the smart and glamorous graphics for Ducati. Drudi, besides designing and supervising the Ducati Apparel Collection, has also designed many successful models for Arai.

The two Companies, proud of sharing all their successes with their customers, have planned the launch of the new helmet during the most important annual meeting for Ducati riders: the WDW. During this World Ducati Week, which will take place from the 17th to the 23rd of May at the Misano racetrack (Rimini, Italy), motorcycle enthusiasts from all over the world will have the chance to try the RX-7 Ducati helmet in all sizes.

The new RX-7 Ducati helmet will be available beginning next fall, exclusively through the Ducati distribution network.

From a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

FPR’s testing gain in Spain

Foggy PETRONAS Racing today completed a valuable one day test in the sunshine of Valencia in Spain.

Efforts were focused on mapping the engines that will be used for next weekend’s fourth round of the Superbike World Championship at Monza, which are expected to provide more consistency and reliability.

A further engine development stage is planned to be in use for the Laguna Seca round in July, when an increased power output is predicted.

The team worked through a comprehensive engine development testing schedule, but also achieved further progress with the PETRONAS FP1’s temperature management and rear suspension settings.

Chief Engineer, Steve Thompson, said: “We’ve achieved a very good amount in just one day of testing and are happy with the progress we’re making with the engine development and mapping. This has resulted in better drivability and improved cooling and, we’re pleased with the consistency from one engine to another.”

Former World Superbike Champion and bike development expert, Troy Corser, commented: “We’ve made a lot of changes to the mapping settings throughout the day and certainly made improvements all round, but particularly with the initial throttle opening. We’ve also been trying different variations with the rear suspension compression and rebound in order to increase grip and try to get better wear from the rear tyre, which is the same tyre as we used here for the race at the start of the season. It’s made a bit of difference but the tyre still isn’t lasting as long as we would like it to.”

And Chris Walker said: “This is the first time I’ve ridden the bike with the new engine developments and it looks promising. I’ve spent most of the day doing a few laps and then coming back into the garage to make some setting changes, but every time I’ve gone back out there has been an improvement with the bike. We came here to test different mapping settings and gain further data for the engine and cooling system, which we have done successfully, so it’s been a good day.”

From a press release issued by Proforma:

STAR MOTORCYCLE SCHOOL TO SPONSOR WERA NATIONAL CHALLENGE EVENTS AT VIRGINIA AND BARBER

WERA Motorcycle Roadracing has finalized an agreement for STAR Motorcycle School to be the presenting sponsor of the 2004 WERA National Challenge and Endurance Series events at Virginia International Raceway, May 20-23 and Barber Motorsports Park, September 24-26. In addition to the event sponsorships, STAR School will also award a free STAR School day to the winner of the National Challenge 600 Superstock Novice class at both rounds.

“The STAR School is pleased to continue our relationship with the WERA program,” said Mark Gallardo, co-owner of the STAR Motorcycle School with 2002 AMA Formula Xtreme champion Jason Pridmore. “It’s a great way for the us to reach racers, fans and sportbike enthusiasts of all levels and expose them to the benefits of attending a STAR school near them.”

Evelyne Clarke, president of WERA, said, “We’re pleased to have the STAR School back with us again for 2004. VIR and Barber are two of our most well-attended events, and the 600 Superstock Novice class continues to be one of the most exciting classes in WERA’s National Challenge Series.”

For more information on the STAR Motorcycle School, visit www.starmotorcycle.com.

For more information on WERA, visit www.wera.com.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Dunlop’s road racing manager Jim Allen and American Honda’s Ben Bostrom, Jake Zemke and Miguel Duhamel attended a Michelin tire test at Pikes Peak International Raceway Wednesday and Thursday, making a mockery of Dunlop’s pre-season claims that it needed to exclude Michelin teams from Dunlop team tests to maintain developmental secrecy.

Dunlop Vice President Mike Buckley–a member of the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors and until recently a member of the main AMA Board–broke up an AMA team-testing co-op over the winter by personally calling the managers of Dunlop teams and buying up the test dates they had shared with Michelin teams in an arrangement going back at least seven years. Buckley bought the dates for the express purpose of excluding Michelin teams and Michelin technicians.

After Roadracingworld.com exposed the buy-up, Dunlop issued statements quoting Buckley as saying that the company had to exclude engineers from competing brands to maintain developmental secrecy. Buckley also claimed that it was normal in MotoGP for tire companies to take the same position, although tire engineers from Michelin, Dunlop and Bridgestone all attended pre-season MotoGP tests with no apparent compromise in their development programs.

Michelin responded to the test date buy-up by seeking its own test dates with mixed success. A late-April date at Road America featured temperatures so cold Ducati’s Eric Bostrom complained that he couldn’t feel his fingers by the time the tires he was supposed to be testing came anywhere close to operating temperatures. And the company could not obtain any alternative dates at Infineon Raceway that worked logistically for Michelin teams. As a result of not testing at the Sonoma, California track, which has several recently repaved sections, Michelin teams were not competitive at last weekend’s AMA National there.

Michelin’s announcement of its own test dates included an invitation for non-Michelin teams to participate on a shared-cost basis; to date, Buell teams on Pirellis participated in a Michelin test last month at Barber and now Honda has participated at Pikes Peak, bringing Dunlop’s Allen and several Dunlop tire fitters to the two-day test.

Duhamel rode both his Formula Xtreme CBR600RR and his CBR1000RR Superbike at the test, while Ben Bostrom and Jake Zemke rode their Superbikes, all on Dunlops.

Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom rode his Ducati 999R on Michelins. Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp rode his Superstock GSX-R750 and his Supersport GSX-R600 on Michelins, while teammate Vincent Haskovec rode his Superstock GSX-R750 and his Formula Xtreme GSX-R600.

Rapp did the most laps during the two-day test, with 351 circuits of the tight Pikes Peaks racetrack. Haskovec did about 300 laps.

Random stopwatch timing caught Zemke fastest at 55.4, followed by Duhamel at 55.5, Ben Bostrom at 55.6, Eric Bostrom at 55.8, Rapp on his Superstock bike at 56.0 and Haskovec on his Superstock bike at 56.3.

From a press release:

KAWASAKI MOTORS CORP., U.S.A. ANNOUNCES MAJOR REORGANIZATION OF ITS OPERATIONS

Company officials cite need to adapt new, more nimble focus in order to grow its consumer products business even further in years ahead.

IRVINE, Calif. (May 7, 2004)—Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. (KMC), recognizing the competitive environment in which it markets its motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, personal watercraft, and utility vehicles, today announced a reorganization of the way its consumer products business will be operated.

Leaning heavily on a streamlined approach to increasing productivity, the company will focus on strengthening its competitive position in both the short and long term. This will primarily be accomplished through the integration of functions that have operated independently, rather than in a synergistic mode that shortens many of the extended lines of communication.

According to Steve Hamada, president, the new structure “will increase the efficiency and improve coordination of all aspects of our internal operations.”

Hamada said the new organization will become effective May 10, and will “prepare KMC to better meet our current and future business needs.”

Among the new directions cited by Hamada is a reduction in the lines of communication that report to the president’s office, allowing for more involvement with the company’s programs and policies, while also improving responsiveness to the needs of Kawasaki’s dealers and consumers.

“It is very important that any organizational changes offer a tangible benefit to our dealer network, and to Kawasaki’s retail purchasers,” said Hamada.

“This new approach to our internal operations will significantly improve our abilities to rapidly respond to market changes and ultimately achieve greater efficiencies and profitability.”

KMC will reduce the numbers of operating divisions and layers of management that have grown broader as the company’s product categories have expanded and it has continued to experience upwards growth

Currently, twelve separate operational groups report to the office of the president. In the newly restructured look effective next week, that number will be reduced to seven. Similar consolidations will occur in middle management areas that will compliment the changes being made at other organizational levels.

Among the key adjustments in the reporting structure will be the combining of both sales and marketing into a single, blended operational group, and the consolidation of several product-related functions underneath a product operations group.

“We’ve addressed all of the functional areas that can help us to grow and achieve our targets over the next several years,” said Hamada. “This is an opportunity for KMC to move the bar of accomplishment and one from which we are anticipating great results,” he concluded.

Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A., (KMC) markets and sells at wholesale Kawasaki motorcycles, ATVs, personal watercraft, utility vehicles, power products and general purpose engines. These product lines are sold through a network of more than 1,500 independent retailers. KMC and its affiliates employ nearly 2,400 people in the United States, with approximately 400 of them located at the Irvine, Calif. headquarters.

Kawasaki’s tagline, “Let the good times roll™”, is recognized worldwide and the brand is aggressively carrying its heritage of power, performance, leading-edge design and exhilaration into the 21st century. Information about Kawasaki’s complete line of recreational products and Kawasaki affiliates can be found on the Internet at www.kawasaki.com.

From a press release issued by Michelin:

Michelin and the single tyre manufacturer proposals for Formula One


The FIA has recently made public a project for the future which includes the introduction of a single tyre manufacturer in Formula One.

Michelin has yet to be consulted officially on this subject.

“I am surprised by this course of action,” said Michelin Group Chairman and CEO, Edouard Michelin, “as, when we entered Formula One in 2001, it was following strong lobbying by certain teams that wanted to benefit from the positive effects of our technology on the performance of their cars. What’s more, their requests were supported by the Formula One organisers to heighten the sporting interest.”

Michelin has decided to consult with all its partners before making its position known on the very important subject of an eventual single tyre monopoly. Michelin is of course very much in favour of the objective to reduce costs in F1, costs which have increased greatly in recent years.

Faced with this objective, Michelin believes the single tyre manufacturer option is not a satisfactory solution. On the other hand, Michelin would like to propose a number of solutions to reduce costs while maintaining the spirit of competition, that is to say the possibility of comparing one’s performance against that of one’s competitors, within the framework of clear and stable rules.

From a press release:

FASTER to play late night in Minneapolis.

FASTER, the MotoGP movie, will be playing an encore show at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis on Friday May 14th at 11:30pm before it heads down to Chicago for its Sunday May 16th screening.

FASTER showed last month in Minneapolis to more than 600 enthusiasts.

www.fastermpls.com

www.fasterchicago.com

From a press release issued by MSS Discovery Kawasaki:

MSS DISCOVERY TEAM AND ROB FROST:

The MSS Discovery team and Supersport rider Rob Frost have decided to end their partnership by mutual consent following discussions since round four of the British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park on Monday.

“The MSS Discovery team has concentrated on many areas of racing this year, including development of our Kawasaki machinery,” explained joint team owner Nick Morgan. “That, coupled with a disappointing start to the season for Rob has left us both taking a new, fresh direction.”

Stuart Simmonds, the team’s joint owner added: “It’s with regret that we have to go our separate ways but we wish Rob all the best for his own future ventures.”

Simmonds added: “The team will concentrate on the remainder of the 2004 British Championship and prepare for its World Supersport Championship debut, hopefully at Silverstone next month.”

The MSS Discovery team will now field sole Supersport rider Pere Riba aboard the ZX-6RR Kawasaki and Steve Allan in the National Superstock Championship on the Kawasaki ZX-10R.

From a press release issued by True Sport, Inc./Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:

BMW TO BE FEATURED MARQUE AT AMA VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE DAYS

DUBLIN, Ohio (May 6, 2004) – BMW will be the featured marque at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days 2004, a three-day event hosted by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), July 16-18 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. In celebrating the 81-year-old marque, AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days will benefit the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum and will feature an exhibit of classic motorcycles and memorabilia, including one of the largest displays of vintage BMW motorcycles on loan from vintage club members and independent collectors. The weekend promises to be the largest and best vintage BMW event of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

World Stunt Champion Jean-Pierre Goy – well known for his spectacular stunts in several James Bond films — will treat spectators to daring performances throughout the weekend event. Alternating between different BMW models, Goy executes rolling burnouts in clouds of smoke, wheelies in tight circles – with no hands – terrifies hapless volunteers from the audience, and, otherwise, defies the laws of physics during his stunts. Goy is the world-record holder for the longest continuous wheelie (over 100 miles) and the stoppie distance record (383 feet) and numerous other absurd, not to mention dangerous, achievements.

Many U.S. riders are unaware that BMW began manufacturing motorcycles several years before it produced automobiles — beginning with the R 32, designed by Max Friz in 1923. As a reminder of its rich motorcycle heritage, BMW Motorrad USA also will offer a Mobile Tradition Exhibition. This extensive review of seminal motorcycle models and large narrative walls demonstrates BMW’s rally theme of “Over 80 years driven by the need to ride” and includes a special Exhibition catalogue. This Exhibition will be supplemented by an even larger display of vintage motorcycles brought by collectors and owners, organized by the Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners, Ltd. club.

BMW Motorrad USA will also offer demo rides on all current BMW motorcycle models including the new R 1200 GS and K 1200 LT.

There will be special presentations by several guest speakers, including Fred Jakobs, the resident archivist and historian at Mobile Tradition. Mr. Jakobs has justly been called “the living repository” for BMW’s unusual motorcycle heritage, and BMW fans will have a unique opportunity to get the “right” answer to those nagging questions about arcane, yet fascinating, historical incidents and personalities. (For instance: Mr. Jakobs has a bill of sale for the purchase of a BMW motorcycle in 1929 by a Henry Ford – THAT Henry Ford.)

Tom Purves, Chairman BMW (US) Holding Corp., will be on hand throughout the weekend festivities and will participate in the AMA’s Marque of the Year Presentation.

In addition to these BMW events, AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days will feature American Historic Motorcycle Racing Association (AHRMA) road racing , two days of AHRMA motocross, plus observed trials and dirt-track racing. The on-track competitions should draw more than 1,100 competitors.

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days 2004 also will feature two vintage bike shows; the Will Stoner Swap meet, the largest of its kind in North America; a slate of guest speakers, including renowned designer Craig Vetter; an array of vendors featuring new products from top manufacturers and dealers; the annual Motorcycle Hall of Fame Auction of motorcycles and memorabilia; and the return of Rhett Rotten’s original 1941 “Wall of Death” drome.

Spectator tickets for AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days 2004 are available from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course at 1-800-MID-OHIO or www.midohio.com.

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a 2.4-mile, 15-turn permanent road racing circuit in Lexington, Ohio. Located just 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield, the track has been called the most competitive in the U.S. and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally sanctioned racing events for amateur, club and professional riders and drivers.

More information about TrueSports, Inc., Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and The Mid-Ohio School can be found at www.midohio.com. Information and tickets for Mid-Ohio’s seven 2004 spectator events are available by calling 1-800-MID-OHIO.

From a press release issued by Aprilia USA:

Aprilia Announces New Round of Business Funding

U.S. market record-setting growth contributes to high demand for Italian manufacturer’s award-winning motorcycles and scooters

Woodstock, GA (May 6, 2004) –Aprilia SpA, the Noale, Italy based manufacturer of award-winning motorcycles and scooters, today announced new credit lines for $30 million Euros as well as renewal of existing lines, for a total global line of credit of $180 million Euros. The financing agreement was reached with the assistance of a consortium of financial institutions, including Interbanca and Caretti & Associati. This new round of funding allows Aprilia to resume full production and satisfy high market demand as the main riding season gets underway in most parts of the world.

Demand has been especially strong in Aprilia’s growing U.S. market. Despite being a relative newcomer in the market—the company established its U.S. subsidiary in 1999—American consumers have embraced the Italian manufacturer’s award-winning line of scooters and motorcycles. Aprilia, which offers more scooter choices than any other manufacturer in the U.S. market, just posted its best April sales month ever, increasing 30.6% over April, 2003. In addition to strong scooter sales, Aprilia’s line of high-performance super sport bikes and adventure touring bikes continue to win awards for their thrilling combination of ride characteristics, technology and style.

This new round of funding allows Aprilia to concentrate on the industrial plan and continue its growth by exploiting its extraordinary know-how and brand popularity. The industrial plan will include reorganization initiatives designed to gain cost savings and operational efficiencies. In addition, Aprilia will continue to proactively discuss business investment opportunities with financial and/or industrial investors to assure the necessary resources are in place for continued growth of the company’s prestigious Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Laverda brands.

About Aprilia USA
Aprilia is Europe’s second largest motorcycle and scooter manufacturer. Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Noale, Italy—just outside Venice—the company is privately owned and has eight subsidiaries in key world markets. Aprilia World Service USA, Inc. is the company’s U.S. importer and distributor. The subsidiary is headquartered in Woodstock, Georgia, just a few miles north of metro Atlanta and at the entrance to some of the best riding roads in America. Aprilia USA’s 128 U.S. dealerships offer a full line of performance motorcycles and scooters, as well as electric bicycles. For information on Aprilia’s complete model line, visit www.apriliausa.com.