From a press release:

HONDA RACING NEWS

2002 MotoGP 500 World Championship, round 4
French Grand Prix, Le Mans
May 17/18/19 2002

HONDA AIM FOR ‘SPRINT’ WIN AT HOME OF ENDURANCE RACING

This weekend the MotoGP World Championship moves to Le Mans, legendary home of day-and-night racing in both the car and motorcycle worlds, where Honda has scored many long-distance successes with its four-stroke endurance racers. After closing its original racing era by quitting GP racing in the late sixties, Honda began its gradual return to the international scene by entering the 1976 European endurance championship. The factory’s RCB endurance racers were based on the world’s first superbike, Honda’s CB750 inline four, and won every round of the series, the Franco-Scottish pairing of Jean-Claude Chemarin and Alex George scoring a resounding victory at Le Mans. Since then all kinds of Honda four-strokes have won glory in the Le Mans 24 hour, from the CB900 inline four to the RVF750 V4 and the SP-1 v-twin. But this weekend an all-new Honda bids to score the factory’s first four-stroke ‘sprint’ race victory at Le Mans to add to six two-stroke 500 GP victories won at the track between 1983 and 2000.

The amazing RCV211V is currently unbeaten in the new-look MotoGP World Championship, having won the first three events of the new category. Series leader Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RCV211V) won the season-opening Japanese GP and followed that with victory in Spain two weeks ago, in between times suffering defeat in South Africa at the hands of team-mate Tohru Ukawa (Repsol Honda Team RCV211V).

Rossi has never won at Le Mans. During his early years on the World Championship trail the French GP was based at Paul Ricard in Provence, so the Italian youngster has only contested two World Championship races at the Sarthe track, finishing third in both the 2000 and 2001 500 French GPs.

“I’m not so keen on the circuit at Le Mans, it’s a little too technical for my riding style,” explains Rossi. “We start from zero with the bike and circuit just as we did at Welkom. We have never tested here with the four-stroke, so we have a lot of work to do before the race. Anyway, I’m happy to be leading the championship but there is still a long way to go.”

Rossi’s crew chief Jerry Burgess believes Honda’s amazingly fast and superbly user-friendly V5 will change his rider’s Le Mans fortunes. “The place has never been great for us but it’s a turn-and-accelerate track and that’s where the RCV is good,” says the Australian. “There’s a lot of slow turns with low gear acceleration where wheelspin could be a problem, but all we do is programme the motor so it doesn’t spin, just tone it down through the ignition and fuel injection.”

Ukawa has a contrasting Le Mans record. The Japanese won the second of his two 250 GP wins at the track in 2000 but tumbled out of last year’s 500 GP. “Le Mans for me is a place of great happiness and some disappointment,” says Ukawa, who took third at Jerez a fortnight back. “In 2000 I won the 250cc race here, beating Nakano and Jacque but last year I fell in the 500 race. I really want to close the gap on Rossi in the championship. I know I can win now, as I did in South Africa, and I led the race at Jerez for 15 laps. However, my tyres were finished towards the end of the race, so I was happy in the end to hold off Capirossi and take a podium finish.”

The men most likely to dent the RCV’s perfect record are Honda’s trio of fast 500 riders Daijiro Kato (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR500), Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500) and Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500). These three men finished third, fourth and fifth behind the RCVs
at Jerez a fortnight back, Kato only one second behind Rossi.

“I’m enjoying riding the 500 so much,” says reigning 250 champ Kato who won last year’s French 250 GP. “Our main problem at Le Mans will be the same as our problem at Jerez the RCV is very, very fast! I think the bike’s acceleration advantage will be very important out of all the slow corners at Le Mans, but maybe we can make up for that elsewhere.”

Capirossi is also getting used to chasing the RCVs. He finished third behind Ukawa and Rossi in South Africa and less than a second behind Ukawa in Spain. “At Jerez we saw how the different machines have different advantages,” explains the hard-riding Italian. “That made for a spectacular race because we could overtake each other in different parts of the track. We face another tough weekend at Le Mans and I’ll be trying everything I know to extend my podium-finishing record.”

Barros was back on the pace at Jerez after a difficult start to the season and hopes to continue his return to form this weekend. “We’ve improved the front end of the motorcycle and that’s very important for somewhere like Le Mans,” says the Brazilian veteran who started GP racing way back in 1986. “The team has been a great help over the last few weeks and I now feel confident to start attacking again.”

Honda’s other two 500 riders are still in the getting-to-know-you phase with their NSRs. Former 250 World Champion Tetsuya Harada (Pramac Honda NSR500) has never raced such a fast motorcycle and has taken a sensible approach to his first season with the 190 horsepower V4. “The first three races were a good chance to adjust to the NSR and erase the memory of my pre-season injury,” he says. “In South Africa I finished 1m 20s behind the winner, in Spain I was less than 40 seconds off the winning pace. In France I hope to reduce that gap even further.”

Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Kanemoto Racing Honda NSR500) is also growing in confidence. “Jerez was good, we made more progress on finding optimum set-up and achieved more good tyre development,” says the Dutchman who is developing MotoGP tyres for Bridgestone. “I feel we are close to finding the one second that will move us up to competing for fifth and sixth-place finishes.”

Honda’s two 250 factory riders began the European season in fine style at Jerez, Robby Rolfo (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR250) leading much of the race and eventually finishing second while team-mate Emilio Alzamora (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR250) came through to third. Those results put them second and fourth in the current points standings.

“We are in contention for the title, which is the important thing at this stage of the championship,” says Rolfo, who is just three points behind series leader Fonsi Nieto (Aprilia). “We have made some big improvements to our bikes at the first three GPs and I think we can improve further in France. NSRs have won the past two 250 GPs there, so maybe we’ll be in good shape.”

Alzamora is also thinking big. “If we can keep working the way we worked at Jerez, for sure we will get some great results,” comments the Spaniard who is only three points behind his team-mate. “I finished fourth at Le Mans last year and I want to do better than that this time, and I think another podium finish is possible.”

Sixteen-year old Daniel Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team Honda RS125R) leads Honda’s hopes in the 125 class. The teen sensation, who has started two of this year’s three GPs from pole position, rode to a dogged four-place finish at Jerez two weeks ago and lies third in the World Championship. “The hand I hurt during practice at Jerez will be better this weekend, so we’ll be aiming to run up front again,” says Pedrosa. “Straight-line speed is very important at Le Mans and that’s a concern for us at the moment, so we’ll be working very hard to get our settings as good as possible.”

After Sunday’s racing the GP circus heads south again for the Italian GP at Mugello on June 2. The 16-event 2002 Grand Prix season concludes in Valencia, Spain, on November 3.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

In an unprecedented move, the 12-man Board of Directors of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) unanimously voted to order AMA Pro Racing to immediately improve safety, operational and communication problems.

The vote came at AMA headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio on Monday, May 13 during a regularly scheduled Board meeting, after discussion of a long litany of documented, serious problems with AMA Pro Racing safety and track set-up, at-track operations and officiating and a general lack of communication between Pro Racing and the AMA members who are involved in AMA professional competition.

The continuing problems have been a PR nightmare for the AMA itself, a non-profit membership association which owns AMA Pro Racing and is widely perceived as being one and the same as its for-profit Pro Racing subsidiary.

Three members of the AMA Board (former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz, Dunlop’s Mike Buckley and Honda’s Ray Blank), who also serve on the 6-man AMA Pro Racing Board, participated in the discussion and supported the motion.

The vote by the AMA Board can be seen as a mandate for those three Pro Racing Board members to work with new Pro Racing Chairman P.J. Harvey to quickly clean up the problems by whatever means are necessary.

The current members of the AMA Board of Directors are lawyers Rick Gray and Dal Smilie, former 500cc Motocross World Champion Jeff Smith, Kawasaki’s Croft Long, former AMA Pro Thunder Champion Jeff Nash, Suzuki’s Mel Harris, Harley-Davidson’s Ken Sutton, John Ulrich, Racer X magazine’s Davey Coombs, Buckley, Blank and Schwantz.

From a press release issued by Ducati:

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
Testing – Misano Adriatico (Italy)
Wednesday 15th May

BAYLISS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) HEADS TWO-DAY WSBK TEST AT MISANO ADRIATICO

Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) headed the timesheets at the Santamonica circuit in Misano Adriatico as all the top World Superbike teams completed two days of testing in preparation for the San Marino Round of the championship on June 21-23.

Just days after his sensational double win at Monza, Bayliss was again in terrific form, and the 33-year-old Australian smashed last year’s circuit record held by Neil Hodgson, setting a 1:34.30 this morning on qualifying tyres.

“This two-day test has gone well” declared Bayliss, “and I’m really pleased with the times we set both yesterday and in today’s long-run. My last lap on race tyres in the long-run, 1:35.3, was quicker than last year’s pole time so things are looking really good. We hardly touched the bike at all, I feel really comfortable with the set-up and although we’ve got a couple more races in between, I can’t wait to get here and race in front of all my Italian fans”.

Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) set third quickest time of 1:35.19 during the two day session. “We struggled to get some grip at first but eventually found a tyre that was pretty satisfactory at the end. The bike is pretty close to a good set-up for the Misano race, but we’ve still got a bit more work to do when we come here in June”, declared Bostrom.

Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) was seventh quickest over the two days with a time of 1:35.99. “I was pleased at the end of today because I finally managed to set a good time. I didn’t manage to do as many laps as the other guys but today the team worked well and we’re looking quite good for the race”.

UNOFFICIAL TIMES: 1. BAYLISS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) 1:34.30; 2. Edwards (Honda) 1:34.90; 3. BOSTROM (DUCATI L&M) 1:35.19; 4. Haga (Aprilia) 1:35.37; 5. Hodgson (HM Plant Ducati) 1:35.43; 6. Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) 1:35.75; 7. XAUS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) 1:35.99; 8. Chili (Ducati NCR) 1:36.42; 9. Lavilla (Suzuki) 1:36.50; 10. Antonello (Ducati DFX) 1:37.40; 11. Martin (Ducati DFX) 1:37.50.

From a press release:

www.ducatiusa.com
The new Ducati North America website

The new Ducati North America website is intended to become the go-to destination for news and events for North American Ducati enthusiasts.

Pompton Plains, NJ, May 15: Ducati North America announces the launch of the new website at www.ducatiusa.com. Today, Internet development is a top strategic priority for Ducati. The group’s approach to this medium reflects its recognition of the Internet as a cornerstone of the company’s future.

Following from the success of the worldwide site at Ducati.com—-a destination that reaches 500,000 visitors per month-—Ducatiusa.com will offer its visitors content that pertains specifically to the North American market, supplying them with information on local Ducati news and events.

The site has been developed and re-designed according to the style of Ducati.com, which includes an elegant and innovative graphic layout, a series of initiatives aimed at the creation of a vast online community, and the delivery of informative and exciting content.

Like its worldwide counterpart, Ducatiusa.com is divided into eight main sections: Dealer Locator, News, Events, Bikes, Chat, Photogallery, Mailing List and Contact Us. The Dealer Locator section allows the user to quickly locate the closest authorized Ducati Dealer. The News section covers all the latest happenings in the North American market such as the latest sales offer, like the current 2.75% or 2 years of free maintenance, special incentives like the “The Ultimate Trackbike Offer” as well as updates on the latest AMA and World Superbike racing action.

The Events section will display information pertaining to national and international Ducati events such as World Ducati Week2002 (June 14 – 20, Misano Italy), including detailed information on where to stay and what to do; Ducati Island (July 12 – 14, Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, CA), including a full program of activities and information on the exciting new addition to the island this year: the Special Ducati Museum; and, of course, Ducati involvement in the successful Motorcycle Show recently held at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Finally, the Bike section links users directly with ducati.com where they can find information on the entire line-up of Ducati motorcycles.

The last four sections—Chat, Photogallery, Mailing List and Contact Us—are, of course, the backbone of every online community.

Founded in 1926, Ducati builds racing-inspired motorcycles characterized by unique engine features, innovative design, advanced engineering and overall technical excellence. Ducati has won ten of the last twelve World Superbike Championship titles and more individual victories than the competition put together. The Company produces motorcycles in four market segments which vary in their technical and design features and intended customers: Superbike, Supersport, Monster and SportTouring. The company’s motorcycles are sold in more than 40 countries worldwide, with a primary focus in the Western European and North American markets. For more information about the Company, please visit our web site at http://www.Ducati.com.

From an FIM Press Release:

Endurance World Championship

Anti-doping and alcohol Controls

Anti-doping and alcohol controls were carried out at the 200 Miles of Imola, first round of the Endurance World Championship held on April 28 last.

– All the alcohol controls were negative. The riders controlled were: Claudio Ferri (ITA), Fabrizio Spelti (ITA), Mike Edwards (GBR), Jason Pridmore (USA), Warwick Nowland (AUS), Giovanni Bussei (ITA).

– Regarding the doping controls, all the samples tested showed in the absence of any banned substances. The riders controlled were: William Costes (FRA), Sebastien Scarnato (FRA), Mike Edwards (GBR), Jason Pridmore (USA), Nicolas Saelens (BEL), Robert de Vries (NED).

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc

By Glenn LeSanto

Foret wins battle with Vermeulen to take Supersport win

The crowd at Monza was treated to a tremendous World Supersport race that saw Fabien Foret dicing with young Chris Vermeulen for the lead late in the race.

Chris Vermeulen, who rides for Van Zon Honda TKR, a satellite team of Ten Kate Honda, took second place after a tremendous battle with Foret in front of the 82,000-strong crowd. But Foret had to ride on the edge of his wits as Vermeulen pushed him hard right to the line. Foret took the win despite steadily running out of brakes in the closing stages.

“Towards the end of the race my brakes were fading because the pace was so unbelievably hot,” explained a delighted Foret, who broke the lap record in the race. “But the Pirelli tires were fantastic, even right at the end of the race they were giving full grip. The Honda is extremely fast, perfect for Monza, and I made a break away from the pack with Chris Vermeulen in the last few laps. I knew it would be all down to the last bend between Chris and me. I was able to get the better line in that last turn to get victory and to close up to Chambon in the Championship.”

The result left in-form Foret only four points behind Championship leader Stephane Chambon after five races; Chambon finished the race fifth after losing a battle with Andrew Pitt. Chambon’s teammate Katsuaki Fujiwara had been battling for the lead himself but the two Honda riders used every ounce of their performance to put a one-second gap on the Suzuki man.

At one stage Foret had been well ahead of the pursuing pack but his brake problems allowed them to bridge the gap in just one lap.

Early in the race it looked like Alessio Corradi would be in the hunt for the lead. He was in the front group at the start of the race and even took his turn to lead. But his wild riding style caught him out and he crashed after only completing eight laps.

Other victims of crashes or mechanical problems included James Whitham, who suffered clutch failure after only two laps, and Karl Muggeridge, who also lost his clutch even earlier–entering the first turn! Christian Kellner threw his Yamaha down the road on lap one and Kevin Curtain’s bike blew on lap 11.

Both Foret and Vermeulen were riding on Pirelli rubber, with Fujiwara, Pitt, Chambon and sixth-place finisher Paolo Casoli following them home on Dunlops.

From a press release:

DUCATI MOTOR HOLDING ANNOUNCES RECORD FIRST QUARTER 2002 RESULTS
Net profit increases 12%

Bologna, Italy–– Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. (NYSE: DMH, Borsa Italiana S.p.A: DMH), a leading manufacturer of high performance motorcycles, announced record results in terms of registrations, revenues, EBITDA and net income for the first quarter ended March 31, 2002.

As previously reported, the Company’s first quarter 2002 revenues were Euro 106.3 million, up 5.7% over the same period in 2001. The growth was mainly driven by a positive product mix effect. Revenues from Ducati motorcycles for the period increased 4.4% to Euro 89.3 million and represented 84.0% of revenues. Motorcycle-related products, including spare parts, technical accessories and apparel, rose 14.6% to Euro 16.8 million over the comparable period in the previous year. Unit sales were down 3.5% worldwide. Excluding the US, unit sales rose 2.4%.

Gross margin was 42.8% of revenues versus 39.2% in the period, mainly reflecting production efficiencies and a positive product mix. Sales costs represented 20.0% of sales versus 18.1% in the period last year, mainly due to costs related to tailored promotional activities to support sell-out. EBITDA was a record Euro 20.1 million, or 18.9% of revenues, versus 18.0% in the period of the previous year. R&D costs for the Moto GP were Euro 1.3 million, equivalent to 1.2% of sales.

Net income improved by 12.0%, posting a record high for the first quarter of Euro 5.5 million versus Euro 4.9 million in the period in 2001. The resulting net income margin for the period was 5.2% of sales up versus the 4.9% in 2001, mainly thanks to operational gains out-weighing GP and higher commercial costs.

Ducati worldwide registrations, a measure of retail sales, increased 19% in the three month period compared to a 3% growth in the Ducati Relevant Market, in particular driven by strong results in Japan (+32%) in the US (+30%), in the importer network (+30%) and in Italy (+23%).

“Ducati’s record first quarter results for 2002 underline the strength of our 2002 Model Year and show continuing improvements in our ability to increase the efficiency of our supply chain and production processes,” said Carlo Di Biagio, Ducati Chief Executive Officer. “In addition, the re-organization of our US operations is progressing well. Registrations are strong thanks to the combination of our retail initiatives and healthy demand for our new products in that market. Our main objectives in the US are to continue reducing current dealer inventory, to close under-performing points-of-sale, and to open strong new ones. We expect US sales to pick up in the coming months.

“The year has started well with Ducati in the lead of the World Superbike Championships thanks to incredible results from Troy Bayliss, and we look forward to the races on our home turf in Monza this weekend,” added Di Biagio. “Preparations for World Ducati Week in June are going well, too–attendance is set to be well over that of the last event in 2000.”

“We are glad to announce the launch of Ducati Desmo Finance, a pioneering marketing tool, unique in the two-wheeled Italian market,” said Enrico D’Onofrio, Ducati Chief Financial Officer. “The aim is to increase motorcycle sales by improving the ease and convenience of purchasing a new or used Ducati and related products. The program provides financing, insurance and a branded credit card in an integrated, personalized and ‘hassle-free’ package for our fans and friends.”

Ducati’s net debt at March 31, 2002 was Euro 132.0 million, increasing versus the Euro 107.6 million at the same date a year earlier, and Euro 112.9 million at December 31, 2001. The company’s net debt to total capitalization ratio was 45.2% at March 31, 2002 versus 42.0% at the same date a year earlier and 42.2% at December 31, 2001. The increase versus year-end 2001 was mainly due to the roll out in Italy of our new commercial credit policy, which is changing from factoring to insurance.

The Company also announced that, at its Annual Shareholder Meeting held on May 7, 2002, approval was given to buy back up to 3.8% of its outstanding share capital. This facility will be used to satisfy stock option plans and gives management flexibility to support the Company’s stock price. Finally, the shareholders re-appointed the Board of Directors for another three-year term.

Founded in 1926, Ducati builds racing-inspired motorcycles characterized by unique engine features, innovative design, advanced engineering and overall technical excellence. Ducati has won ten of the last twelve World Superbike Championship titles and more individual victories than the competition put together. The Company produces motorcycles in four market segments which vary in their technical and design features and intended customers: Superbike, Supersport, Monster and SportTouring. The company’s motorcycles are sold in more than 40 countries worldwide, with a primary focus in the Western European and North American markets. For more information about the Company, please visit our web site at http://www.Ducati.com.

This press release contains statements that are forward-looking and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, as described in the Company’s 2000 annual report, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 20-F, dated July 2, 2001.

From a press release:

Steve Martin enjoys a successful weekend in Monza!

It looked like it would be a weekend to forget when Steve Martin first arrived in Monza, with torrential rain threatening to ruin everything. But in the end the sun shone and Steve enjoyed two good results at the historic circuit on the outskirts of Milan.

In wet qualifying on Friday Steve had a chance to show his real ability and the potential of the Pirelli wets by going fifth fastest in the session. “It was great to be flying past the likes of Ben Bostrom on his factory Ducati,” commented Steve.

Monza is a super-fast circuit and there’s no denying that the top factory bikes have an advantage there, one of outright horsepower. Nevertheless Steve knuckled down to the task and scored a great 10th place in race one and followed that up with 11th in race two.

“We’ve had a chance to test plenty of tyres here this weekend, both in the wet and the dry and everything in between! We’ve collected valuable data, which Pirelli will use in their continuing work to develop their Superbike tyres even further. It’s been a valuable weekend and an enjoyable one too.”

There was also another high point for Steve–he was joined by his partner Sandra, who quit her job in Australia to share his motorhome for the rest of the season. “For me it’s important to have her around,” admitted Steve. “She’s my biggest fan but she’s also not afraid to push me hard and to make sure I’m always giving 100% effort 100% of the time.”

Steve made sure he stayed well in with another member of his family by displaying a ‘happy mother’s day Mum’ sign on the front of his bike on the start grid–Sunday was mother’s day in Australia!

Steve and Sandra now travel to Misano for more testing, before taking a long drive to Silverstone in England, for yet more testing before the next round of the World Superbike championship there.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The purse for the two Superbike races during the Big Kahuna Nationals at Road Atlanta totals $73,000, with split payouts. In other words, half is paid for each race, which means each race winner will get $4000, not the $8000 listed below.

Each of the four support classes have an $8000 purse, with identical payouts.

Chevy Trucks Superbike
(half paid for each race)
1. $8000
2. $6000
3. $4500
4. $3600
5. $3200
6. $3000
7. $2900
8. $2800
9. $2700
10. 2600
11. $2500
12. $2400
13. $2300
14. $2200
15. $2100
16. $2000
17. $1900
18. $1800
19. $1700
20. $1600
21. $1500
22. $1400
23. $1300
24. $1200
25. $1100
26. $1000
27. $950
28. $850
29. $750
30. $650
31. $600
32. $550
33. $500
34. $450
35. $400


Support Classes (MBNA 250cc Grand Prix, Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport, Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme, Suzuki Genuine Accessories Superstock)
1. $1250
2. $1000
3. $700
4. $575
5. $550
6. $500
7. $425
8. $400
9. $375
10. 350
11. $300
12. $275
13. $250
14. $225
15. $200
16. $175
17. $150
18. $125
19. $100
20. $75


(For reference, Chris Ulrich won $4500 for finishing second in the AMA 250cc Grand Prix race at New Hampshire International Speedway in 1999.)