FROM DUCATI CORSE PRESS INFORMATION:

Mugello, 1 August 2002

DUCATI CORSE TESTS ‘LABORATORY’ VERSION OF THE FUTURE DUCATI DESMOSEDICI MOTOGP AND SUPERBIKE VERSION OF THE NEW 999 AT MUGELLO

Ducati completed its first day of testing behind closed doors today at the Mugello Circuit in Tuscany, in the presence of Ducati Corse employees who came to witness the track debut of two important motorbikes for the Bologna manufacturer.

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MotoGP

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The first is a sort of ‘laboratory’ bike which will be used in the next few months for the preparation of the definitive version of the Desmosedici, scheduled to make its debut in the 2003 MotoGP championship.

The second is the racing version of the brand-new Ducati 999, which is having its first shakedown test in preparation for next year’s World Superbike Championship. The 999 is the bike that will defend Ducati’s record in the production-based series after the series of victories obtained in the Constructors’ championship with the legendary twin-cylinder 851, 888, 916, 996 and 998.

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MotoGP

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The Desmosedici project is continuing on schedule and this first track test is being used to shakedown some of the innovative solutions for the future MotoGP bike. Test-rider Vittoriano Guareschi completed a total of 32 laps and will continue tomorrow. At the moment the work is focussing on aerodynamics, a fundamental element on a motorbike which in its definitive version will have a power output of more than 220 HP.

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MotoGP

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“The prototype we are using is going well”, declared Vittoriano. “Although the power we have available is currently similar to the twin-cylinder SBK version, the new bodywork is very aerodynamic and it allows us to reach a much higher top speed. We are carrying out several tests with bodywork vents to check the bike’s different reactions to side winds and to see what turn-in in curves is like”.

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999

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The 999 SBK F03 also had its shakedown test at the Mugello circuit.

“The new 999 is great!” declared Ducati DFX’s Steve Martin, who is carrying out testing duties today for Ducati Corse. “Even though it is making its track debut, the bike already looks and feels very promising. It is more aerodynamic and handles better than the 998. Compared with the 998 RS ‘client’ bike I race with, the latest version of the Testastretta engine has got a lot more torque as well as the same superb driveability”.

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999

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“Our company is working extremely hard in this period” declared Ducati Corse Managing Director Claudio Domenicali. “To face up to these commitments, Ducati Corse has recently grown in size and we now have around 100 people all working with the same passionate aim. For this reason we thought that it would be a good idea to invite everyone to Mugello to see our ‘creations’ in action before the summer holiday break”.

From a press release:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

SUZUKA 8 HOURS NEWS: Edwards replaces Ukawa/ Doohan rode the RC211V machine


Colin Edwards Replaces Tohru Ukawa on Cabin Honda for Suzuka 8 Hours

American Colin Edwards has been drafted into the Cabin Honda Suzuka 8 Hours team as replacement for the injured Tohru Ukawa. Edwards will partner reigning 250cc World Champion Daijiro Katoh on the Cabin liveried #11 big twin-cylinder VTR1000SP-W for the race.

World Superbike Championship campaigner Edwards, who won the corresponding race last year, while racing with Valentino Rossi, is very much the man in form. Edwards arrives at Suzuka fresh from a double victory for team Castrol Honda at the European round of the Superbike series, held at Brands Hatch, England, last Sunday.

Texan Edwards said of Sunday’s race. “Racing with Katoh will be good, he’s very fast at Suzuka. It will be interesting to see how he sets the machine up compared to our World Superbike settings. Although I’ve been told he has already tested with the settings I used last year and says he can run with the same bike set-up. From the practice we’ve had at Suzuka so far I’m sure we’ve got a machine and tyres capable of winning the race again. The SP-2 is a big improvement on last year’s machine and I’d love to win a third 8-hours race on the machine.

“The Suzuka 8 hours is a good event, very much hard work on a rider but, like last year’s victory, it can be very rewarding if you win. The race is at a good time of year for me, once it’s over we’ve a break and a chance to kick back at home,” concluded Edwards.

Ukawa decided to stand down after consultation with his doctors. The popular MotoGP rider sustained a broken bone in his right foot, and a badly bruised lower spine in a high speed crash in free practice for the British Grand Prix, in mid-July. He raced to a third place finish at the German GP two weeks ago but the 8-hours is the most grueling event on the motorcycle-racing calendar, a race that demands 100% physical and mental effort from competitors. Ukawa’s physicians advised Ukawa against racing as the effort required could hinder his recovery to full strength in time for the next MotoGP Championship race, at the Czech Republic, on August 25.


Doohan Rides RC211V Honda at Eve of Suzuka 8 Hours 25th Anniversary Festival

Former 500cc World Champion Michael Doohan rode a specially prepared version of the Honda RC211V MotoGP machine at Suzuka tonight. The RCV has been prepared for Doohan at the request of Suzuka circuit who wished to see the five-time World Champion take part in special ‘Eve of the 8 Hours’ 25th Anniversary festival.

Honda felt the special occasion merited an appearance by their newest MotoGP race machine. As the festival takes place on Saturday night, prior to Sunday’s race, the RC211V has been furnished with headlights for the event.

The lighting system is a one-off. Despite this being a solo appearance, Honda decided to equip the machine with something special for the festival. They have opted to use a ‘Line Beam’ headlight currently under development by Honda R&D. The headlight is a variety of the multi-reflector type. It features a smaller lens area than existing models, yet provides the same level of brightness and illumination, as the motorcycle headlights currently in use. The system is under development and could feature on production models at some time in the future.

Doohan, who won the 8-hours in 1991, put in several laps of the Suzuka circuit aboard the RCV, the machine that Shinichi Itoh raced to fourth place at the Japanese GP in April, to re-acquaint himself with the motorcycle. His last outing on the 990cc five-cylinder four-stroke was at the Pacific GP, at Twin Ring Motegi, last October.

Honda have a policy of developing technology for production machines through their racing activities, and will continue to do so but Doohan’s Suzuka Festival RCV is not the forerunner of a street going RCV. As no development plan exists, there is no likelihood of a production RCV appearing within the next one or two years.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Max Biaggi has said he will leave the Yamaha MotoGP team at the end of the 2002 season.

The Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport published an interview with Biaggi in their August 1 edition. In that interview Biaggi is quoted as saying, “Alla Yamaha ho passato quattro anni di grandi soddisfazioni, ma senza coronare il mio sogno: vincere il Mondiale. Ciò nonostante, a me sarebbe piaciuto rimanere, ma dopo avere incontrato i vertici Yamaha e avere richiesto certe garanzie, ho capito che non esistevano più i presupposti per continuare.”

The BBC translated this into the following: “I have had four years of great satisfaction at Yamaha but without being able to realise my dream of winning the world championship. Although I would have been happy to stay after meeting the Yamaha management and having asked for certain guarantees, I realised that there no longer existed the conditions to continue.”

It is speculated that Biaggi will follow long-time sponsor Marlboro to the Ducati MotoGP team in 2003.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Marlboro has sponsored Biaggi for the last nine years.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

After clinching the 2002 AMA Supersport Championship earlier in the day, Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates was free to push his Vic Fasola-tuned GSX-R750 to the edge in Sunday afternoon’s AMA Superbike race at Mid-Ohio July 28. And he did just that.

A specialist on the bumpy and technical Mid-Ohio roller-coaster, Yates got off the grid well, was racing with the leaders early in the 26-lap contest but got a little impatient behind Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom in turn seven.

“I made a couple of moves on guys and was wanting to make a move on Eric,” said Yates Sunday evening before leaving Mid-Ohio. “But I wasn’t really close enough.

“I had to get on the brakes pretty good. I didn’t want to punt him too hard. I didn’t want to hit him. I had a couple of other spots on the track I thought I could probably get by him.

“I guess I was just on the brakes too hard trying to keep from getting into him, cause he was a little slow getting in there, a little slower than I was. I don’t know if I hit the concrete or what, but right before I started tipping it, the front just went.”

Yates fell off the lowside of his mount and followed the bike into haybales lining the outside of the turn. Impacting haybales isn’t the best scenario in this day and age of inflatable air barriers, but Yates slid in at a moderate speed and should have gotten right up. But he didn’t!

After a few seconds, Yates started waving his hand for help, obviously pinned or somehow trapped by his Suzuki.

“We don’t have those spool things for the stands on our bikes. They got these prongs that hang out for the quick-change stands; it catches ‘em easier,” said Yates. “The thing went right up in my leathers, up in my arm and up in the muscle back there and sliced it pretty good. It went up in there a few inches.

“I couldn’t get up cause it was hooked to me. I was under the bike, under the haybales and I was stretching on it. I was like, ‘What the hell? What’s the deal?’ I knew something…it felt like I whacked it a little bit cause you get used to that feel, like when you break a bone or if you do something, it gets kind of numb and all. That’s how it felt, but I could tell it wasn’t really broke because nothing was really moving. Like my elbow wasn’t hurting, but I was hooked to the bike. I was jerking and jerking. Then finally, I was sticking my hand up like, ‘Where the hell is everyone at? Somebody come get this thing off me!’

“They got it off, I got up and there was like this river of blood running across the track. I was like, ‘Holy shit!’ I got up, set my arm down and it was running out the end of leathers. Then I was just trying to get everything off as fast as I could and I tried to get it up, get it elevated.”

Yates was taken to the medical center where nine stitches were required to close the wound internally; more stitches were required to close the outer wound.

With the AMA Supersport Championship wrapped up, Yates doesn’t know if he will ride at the AMA season finale at VIR August 9-11

“I don’t know. We’ll see, but I don’t want to prolong the healing process,” said Yates.

From a press release:

CHECA STAYS WITH YAMAHA FOR 2003

Yamaha has confirmed that it has retained the services of Spanish rider Carlos Checa in its factory-owned MotoGP team for 2003. Checa signed a two-year deal with Yamaha on Tuesday to ride the YZR-M1 four-stroke bike in the MotoGP World Championship. The news comes two weeks after the announcement from Yamaha that Marlboro sponsorship of the team, currently known as the Marlboro Yamaha Team, would cease from the end of the 2002 season.

Commenting on the announcement, 29-year-old Checa said: “I am very happy to have reached an agreement so soon with Yamaha. I believe in Yamaha, the team and the people involved in the four-stroke project. We have done some excellent work together and now I really want to continue with that and create a winning package to fight for the Championship. Being part of that process from the beginning will make it even more satisfying if we can achieve our goal.

“I had a number of approaches from different teams for next year. It’s never easy to decide, but Yamaha was my first choice because of the people and because I believe it gives me the best chance for success. My goal since 1999 has been to win the Championship with Yamaha and I hope that we can achieve it next year. Now that my decision is made I can concentrate on my racing for the second half of the 2002 season and be relaxed and confident in my preparation for 2003”

Checa has ridden for Yamaha since the beginning of the Marlboro Yamaha Team project in 1999. He finished seventh in the World Championship that year and then sixth in the next two seasons. He currently lies fifth in the inaugural MotoGP World Championship on the M1 with three podium finishes to his name.

“Carlos has been very positive about the four-stroke project since the beginning,” explained Yamaha Motor Racing B.V. Managing Director, Mr. Lin Jarvis. “We are keen to keep working closely with him and so I’m delighted that he will stay with us. Negotiations have been short as we have an excellent relationship with Carlos and a strong package on offer for next year and beyond.

“We are continuing our discussions with other potential riders about next year and I am sure that we will have a strong Team to spearhead Yamaha’s number one racing project. We are also talking with a number of potential sponsors for next year and I feel confident that we will be working with top-class commercial partners in our MotoGP program.”

Team Director Davide Brivio added: “Carlos has been riding better and better this year and I expect that he’ll really show his full potential between now and the end of the season. He works very well with our engineering staff and will play a crucial role in developing the M1 to challenge for the Championship next year. I’m looking forward to working together with him towards that goal.”

The MotoGP World Championship circus is currently enjoying its summer break, but Checa will be in action for two-days of demonstrations of the M1 at the Marlboro Masters F3 event at Zandvoort in Holland next weekend. Racing recommences with the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic at Brno on Sunday 25th August.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Bill Syfan has formed a new company, Proforma, LLC, which will be involved in “Marketing, Promotions and Representation.”

Syfan’s new clients include Arclight Suzuki as well as racers Jimmy Moore, Lee Acree and Craig Connell.

Syfan can be reached at (817) 239-0739, FAX (817) 738-4634 or via e-mail at [email protected].

This just in, via e-mail:

To whom it may concern:

Just wanted to keep you abreast of what is going on with our team.

We here at Synergy Racing Technologies have released Matt Wait from the team for reasons we wish not to disclose. We have filled his spot on the team with Frank Trombino for the next round in Road America for an evaluation.

Matt Wait is a great guy with lots of talent, we wish him the best of luck.

Thanks,

Matt Spiwak
Team Owner Synergy Racing Technologies

From GSE Racing/HM Plant Ducati:

Walker signs for GSE Racing

GSE Racing is pleased to announce that Chris Walker will partner James Toseland in the 2003 Superbike World Championship. Both riders will contest next year’s races aboard the team’s factory-supplied HM Plant Ducati 998 F02s.

Walker is an extremely experienced and talented rider with a proven record of success. The popular, four-time British Superbike Championship runner-up has been contracted for one year with an option for GSE Racing to extend the agreement at the end of the 2003 Superbike World Championship season.

Walker is renowned for his gritty determination and all-action riding style. Over the years this has helped the Nottingham-born rider amass a vast army of passionate supporters who are sure to follow him from his current Superbike World Championship team (Fuchs Kawasaki) to GSE Racing.

“I’m incredibly grateful to have been given such a fantastic opportunity,” says Walker. “I worked with [Team Manager] Colin Wright in ’98 and have wanted to repeat the experience ever since. GSE Racing is one of the best teams in the paddock and it will be good for the fans to have a third year of two British riders campaigning for a British team.

“I realise that it’s not just a case of jumping on a great bike and winning races, but it is going to be brilliant to have access to machinery that’s capable of winning the championship. I realise how hard Neil and James have worked to get where they are at the moment and I’m prepared to put in just as much effort. My confidence is up to 99% now and the other 1% will come from the knowledge that I have a great team behind me for next year. I’ve spent this season learning the tracks and I know that I won’t have any problems getting used to riding a V-twin again, so things are looking good.”

GSE Racing Team Manager Colin Wright sees the signing of Walker as a perfect move for the team.

“We’ve been on the lookout for a second rider ever since it was decided that Neil [Hodgson] would be moving to the Ducati Corse factory team at the end of the season,” explains Wright. “Chris is the ideal man to ride alongside James Toseland and we are delighted to have him on board. Despite a lot of obstacles being placed in his way, he has performed exceptionally well in only his first season at world level and the whole team is unified in it’s belief that the combination of Walker and Toseland will be a force to be reckoned with in 2003.”

From a press release issued by Red Bull Yamaha WCM:

HOPKINS HOME FOR SURGERY

Red Bull Yamaha rider John Hopkins has returned home to the United States for surgery to his left hand following a spectacular crash in the final qualifying session at the German Grand Prix in Sachsenring.

“Hopper” was operated on in San Francisco, California on Monday, 29th July by renowned American Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr. Arthur Ting.

The 45-minute operation on his left hand involved the insertion of three permanent screws into the metacarpal bone of the middle finger. The screws will assist the metacarpal bone in knitting back together. (The metacarpal bones extend from the wrist to the knuckles of each finger.)

A three-week recovery time is needed following this surgery and John will spend these weeks at home in Ramona, California. John plans to return to a light aerobic training program by the end of this week and will build up his fitness schedule prior to the Czech GP.


John Hopkins
“After the crash in Sachsenring, I went to see a Surgeon that Red Bull recommend for me in Innsbruck in Austria. After some X-rays on the Wednesday, he told me the hand would definitely need surgery to heal correctly. I wanted to get the surgery done in the U.S., I think that’s in my best interest so I planned to come home to the States and see Dr. Ting.

“The X-rays showed that my knuckle was completely busted in half and shoved back into my hand by 4mm. The bone was totally misplaced making my middle finger shorter than it should be by 4mm.

“So I came to Dr. Ting’s clinic in San Francisco for the operation.

“Now, it’s the second day after the surgery and my hand is in a fiberglass-moulded splint to support the bone. I have to keep it solid like this and not mess around with it for 10 days to give the bone time to knit together. I’ve had the dressing changed again today and I’ve got just a small incision in the top of the hand and the Dr. tells me it’s healing up nicely and on schedule.

“I’m only on light painkillers at the moment and the pain has dropped dramatically since yesterday.

“I’m flying home to Ramona, California tonight so I’ll spend my time at home training and getting a few things sorted with my house. I’m still building the second story so I can use the time to get that advanced.

“If there is one good thing about all of this, the timing was perfect. I’ve got time to heal so I’m 100% for Brno. I am really looking forward to Brno, I like everything about that circuit, the flowing track, surrounded by the trees, it’s unbelievable and really suits my riding style. So I’ll be training hard as soon as I can so I can be 100% fit for that.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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Yamaha has released the 2003 TZ250 seen here.

The price in Japan has been increased slightly from 1,850,000 Yen ($15,546) to 1,950,000 Yen ($16,387), about an $840 price increase.