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FastDates.com
February 2003
Page
1 • Racing & Calendar News
Superbike, MotoGP, Calendar Girls
Official
Calendar of the SBK World Superbike
Championship
Sponsor of AMA 750cc Supersport Champs EBSCO Corona
Extra Suzuki
This
Week's Starting Grid: 2003
Pinup Calendar Review &
WORLD EXCLUSIVE FIRST TEST - DUCATI
999S!
•
Supermodel Meets Superbike Janelle tests
the new Ducati 999S!
• MotoGP - The
Gang of Fours - 2002 Season Review / 2003 Preview
• Our 2003
Annual Motorcyle Pinup Calendar Review Caution Nudity!
• Los
Angeles Premier! Our 2003 FastDates.com
Corona Extra Suzuki
AMA Superbike Team, plus 2003 Los Angeles Super
Moto National Race
• SBK 2002 Superbike
Championship Final at Imola
The most exciting Championship final ever, Edwards
retakes title.
• MotoGP
2002 Valentino Rossi takes first MotoGP Championship title
in Brazil HERE.
Alex Barros wins Valencia season final HERE.
• AMA 2002 National
Season Finals Nicky Hayden on top.
FastDates.com Corona Suzuki wins its 2nd 750cc
SuperSport title!
• British Superbike
2002 Final Steve Hislop wins title then dumped!
• The Pit Board
Editorial, Race Schedules, Mail, Index, Features
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We
beat the print magazines...
World Exclusive First Test!
Our Valentine Janelle
does the new Ducati 999S
Official
SBK World Superbike FastDates.com Calendar Angel Janelle Perzina
tests the 999S
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Loris
in the saddle andTroy standing shotgun at the Ducati MotoGP
press launch in Marlboro colors.
Ducati's
Offical MotoGP Team Launch in Milan
Milan, Italy, Feb 14th: The Ducati MotoGP Team
sponsord by Marlboro for the MotoGP championship was launched
today at the Fila Forum, Milan, in what is sure to become yet
another important chapter in Ducati history. The presentation
of the new Desmosedici took place in front of 400 people, including
journalists and media from all over the world, institutional
figures and sponsors, in a spectacular audio-video light-show
display. The bike that will mark Ducati's return to Grand Prix
racing, was finally presented in its definitive colours for
the season ahead, and after a thirty year absence, Ducati will
now surely play a leading role in MotoGP, while continuing its
commitment to the World Superbike Championship.
A series of speeches preceded the spectacular entrance of the
Desmosedici on the stage, ridden by the two riders of the Ducati
MotoGP Team. With an introduction capable of relaying all the
enthusiasm and passion of Ducati, Federico Minoli, president
of the Bologna-based company, opened the proceedings. "We
couldn't have chosen a better date for the presentation of our
team, our riders and our beautiful bikes: February 14th! In
Ducati we are in love with any project that is capable of giving
us excitement, pleasure and passion as a team."
"MotoGP represents an important investment for the company,
which by stimulating research and development will allow us
to continue to grow and improve our products, while increasing
the renown of the company name and offering a positive return
in terms of sales," added Carlo Di Biagio, Ducati Motor
Holding CEO.
Then it was the turn of Claudio Domenicali, Ducati Corse Managing
Director, who illustrated the technical details of the bike.
"The Desmosedici has already carried out 12,000 kms of
track tests and a further 5,000 will be completed before the
first round of the season on April 6 at Suzuka. Today we know
a lot more about the bike, and we are reasonably sure of our
potential. Troy and Loris are proving to be a perfect team.
They are working together, sharing information and both of them
are a real surprise. The Desmosedici is the result of a lot
of research and great passion, and is a bike that has a number
of interesting technical features such as the new four cylinder
V90° Desmo 16 valve engine, or the innovative and exclusive
stress-bearing frame, which has been adapted from Formula 1.
Although retaining Ducati's tubular trestle design, this enables
weight to be saved by using the engine as a stress-bearing member."
Preceded by the noise of the powerful four-cylinder Ducati engine,
Team riders Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi then arrived directly
on the stage on the bike in its new colour scheme.
"This is a great day for Ducati and I am really proud to
be a part of the Ducati MotoGP Team for the MotoGP championship,"
declared Troy Bayliss. "The Desmosedici looks fantastic
in its new colours, testing has gone really well and all of
us in Ducati can't wait to line up on the grid at the first
race of the season."
"Now we are finally a team!" commented Loris Capirossi,
"and we are ready to start the season. After the excellent
results achieved in winter testing, I have finally seen the
definitive version of the Desmosedici. We are all really enthusiastic
and ready for the challenge that lies ahead."
Before the start of the championship on April 6th at Suzuka
(Japan), the Ducati MotoGP Team will take part in three days
of official IRTA tests from 21-23 at Jerez de la Frontiera (Spain),
and then Estoril (Portugal) on 26/27 February, followed by Barcelona
(Spain) on 15/16 March.
Checa checks out at Catalunya
with a new lap record
A crash and a trip to the hospital didn't deter Carols Checka
from coming back the next day and shattering Max Biaggi's MotoGP
lap record at Catalunya. Complete report details in Tire
Chatter at right >>>
France's
Moto Option features our FastDates.com Corona Extra
Suzuki Moto Master SuperMoto racebike and Calendar girl Janelle
This month's February2003 issue of France's premier sportbike
magazine Moto Option featured a great article
4-page article penned by editor Claude de Chapelle
and photographed by Sylvain le Bellec of the
FastDates.com sponsored Corona Extra Suzuki Super Moto race bike
built by Paul Brent of Moto-Master
(ph: 866 668 6627). Claude and Sylvain were guests at our featured
exhibit at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show
in Long Beach this past December (Here)
where our Super Moto bike being race by Jean Michelle Bayle was
premiered together with the announcement that Moto Master would
be producing the National Championship Super Moto round at our
2003 Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show in
July (Info: HERE). Our beautiful Calendar
Angel and SBK Fast Dates World Superbike girl Janelle
Perzina was featured in the story with the bike. Merci
Beaucoup guys!
Also in the same issue was a nice feature pictorial
on the Long Beach Show showcasing our FastDates.com Calendar
Exhibit with some of our top calendar bikes by custom builders
Paul Yaffe and Jesse Rooke,
and AMA National Championship winning teams EBSCO Corona
Extra Suzuki and Graves Yamaha Motorsports.
The story included a nice photo of our show exhibit with FastDates.com
Director Jim Gianatsis and Calendar Angels janelle and Chandi
Mason.
There was also a nice 6-page feature story on
Yoshi Kosaka's Garage Company in West Los Angeles, one of the
premier classic sportbike oriented shops in America.The same
issue also include tech features on Honda's CBR 954 and 919
sportbikes, and a coll pictorial on the British Q.B. Carbon
Industries MV Agusta 750 and Ducati 996 rebodied to look like
the manufacturers's new 2003 season motGP bikes. awsome! It's
a shame American sportbike enthusiasts have to look to French
and British sportbike magazines to get better coverage of the
sport in America. Hopefully someday Moto Option will bring out
an English version that will be available here.
Left
to right:
Danielle, Candice, Christie and Jilaine, four beautiful sisters
harmonizing with the best melodies and great original songs.
Talk about talented, Christi is also a NSSA Women's east Coast
Surfing Champion and Candice is a commerical artist. Ranging
in age from 15 to 26 years old, they write their music together.
The
Beu Sisters to appear at our
Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show in July!
These
four young teenage girls are the hottest, best new girl group
on the music scene since the Coors. If you miss the harmonies
of Wilson-Phillips and like the pop rock ballads of the Coors,
these four beautiful young Beu sisters will totally blow you
away. Songs like "I was only Seventeen" might get
us arrested, "Stop! Stay away from my Sister!" tells
us they'll kick our butt, but then they lead us into temptation
with 'Why Don't You Just Kiss Me."
We are
excited to feature the Beu Sisters in their first major national
concert appearance at our Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle
Show following the release of their critically acclaimed
first album The Beu Sisters. Be sure to join
us in July at the Queen Mary Park in Long Beach, CA, for the
most incredible weekend ever of awesome streetbikes, Super Moto
racing, wild party action, beautiful girls and the Beu Sisters!
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Meet
the Beu Sisters
Hot!
Check out their website and the feature video for their
song "I was only Seventeen" at TheBeuSisters.com
Click
the CD cover to sample their songs and order online at
Amazon.com.
Meet
them at our Bike Show in July!
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Penthouse
does calendar girl Lilly Ann
One of our pretty new FastDates.com calendar models
featured in the upcoming 2004 Fast Dates
Racebike Pinup Calendar with this tricked out single
sided swingarm Yamaha R1 with the classic Kenny Roberts
paint scheme is sweet little 19-year old model Lilly
Ann. We did a couple of calendar shoots with Liily back
in August '02 for the upcoming '04 calendars premiering
July 1st and for our Members Corner.
Needless
to say, we were taken totally by suprise (of course!)
while walking past a local newstand to that sweet little
Lilly is featured on the cover and inside the March
2003 edition of Penthouse magazine
as Pet of the Month. Look for Lilly in our upcoming
g 2004 Calendars, in Penthouse, and in Members
Corner right now!
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DUCATI
MOTOGP - THE DREAM BECOMES A REALITY
Ducati returns
to Grand Prix racing this year for the first time in three decades,
the legendary marque’s arrival in MotoGP adding a new dimension
to the category. After 15 years of stunning success in the streetbike-based
World Superbike Championship, Ducati now also enters the MotoGP
fray with the Ducati MotoGP Team, its riders Troy Bayliss and
Loris Capirossi racing an all-new prototype machine – the
Desmosedici V4, while the factory also confirms its commitment,
presence and faith in the World Superbike Championship.
Affectionately
called ‘the Ferrari of motorcycling’ by bike fans,
the Italian factory’s Ducati MotoGP Team project will fascinate
and enthral motorsports enthusiasts around the globe. The Desmosedici
has already set some stunning times during winter testing, but
Ducati Corse engineers are under no illusions as they take on
rival factories from Japan, Italy and Britain in this technically
challenging and competitive class of racing. The Desmosedici is
a long-term racing project that allows Ducati to experiment with
new technology, and Ducati Corse has increased its staff to 110
people to meet the biggest challenge of its illustrious history.
The
Pirelli 2003 Calendar
When
you're the world's biggest tire company with a One Million dollar
budget to photograph your calendar, you hire the world's top supermodels
right?
The
Pirelli 2003 calendar features some of the most celebrated top
models from throughout the world: Sophie Dahl, Yamila Diaz-Rahi,
Isabeli Fontana, Bridget Hall, Heidi Klum, Karolina Kurkova, Natalia
Vodianova, Sienna Rose Miller, Lisa Seiffert. And, as is now traditional,
there are also some up-and-coming faces, such as Filippa Hamilton,
Jessica Miller and Rania Raslan. Likewise.
Pirelli's
2002 Calendar featured Hollywoods hottest young actresses including
Julia Styles, Mena Suvari (American Beauty) , Rachel Lee Cook
(Josie & the Pussycats) , Lauren Bush (neice of the President),
Erika Christensen (Traffic), Bridget Moyanhan (Coyote Ugly, Sum
of all Fears), James King (Blow, Pearl Harbor, Lonestar State
of Mind).
You
can see detailed information on the Pirelli website at Pirelli.com
And
vist our 2003 Sportbike Calendar review in The
Pit Board
FORTUNA
YAMAHA
MotoGP Team Shatters more lap records in Spain
UNFORTUNATE TUMBLE FOR CARLOS CHECA SEES HIM RETURN AN BREAK LAP
RECORD,
Barcelona, Spain Feb. 10th:
After shattering the MotoGP lap recoreds just 2 weeks earlier at
the Valencia rave track in Spain, the Fortuna Yamaha Team returned
to testing again this week at the Catalunya GP circuit and continued
to do more record smashing.
On the forst day Carlos Checa crashed out of the Fortuna Yamaha
Team test in Barcelona, Spain, not long after he took to the track.
The Spaniard fell at the second turn and landed heavily on his bottom.
He was taken to hospital as a precaution but released soon afterwards
without needing any treatment. He had completed 21 laps before the
fall and took no further part in the day's action but is expected
to ride at his home circuit again tomorrow.
Team-mate Marco Melandri, meanwhile, made a significant breakthrough
with the minor braking problems he experienced at the team's previous
test in Valencia. The Italian had found difficulties with his front
braking and spent today trying to rectify this. This was his first
test with the YZR-M1 at the Catalunyan circuit, and he adapted well
to the longer and faster straights, ending the day with a best time
of 1'46.2s having completed a
total of 52 laps.
Team Director Davide Brivio was philosophical about the day, "We
have had good weather conditions considering it is only February.
We can only have
about four or five hours a day of testing, as the track temperature
is too low the rest of the day but we knew this before we came here",
said the Italian.
"It's a great shame that Carlos fell again, we hope that he
will
be back out tomorrow. He is seeing his physiotherapist tonight so
hopefully that will help him. Marco has been working very hard on
his front end braking problem with the support of Brembo. His lap
times today were not too bad. We are basically finding a way to
adjust the braking system to his riding style, and will continue
to do so tomorrow."
LAP
TIMES
Alex Barros, Gauloises Yamaha Team 1'44.8s (52 laps)
Shinya Nakano, D'Antin Yamaha 1'46.1s (56 laps)
Marco Melandri, Fortuna Yamaha Team 1'46.2s (52 laps)
Carlos Checa, Fortuna Yamaha Team 1'46.6s (21 laps)
Olivier Jacque, Gauloises Yamaha Team 1'49.1s (41 laps)
Carlos
Checa returns from the hospital -beats Max Biaggi’s pole-setting
time at Catalunya
in latest test of the factory Yamaha Moto GP bike.
Feb 11th: Despite a crash on Monday that left him with a just
few bruises, Carlso put in a total of 46 laps on Tuesday finishing
with a time that improved on his 2002 GP time by almost a second.
He managed a best of 1:44.3.
In
an optimistic mood at the end of the session Checa said: "I
still felt slightly sore after my crash but generally I am OK.
I am happy with my performance. I went the fastest that I have
ever ridden at this circuit. The weather conditions today weren't
great either, so I think there is even more room to improve".
Fellow Yamaha factory rider Marco Melandri struggled to cope with
the brakes on his Moto GP bike after stepping up from the 250cc
class. Completing a total of 75 laps, he was much more comfortable
with the new setup. "At the end of today I did 16 laps in
a row as a kind of a race test, to try to understand what the
bike will feel like at the end of a race. I am happy with what
I achieved here, as I managed to record a best lap time of 1:45.7."
The Team is now preparing for first IRTA test in Jerez on February
21.
ORDER
NOW!
SBK
Fast Dates 2003
Our 2003 SBK World Superbike Fast Dates Calendar model and Penthouse
Pet of the Year Zdenka fully revealed in this sexy video...
-Click to order Online -
Ripped
Pavement 2003
USA order: Calendars.com
In England phone or click on
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181-669-6400,
GP Legends at 870-040-1234
Garage
Girls 2003
Workers
begin final phase of track safety redesign for AMA Superbikes at
Sears Pont Infineon Raceway
Samona,
CA, Feb 11th: Infineon Raceway has completed the on-track design
work for three circuit enhancements, and workers have begun the
final phase of the project: placing the asphalt. These changes are
designed to increase rider safety at the AMA Supercuts Superbike
Challenge, presented by Honda of Milpitas, May 2-4.
The redesigned portions of track at Turns 1, 10 and 11 will be used
strictly by the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship and
Jim Russell Racing Drivers School. The traditional road course will
be used for all other events at Infineon Raceway, including NASCAR
Winston Cup and the American Le Mans Series. The enhancements further
demonstrate Infineon Raceway's goal of becoming one of the safest
AMA-sanctioned circuits in the country. A polymer-modified asphalt
was used on the three portions of track. It is the same blend of
asphalt that covers the entire circuit.
The changes were made with the aid of AMA Superbike riders Eric
(Kawasaki) and Ben Bostrom (Honda), Miguel Duhamel (Honda), Aaron
Yates (Suzuki), and AMA Road Race Manager Ron Barrick, who visited
the track two months ago. The enhancements will be in place for
an AMA Superbike test session at Infineon Raceway on March 20.
Turn 1 has been a sweeping left-hander, putting riders at an unfavorable
angle as they approach a pedestrian bridge at the apex of Turn 1.
The track has been extended 50 feet in a straight line before entering
Turn 1. Riders will now make a left turn at approximately 90 degrees,
which is designed to direct them away from the bridge and up the
circuit toward Turn 2.
The entry into Turn 10 has been altered to increase rider safety.
As riders crest Turn 8A, they will no longer continue down the famous
esses. Instead they will continue down a straight line for 900 feet,
parallel with the Hillside Terraces at Turn 9, before making a 90-degree
right-hand turn, followed by a sharp left-hand turn, which will
blend them back with the original road course just before Turn 10.
This alteration will slow the bikes down substantially, lowering
the risk entering Turn 10, plus it should also turn into an exciting
passing zone in front of the Hillside Terraces.
The final safety enhancement will occur at Turn 11, which will see
the entry shortened by approximately 40 feet. The change will direct
riders away from the wall as they exit the hairpin turn and direct
them toward the start/finish line.
All three changes demonstrate Infineon Raceway's commitment to rider
safety. Increased run-off was added at virtually every turn on the
road course during a $50 million Modernization Plan, and the racing
surface has also been permanently separated from the slick drag
strip.
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