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Contents

The Pit Board
  • News Index • Editorial
  • Mail • 2004 Race Dates
  • 2003 Race Coverage

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SBK Superbike Girls
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Meet the Models
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Aug 2005 Page 3 News
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ly 2005 Page 5 News
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Feb 2005 Page 3 News
Feb 2005 Page 4 News
Jan 2005 Page 1 News
Jan 2005 Page 2 News
Jan 2005 Page 3 News

2004 Pit Lane News


New Sport/Race Bikes!
Tests & Reviews

Sportbike INDEX
Aprilia Index
Ducati Index
Foggy Petronas

Honda Index
Kawasaki Index

KTM RC8 Superbike

MV Agusta
Poggipolini Millona
Poggipolini Nera
Suzuki GSXR Index
Yamaha Index

Editorial, Bike Tests
News Features

Edelweiss Bike Trip to   France and Western Alps
Marco Melandri MotoGP's    hottest new star!

Ducati Multistrada S
   2005 Bike of the Year

AMA Pro Racing and the
  Decline of US Roadracing

2005 SBK Superbike   Season Preview
Pirelli 2005 Calendar
MV Agusta F4-1000
   Rockin' Robin's 1st test

Pirelli Calendar 2005
  Supermodels get naked   in Rio de Janero
Who is Ten Kate?   
  Private Hondas Kick Ass
Ducati Factory & Museum
Ducati 999R05 First!
  Rockin' Robin tests it!
2004 LA CalendarShow
  Now World Class!
Ducati Corse Race Shop
  Exclusive Visit!
World Ducati Week2004
  Sportbike Heaven
Ducati 04 Desmosedici
   D16 GP4 MotoGP Bike
Torque Movie Review
   with our Jaime Pressly
British Sportbike
   Magazine Review
Neil Hodgsen Interview    Superbike Champion
Aprilia 2004 RSV1000R
   First USA test!

AMA Superbike Rules
Valentino Rossi
  Biography of a Champ.
SBK Fast Dates Girls   
  Our offical Ducati Corse   umbrella girls at Laguna
Paris Motorcycle Show
  Well Worth the Trip

Sportbike Mags &
Pinup Calendars

A Very Revealing Expose!

Pirelli Calendar 2005
Pirelli Calendar Review
Bike Calendar Review
Buy Pinup Calendars
Brit Sport Mag Review

Chicks That
Kick Ass!

Bring These Girls
Home to Mom.

Jessica Biel
Kristen Bell
Maria Sharapova
Mila Jovovich
Kate Beckinsale
Fast Dates Girls

RACE COVERAGE
2005 SBK Superbike

Preview 2005 SBK Season
Feb 26 Qatar Doha Losail
April 3 Phillip Island AU
April 24 Valencia Spain
May 8 Monza Italy
May 29 Silverstone GB
June 26 Misano Italy
July 17 Bruno Czech Rep
Aug 7 Brands Hatch GB
Sept 4 Assen Netherlands
Sept 11 Lausitzring DM
Oct 2 Imola italy
Oct 9 Magny-Cours FR

2005 MotoGP
Preview MotoGP 2005
April 10   Spain Jerez
April 17
  Portugal, Estoril
May 1     China Shanghai
May 15   France Le Mans
June 5   Italy Mugello
June 12 Catalunya
June 25 Assen NL
July 10  LagunaSecaUSA
July 24 DoningtonParkGB
July 31  Sachsenring DM
Aug 28  Brno
Czech Rep
Sept 18 Motegi Japan
Sept 25 Malaysia Sepang
Oct 1     Doha Qatar
Octr 16  Phillip Island AU
Oct 23 - Turkey, Istanbul
Nov 6 -  Valencia, Spain

2005 AMA Superbike
March 10-12  Daytona FL
April 22-24    Barber AL
Ap 29-Ma 1  CA Spdway
May 13-15     Infineon CA
May 21-22    Pikes Peak
June 3-5      Road America
July 10         Laguna Seca
July 22-24    M id-Ohio OH
Aug. 26-28   VIR VA
Sept. 2-4      Road Atlanta
Track Website Links

2005 British Superbike
Preview 2005 BSB Season
Mar 26–28   Brands Hatch
Apr 8–10     Thruxton
Apr 22–24   Mallory Park
May 1–2      Oulton Park,
May 13–15  Mondello Park
Jun 3–5       Croft
June 24–26 Knockhill
July 8–10    Snetterton
Aug 19 -21  Silverstone,
Aug 2 -29    Cadwell Park
Sept 9–11   Oulton Park
Sept 23–25 Donington
Oct 7–9       Brands Hatch

2004 Race/News Index


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Better than American
!
British Sportbike Magazines

Naked and Exposed!
FastDates.com rates the top 7 hard core British sportbike magazines where bikes, half naked babes and roadracing are the norm
- British Sportbike mag Review HERE



Dremel Rotary Tool
& Other Great Tool Sets
Even Greater low prices!

Marion Raven
Our sexy Norweigen teen heart throb from the awesome girl pop duo M2M returns with her first solo album. Not yet available in America, we've got the just released and slightly pricey Japanese import for you now.

Anna Nalick
An incrdible singer/songwriter in the style of Joni Mitchell, Fionna Apple and Avril LaVigne.
This is the year's Best Album!

AMA Pro Racing's
Scott Hollingsworth Crashes & Burns on
Dave Despain's
Wind Tunnel
July 26th- Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing was interviewed on Speed TVs Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.
Dave's intentions were good to have Hollingsworth there, to find out why the AMA's National Roadracing Championship was now an embarrassing failure with no major sponsorship in 20 yrears, the top factory teams divided into 4 different and overly duplicated classes, with spectator turnout nearly non existent at many races. And then as the motorcycle media and fans clammered for change, AMA Pro Racing announced last month the Disastrous rules and classes would remain unchanged for 2006.

Dave asked the right questions of Hollingsworth in the interview, but obviously the questions had been been presented to him in advance, and the responses prepared prepared before the show. Hollingsworth had his spin doctoring well rehearsed as he rattle off like the little robot he was, kissing ass to the the manufacturers who ran the Pro Racing Board, and making it sound that everything was peaches and cream.

Unfortunately, Dave Despain really let us and the sport down by not following up Hollingsworth 's prepared statements with harder questions backed up by the true facts.

Despain asked Hollingsworth if having 4 National class were a determent to not the best racing with all the top riders and teams notbeing in one feature class, for which Hollingsworth replied: "Superbike remains our premier class. We are just guilty of having too many good Support Classes. To prove this, Spectator attendance is continuing to grow."

This was an outright lie by Hollingsworth as spectator attendance is a its lowest point ever in 20 years. Many tracks like Pipes Peak, California Speedway can hardly pull 1,000 spectators. Last year laguna Seca, and this year daytona only pulled 4,000 spectators -down from the 40,000 seen there 10-15 years ago. -Editor."Are you doing anything to get the other 2 factory teams (Yamaha and kawasaki) back into AMA Superbike?" asked Despain. "At this point we will have to look at 2007," replied Hollingsworth.

Reading between the lines, Hollingsworth doesn't have the balls or the interest to buck the manufacturers or lobby in public to reduce the Pro classes from 4 classes to just 2 or 3 classes, with one of them a stock class for privateers. -Editor.

"Are you making it too easy for the manufacturers to race the other classes?" Despain asked.

"We designed Superstock (600cc and 1000cc) for Privateers, but it's not working out that way. We didn't get exactly what we wanted. but the fundamentals are right," Hollingsworth said. "The classes are a reflection of the market place."

Sure, but why two 600cc classes and two 1000cc classes both of which are open to factory Pros and teams? Doesn't that defeat The entire purpose of 2 classes if one isn't restricted to entry level riders, and the other is only for pros? Despain just didn't have the moxie to ask Hollingsworth the important follow up questions. -Editor.

"How do we get all the manufacturers into Superbike, that's the problem," was the question Hollingsworth left unanswered as they ended what was now obviously a well planned PR spin to try and put AMA Pro Racing in a favorable light amid all the other media criticism.

And to answer the question, no, Scott and Dave, it's not a problem getting al the manufactures into Superbike if you adopt the simple 2-class structure of World Superbike and run 600cc Supersport without direct factory team involvement, and have just 1000cc Superbike for the factory teams. Simple. -Editor.

"At Daytona the safety concerns require 600cc Extreme to be the main 200 mile race. We are just going to have to live with it." -Hollingsworth.

No, you don't have to live with it Scott. If Indianapolis can build an FIA approved world caliber Formula One roadrace course in its infield, so can Daytona for World sports cars and motorcycles. AMA Pro racing needs to tell the France family to fix the track at Daytona or take a hike.

Unfortunately, despite the small spectator turnout at all AMA Nationals including Daytona, AMA Racing needs all the entry money off all the riders in all the multiplicity of classes in order to to survive. They can't reduce the classes at an AMA National weekend or they'll be more broke than they already are. And as long as Scott Hollingsworth remains the puppet CEO at AMA Pro Racing to a Board of Directors run by the motorcycle manufacturers with their own company agendas to serve, the sport of professional roadracing in America will continue to flounder in oblivion.

For Hollingsworth, being the CEO of AMA Pro Racing is a job, a pay check with no responsibility or accountability, and he's going to ride that gravy train as long as he can.Like any other successful professional motorsports racing Championships, motorcycle roadracing in America needs to be owned or run by a racing czar like a Bill France, a Bernie Eckelstone or Paolo Flammini to grow and be successful. -Editor

Now the Biggest Streetbike Show in the World!
Top Custom & Sportbike Bike Builders, Beautiful Girls, Another Record Turnout - Our LA Calendar Motorcycle Show Blows the Lid off!
Los Angeles, CA, July 16-17th. - It was an an impressive lineup of America's top celebrity custom bike builders with the hottest new bikes, free Iron & Lace Calendar Builders Seminars and literally hundreds of beautiful girls at the big Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show Weekend. In fact, many of these top name builders made their first ever pubic appearance as builders at the LA Calendar Show, and garnered world wide recognition of their leading edge bikes in the FastDates.com produced Iron & Lace Calendar photographed by Show producer Jim Gianatsis.

The Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show Weekend presented by Performance Machine continued to grow again this year as the most popular consumer street bike show in America. Always the 3rd weekend of July at the Queen Mary Event Park in Long Beach, CA,, the Show offers a huge weekend of activities with sold out participation from 195 major motorcycle and product companies, up 30 more from last year in an expanded event layout. The Show again featured leading custom bike builders from across America and around the world, and hosted a 2-day near capacity crowd of 18,000, up another 20% over last year.

For additional LA Calendar Motorcycle Show Coverage, Contents Results and
Information
on next year's Show go HERE


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FastDates.com August 2005
Superbike, MotoGP Racing & Calendar Girl News
Official Calendar of the SBK World Superbike Championship

Home of the official SBK Fast Dates & Team Ducati Corse Umbrella Girls

Page 2 -
Brands Hatch SBK World Superbike
Fast Dates Calendar Angels Go Wild at our
2006 FastDates.com Calendars European World Premier!

Fast Dates News Calendar Angels Go Wild at Brands Hatch Superbike
• Speed TV kisses ass to AMA Pro Racing's Scott Hollingsworth
Nicky Hayden Wins USA MotoGP at Laguna Seca
AMA Pro Racing Continues Disastrous Bike Class Structure for 2006
Dream FastDates.com Streetbike Edelweiss Vacation to France
Joanna Krupa FastDates,com Calendar Angels scores Playboy cover pictorial
Marco Melandri MotoGP's hottest new star!
World's First Test - Ducati Multistrada S It's FastDates.com's Bike of the Year!

Pirelli Calendar 2005 Supermodels get naked in Rio de Janero
New Bikes!   Ducati Multistrada S - Fast Dates Bike of the Year!
Ducati 999R FILA Special Edition  • MV Agusta F4-1000
Ducati 999R05 Our Exclusive First Test with Superbike girl Robin!


Our official SBK Fast Dates World Superbike and Ducati Corse girls and Siamese twins (front and center) Monica McDermott and Gemma Gleason shared the starting grid and a staring role with the top factory riders at this year's Brands Hatch World Superbike race weekend. Earlier on Friday Monica and Gemma were joined by 3rd model Aaliayah to shoot our next SBK Fast Dates Calendar. More in Fast Dates News

SBK World Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch GB Round 8 of 13
By Jim Gianatsis, Kel Edge, Andy Rixon and a cast of a 100,000!


Corser and Haga Trade Brands Hatch World Superbike Wins
Fast Dates Calendar Girls Share the Show at World Premier

Brands Hatch, Great Britain, August 6-7th - Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) once more shared the spoils of a World Superbike weekend, after two astonishingly close and competitive contests between the Aussie and Japanese aces. Haga made the difference between race one and race two by changing machine settings and being even more aggressive in the early laps, setting a race time even faster than the first 25-lapper. Corser now leads the championship chase by 110 points.


Brands Hatch race day saw an exciting Corser (11) and Haga (41) battle for the lead both races as they traded wins in front Laconi and Vermeulen.


Meet the beautiful Monica McDermott ( left), Aaliayah (center) and Gemma Gleeson (right) who we found at the London based motorsports oriented model agency Universal Models.

2006 SBK Fast Dates Calendar World Premier! Jim Gianatsis and our newest
Calendar Angels - Monica, Gemma and Aaliayah blow the lid off at Brands Hatch
The European World Premier of the SBK World Superbike endorsed 2006 Fast Dates Racebike Pinup Calendar took place in the SBK Paddock Show during the Brands World Superbike Weekend.

Right along side the top factory riders holding their press conferences and signing autographs for fans, our beautiful new Fast Dates Calendar Angels Monica McDermott and Gemma Gleason were there with photographer Jim Gianatsis to meet everyone and autograph the new 2006 Calendars.

We were also excited to have both Monica and Gemma serve as their official SBK World Superbike Spokes models in "Live Timing on WorldSBK.com" uniforms at Superpole and on the race grid, plus serve as and team umbrella girls during the race weekend for Team Ducati Corse reigning World Champion James Toseland and his runner up team mate Regis Laconi.

At the FastDates.com Calendar World Premier Weekend British fans will be able to buy all 3 of the the new 2006 FastDates.com Calendars and have them personally autographed by the Calendar Angels. Assisting us with the sales of the calendars in the Paddock Show during the Brands Hatch weekend will be British FastDates.com Calendar distributor John Withrow of Crossbow-Calendars.com, giving the beautiful models lots of extra time to pose for photos with fans.

For Calendar fans who didn't make it to Brands Hatch World Superbike, you can order the new 2006 FastDates.com calendars online at www.FastDates.com or by phone in America weekdays at 1-800-461-1226

The Run-Up to Brands Hatch, Pirelli's New 200 Series Tire Hits the Pavement
Two months since the Silverstone round the World Superbike Championship comes back to the UK to race at Brands Hatch, just before the summer break from regular on-track activities. The classic track, not far from the capital city of London, has always offered a great show thanks to its undulations and contrasts, and always attracts a lot of SBK enthusiasts to enjoy the race.

The race will be anticipated most strongly by the series’ two regular English riders, James Toseland and Chris Walker, each of whom experienced differing fortunes in Brno recently. At the earlier British round at Silverstone, James initially made up some ground on championship leader Corser, after scoring a third and a first place in front of his adoring home fans. But still Corser is leading the Championship with 299 points, followed by Vermeulen (-94), Laconi (-112), Kagayama (-141), Toseland (-147) and Haga (-177). The latter offered an impressive performance in the last race in Brno when he scored his first victory of the season after a fantastic recovery from 18th position on the grid. The good news for Haga fans is that he loves the forthcoming English track.

Brands Hatch is a difficult challenge for the riders and a severe test for the tyres, offering relatively poor grip. The tarmac is smooth, worn, and in the World Championship races take place on the full circuit - so the tarmac changes in the second (and faster) part of the track, not usually used for most events at Brands. For this reason Pirelli is bringing a ‘soft’ range of tyres. A hard tyre would not perform well on this track, because it would spin too much, not allowing the compound to work properly by ‘burning’ the surface of the tyre superficially, instead of a transferring heat evenly through itself.

It will be even more important than usual for the riders to find the right setup in order to make the tyres work well, and thus achieve the best grip. For the rear there will be two different solutions with the softest compound. Pirelli will once more bring the 200-section tyre, having used it for racing in Misano, plus further testing and development during last week’s tests in Lausitz.

To the softer solutions, available in the two sizes of 190 and 200, Pirelli adds a medium tyre that represents a reference tyre for this track – already well known by the riders. The hard solution is represented at this meeting by a tyre that the riders would usually call soft – a perfect demonstration of the nature of the Brands Hatch surface. The qualifying rear was also be new for Brands, available only in a single spec for all the riders, instead of the two choices they had in Brno.

Front tyre spec will also move in a soft direction at Brands, with an all-new solution never before raced, and one that sets the new soft reference point. In addition there will be two well-known front race solutions.


Monica and Gemma brighten up Superpole on Saturday as American Ben Bostrom prepares to get away on the uncompetitive Koji Renegade Honda CBR1000RR. The bike lurched from the start, sputtered and stalled within 10 feet, and would not refire with the onboard starter. Ben returned to his pit garage would have to start Sunday's races from the back of the grid.

CORSER KING OF SUPERPOLE ONCE MORE
Saturday 6th August  2005
- Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) improved on his best time at Brands Hatch in regulation qualifying to secure the Superpole win under sunny English skies. The runaway championship leader was last away in the specialist one lap discipline and set a best time of 1’26.672, only 0.4 seconds from the record qualifying lap. He had to recover from a less than perfect first split to make up time in the last sections of his lap, easing to his third Superpole win in succession.

FRONT ROW PACK OUT Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) enjoyed the best Superpole qualifying performance of his rookie Superbike season to go second, only beaten by the final effort of Corser. The 2004 World Supersport champion and multiple race winner at Brands was committed throughout, to the point where he almost lost traction from the rear tyre in terminal fashion on the exit of the final corner, drawing gasps from the watching crowd. Ducati Xerox team members James Toseland and Regis Laconi also slapped their names on front row spots, Toseland after a personal best that was faster than Corser’s best qualifying time in regulation. Laconi was disappointed with fourth, but nonetheless earned a prime starting position – an important item with the first Paddock Hill corner featuring such a tricky entry.

WALKER MISSES FRONT ROW BUT DELIVERS GOOD RACE PACE
PSG-1 Kawasaki rider Chris Walker gave his fans a good show in Superpole, threatening to finish in the top four, only just eased out after Corser’s final fast circuit. He has shown to be fast in all conditions of practice, making for two top British riders in the top five places after qualifying was completed. British based Spaniard Pere Riba (PSG-1 Kawasaki) the stand in for regular pilot Mauro Sanchini, slowed from his good regulation qualifying placing of eighth to go 15th of the 16 Superpole riders.

YAMAHA RIDERS MAKE SECOND ROW STARTS
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) and Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) will line up sixth and seventh on the grid at Brands as each rider rode to within 0.5 seconds of Corser’s impressive leading lap. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) was a first time visitor to the English track and was a lowly 21st after regulation qualifying, missing out on Superpole. Some other big names blew their Superpole chances, as Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda) handicapped his raceday potential by crashing early in the final timed session, losing valuable practice laps, and his team-mate Max Neukirchner was also just outside the top 16.

THIRD ROW CLUB INCLUDES TWO PETRONAS MACHINES
Lorenzo Lanzi had an impressive sixth placing in regulation qualifying, but slipped to ninth after Superpole, heading up row three after his flying lap of the 4.2km Brands circuit. He was just in front of both Petronas riders, Steve Martin (10th) and Garry McCoy (11th). Yukio Kagayama hurt his ribs and shoulder in his second crash of the weekend, causing the regular session to be halted for a time as he received trackside medical attention. He recovered in Superpole to take a brave 12th place, handicapped by the pain from his injuries.

FOURTH ROW FEATURES UPS AND DOWNS Highest placed local wild card Dennis Hobbs (Team Nvidia) ripped to a popular 13th place on his Yamaha, ahead of regular SBK rider Giovanni Bussei (Bertocchi Kawasaki), and Riba. Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji) used the speed of his newly uprated engine to qualify ninth in regulation qualifying, but due to an electrical problem he failed to make the start in Superpole, and thus is relegated to the back of the top 16.


WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) set a best ever Brands qualifying time of 1’28.376 on his way to securing pole position for Sunday’s race. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) was the best of the other Supersport qualifiers, 0.8 seconds down, while the diversity of the class was underlined by the performance of Gianluca Nannelli (SC Caracchi Ducati) who went third. He was only 0.003 seconds slower than Curtain. Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda) completes the front row of the Supersport grid, with Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda) fifth. Local wild card rider Craig Jones (Northpoint Ekerold Honda) was 12th overall, and top Brit on display.


Corser leads Muggeridge (31), Haga (41), Toseland (1) and Pitt (88) around the top of Druids Bend. Brands is an awesome road course with beautiful scenery, changing elevatons, cambers, and an asortment of different race lines.

A Hard Faught Race One to Corser on the Alstare Suzuki
Sunday 7th - The two 25-lap races proved to be two-men shows, with Haga and championship leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) constantly swapping places as they dominated both affairs. Corser took the honours by less than two-tenths of a second in the opener, but Haga gained his revenge in the second after holding off a late challenge that saw Corser run across the gravel on the final lap.

Corser hammered out to the front of the pack from pole and looked like he may perform one his occasional disappearing acts. But Haga had other plans, sticking with him to eventually join in a classic spectacle of riposte and parry around the undulating 4.2km circuit. Just behind, Regis Laconi (Ducati Xerox) closed up an early gap to finish third. A personal battle for fourth went to Aussie rider Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) on the last lap, as he overcame the best efforts of Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki).

In race one Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser made the most of his pole position. He got away in the lead closely followed by fellow Aussie Karl Muggeridge with Nori Haga in third. At the end of the first lap going into Paddock Hill bend Haga slid under Muggeridge and took second place. On the third lap Haga took the lead from Corser at Druids Bend. What then followed was a titanic battle as the pair swapped places, and paint, numerous times to the delight of the awe-struck crowd. The lead changed hands between the two of them over 13 times in the 25 lap race. It was neck and neck all the way with Haga in particular having a couple of big
out-of-the-seat moments.

On the penultimate lap Corser made his move at Clearways and managed to hold the Japanese rider off for the final lap to take the win. “Nori was very strong today, but I knew he would be a big threat because I saw what he did in practice the past two days,” said Corser. “It was no big surprise to find him riding shotgun today in the first race and we must have given the fans a lot of entertainment out there. I think we may just have touched a couple of times, but there was nothing nasty or dangerous - just good, clean racing


Corser throws a victory salute to the capacity crowd after crossing the finsih line just ahead of Haga in Race One
.
Sunday's race crowd was around 85,000, with a total attendance around 108,000 for the weekend. Tens of thousands of fans arrived on sportbikes, thousands camped out at the track and partied through the weekend.

Local hero James Toseland was hoping for great things at his home round, but the reigning champion was to be disappointed and even worse for him so was his team. The Xerox Ducati rider started from third on the grid but after three laps he started to fade and an electrical problem with his Ducati forced him toretire on the 10th lap.

Toseland’s team-mate Regis Laconi had a better race and took the final podium position. Laconi followed the lead group and on the sixth lap put a very hard move on Karl Muggeridge to take third place. “"I needed more grip to try and follow these guys from the beginning to the finish of race 1 but they were too fast and so I settled for third" declared Laconi.”

Behind this lead group the two Chris’s, Vermeulen and Walker were having a battle of their own. Once they’d both got past a slowing Toseland they proceeded to try and chase up to the leading three. This wasn’t to be as the pace was too hot, but it wasn’t to stop them trying. Walker on the PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX10 was in front of Vermulen on the Winston Ten Kate Honda Fireblade for most of the race. In a determined ride, no doubt boosted by the home crowd and a special St George’s Arai helmet, he pushed his bike as hard as he could. On the 21 lap Vermeulen passed Walker but was taken on the very next corner. This signalled a mad burst of place swapping between the two of them until Vermulen managed to make a move stick on the penultimate lap and take fourth place with Walker coming home in fifth.

Karl Muggeridge’s fractured hand is not expected to give any problems for the next round in Assen, but spoiled what was a promising race for Ten Kate’s other Aussie, who was firmly in the leading three until his crash on lap two. “I’m pretty upset with myself to be honest,” stated the Swiss resident Aussie. “Haga had just passed me on the inside at turn three and I was trying to square of the corner and get back to the next one. I just gave it too much and it spat me off. I think I tried to hold onto it a little to long because I’ve cracked a small bone in my hand.”



Race Two for a Deserving Nori Haga on the Yamaha R1
Race Two gave us another edge of the seat battle between Haga and Corser. Troy again got away at the start with Haga following in 4th place. Corser and Haga delighted the crowd again with Haga narrowly avoiding a crash as the pair accidentally touched as they crossed the line at the end of lap one. By the end of the second lap Haga had moved up into first, but Corser wasn’t going to give away his lead without a fight and he came straight back at Haga to retake the lead. The two protagonists then proceeded to pull away from the rest of the pack and continued their private battle. The pace they set was unbelievable, Haga led from the sixth lap with Corser all over the back of him. On the last lap Corser made his move at Westfield but carried too much speed into the next corner running out of track at Pilgrim's corner. He managed to stay upright and maintained second position but the damage

Haga realised he had to overcome the leading threat of Troy Corser in race one and then push hard to change Corser’s winning game plan and he duly managed it - but only after Corser made a mistake by diving too fast into the drop down Pilgrims, running off track. Corser nonetheless showed great skill to recover his composure and retain second place.

“I followed Nori for most of race two and knew which places I was stronger then him and also which places he was stronger then me,” said Corser. “Once again, I left it late to make my move. I went past him hard on the brakes going into Westfield, but he was braking pretty hard too. I guess I must have braked that little bit too much because suddenly I found myself running out of room! I had to take to the grass and I nearly crashed, but after letting off the anchors I waited for the bike to settle and then gassed it again and got it back on the track. It must have been a worrying moment for the Francis and the rest of the team watching back in the garage! But I’m here to race to win and I am enjoying going for it at every opportunity.”

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I had two fantastic races with Troy. In the second I led almost from the first lap to finish. Early on I tried to make a distance on him early but it was impossible. Later I tried some more crazy hard braking but still I could not make the gap. Unfortunately for Troy he made a mistake and when I see that I have a very big smile in my helmet! I would like to thank my team and also Ohlins and Pirelli, because today the bike was very good. Now I go back to Japan for more holidays and when I come back I hope we have some more Nitro for Assen!"


Chris Vermeulen pulls away from Brit'sToseland and Pitt.

The battle for third was a five bike affair with Toseland, Pitt, Vermeulen,Laconi and Walker all hungry for the final podium position. It would have been a six bike race but Karl Muggeridge crashed out on lap two, just after
Nori Haga had charged past him, whilst in third place. The crash resulted in a cracked bone in his hand.

Vermeulen, who earned the podium he missed out on in race one, made it three different bikes on the podium once more, this time adding a Honda, and substituting a Ducati. Walker took a home town fourth, but James Toseland (Ducati Xerox) dropped from a possible podium place behind Haga and Corser to seventh, his only race finish of the day after an electrical problem in race one.

Toseland took the lead of the chase pack but on the fifth lap was passed by Laconi. The Frenchman ran wide allowing Toseland to regain his place and also for Andrew Pitt on the Yamaha to slip past. Chris Vermeulen then became the man on the move charging past the other riders to take third position. He managed to pull away a little and maintained his position to take third place in the race.

“"I just got another bad start in race two and it’s so difficult to pass the other guys because they are fast around here,” said Vermeulen. “I was a little bit quicker than them but by the time I eventually got past the first
two guys were gone. Although I could match their lap times, I couldn’t catch them. I eased up a little towards the end because there is no point crashing out. We changed the rear spring for race two and this definitely felt a
little better.”

Chris Walker had another gutsy ride showing just how good he is considering his teams budget is much less than that of the other guys he was racing. He took Regis Laconi on the 20th lap and crossed the line in fourth place. To his local fans that was as good as a win for them.

James Toseland had hoped to put his race one DNF behind him but it wasn’t too be again. He was pushing hard but began to fade in the closing stages of the race; he later attributed this to his tyre choice.

"I'm a bit devastated really" declared Toseland. "We qualified well, had the problem with the bike in first race and then on the warm-up lap the bike had a few vibrations so we changed it on the grid just to be sure. For the
first three laps I thought I was pretty comfortable but then I couldn't get the grip down and Troy and Nori just edged away. I was hoping for a mistake because I wasn't stronger than them in any place. I chose the 200 mm tyre, which no one else had gone for, and in hindsight I should've chosen the 190 like the other guys but I felt pretty good with it even though we didn't get the chance to do a full race distance. When the rear tyre starts to go down you've got no traction at the rear entering the corners, that makes the front push even more and you've got to brake earlier. If you do that you get overtaken and that's what happened in race 2. A DNF and a seventh, same results as last year, Brands is frustrating. All these people wanted was to see was a Brit on the podium and they didn't get that today."

As in race one Toseland’s team-mate Regis Laconi was the best performing Ducati rider. The Frenchman was hoping to duplicate his first race podium but after running wide on lap five he was left to play catch-up. He put on a valiant effort but after Vermeulen and then Walker passed him he was left to come home in fifth place.

"We changed a few things on the bike for the second race but it didn't make much improvement and so I just tried to do my best,” said Laconi. “I didn't make a good start again and it was difficult to pass, everyone was just fighting like it was the last lap! I tried to pass James for third but put the wrong gear in and there was no engine braking and I went wide. After I tried one more time to gain some places but there was not much I could do.
All weekend we used a different 190 tyre to everyone, the hardest one, and it was a surprise that we were unable to push harder. We had to try something to improve in race 2 but it just wasn't enough."

Haga's Team-mate Andrew Pitt had two strong races at Brands. The Australian qualified alongside Haga on the second row of the grid and made to good starts to run with the group battling for third place, taking a seventh place in race one and improving to sixth in the second outing.

Yamaha Motor France riders Norick Abe and Sèbastien Gimbert had a difficult day in Brands. Abe made two lightning starts but struggled due to a lack of track knowledge, finishing 11th in the opener and retiring after crashing with Steve Martin (Petronas) in the second. Gimbert bagged two points for 14th in race two.

Ben Bostrom looked to be getting on terms with his Renegade Koji Honda with a 12th and a 10th place in race one and two respectively. The Californian as suffered poor form due to lack of time on the bike this season. Had it not been for an engine failure at the start of Superpole who knows where he might have finished? “The engine was the big change,” said Bostrom. “And the rider's computer is working better. We need two of the motors we had here for the next one and we'll keep going. We need to keep our momentum.”

Special mention must go to wildcard rider Dennis Hobbs on the Team Nvidia Yamaha. Hobbs broke his neck in a domestic race last year and this year damaged a vertebrae. Despite this he finished 13th in race one and 16th in race two, definitely a man to watch.

The Foggy Petronas team had a pretty poor weekend with Steve Martin finishing 15th in race one and a DNF in race two. Gary McCoy had a DNF in race one and 18th in race two.

The results see both Yamaha Italia riders move up the championship table. Haga's 45 point haul takes him to fifth, just five points behind countryman Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki), who occupies fourth, while Pitt moves up to ninth. Championship leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) left the United Kingdom with an improved advantage. He leads second placed Chris Vermeulen (Honda) by 110 points. Abe slides back to tenth in the standings. The next round at Assen can’t come soon enough. Can Haga continue his current form? When will Corser wrap up the championship? Can Toseland do enough to maintain his ride next year?

Round: 8 - Brands Hatch
Circuit Length: 4197
Lap Record: 1' 26.755 (Shane Byrne, 2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 26.248 (Shane Byrne, 2003)

Race One: 25 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 36' 45.074
2 N. Haga Yamaha JPN +0.186
3 R. Laconi Ducati FRA +1.976
4 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS +4.590
5 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +5.746
6 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS +8.428
7 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +8.598
8 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA +15.628
9 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +15.671
10 M. Neukirchner Honda GER +28.250
11 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +32.470
12 B. Bostrom Honda USA +32.500
13 D. Hobbs Yamaha GBR +32.683
14 P. Riba Kawasaki ESP +32.885
15 S. Martin Petronas AUS +35.171
16 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA +35.272

Race Two: 25 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 36' 39.815
2 T. Corser Suzuki AUS +2.686
3 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS +8.062
4 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +12.053
5 R. Laconi Ducati FRA +13.044
6 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +13.184
7 J. Toseland Ducati GBR +14.215
8 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA +21.026
9 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +21.175
10 B. Bostrom Honda USA +21.257
11 M. Neukirchner Honda GER +29.315
12 P. Riba Kawasaki ESP +30.591
13 P. Chili Honda ITA +34.619
14 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA +39.732
15 D. Hobbs Yamaha GBR +39.879

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 1' 27.272

Championship standings WSB
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 344
2 Chris Vermeulen Honda AUS 234
3 Regis Laconi Ducati FRA 214
4 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 172
5 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 167
6 James Toseland Ducati GBR 161
7 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 130
8 Pierfrancesco Chili Honda ITA 111
9 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 95
10 Norifumi Abe Yamaha JPN 88
11 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 85
12 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 66
13 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 63
14 Giovanni Bussei Kawasaki ITA 46
15 Ben Bostrom Honda USA 33
17 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 28
Manufacturers standings WSB
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Suzuki 353
2 Ducati 257
3 Honda 250
4 Yamaha 208
5 Kawasaki 143
6 Petronas 18

World Supersport Championship Dominated by Ten Kate's Sebastien Charpentier
Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) won his sixth race of the season, ahead of young charger Michel Fabrizio (Team Italia Megabike Honda) and Yamaha rider Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany). Former Brands race winner Stephane Chambon (Gil Motorsports Honda) scored an impressive fourth ahead of Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda) and Katsuaki Fujiwara (Winston Ten Kate Honda). Alessio Corradi (Ducati Selmat) was the top Ducati finisher (seventh) ahead of local wild card Craig Jones (Northpoint Ekerold Honda).

Charpentier now leads Fujiwara by a whopping 190 points to Fuji’s 116, with Curtain third on 109. Fourth place Foret is separated by only three points from his team mate Fabrizio, with Foret on 85 and Fabrizio on 83.


Chicks That Kick Ass

Jessica Biel
in Stealth

If you like the beautiful Jessica Biel and high performance machines like we do, then Stealth is the summer block buster movie you do not want to miss.

Stealth shares the excitement and looks of Top Gun with Tom Cruise, but flash forwarded 20 years into the future with Jessica playing a hot young fighter pilot deployed in combat training with the next generation swept wing YF37 stealth fighter stationed on the active atomic

aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. All the Star Wars technology shown with the YF37 and its nemesis the UCAV is actually in development, and the movie provides a great preview of what future air warfare would be like if we decide to put it into production. The scenes of the prototype fighters landing and taking off from the USS Abraham Lincoln are incredibly realistic, as are all the flying scenes.  More Jessica and Stealth

There's more!   Go to Pit Lane News NEXT PAGE

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Fast Dates Calendar Motorcycle Roadracing News. Complete coverage of the SBK World Superbike, AMA National Superbike and MotoGP World Championship. Fast Dates Calendar and Umbrella Girls. Racing, motorcycle, news, results, girls, models, Mat Aladdin, Max Biaggi, Valentino Rossi, Ben and Eric Bostrom, James Toseland, Regis Laconi, Loris Capirossi, Troy Bayliss, Troy Corser, Noriyuki Haga. Ducati 999 Monster Multistrada, Yamaha R6 R1, Honda CBR600RR CBR1000RR, Kawasaki ZX6 ZX6RR ZX10, Suzuki GSXR600 GSXR750 GSXR1000, Aprilia Mille, MZ Agusta F4 Brutale. Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show.


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2006 FastDates.com Calendars World Premier Brands Hatch World Superbike Great Britain
August 6-7th!
Join the new SBK World Superbike Fast Dates Calendar Angels at Brands Hatch. Our girls served as the official SBK and Ducati Corse umbrella girls on Sunday for World Champion James Toseland and team mate Regis Laconi!

Complete Coverage Here


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Help Vincent Haskovec
Vincent was one of the nicest, most dedicated riders in the AMA National Championshps. The 2005 racing season kicked off with Vincent winning the AMA Superstock race at Daytona as he continued to prove himself one of the top non factory riders in America.

On May 14th, 2005 Vincent was involved in a serious accident while fighting for 3rd place in the Formula Xtreme race at Sears point. The accident left him paralized from the neck (C6 vertebrae) on down. He faces a difficult road to recovery and any help we can provide Vincent is greatly appreciated. Stop on by his new website and send him a hello, and any time of helpful donation. Thanks!
GetWellVincent.com

World Superbike
Off Podium Positions Still Hotly Contested After
Brands Hatch

The warring factions of World Superbike were not just limited to the podium places or top five, as Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) finished sixth in race one before crashing out in race two, suffering a slight fracture of his right hand. Andrew Pitt, Abe’s team-mate) was in the hunt all day at Brands, finishing with a seventh and sixth place. Laconi was fifth in race two.
The continuing good form of Italian privateer Lorenzo Lanzi (SC Caracchi Ducati) was eighth in each race, ahead of the injured Alstare Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama on each occasion. A return to personal form, and better power outputs from his Renegade Honda engine, put Ben Bostrom 12th and then 10th on his CBR1000RR. For some other star Honda competitors it was a harsher day in front of SBK’s biggest crowd.

HONDA DUO DOWN THE ORDER Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda) retired from a non points scoring position in race one and recovered only to 13th in race two. Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda) was tenth in race one, 12th in the second, but compared to his earlier season form he was disappointed with the results. Norick Abe fought hard from his lowly grid position for 11th in race one, but a clash and crash with Steve Martin (Petronas) saw both down and out of race two.

PETRONAS MAKES THE POINT THROUGH MARTIN The unique Malaysian Petronas FP-1 machines of Steve Martin and Garry McCoy mustered a single point at Brands, for Martin in race one. McCoy retired with a broken water hose clip in race one and then took 18th, as Martin crashed after a collision with Abe.

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS Corser’s win and second place, compared to his closest challenger Vermeulen’s fourth and third, puts him on a total of 344 to Vermeulen’s 234. Regis Laconi is third with 214 and Kagayama fourth on 172. Haga’s high score puts him sixth, with 167.

Ducati Corse & Alstare Suzuki Running Traction Control in World Superbike
We know all the factory teams have been running traction control in MotGP. On our recent trip to Brands Hatch we became aware that Ducati was running traction control on the factory 999F05 superbikes of James Toseland and Regis Laconi, and that Alstare Corona Suzuki was running it on World Championship points leader Troy Corser and team mate Kagayama's GSXR1000s.
We are going to venture to guess the Italian factory Yamaha R1s ridden by Nori Haga are also equipped.

The giveaway to traction control is the wiring on the front forks to a speed pickup sensor on the front wheel hub. That and we were told so by team insiders.

Team insiders also told us the teams' biggest setup problem every race meet is the spec Pirelli tires which have no consistancy race week to race week, and often as not, no consistancy in compound performance from one tire to the next. They might speed all of practice coming to cohhoose say a Medium compound tire for the race, but the next medium tire they instal on their bike for race day, or even from the First Race to the Second Race, might not work the same.

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Returns to TV
One of the most eagerly awaited, if not the only fashion show on prime time network TV will be returning to thee airwaves this fall. The ultra sexy Victoria's Secret lingerie fashion show will be back sometime in November /December after a 1-year hiatis thanks to the FCC back lash in 2004 after the Janet Jackson "Wordrobe Malfunction" at the Super Bowl last year.

Once again we'll be able to watch the beautiful Adriana, Marissa, Veronica and Daniella shake every thing they've got as they parade down the runway in next to nothing but high heel shoes.... Hopefully VS will use a better TV production company this year that can follow and keep the models in focus.

Pro Italia Cafe Desmo Evening Wednesday, August 24th 5:30-8:30pm
Pro Italia presents the 11th anniversary oftheir Cafe Desmo! Shine up your bike and join them at their Los Angeles showroom for a Pro Italia summer tradition, Cafe Desmo, is an all Italian bike show. The collection of bikes will be wide and varied as all makes, manners and years are welcome; from rare timeless classics to wildly custom displays of style and from daily workhorses to the latest polished ride just purchased that afternoon. The show will feature classes and prizes for Classic and Modern bikes and entry is free!

In addition to the display of cool hardware, Pro Italia will be featuring special pricing on selected parts and apparel for one night only:
· 25% off! Ducati Eagle jackets.
· 25 - 50% off selected gloves

Like last year, Frank's Famous Kitchen will be grilling up chow. Cafe Desmo will be held on Wednesday night, August 24th from 5:30pm - 8:30pm.

NCR Milona now
on sale at Pro Italia
If you've got $30,000 burning a hole in your pocket the beautiful NCR Milona is now available from Pro Italia. Check it out Here

Preview Czech Republic
Moto Grand Prix, Brno,

Aug 26-th, 2005 - The MotoGP World Championship challenge continues for Yamaha next weekend after a four-week summer break, as the series heads to the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic for the 11th Grand Prix of the year. The Gauloises Yamaha Team will travel to the legendary venue, located just over 200 kilometres south-east of the capital city of Prague, with their batteries fully recharged and confidence at a premium after a stunning first half of the season, which concluded with Valentino Rossi’s eighth victory from ten races at the Sachsenring circuit at the end of July. The Italian now needs just two more victories from the remaining seven rounds to guarantee the title for the fifth successive season.

With his 76th career success in Germany, Rossi also broke into the top three Grand Prix winners of all-time, having already smashed his way through a succession of records over the previous four months of racing. In the opening round at Jerez in April he became the first rider to win the first race of the season for five consecutive years since Giacomo Agostini, whilst his win at the Dutch TT made him the first Yamaha rider in history to take five consecutive victories in the premier-class. Rossi’s current championship lead of 120 points is the largest advantage ever held by a rider after ten races of a season in any Grand Prix class and he is targeting a similarly successful finish to the campaign, as he looks to beat his own record of eleven wins in a season.

Rossi’s win at Sachsenring was also Yamaha’s 139th in the premier-class, bringing the Japanese manufacturer to joint second in the all-time winners list. In the year of its 50th anniversary, Yamaha has established itself as a dominant force in elite road racing, leading the 2005 manufacturers’ standings with a 38-point advantage and with the Gauloises Yamaha on top of the teams’ standings by 119 points.

The improved performance of the 2005 version YZR-M1 machine has seen Rossi’s Gauloises Yamaha Team colleague Colin Edwards take a starring role in his first season with the team. After finding his feet with the machine over the opening stages of the season, the American has been the form rider behind Rossi for the last four races, propelling his way up the rider standings to within striking distance of second place in the championship. Edwards currently lies fourth overall after following up three consecutive top-four finishes with eighth place at the Sachsenring, but he is only two points short of Rossi’s closest current challenger, Marco Melandri (Honda).

The team plans to stay at Brno for two days of tests after Sunday’s Czech Grand Prix as they prepare to tackle a run of five ‘flyaway’ races in Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Australia and Turkey, before returning to Europe for the final round of the season at Valencia in Spain on the 6th November.

VALENTINO ROSSI: RECORD BREAKER
As well as matching Mike Hailwood’s total of 76 Grand Prix victories, a figure bettered only by the legendary Giacomo Agostini and Angel Nieto, Valentino Rossi needs just one more win to equal his total of nine from last season – already a premier class record for a Yamaha rider. The Italian has also equalled Agostini’s record of scoring eight premier-class victories in a season on five separate occasions and one more will set a new record as the first rider to score nine wins in a season on five occasions.

“Records are not the most important thing but I am very happy to have the same number of victories as ‘Mike the Bike’,” says Rossi, who recently extended his deal with Yamaha until the end of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship. “I never saw him race but they tell me he was one of the best, maybe the best ever. I am now on the podium of all-time winners and this is a big pleasure for me.”

Rossi scored his very first win in Grand Prix racing at Brno in 1996 in the 125cc class, after starting from pole for the first time in his career. Since then a further three of his 76 victories have come at Brno, including the MotoGP race in 2001 and 2003, and it is a result he would like to repeat as he looks to make up from the disappointment of losing there last season.

“This break was very important because the first half of the season has been very tough and everybody needed to rest! I have been winning races but every one has been a big battle, almost always with a different rival. Each of the remaining seven races of this season will be another challenge, but I want to try to beat my record of eleven wins in a season.

“Brno is definitely not my favourite circuit but I have had good races there in the past, especially two years ago. It is a high-speed track, but it still has many turns, as well as some up and downhill sections and a lot of adverse camber. Last year the Yamaha was not bad there, but I lost a little bit too much time under acceleration at the beginning and then also under braking towards the end and in the end it was impossible to beat Gibernau. This year our bike is much better, so I hope it will be a different result!”

Roberts and KTM Split
KTM has announced that is ending its relationship in MotoGP with Team Roberts and will no longer be supplying the engines.

The reason for the split are two fold. The first being that the Roberts team was found to be underfunded, and besides supplying them engines, Roberts had been requesting money to run the team which wasn't in KTM's budget. The second reason was the recent announcement that MotoGP was changing to a 800cc displacement class for 2007, nullifying any chance the current 990cc KTM 4-cylinder would be picked up by other teams or could use MotoGP to promote a related future superbike. On the otherhand, this just might prompt KTM to enter World Superbike instead with a future production based sportbike using the MotoGP developed engine.

Laguna Seca MotoGP moves to 4th weekend in July for 2006
The Laguna Seca roadrace weekend in Monterey, CA, has traditionally been held on the 2nd weekend of July, but for 2006 the new FIM schedule has it moved to the 4th weekend of July 21-23rd.

The date change is great for us, as it still does not conflict with our big LA Calendar Motorcycle Show Weekend traditionally held on the 3rd weekend of July in Long Beach, CA, at the Queen Mary Park. Our Calendar Bike Show, now coming up on its 15th year, has grown to become the biggest custom and performance street bike show in the world. And we certainly wouldn't our Show to conflict with the biggest roadrace weekend in America, in Californis and just 300 miles apart.

Indianapolis
Interested in MotoGP

FIM Safety boss Claude Danis has been invited by Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the requst of Dorna to inspect their circuit for the possibility of holding a future MotoGP round there. Denis will make the trip in Novemeber when he is also coming to inspect Road America for the same possibility.

Denis does not believe the current FIA Formula One roadrace circuit at Indy which incorporates the first turn banking will work for bikes, as it comes too close to the banking wall. The entire motorcycle course would have to be run off the banking with the possible exception of the front straightaway. The FIA is currently inspecting the Indy track as well after this year's fiasaco where all the Michelin tire equipped cars withdrew from the race do to tire overheating in the Turn One banking. A problem which superbikes now also experience at Daytona on its bankings.

How Indianapolis fits into MotoGP's schedule isn't know since Laguna Seca has an exclusitivity clause for its MotoGP round until 2007.

But then, Laguna Seca can only accomodate some 50,000 spectators and that venue can never grow, while Indianapolis can certainly handle 10 times that number with the 500,00o who turn out for the Indy 500 car race.

One deciding factor may be if attendance for the MotoGP falls off at Laguna Seca after this year, as it has in the past as spectators get jaded or tired of the hassles with over crowding.

Could Laguna Seca loose the MotoGP before 2007 and return to World Superbike?
One inside source has told us that the FIM and Dorna still want more track safety redesigns for Laguna Seca beyond the 2 million dollars spent this year. In particuclar the FIM wants the blind crest know as Turn One removed altogether. However, even if Laguna Seca could come up with the money to made additional changes, the track is on protected park sanctuary land leased from the county, and the county will not allow such drastic changes to the landscape.

If this safety concern and others are not addressed by Laguna Sega, the track could loose its MotoGP sanction by default, and allow Dorna to move it to Indianapolis or Road America sooner than 2008 should Dorna or the FIM wish. In our minds Road America is neither a good spectator viewing track, nor does it have the appeal to draw or facilities to accomodate a MotoGP size crowd. Indianapolis would be the first choice for any major international motorsports race in North America.

BMW Group Drives Hydrogen Technology Forward with Honda and GM Partnership
The day when our motorcycles and automobiles willl be powered by liquid Hydrogen rather than gasoline just got a little closer. BMW has joined with GM and Honda to develop tank couplings for liquid hydrogen gives further impulse to the establishment of a hydrogen economy.

Munich,08/04/2005 - Hydrogen as an energy source of the future has the potential to replace finite fossil fuels such as diesel, petrol and natural gas. It is against this background that BMW has been systematically pursuing the development of the hydrogen combustion engine for more than 20 years.

Apart from vehicle development, it is essential - beyond the bounds of the company - to set up global standards for a hydrogen infrastructure. Thus the collaboration between BMW AG, GM and Honda has as its goal the joint development of a tank coupling for liquid hydrogen to be established as a worldwide standard. Dr Frank Ochmann, head of the BMW CleanEnergy project: "Hydrogen as a fuel of the future can only achieve blanket coverage if we develop a convenient, standardized fuelling technology."

BMW Group has been working on hydrogen vehicles powered by a combustion engine since 1979. They now have prototype cars employing conventional automobile engines which can switch back and forth between gasoline and Hydrogen fuel.

Thanks to its collaborative involvement in the first public hydrogen filling station at Munich Airport, the BMW Group has since 1999 managed to gather valuable experience in fuelling hydrogen cars. The ongoing project "CleanEnergy Partnership" with a public hydrogen filling station in Berlin is a further milestone en route to setting up an infrastructure in Germany.

British Superbike Silverstone
Lavilla and Kiyonari take the victories – Rutter has problematic time

Round Nine – Bennetts British Superbike Championship – Silverstone, 21 Aug 2005

Michael Rutter saw his advantage in the chase of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship slashed during a problematic double race ninth round at Silverstone where his rivals Gregorio Lavilla and Ryuichi Kiyonari each took a victory.

The action was both dramatic and littered by incidents, but it was Rutter, riding the HM Plant Honda who set the pace in the opener, either side of a stoppage caused by a three rider tumble at Copse Corner, only to make a rare error, running marginally wide at Park and allowing Lavilla to nose ahead.

The Airwaves Ducati rider held on, under increasing pressure from Rutter, but at Woodcote on the penultimate lap, the Honda rider tipped off at exactly the same place that his team-mate Kiyonari had crashed on the second lap.

"I lost the front end – there was on warning, nothing I could do about it I was looking to go for the win, but not at that point. I am really gutted, very disappointed," reflected Rutter who managed to re-start and salvage a single point, coming in fifteenth. "Riding that last lap was bit dodgy because the handlebar was broken."

Kiyonari, meanwhile had remounted, charging through the pack from last to finish eighth, underlining his determination to become the first Japanese rider to win the British crown.

Lavilla enjoyed his fourth victory of the campaign, just ahead of his Airwaves Ducati teamster Leon Haslam, with the reigning champion John Reynolds bringing his Rizla Suzuki home in third place.

The Spaniard then battled hard for a winning double, but Kiyonari was out to set the record straight with a brilliant front-running performance, again in a race re-started after a three rider crash early on.

"Very pleased – I was determined to finish the second race without problem but pushed very hard on the last lap to ensure the victory – very lucky in the first race, and hard work to pick up places after the crash," smiled Kiyonari as he enjoyed his tenth victory of the campaign.

He now heads to the Holiday Monday, 29 August tenth round at Cadwell Park within 26 points of Rutter, who took a distant fourth in that race. Lavilla, second, again just ahead of his team-mate Haslam, is only a further four points down.

James Buckingham, with a winning double aboard the Quay Garage Suzuki, tightened his grip on the British Superbike Cup – Steve Brogan and Malcolm Ashley took second placings.