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 Luca Scassa's Ferraci MV Agusta F4-1000R with the team's beautiful grid girl Dona. BIGGER 1224
Fast By Ferracci MV Agusta Superbike Team
Fontana, CA, May 28th - After some 10 years away from Superbike racing, we were very excited to hook up with good friend, legendary tuner and team owner, the very loveable Eraldo Ferracci and his crew from Fast by Ferracci Racing who are bringing the equally legendary MV Agusta brand back to racing in the AMA Superbike Championship this season. Just to refresh your memory, it was Eraldo who brought Ducati to the fore front of superbike racing, particularly in America by winning AMA National Championships with Jimmy Adamo, Doug Polen and Troy Corser back in the early 1990s, and taking Doug Polen to europe in 1992 to win the World Superbike Championship.
A falling out with the Ducati factory back in 1997 saw the U.S. based Ducati team go to Vance & Hines. But Fast by Ferraci has maintained its motorcycle dealership in Willow Grove, PA, with a signature performance parts line and race support for Ducati, MV Agusta and Husqvarna motorcycles. www.Ferracci.com
Eraldo feels the new MV is becoming very competitive as they find its weak points, and have them solved for the succeeding races. The team's two riders Matt Lynn and Luca Scassa are still needing to pick up their speed and confidence, but did fairly well this weekend at California Speedway on Saturday with 10th and 19th respectively. The race bike development which Ferracci is doing now with their fully factory supported MV Agusta race team will be used by the factory when it enters World Superbike in 2008 as currently planned. As it stands now, Eraldo wants to stay with his AMA based team in America, while continuing to assist the MV factory with development of their World Superbikes.
Below: Carl Fogarty will run MV Agusta's new World Superbike team in 2008. Story at right:
James Toseland on the starting grid.
SBK Corona Extra World Superbike Championship, Assen, Round 5 of 13
Toseland and Bayliss Score a Dutch Treat at Assen
Assen, NL, , April 27-29, 2007 - James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) scored one win apiece in the SBK races at Assen, held in fantastically sunny conditions for the Netherlands in April. Each race was a classic of its kind, with Toseland winning the first from Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) after a multi-rider battle for the lead on occasion, while Toseland looked to have all the bases covered after passing Bayliss on the last lap of race two, but went into the final chicane too deep and Bayliss landed the win by a tiny 0.009 seconds.
Preview: World Superbikes Head for a Dutch Treat
Few circuits in the world have as much tradition and history as the track in the northern province of Van Drenthe, and for the 16th time in succession the World Superbike circus will be stopping off at the classic venue of Assen. Always evolving in terms of layout and facilities, Assen may be somewhat truncated from its previous versions, but it is still one of the tracks any rider with ambitions of greatness has high on his winning wish list. The Assen SBK weekend is traditionally held in September, but this year the late April date sees it forming the ‘end of the beginning’, rather than it being a venue where many a championship fight is all but decided. The weekend starts with an Open Paddock show on Thursday 26th, with the first on-track action taking place on Friday 27th.
James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) won his fourth race in eight attempts this season when he secured the top step of the podium in race two at Valencia, but fifth place in race one, largely due to a tyre spinning on the wheel rim, ensured that he made little clear space to overall second place rider, Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Biaggi is now 13 points behind Toseland and has to meet the challenge of another circuit new to him in SBK guise, as Assen was modified again only last year, when Biaggi was not active in any world series.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) and his team-mate Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) sit third and fourth respectively in the 2007 championship chase, with Corser some 23 points behind his team-mate. On an all-new Yamaha R1 this year, this is already something of an achievement for each rider. Haga has winning form at the Dutch venue, having ridden the R7 Yamaha to a victory in 2000, but none of Corser’s 33 career race wins in SBK guise have come at Assen.
Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) bounced back from a desperate Donington no-score with third and sixth places at Valencia, and he now sits fifth overall, albeit some 61 points down on Toseland. His three previous Assen wins include one in 2006, meaning that he is the only rider in the championship with a win at Assen in its current 4.555km layout. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) is currently sixth in the overall standings but has yet to score a Superbike podium at Assen. He has been a winner here in the past, however, taking the honours in the Superstock 1000 class in 2003.
On a 2006 factory machine with a strong electronics package, Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati) blew the opposition away at Valencia in race one two weeks ago, and he must also be considered a potential podium man at Assen. He won a Superbike race there in 2003 and a WSS race in 2000, and even though Assen has been through many changes in layout since then, Xaus has shown himself to be able to master tracks of all kinds.
Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany) maintained his advantage over official Honda entrant Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) after Valencia, and is still eighth after an impressive start to the season. On a private Suzuki, of largely 2006 vintage, Neukirchner is easily the best of the ‘real’ privateer riders so far.
The current championship top ten is completed by Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) recovering from a low-scoring start of the season to be the top Kawasaki rider after four rounds and eight races. Both his team-mate Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) and he will be hoping to emulate the win taken by 2006 team-member Chris Walker in 2006, when monsoon-like rains flooded the track. The Honda filling in the Kawasaki points standing sandwich comprises two ingredients, Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda) and Josh Brookes (Alto Evolution Honda), who share 32 points. Another factory rider with work to do to get back into the top ten places in Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) who is currently 14th overall after repeated injury and misfortune, one place up on Ducati rider Jakub Smrz (Caracchi SC Ducati). Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda) will spend his weekend at Assen ensuring that he scores two good sets of points, to push himself back up the order after five no scores.
James Toseland on the Ten Kate Hannspree Honda CR1000RR.
Saturday Qualifying and Superpole
An ebullient Superpole ride from James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) gave him an early psychological and measurable advantage for Sunday’s 22-lap Superbike races, thanks to a new Superbike best lap of 1’38.603. It was Toseland’s first Superpole of the year and only the third of his entire SBK career. Superpole changed the fortunes of many riders after the morning’s final regulation qualifying session, notably fifth placed pre-Superpole qualifier Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) who went second in the final analysis, some 0.623 seconds from Toseland. A joint factory Ducati push saw fastest pre-Superpole fastest qualifier Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) go third. The last place on the front row was earned by a resurgent Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), who recovered from a lowly 12th finish after regulation qualifying to go fourth in Superpole.
Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati) went fifth in qualifying after losing forward drive in some places on his Superpole lap, but such was his pace all weekend he looks like a possible to repeat his win from Valencia come the races on Sunday. An uncharacteristically scrappy Superpole lap from Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) put him sixth only, one place up on the ever-impressive Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany), who now starts from row two. The second rank was completed by a recovering Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), the last placed qualifier into the Superpole 16, but eighth after the specialised single lap contest. Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda) rode hard for his ninth place on the grid and missed out on a second row start by only a tenth. Best of the Kawasaki riders was Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse), last man in the top ten, while Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) went 11th fastest, having been second last man into Superpole. Rapid private rider, Jakub Smrz (Team Caracchi SC Ducati) was a fine 12th, qualifying on row three.
Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) led some top riders on the fourth row, with Josh Brookes (Alto Evolution Honda) just behind. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) almost crashed in his Superpole lap but recovered impressively to set any time at all, going 15th eventually, some 2.5 seconds down on Toseland. The last of the Superpole riders was Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda).
 Toseland on the top of the Race One podium with Haga and Xaus.
Toseland and Bayliss Share Dazling Race Wins
Sunday April 29th - James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) scored one win apiece in the SBK races at Assen, held in fantastically sunny conditions for the Netherlands in April. Each race was a classic of its kind, with Toseland winning the first from Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) after a multi-rider battle for the lead on occasion, while Toseland looked to have all the bases covered after passing Bayliss on the last lap of race two, but went into the final chicane too deep and Bayliss landed the win by a tiny 0.009 seconds.
In Race One, Toseland (52) holds off a spirited attack from Bayliss, Xaus and Haga who would eventually finish in reverse order behind him.
RACE ONE: Toseland Increase His Championship Lead
James
Toseland led for most of the 22-laps of the first Assen Superbike race, despite a poor showing in morning warm-up, and his determination and speed through the entire first race finally told in the end. Haga was second by 0.663 seconds, with Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati) once more on top form in third, ahead of both factory Ducatis. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) fell two laps from home, while Max Biaggi (Alstare Corona Suzuki Extra) was sixth.
In the first race, Toseland looked to be able to make one of his now trademarked escapes at the front, but the pace of the riders behind was such that he came back into the leading group for a time, before finally hitting the lead on the 10th lap and staying there until the flag, maintaining a pace no others could match over 22-laps.
Troy Corser suffered a very hard crash in the first race at Assen where a water hose clamp breakage was the cause of the first race crash which saw Troy flying through the air before hitting the ground heavily and then tumbling for what seemed like an eternity. Troy was taken to the Clinica Mobile for X-rays, but fortunately no bones were broken. But the impact had hurt his left hip and left him battered and bruised all over, so it was a miracle he even managed to get on the bike for race two!
"I cannot tell you how sore I feel now and I know it's going to be so much worse tomorrow! The first race started pretty well for me and all was going OK. I tried to save the tyres at the beginning and then, at the halfway mark, I began to push harder and managed to get in contact with the leaders bit by bit. Then, just two laps from the end, ! the bike suddenly went sideways without warning. Then it flipped the other way and I went flying though the air before hitting the deck with a big thump. I banged my head quite hard and rolled for what seemed like forever. I went to the Clinica Mobile for X-rays and was lucky that I hadn't broken anything. Mind you I was sore all over and my left hip was very, very painful."
SUPERBIKE Race 1: (Laps 22 = 100,210 Km)
Pos / Rider / Nat. / Team / Time / Gap
1 / J. TOSELAND / GBR / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 37'02.097 /
2 / N.HAGA / JPN / Yamaha Motor Italia / 37'02.760 / 0.663
3 / R. XAUS / ESP / Team Sterilgarda / 37'05.795 / 3.698
4 / T. BAYLISS / AUS / Ducati Xerox Team / 37'09.231 / 7.134
5 / L. LANZI / ITA / Ducati Xerox Team / 37'11.409 / 9.312
6 / M.BIAGGI / ITA / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 37'11.631 / 9.534
7 / Y. KAGAYAMA / JPN / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 37'20.383 / 18.286
8 / F. NIETO / ESP / Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse / 37'20.500 / 18.403
9 / R. ROLFO / ITA / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 37'21.970 / 19.873
10 / M.NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Suzuki Germany / 37'25.011 / 22.914
11 / J. SMRZ / CZE / Team Caracchi Ducati SC / 37'31.699 / 29.602
12 / M.FABRIZIO / ITA / D.F.X. Corse / 37'43.058 / 40.961
13 / S. NAKATOMI / JPN / Yamaha YZF / 37'43.105 / 41.008
14 / D. ELLISON / GBR / Team Pedercini / 38'14.811 / 1'12.714
15 / M.SVOBODA / CZE / Yamaha Jr. Pro SBK Racing / 37'36.945 / 2 Laps
Fastest Lap 10° Troy Bayliss 1'39.906 164,134 Km/h
 A great shot! - After 2 lead changes alone on the final lap on Race 2 , Troy Bayliss (red leathers) slips inside Toseland at the finsh line to score the win by just 0.009 of a second! Toseland might have given the win away by attempting to wheeling across the line with his expeted win.
RACE TWO: Champ Bayliss Returns to the Top
Race two was marginally warmer than race one but the final contest between Toseland and Bayliss was white hot, after leading rider Haga (who set a new record lap with a 1’39.770 on lap two) had to pull out with machine problems on lap 11. Biaggi was eventually third, working his way forward after being swamped by more aggressive riders on lap one. Corser, who had been severely beaten by his race one crash, was a fighting fourth, while Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) had his best race of the year in fifth, leading a bunch of warring riders which was sometimes seven strong. Xaus crashed out of contention twice to score no points and go sixth overall in the series.
In the second 22-lap contest, another race with many potential winners came down to a classic Assen man-to-man fight, with Toseland and Bayliss locked together, swapping the lead on the final lap but with Toseland in control into the final chicane. He went into the first part deep, to cover a possible attack by Bayliss, and Bayliss got better drive on the exit, beating James into second by only nine-thousandths of a second.
Bayliss bounced back from a disappointing result in the first race, when his front tyre went off with six laps remaining, "It was an incredible race and there was lots of action. I take my hat off to James, he's riding stronger and is getting more and more confident all the time" declared Troy. "I'm happy to take a win but I'm also very frustrated because in the first race I thought I could possibly have taken a win and we really struggled in the last six laps with the front tyre. We just made a mistake and didn't use the hard tyre but then we did use the hard tyre in the second race and the last three laps I was really struggling again so we have to put our heads together and work a bit on the setting because you just can't ride like that all the time. We were both over the limit in those last few laps, I was trying to cover my lines, slowing down in some corners and speeding up, and James was doing the same. At the last chicane the win could have been anybody's!"
Toseland has been on superb form all year, and despite his front running, a win, and strong points scores in each race, he wanted to secure his first ever double win. “I have mixed feelings today,” said Toseland. “I am gutted that I couldn’t get the double win for the team at their home race. I was pushing so hard out there but Troy Bayliss is a tough man to beat and he just wasn’t going to let that go. I made a mistake on that last chicane and went too deep on the brakes, and he just got past me. Fair play to the man – that was an incredible race. Anyway, I have two more podiums under my belt, plus another race win and I am still leading the standings so I can’t really complain. I’m going to keep trying though – I want to get that double before the end of the year!”
Max Biaggi - Race 1: 6th, Race 2: 3rd - We’ve been struggling a bit all weekend getting the right set-up for the bike and although we improved it from the first practice, it still wasn’t right at the end. We played around with the engine braking and the bike’s balance and we made improvements for sure, but we had some problems during the races, so I’m very happy that we managed a podium after the difficulties we went through. In the first race I had some problems with traction, handling and engine braking, so we made some adjustments for race two and I was much happier with the bike. I stayed with the leaders in race two early on, but when they pulled away I just couldn’t keep the same pace. I rode as hard as I could and I’m happy, but not happy - if you know what I mean.
Troy Corser but bounced backed after his hard crash in Race one, to take a superb fourth place despite being in severe pain. But for his injuries Troy would've pushed harder and maybe would have caught and passed Biaggi. Instead he was forced to settle for a a gritty and determined fourth.
"I had a painkiller by a drip before the start of race two and then just went out to see what I could do, " said Troy. "The biggest problems was getting the bike to change direction. I was in pain and physically just couldn't move the bike from left to right properly, but I just hung in there and was pretty happy to take fourth because I knew I was not close enough to catch Biaggi."
Lorenzo Lanzi ran well with the leaders in both races but suffered similar problems to his team-mate in the first encounter, in which he finished fifth and then crashed out of fourth place four laps before the chequered flag. "The crash in race 2 was my fault because I made a mistake while I was pushing really hard to try and catch Max" declared Lorenzo. "I didn't want to miss out on the podium because I had an excellent feeling with the bike and was going well. Then I had a slight problem with the rear tyre, I was losing in the first sector and then gaining on Max in the second and third split, there were just four laps to go and I just tried to catch him. Pity, but the important thing is I wasn't hurt. In race 2 I used the same tyre as Troy and I was going much better than in the first race. Pity because I was running at a good pace and could have scored a good result. I didn't realise that Ruben had crashed alongside me, I just heard the noise when he tried to pass me on the inside. However I'm pleased because I found a good feeling with the 999 once again and I'm looking forward to the next round at Monza."
Biaggi(3) fights past Corser(110 and Kagayama (71) in the 2nd Race.
SUPERBIKE Race 2: (Laps 22 = 100,210 Km)
1 / T. BAYLISS / AUS / Ducati Xerox Team / 36'54.133 /
2 / J. TOSELAND / GBR / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 36'54.142 / 0.009
3 / M.BIAGGI / ITA / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 37'01.572 / 7.439
4 / T. CORSER / AUS / Yamaha Motor Italia / 37'06.512 / 12.379
5 / R. ROLFO / ITA / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 37'17.185 / 23.052
6 / M.FABRIZIO / ITA / D.F.X. Corse / 37'17.291 / 23.158
7 / M.NEUKIRCHNER / GER / Suzuki Germany / 37'17.444 / 23.311
8 / F. NIETO / ESP / Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse / 37'18.280 / 24.147
9 / J. SMRZ / CZE / Team Caracchi Ducati SC / 37'23.793 / 29.66
10 / R. LACONI / FRA / Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse / 37'26.434 / 32.301
11 / Y. KAGAYAMA / JPN / Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra / 37'26.522 / 32.389
12 / S. NAKATOMI / JPN / Yamaha YZF / 37'33.224 / 39.091
13 / J. BROOKES / AUS / Alto Evolution Honda / 37'33.261 / 39.128
14 / L. MORELLI / ITA / Team Pedercini / 37'21.538 / 1 Lap
15 / M.SVOBODA / CZE / Yamaha Jr. Pro SBK Racing / 37'33.953 / 1 Lap
Fastest Lap 2° Noriyuki Haga 1'39.770 164,358 Km/h
Record Lap: 2007 T.Bayliss 1'39.906 164,130 Km/h
Best Lap: 2007 J.Toseland 1'38.603 166,300 Km/h
Riders Championship Standings:
1 TOSELAND 196, 2 BIAGGI 164, 3 HAGA 144, 4 BAYLISS 128, 5 CORSER 114, 6 XAUS 99,
7 LANZI 98, 8 NEUKIRCHNER 71, 9 ROLFO 64, 10 NIETO 46, 11 FABRIZIO 46, 12 LACONI 43,
13 KAGAYAMA 41, 14 SMRZ 37, 15 BROOKES 35.
TOSELAND EXTENDS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD DESPITE MISSING DOUBLE
Toseland now has a 32-point lead in the championship fight (196 to 164) with Biaggi still his closest challenger. In overall third is Haga, despite his no score in race two, but with Bayliss jumping up to fourth, on 128 points, the championship chase has just got even more interesting. Corser is fifth after his race one crash, while a second race tumble for Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) puts him seventh, on 98 points.
Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany) recorded a tenth and seventh place in the Assen races, and his points place him in the top eight of the standings after five rounds. Rolfo’s excellent fifth, after a ninth in race one, puts him ninth overall. A tough day of work for Fonsi Nieto saw him score two eighth places, and stay inside the top ten, equal on 46 points with Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda), who had a 12th in race one improve to a 6th in race two. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) was seventh in the opener, while Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) could not get the drive and response from his machine to allow him to finish any higher than 16th in race one. A real charge on a slightly different set-up in race two saw him tenth in the second 22-lapper.
Sofuglu now the Dutch Master in 600cc Supersport
Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) continued his remarkable 2007 season with another impressive win in the Supersport class, despite having to fight hard at some stages of the race. Once more he proved to have the advantage over full distance, leading 17 of the 21 laps. His latest race win, the fourth in five attempts this year, now puts him on a points total of 120, 53 points ahead of his nearest competitor Fabien Foret, who was third today.
Just to make his weekend perfect, after taking pole on Saturday, Kenan also left Assen with the new lap record, 1’42.096, to go with his new Supersport track best of 1’41.144 seconds in qualifying. Honda has a 43-point lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship now, after only five of 13 rounds.
Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) was once more the perfect riding partner to help Sofuoglu’s championship push, finishing second in the race after qualifying seventh on Saturday. He is now fourth overall, having scored two second places in two races.
Reigning champion Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR) was back in race action and played a major part in the early race and qualifying, until he had to slip back due to fatigue, ending his day sixth.
Sofuoglu’s season continues to dazzle and the runaway leader gave was particularly pleased to have won again in his Ten Kate team’s home country. “To get pole position yesterday was good, but most of the fast riders are back so I knew it would be a lot harder this weekend,” said Sofuoglu. “I was expecting this race to be a difficult. I told myself in the beginning not to go hard straight away. I gave myself a chance to see who was coming up behind me and then I knew when to push a bit more. When I knew the riders were closing in behind me I thought ‘OK, now I will go’, and pushed hard to open up the gap. I did my fastest lap time on lap 15 so I’m really pleased with that. This is just such a good result – I got my first race win here at Assen and with it being the home track for the Ten Kate team, it is even more special – it just couldn’t have been any better for me today.”
Pitt was once more delighted to be part of a team that allowed him to push from first to last, and he heaped praise on his team-mate Sofuoglu. “I’m really pleased - what a great result for the team and a great day overall,” said Pitt. “It was a tough race; I had a really good rhythm at the start so I just tried to keep up at the front. Kenan’s riding really well at the moment and I had a great time racing with him. I made him work for it a bit today; it wasn’t so easy for him as in Valencia! I’m happy to be on the podium again and happy to be able to help the team out again.”
SUPERSPORT RACE: (Laps 21 = 95,655 Km
Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team / Time /Gap
1 / SOFUOGLU / TUR / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 36'04.418 /
2 / PITT / AUS / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 36'08.461 / 4.043
3 / FORET / FRA / Team Gil Motor Sport / 36'09.897 / 5.479
4 / VENEMAN / NED / Pioneer Hoegee Suzuki Racing / 36'12.558 / 8.14
5 / SALOM / ESP / Yamaha Spain / 36'13.318 / 8.9
6 / CHARPENTIER / FRA / Hannspree Ten Kate Honda / 36'15.508 / 11.09
7 / CHECA / ESP / Yamaha - GMT 94 / 36'19.265 / 14.847
8 / KALLIO / FIN / Pioneer Hoegee Suzuki Racing / 36'23.963 / 19.545
9 / GIUGLIANO / ITA / Lightspeed Kawasaki Supp. / 36'24.298 / 19.88
10 / MARTIN / AUS / Yamaha World SSP Racing / 36'24.502 / 20.084
11 / ALFONSI / ITA / Althea Honda Team / 36'26.358 / 21.94
12 / RIBA / ESP / Team Gil Motor Sport / 36'31.210 / 26.792
13 / SANNA / ITA / Racing Team Parkalgar / 36'40.895 / 36.477
14 / ROCCOLI / ITA / Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni / 36'41.574 / 37.156
15 / VOS / NED / Hanns-G J&E Sport TKR / 36'43.877 / 39.459
Fastest Lap 15° Kenan Sofuoglu 1'42.096 160,614 Km/h
Lap record: 2006 K.Curtain 1'55.516 141,950 Km/h
Best Lap: 2007 K.Sofuoglu 1'41.144 162,130 Km/h
Riders Championship Standings:
1 SOFUOGLU 120, 2 FORET 67, 3 FUJIWARA 43, 4 PITT 40, 5 HARMS 39, 6 NANNELLI 30,
7 VENEMAN 30, 8 ROCCOLI 28, 9 PARKES 27, 10 SALOM 27, 11 RIBA 26, 12 CURTAIN 25,
13 JONES 25, 14 CHARPENTIER 23, 15 GIUGLIANO 21.
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The Mladin (66) and Spies (1) show contined at Fontana.....
AMA Superbike Championship, CA Speedway, Round 3 of 11
Spies and Mladin, Mladin and Spies at Fontana AMA Superbike
Fontana, CA, April 27-29th, 2007 - Saturday Qualifying & Pole - Defending Champion Ben Spies led a Yoshimura Suzuki one-two-three in qualifying for tomorrow's double-header AMA Superbike Championship race at Fontana Speedway in California. The Texan rider starts from pole after setting a time of 1:24.117 on his GSX-R1000 at the Fontana circuit with Mladin and Hayden close behind on 1:24.344 and 1:24.513 respectively. Six Suzuki GSX-Rs finished in the top 10 with Aaron Yates sixth, Jake Holden seventh and Geoff May 10th.
Spies currently leads the series on 103 points, eight clear of six-time Champion Mladin, who won both races at last week's second and third round at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.
Ben Spies at Fontana with the wacky front staight chicane in the background to reduce top speed on the banking.
Fontana Saturday Race One to Spies
Saturday April 28th - Reigning AMA Superbike champion Ben Spies answered Mat Mladin’s success of a week ago in emphatic fashion on Saturday at California Speedway. The Yoshimura Suzuki ace escaped from a fierce battle with teammate Mat Mladin for the lead on lap 11 of 28 and then put on a dominating display, powering away at the front. The win was the 13th of Spies’ young Superbike career, tying him with legendary former AMA and World Superbike champ Doug Polen for tenth all time.
Barber double winner Mladin appeared determined to prevent Spies from taking control of the race in the early stages, repeatedly shutting the door or immediately responding to a pass by Spies with an aggressive maneuver of his own. The six-time champ could only hold back the harrying Spies for so long, however, and once the Texan finally established himself in first, he immediately opened up a full second gap at the front. Spies quickly added to that advantage, working it up by big chucks before finally settling in around seven seconds in front of the fight for second.
Third qualifier Eric Bostrom got another of his trademark fast starts before subsequently falling to fifth. The Yamaha USA runner managed to turn it around this time, working up onto Mladin’s tail about the time Spies swung into first. Bostrom actually split the Yosh duo for a time, holding down second from laps 16 to 20 before the six-time champ reclaimed the runner-up spot, a position he would hold to the checkered flag.
Commenting on his win , Spies said, “It’s great. Right now I’m just doing the best I can and riding as hard as I can. (Mat) kicked our butts last week and we needed to rebound this week. We got off to a decent start and mixed it up for the first few laps and it should have been pretty good on TV. I just tried to get into a rhythm and click the laps away and I ended up with a first place.”
About his dogfight with Mladin for the lead, he said, “I got a little impatient. He was strong where he needed to be strong and he was making himself wide. It’s so hard when you’re on the same bike and you’re riding them to the limit. When you’re not next to them on the brakes, to come by on the brakes is really hard. I was strong coming onto the front straightaway with my drives, and was hitting the limiter and running out of gear. I finally bumped it up to sixth to get the slingshot and was having to downshift too many gears. I just had to make some changes. I was a little impatient but I knew the bike was working really well and I just had to time it right. I don’t believe it will be that easy tomorrow.”
Despite giving it his best efforts, Mladin understood from the start that keeping Spies behind him was going to be a tall order in this race. “I knew it was going to be a long day. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to hold the lead or not. I was making it as wide as I could for ten laps, that’s for sure, but to do that for 28 laps is very difficult. Today I made a couple changes to the bike before the race and I made a bit of a mistake.”
Speaking about responding to the fight put up by Bostrom for second, Mladin said, “I just tried to pick up in as many spots as possible -- just try to make things a little bit cleaner to get back around. When Eric came around, Ben actually slowed up a little bit. We made up a little bit of ground and I was thinking Ben might be having a few problems possibly. I pushed as hard as I could, but Ben wasn’t having too much of a problem. The only problem he was having was how much he was going to win by today.”
Bostrom’s third-place result is Yamaha’s first Superbike podium in five years, dating back to Anthony Gobert’s race-winning weekend at this very track in 2002.
“It feels good to be on the podium, but it feels even better to race with some people,” Bostrom commented. “In particular we got to mix it up with Mat. I realize he might not have had the best of days but it was still a huge step for us. The team is really excited and it has been a long time since Yamaha has gotten on the podium. It was a really big accomplishment… It was the first time all year we came back by people and actually started advancing. It was a big race for us.”
As Bostrom joined the usual suspects on the podium, the next pack put on their usual entertaining scrap for position. Third Yoshimura Suzuki runner Tommy Hayden ultimately secured a top-four repeat from qualifying, finishing more than a second ahead of Miguel DuHamel on the American Honda-developed CBR1000RR for fourth. DuHamel’s teammate, Jake Zemke, and Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates fell back into a two-rider tussle for sixth. The Californian survived the pressure being applied by the Georgian to cross the line in sixth, some 20 seconds off the race winner.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Roger Hayden put in a lonely ride in eighth, followed by second Yamaha pilot Jason DiSalvo, while FBF MV Agusta’s Matt Lynn overtook Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking late to give the Italian manufacturer their first top ten finish in AMA Superbike racing.
Superbike Race Results Saturday 28th
1 1 Ben Spies Longview, TX Suzuki GSX-R1000 28 --- American Suzuki / Yoshimura US
2 66 Mathew Mladin Henderson, NV Suzuki GSX-R1000 28 6.739 American Suzuki / Yoshimura US
3 32 Eric Bostrom Las Vegas, NV Yamaha YZF-R1 28 9.025 Yamaha Motor Corp
4 22 Tommy Hayden Owensboro, KY Suzuki GSX-R1000 28 13.625 American Suzuki / Yoshimura US
5 17 Miguel Duhamel Las Vegas, NV Honda CBR1000RR 28 14.871 American Honda Motor Co
6 98 Jake P Zemke Paso Robles, CA Honda CBR1000RR 28 20.794 American Honda
7 20 Aaron W Yates Milledgeville, GA Suzuki GSX-R1000 28 21.214 Jordan Suzuki
8 95 Roger Lee Hayden Owensboro, KY Kawasaki ZX-10R 28 37.967 Monster Energy / Kawasaki Motors Corp
9 40 Jason Disalvo Stafford, NY Yamaha YZF-R1 28 51.522 Yamaha Motor Corp USA
10 50 Matt D Lynn Ball Ground, GA MV Agusta F4-1000R 312 28 59.911 MV Agusta / Fast by Ferracci
11 2 Jamie A Hacking Denver, NC Kawasaki ZX-10R 28 Monster Energy / Kawasaki Motors Corp
12 361 Martin Cardenas Miami, FL Kawasaki ZX-10R 27 --- Tacoma / Motul / Pirelli / Shoei
13 61 Scott Jensen Peoria, AZ Suzuki GSX-R1000 27 --- HALOF Rcng / Suzuki
14 62 David Weber Alpharetta, GA Suzuki GSX-R1000 27 --- Millenium Tech / KWS Mtrsprts
15 68 Dominic Jones Indianapolis, IN Suzuki GSX-R1000 26 --- Moto 911
16 59 Jake Holden Eatonville, WA Suzuki GSX-R1000 26 --- Jordan Suzuki
17 269 Johnny Rock Page Phoenix, AZ Yamaha YZF-R1 26 --- 944.com / CGIATM.com
18 38 Dean Mizdal Huntington Beach, CA Suzuki GSX-R1000 21 --- STAR School
19 88 Luca Scassa Willow Grove, PA MV Agusta F4-1000R 312 19 --- MV Agusta / Fast By Ferracci
20 10 Doug Chandler Salinas, CA Honda CBR1000RR 11 --- No Factory Support Rcng
Fontana Sunday Race Two - Spies Trades with Mladin Again
April 30, 2007 - Team Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin and team mate Ben Spies dominated the second leg of the AMA Superbike Championship double-header at California Speedway in Fontana today, with Mladin taking the victory by just 0.035 seconds. The six-time AMA Champion reversed the places on his team mate as the two GSX-R1000s finished 21 seconds ahead of third-placed Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) in the 28 lapper. Third Yoshimura rider Tommy Hayden finished in fourth place after an equally-close and exciting battle with Honda's Jake Zemke, who finished 0.0334 seconds behind.
"After yesterday, we were off from what we'd wanted to do," said Mladin, who finished second to Spies in Saturday's race. "Today, we got everything together. Right from the start, I put my head down. This is a bit of a hometown race for us so it means a lot to get a win here."
The previous day, Spies had picked up his third AMA Superbike pole position of the season with a qualifying lap of 1:23.117. Mladin was second with a best time of 1:23.711, while Hayden rounded out the front row of the grid with a 1:24.475 lap time. At the start of the 28-lap race, Mladin took the lead almost immediately. Spies slotted in behind and they battled together for the entire race.
"I have no illusions that the season is going to be anything but tough," maintained Mladin. "It's going to be hard racing and I'm looking forward to it. I've won several championships already and it's tough racing that motivates me. Today, I was 100 per cent the whole way. There wasn't anything left on the table."
Although Spies showed his team mate a wheel a few times, in the end the defending AMA Superbike Champion brought home a very close second place. Although Spies did not win the race, he still maintains the lead in the overall championship points standings. "I would be happier if we could have gotten the win today," said Spies. "But Mat set a blistering pace. The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working great and I tried to get it done today but we fell a little short. We just need to see what we can do to come back strong for the race at Infineon next month."
Going into Sunday's race, team mate Hayden was still recovering from Saturday afternoon's crash in AMA Supersport qualifying. Even so, the new Yoshimura Suzuki rider rode hard and finished just shy of the podium.
"Today was pretty similar to yesterday," said Hayden, who finished fourth in Saturday's race as well. "I got a decent start on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and then I fell back a couple of positions. But after four or five laps - I don't know if it was me or the bike or both -I just felt more comfortable and started going faster for the rest of the race. So I guess I need to work on improving my starts. But all things considered, I feel like two fourth-place finishes is pretty solid."
All of the road race teams will return for round four of the AMA Superbike Series at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California the weekend of May 18 - 20th.
Superbike Race Results Sunday 29th
1 66 Mathew Mladin Henderson, NV Suzuki GSX-R1000 28 --- American Suzuki / Yoshimura US
2 1 Ben Spies Longview, TX Suzuki GSX-R1000 28 0.035 American Suzuki / Yoshimura US
3 32 Eric Bostrom Las Vegas, NV Yamaha YZF-R1 28 21.315 Yamaha Motor Corp
4 22 Tommy Hayden Owensboro, KY Suzuki GSX-R1000 28 24.616 American Suzuki / Yoshimura US
5 98 Jake P Zemke Paso Robles, CA Honda CBR1000RR 28 24.950 American Honda
6 17 Miguel Duhamel Las Vegas, NV Honda CBR1000RR 28 25.709 American Honda Motor Co
7 95 Roger Lee Hayden Owensboro, KY Kawasaki ZX-10R 28 34.550 Monster Energy / Kawasaki Motors Corp
8 2 Jamie A Hacking Denver, NC Kawasaki ZX-10R 28 34.650 Monster Energy / Kawasaki Motors Corp
9 20 Aaron W Yates Milledgeville, GA Suzuki GSX-R1000 28 34.862 Jordan Suzuki
10 40 Jason Disalvo Stafford, NY Yamaha YZF-R1 28 Yamaha Motor Corp USA
11 10 Doug Chandler Salinas, CA Honda CBR1000RR 28 No Factory Support Rcng
12 77 James Ellison Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Honda CBR1000RR 27 --- Corona Extra Honda
13 80 Kurtis L Roberts Turlock, CA Honda CBR1000RR 27 --- No Factory Support Rcng
14 61 Scott Jensen Peoria, AZ Suzuki GSX-R1000 27 --- HALOF Rcng
15 361 Martin Cardenas Miami, FL Kawasaki ZX-10R 27 --- Tacoma
16 62 David Weber Alpharetta, GA Suzuki GSX-R1000 27 --- Millenium TechRon Ayers Mtrsprts
17 68 Dominic Jones Indianapolis, IN Suzuki GSX-R1000 27 --- Moto 911
18 269 Johnny Rock Page Phoenix, AZ Yamaha YZF-R1 26 --- 944.com
19 50 Matt D Lynn Ball Ground, GA MV Agusta F4-1000R 312 17 --- MV Agusta / Fast by Ferracci
20 38 Dean Mizdal Huntington Beach, CA Suzuki GSX-R1000 7 --- STAR School
 Josh Hayes
Hayes Repeats in 600cc Xtreme,
Pegram on Ducati 749 takes a hard faught 3rd
April 28, 2007 -The Erion Honda squad (American Honda's defacto factory squad) continued their bounce back from Daytona's fuel cap venting disaster as Josh Hayes and Aaron Gobert combined for their second 1-2 Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme finish in as many weeks. Just like at Barber Motorsports Park last weekend, Hayes, the reigning class champion, quickly took control of the race from pole and turned the rest of the field’s attention to the remaining steps on the podium as he sailed off into the distance.
The victorious Hayes said, “I got a smoking start; I nailed the start and I was really focused before the race on putting together the first laps really, really well, because that’s something I slacked on a little bit at Barber I felt like. From the sound of it I did really well on that job.”
The most thrilling minute thirty of the California Speedway weekend thus far was the final-lap clash for the final step on the Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme podium. Leo Vince Ducati’s Larry Pegram was desperate to score his first rostrum finish since 2003 and put the Ducati 749R up on the box for the first time since Doug Chandler’s season with HMC in ’04. Meanwhile, Chaz Davies of Wales was just as determined, as he could practically smell his first top-three since abandoning the world of two-stroke Grand Prix racing for a career as a four-stroke specialist in the States.
All the while, the two had the experienced Michael Barnes of Team M4 EMGO Suzuki and Daytona 200 winner Steve Rapp right on their heels, waiting to take advantage of any mistake.
Pegram won out at the flag, and afterwards described the epic last-lap showdown. “I knew he couldn’t pass me up the front straight; my bike was a little bit stronger than his. I was actually surprised at how strong everybody’s bikes were during the race. I really had to get a good bead on him to draft him and it took me the whole straightaway when I thought I could just drive right by him. I think the heat slowed my bike more than it did there.
“I got ahead of him with three or four laps to go and I knew where he was going to pass me. He was strong into what they call ‘3’ – I call it the real first corner. Right coming for the white flag, there was a guy I had to lap. I didn’t want to follow this guy through the esses and I had to dip by him, but I was really slow through the esses because I wasn’t up on the bank to get the drive through there.
“He must have went around the outside of the guy and got the right line because when we came up to turn 3, here he come. I went in deep and low and he still came in. I was like, ‘well, he’s not going to get stopped.’ And he got stopped good enough to block me but he didn’t get a drive out of the next corner.
“He really had to come back for the right so I had a bead on him as soon as we came out of the left and said, ‘I’m coming by.’ We got in there and I ran wide and he came back under me in the middle but he couldn’t get off the corner so I came back under him on the exit.
“We went side-by-side through that next chicane which I don’t know how that’s possible actually. I got up inside him and though, ‘well, he’s got to shut off, he’s going to miss the chicane if he doesn’t.’ But somehow we both fit through there. He blocked on the inside of the righthander, which let me square it up.
“When we came down the straightaway I was all the way by him halfway down the straightaway and I knew he wasn’t coming by. We passed each other five times on the last lap in places I didn’t think you could pass here.”
After taking it all in, breakaway race winner Josh Hayes sat back and quipped, “I’m kind of sad I missed all this. Sounds like a great race.”
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Carl Fogarty and MV Agusta
Together for 2008 World Superbike
May 2nd - Two iconic names in motorcycle racing, MV Agusta and Carl Fogarty, are to join forces for an assault on the Superbike World Championship.
The Italian manufacturer is set to enter the championship in the 2008 season with Fogarty’s British-based team as their factory-supported outfit.
“We are happy to race with Carl Fogarty’s team in 2008 and see this as a long-term relationship,” says MV Agusta President Claudio Castiglioni.
We always targeted 2008 as our debut year in the World Superbike series, when we will have sufficient resources to fully support such a challenge.
When MV Agusta returns to World Championship competition, it must be with the ability to be competitive from the very first race, and to challenge for victory throughout the season.
Everyone was impressed by the professionalism and dedication of Fogarty’s team during their five years with Petronas and we are confident they can deliver the results we expect.”
The partnership recreates the relationship Castiglioni and Fogarty enjoyed when the rider won the first of his two World Superbike titles in 1994 and 1995 for Ducati, then owned by Castiglioni.
Fogarty, four-times World Superbike champion, said: “This is a very exciting opportunity and one which is sure to capture the imagination of racing fans around the world.
Claudio shares my desire for success and it will be great to work with him again.
Our initial aim was to continue racing in 2007 but it soon became clear that a start date of 2008 made much more sense for this project.
My team is now committed to finding sponsorship for next year in order to start preparations for the 2008 season as soon as possible.”
The team will run the new 2008 F4 R 312, which Fogarty is expected to ride during a special Parade of Champions on Friday, June 8th, as part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Isle of Man TT. MV Agusta last appeared there in 1972, when Giacomo Agostini recorded his last of 10 race wins on the island
Shanghi MotoGP Preview
FIAT Yamaha Team hoping for points boost in China
Shanghai circuit - After the disappointment of an unrewarding weekend in Istanbul, the Fiat Yamaha Team take their quest for glory even further east this week as the MotoGP World Championship points-chase stops off in Shanghai. The Grand Prix of China is the fourth round of eighteen on this year's gruelling calendar and it promises to be one of the most challenging, with the horsepower-sapping nature of the circuit and the unpredictable weather of the world's ninth largest city sure to play their part.
The past two visits to Shanghai have provided almost polar extremes in the conditions, with a torrential downpour virtually flooding the circuit in the inaugural event of 2005 and then the intense heat of a year ago, when ambient temperatures during the race touched 31ºC, presenting an altogether different challenge. The event has also seen stark contrasts in fortunes for Valentino Rossi, who navigated his way to victory ahead of Olivier Jacque two years ago but suffered front tyre problems in the heat-wave of 2006 and was forced to retire from the race.
Colin Edwards provided some cheer for the team last year by clinching third place in what would prove to be his only podium finish of the campaign. This year the Texan heads to China with a rostrum already under his belt, thanks to his third place at Jerez, following an encouraging start to the season that was only spoiled by an unfortunate crash in Turkey, when he was knocked out of the leading group by another rider on the first lap. Edwards suffered a cut and swollen knee in the incident and was forced to skip a day of testing at Istanbul Park last Monday but he will be fit to resume action in Friday morning's opening free practice session.
Despite being drawn by the same hand as the Istanbul Park Circuit in Turkey, Shanghai has different characteristics that bring to mind closer comparisons with the other Herman Tilke circuit of Sepang. Combining fast straights and hard braking zones with a series of slow and difficult corners, bike set-up is a question of finding a compromised balance and enough horsepower to deal with the longest straight on the calendar, measuring 1202 metres. The unpredictable conditions and mixed data from previous seasons mean grip levels will be a complete mystery, making life even more difficult for Michelin's engineers as they try to adapt to new tyre restrictions in the most demanding of circumstances.
Valentino Rossi - "Mixed memories but clear focus"
Valentino Rossi heads to Shanghai with his mind still fully focused on the job despite tyre problems at Istanbul and in this race last year. Other than when he fell and re-mounted to take 14th at Jerez last season, tenth place in Turkey was the Italian's worst-ever dry weather result since his rookie premier-class season in 2000 and he is keen to make amends this Sunday.
"We had a bad result in Turkey which we weren't expecting after being on pole, but Michelin have been working very hard to understand what went wrong and to ensure that it won't happen again," says Rossi. "We had a good test on Monday and tried a lot of new tyre combinations with China in mind, so we are going there with some ideas about what we think will work. Now it's a case of making what is hopefully the right tyre choice and then seeing how things go on Friday morning.
"Last year we had a big problem in China and I couldn't finish the race, but in 2005 I had a great victory there in the wet so I have some nice memories of this track as well as some bad ones! We know it's not ideal for our bike and maybe they're going to have to split the main straight in two - one part for Ducati and one part for the rest of us! Joking aside though, it's a very long straight and we know that we're going to lack some top speed on it but the new engine modifications we had in Turkey worked well and there's a good improvement, so hopefully it won't be too serious. We're second in the championship and we've lost a few points so we need to aim for a podium to get back on track."
Colin Edwards - "Punching back!"
Colin Edwards insists he will be back up and fighting in China despite being knocked to the canvas on the first lap of the Grand Prix of Turkey. The Texan has boxed clever throughout testing and the opening three rounds of the season to give himself an optimum chance of success this season and he is hoping his excellent relationship with Michelin can pay dividends in a race that will place huge emphasis on tyre choice. "Turkey was a real shame because I felt I could have challenged for a podium, but that's racing and there's no point getting angry and stewing over it," reflects Edwards. "I didn't test on Monday because my knee was pretty painful but a few days resting up at home has helped a lot and it's feeling a lot better. After starting the season pretty well it was disappointing to have such a bad time in Turkey for the team but that's our 'bogey' circuit and now we're looking forward to punching back in China! "Shanghai last year was good for me and I ended up on the podium and of course I'm aiming to repeat that with improvement this year! We know it's going to be a tricky track for us with the long straight but hopefully we can make it up on the other parts of the track. Again the tyres are going to be a big factor but Valentino and Michelin worked seriously hard on Monday in Turkey, while I was chair-bound, and I think they've got some good plans about what's going to work."
Davide Brivio - "Defence the priority"
Fiat Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio says his riders face an uphill challenge in their battle for honours this weekend and admits the onus will be on defence rather than attack in the final 'flyaway' race before the start of the European term. The Italian pinpoints the long straights of Shanghai as a potential sticking point for the YZR-M1 but says his team are putting their faith in a new direction of development with Michelin tyres - aimed at an assault on the top positions during the decisive run of races up to summer.
"Turkey was disappointing but at the same time very important to get information and data about where the limit of the tyres is with these new bikes and where they can be improved," says Brivio. "We had a very good meeting with Michelin and developed some ideas during the test last Monday. Time will tell but it seems we have identified a new direction to work in and we are all keen to get to China to verify those ideas and help Michelin find a tyre that is most suitable for our bike and for our riders' style.
"China will be a very difficult race for us because of the long straight. It is not a track that allows us to maximise the potential of our bike, which is perhaps stronger at smaller, more 'rideable' circuits. We really have to go there and defend as much as possible and focus on getting the bike and tyres ready to attack when we return to Europe once more. Hopefully then we can be back fighting for the victory."
CBS Sports to Broadcast
3- Race MotoGP PackageThursday 3rd May - As MotoGP continues its growth across the world, three races will be broadcast on network television across the United States this summer after an agreement was reached between CBS Sports and MotoGP’s commercial rights-holder, Dorna Sports. This agreement represents the most extensive free-to-air television package that MotoGP races have ever enjoyed in the US, and is a further indication of the growing popularity of the sport across the nation.
CBS Sports will broadcast races from the heart of the MotoGP season. Coverage starts with the hugely attended Grand Prix from Barcelona on June 10 (1:30-2:30 p.m., ET), and is closely followed by MotoGP’s most traditional race from the TT Circuit in Assen, Netherlands on June 30 (2:00-3:00 p.m., ET), with the third race coming from the Sachsenring, Germany on July 15 (1:00-2:00 p.m., ET). The race telecasts will include not only the thrilling race coverage but will also include exciting features, news and interviews as well as the sophisticated information and graphics package that helps race fans follow the exciting action.
Additionally, the race coverage will include production elements that are unique to MotoGP and highlight the exhilarating and daring nature of the sport and its competitors. Chief among these elements will be the incredible on-board cameras that show the race from the point of view of the riders themselves. Fans seeing these heroes making turns at high speeds and just inches off the ground will be amazed at the skill and accuracy that these riders posses.
“With the growth of this emerging sport, we are more than pleased to be bringing our viewers all the high-speed excitement of MotoGP,” said Rob Correa, Sr. Vice President, Programming, CBS Sports.
“We are proud to be associated with CBS Sports, a real home for American sports, and it just shows how far MotoGP has come in the last few years,” said Manel Arroyo, Managing Director, Dorna Sports. “The growth of the sport in the United States is one of Dorna’s key goals, and this deal will help us showcase the thrills and excitement of MotoGP to a mainstream audience right across the country.”
MotoGP is the world’s premier motorcycle championship, featuring the best racers on the planet riding multi-million dollar, prototype machines that can reach speeds in excess of 200mph. MotoGP takes its glamorous circus to all corners of the globe. The machines produce more than 200 horsepower and weigh in at just 325lb (148kg), demanding the ultimate in riding skill.
MotoGP received a big boost in the US with the performances from the Nicky Hayden, the ‘Kentucky Kid’. Hayden, who won his first MotoGP event at the 2005 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in Laguna Seca, California, took his crowning glory in 2006 when he won two races on his way to becoming the new MotoGP World Champion.
Currently MotoGP TV broadcasts reach 207 countries, with 184 of those in live or same day delayed format. An average of 142 million spectators see the live/SDD broadcasts, with a total average audience per GP of 311 million viewers. In 2006, an estimated 5.2 billion people around the world tuned into MotoGP races.
Helping to make the deal possible between the two parties was Van Wagner Sports Group who serves as the U.S. free-to-air television agent for MotoGP. In addition to negotiating the television agreement between CBS Sports and MotoGP, Van Wagner will handle the advertising sales for the telecasts as well as coordinating production aspects.
The program itself will be produced by Dorna using CBS Sports talent, as well as expert analysis being brought by America’s former World Champion and MotoGP Legend Kevin Schwantz.
MotoGP returned to network television in the United States last season with the network telecast special of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix from Laguna Seca, an agreement negotiated by Van Wagner Sports Group and produced by Dorna.
Yamaha
Virtual SuperSport Bike Show & Tickets to Laguna Seca MotoGP 2007
Yamaha Press Release April 12th - Submit a photo of your personalized Yamaha Sportbike to enter the bike show and have it displayed on yamaha-motor.com.
Browse through the Yamaha Virtual SuperSport Bike Show to see how owners have personalized their Yamaha SuperSport Bikes.
From the bikes entered, 150 will be selected as winners.
Owners of the bikes chosen will receive full 3-day U.S. MotoGP Race Admission tickets for two along with an invitation for a special V.I.P. dinner on Friday evening during the MotoGP weekend.
Winners will also receive FREE motorcycle parking in a specially designated Yamaha location at the track.
U.S. MotoGP is in Monterey, California, July 20-22, 2007.
Yamaha Motor Show
Contest Details Here
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Rizla Suzuki's
Wacky Website
Cigarette rolling paper company Rizla is the sponsor of the factory Suzuki MotoGP team with riders John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen. So how does Rizla try to garner attention when the Suzuki team isn't winning races and their product has nothing to do with motorcycles. How about a tongue-in-cheek website that takes a Monte Python style humerous look at their involvement in racing!
Check it out by clicking above and going to "The More Rizla Project"
Toseland Extends His World Superbike Lead With 5th Win
James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) maintained his record of winning a race in every round of the SBK championship so far and only missed out on his first ever double win by 0.009 seconds, after a hard-fought battle with eventual winner Troy Bayliss in race two. He had set pole position for the first time this year, with a new record of 1’38.603 seconds in Superpole.
The points he earned for second place nonetheless put him further in front in the championship fight, with Toseland on 196 points and Biaggi on 164 - a difference of 32. The same points separate Honda from Ducati at the top of the Manufacturers’ Championship
In the first race, Toseland looked to be able to make one of his now trademarked escapes at the front, but the pace of the riders behind was such that he came back into the leading group for a time, before finally hitting the lead on the 10th lap and staying there until the flag, maintaining a pace no others could match over 22-laps.
In the second 22-lap contest, another race with many potential winners came down to a classic Assen man-to-man fight, with Toseland and Bayliss locked together, swapping the lead on the final lap but with Toseland in control into the final chicane. He went into the first part deep, to cover a possible attack by Bayliss, and Bayliss got better drive on the exit, beating James into second by only nine-thousandths of a second.
Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR), 11th in Superpole, improved his set-up after posting ninth in race one, to take a best ever result of fifth in race two, mastering a group of riders which numbered up to seven in some periods of the race. Rolfo is now ninth overall, on 64 points, making him second highest placed Honda rider.
A similar improvement from race one to race two saw Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) 12th in race one, but only just behind Rolfo in race two, taking sixth place. For a rider on row four after finishing last in Superpole, he was justifiably boosted by his raceday recovery, especially after troubles in race one. He sits 11th, equal on points with Rolfo.
A disappointing day at Assen saw Joshua Brookes (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR), who was 14th on the grid, finish only one race, and his team-mate Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) was stopped by technical issues, in each race, having qualified 9th.
Toseland has been on superb form all year, and despite his front running, a win, and strong points scores in each race, he wanted to secure his first ever double win.
“I have mixed feelings today,” said Toseland. “I am gutted that I couldn’t get the double win for the team at their home race. I was pushing so hard out there but Troy Bayliss is a tough man to beat and he just wasn’t going to let that go. I made a mistake on that last chicane and went too deep on the brakes, and he just got past me. Fair play to the man – that was an incredible race. Anyway, I have two more podiums under my belt, plus another race win and I am still leading the standings so I can’t really complain. I’m going to keep trying though – I want to get that double before the end of the year!”
Bayliss Back With a Vengence to Take Dramatic Finshish Line Win Over Toseland in Race 2
Assen (Netherlands), Sunday 29 April: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) came back with a vengeance to take a brilliant race 2 win in glorious weather conditions at Assen. The 70,000 strong crowd were treated to some fantastic racing on the day and Troy bounced back from a disappointing result in the first race, when his front tyre went off with six laps remaining, to take his second win of the year from James Toseland. The margin of Troy's victory, his first since Phillip Island in March, was just 0.009 seconds and it was earned with an incredible dive inside his Honda rival at the final chicane just metres from the line.
"It was an incredible race and there was lots of action. I take my hat off to James, he's riding stronger and is getting more and more confident all the time" declared Troy. "I'm happy to take a win but I'm also very frustrated because in the first race I thought I could possibly have taken a win and we really struggled in the last six laps with the front tyre. We just made a mistake and didn't use the hard tyre but then we did use the hard tyre in the second race and the last three laps I was really struggling again so we have to put our heads together and work a bit on the setting because you just can't ride like that all the time. We were both over the limit in those last few laps, I was trying to cover my lines, slowing down in some corners and speeding up, and James was doing the same. At the last chicane the win could have been anybody's!"
Lorenzo Lanzi ran well with the leaders in both races but suffered similar problems to his team-mate in the first encounter, in which he finished fifth and then crashed out of fourth place four laps before the chequered flag.
"The crash in race 2 was my fault because I made a mistake while I was pushing really hard to try and catch Max" declared Lorenzo. "I didn't want to miss out on the podium because I had an excellent feeling with the bike and was going well. Then I had a slight problem with the rear tyre, I was losing in the first sector and then gaining on Max in the second and third split, there were just four laps to go and I just tried to catch him. Pity, but the important thing is I wasn't hurt. In race 2 I used the same tyre as Troy and I was going much better than in the first race. Pity because I was running at a good pace and could have scored a good result. I didn't realise that Ruben had crashed alongside me, I just heard the noise when he tried to pass me on the inside. However I'm pleased because I found a good feeling with the 999 once again and I'm looking forward to the next round at Monza.
Biaggi Scores Rostrum for Suzuki at Assen
April 29, 2007 - Max Biaggi put the Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSX-R1000 on the rostrum at today's Assen World Superbike Championship round in Holland - his seventh top-three position in five rounds.
The Italian took a hard-fought-for sixth in the first race and then followed it up with third place in the second race, as team mate Yukio Kagayama struggled in both races, finishing seventh in race one and 11th in race two.
The first race was won by James Toseland (Honda) with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) second and Ruben Xaus (Ducati) third.
The second race witnessed one of the greatest battles in WSB history with Toseland and Troy Bayliss (Ducati) wheel to wheel for almost the entire race. In the end, it came down to the final turn when Bayliss got through an impossible-looking gap and took the win by just 9000ths of a second.
Max Biaggi - Race 1: 6th, Race 2: 3rd: "We've been struggling a bit all weekend getting the right set-up for the bike and although we improved it from the first practice it still wasn't right at the end. We played around with the engine braking and the bike's balance and we made improvements for sure, but we had some problems during the races, so I'm very happy that we managed a podium after the difficulties we went through. In the first race I had some issues with traction, handling and engine braking so we made some adjustments for race two and I was much happier with the bike. I stayed with the leaders in race two early on, but when they pulled away I just couldn't keep the same pace. I rode as hard as I could and I'm happy, but not happy - if you know what I mean."
Yukio Kagayama - Race 1: 7th, Race 2: 11th: "It has been an unhappy, disappointing and frustrating weekend for me and I did not get the points I was expecting. In race one I was catching the lead group ok and then, after about 15 laps, my front tyre went off and I could not push any harder. The first seven laps or so of the second race were ok and my lap times were better than the first race. But then, as I was going into turn one, it felt like my rear wheel had locked up and I nearly crashed. It was a very strange sensation. I lost quite a few places and I had to try and recover them again. Then the engine feeling was not so good either and all I could do was to ride and finish as high up as possible. We are going to have to sit down, look at the data and see what to do next. There are a few areas that need attention, so we know there's more to do."
Broken Water Hose Takes Out Troy Corser
Troy suffered a very hard crash in the first race at Assen, but bounced back to take a superb fourth place despite being in severe pain. A water hose clamp breakage was the cause of the first race crash which saw Troy flying through the air before hitting the ground heavily and then tumbling for what seemed like an eternity. Troy was taken to the Clinica Mobile for X-rays, but fortunately no bones were broken.
But the impact had hurt his left hip and left him battered and bruised all over, so it was a miracle he even managed to get on the bike for race two! But for his injuries Troy would've pushed harder and maybe would have caught and passed Biaggi. Instead he was forced to settle for a a gritty and determined fourth.
James Toseland (Honda) won the first race, with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) second and Ruben Xaus (Ducati) third. The second race witnessed one of the greatest battles in WSBK history, with Toseland and Bayliss (Ducati) wheel to wheel for almost the entire race. In the end, it came down to the final turn, when Bayliss got through an impossible gap and took the win by just nine thousandths of a second!
Troy Corser ' "I cannot tell you how sore I feel now and I know it's going to be so much worse tomorrow! The first race started pretty well for me and all was going OK. I tried to save the tyres at the beginning and then, at the halfway mark, I began to push harder and managed to get in contact with the leaders bit by bit. Then, just two laps from the end, ! the bike suddenly went sideways without warning. Then it flipped the other way and I went flying though the air before hitting the deck with a big thump. I banged my head quite hard and rolled for what seemed like forever.
I went to the Clinica Mobile for X-rays and was lucky that I hadn't broken anything. Mind you I was sore all over and my left hip was very, very painful. I had a painkiller by a drip before the start of race two and then just went out to see what I could do. The biggest problems was getting the bike to change direction. I was in pain and physically just couldn't move the bike from left to right properly, but I just hung in there and was pretty happy to take fourth because I knew I was not close enough to catch Biaggi." |
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