From a press release issued by Pirelli: Rome, Georgia: World-class competitor Larry Pegram has signed a deal putting the Pegram Racing Ducati 848 Superbike on Pirelli Diablo Slicks, for his challenge for the 2008 AMA Formula Xtreme championship. Racer Larry Pegram, AMA Superbike race winner, former World Supersport racer and flat-track racer, said, “We did some pre-season testing at Jennings on a few different Pirelli compounds and nearly broke the track record on a dirty track. The whole team’s excited to get out racing and see how well we go against the competition. We’re already faster than last year so we’re looking forward to a great season.” 2007 Daytona 200 winner Steve Rapp will be defending his crown for Attack Kawasaki on the ZX-6R. Joining Rapp on the team is Welshman Chaz Davies, each rider to compete in Formula Xtreme and Supersport. In 2007 Rapp finished second overall in the FX championship on Pirelli tires, complementing that performance with fourth in the Supersport championship. Davies has already set the fastest laps on race tires at Daytona and Fontana testing in FX and Supersport. After a year that included finishing on the podium of the Daytona 200, many more podiums and fourth-place in the Superstock championship, M4 EMGO Suzuki is returning for another season with Pirelli. Riders include Columbian Martin Cardenas racing in Supersport and Formula Xtreme, newly signed Blake Young competing in Supersport and Superstock, and Cory West, also new to the team, in Supersport. The M4 EMGO Suzuki riders will be competing on the GSX-R1000 and the all-new GSX-R600. M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Keith Perry said, “We’re encouraged by our testing but, as always, we’re continuing to work as hard as possible as if we’ve still got some catching up to do. Blake is an outstanding new member of the team for Superstock and Supersport, mixing well with Martin and Cory. With these three riders we’re optimistic about our chances at these championships.” Also again on Pirelli tires is Roadracingworld.com Suzuki, with returning riders Chris Ulrich and Robertino Pietri, each competing in Superstock on their GSX-R1000s. These riders came on strong last season, capping off 2008 pre-season Daytona testing with Pietri setting the fastest lap overall on race tires for a Superstock bike. Joining the team for 2008 is Santiago Villa, also riding a GSX-R1000 in Superstock. Chris Ulrich said, “From testing we can see that we’re going to have a strong program and competitive tires that will go the race distance. We now have consensus from all of Pirelli’s leading Superstock riders that the tires are working the way we like. With us all going in the same direction with development it will help all of us, plus make the tires better for all racers. Pirelli has come a long way since 2005 when we first rode them and we’re looking forward to a long relationship and the best season of my career.” Pirelli’s North American Racing Manager, Christoph Knoche, said, “With our podium sweep of last year’s Daytona 200 we’re going into this season with huge expectations. Our newest products and stunning times in testing have us all excited. And best of all, the fast times we set at both tests are on race tires, not qualifiers.”