From a press release issued on behalf of Hotbodies Racing: Hotbodies Racing has invaded the Parts Canada Superbike Championship series, joining forces with the Canadian Suzuki race team, Acceleration Racing, featuring rider Clint McBain, the 2002 Canadian 600 Sportbike champion and multi-time Superbike race winner, and two young up-and-comers: Jeremy Stepper (19) and Cody Matechuk (14). This two-year deal will see Acceleration Suzuki riders using both Hotbodies Racing windscreens and bodywork for the 2008 and 2009 racing seasons on their Suzuki GSX-R’s. “2007 was our first season using Hotbodies bodywork and windscreens, and I was very impressed with both products and am extremely pleased to be representing the Hotbodies Racing brand for the next two seasons here in Canada,” said team owner/rider Clint McBain. Roger Davis, President Hotbodies Racing said, “Working with a Clint McBain in the Canadian series is awesome for us because there is such a great world legacy with their champions. This is also great for us because every Parts Canada Superbike race is broadcast on TV and the Canadian fans are so enthusiastic. Road racers are nearly household names up there.” All Hotbodies Racing street products are available through PARTS Canada dealers from coast to coast, from the USA border to the Arctic Circle. Hotbodies Racing’s race bodywork is available in Canada through www.accelerationracing.com retail website. More, from a press release issued by EDR Performance: EDR Performance, the Pacific Northwest’s premier motorcycle performance center will build and race a Ducati 848 Superbike in 2008! The EDR crew has taken delivery of their bike from local Ducati dealer and main team sponsor, MotoCorsa of Portland. The bike will be developed by EDR Performance’s proven race crew lead by owner Eric Dorn along with ex-factory Honda race tech Chris Vandervoort and long time EDR Crew members Gary Guinn and Chris Adolphson. The bike will be ridden by OMRRA #181’s Jason Bluth in the complete OMRRA Series with select AMA Formula Xtreme and WERA events. The team is extremely happy to have class champion Jason Bluth riding again for them in 2008. Says Bluth “When Eric called me about this opportunity to race an EDR Performance built Ducati, I was ecstatic. The team is definitely proven itself over the years with the Japanese bikes and now with this new Italian race project I’m really looking forward to helping them succeed.” For team owner Eric Dorn today was yet another big step for his shop in terms of growth. EDR Performance is making a more public showing of their support for the Ducati brand of motorcycles. According to Dorn, “I’m really excited. We’ve always wanted to build and race a Ducati for our shop but it’s been difficult to get support on the bike. Luckily this winter our local Ducati dealer, MotoCorsa stepped up and welcomed the opportunity to be the platform for our 2008 race project. We really could not have done this without their help. We want to show the NW in particular that we can build and compete with a Ducati at the same level of competitiveness that we have with over the years with the Japanese brands.” Arun Sharma of MotoCorsa “For sure, this is going to be very exciting. We are pleased to work with EDR and help them build what will be an amazing bike. The 848 is really going to open up some eyes at the track. If the success EDR Performance has enjoyed in the past is any indication, this Ducati will be a bike to be reckoned with.” Along with MotoCorsa of Portland, the team is also extremely excited to continue its work with the successful combination of Dunlop tires and suspension tuning by KFG’s Barry Wressell. Other long time Team EDR Performance sponsors back for 2008 include; GP Suspension, Yoyodyne, Starlane, RD Machine, Lyon’s Technical and Spiegler USA. They are close to finalizing many other new sponsors for the bike and will announce on their website soon. To follow the development of this exciting bike, head over to the projects bike section on www.edrperformance.com EDR Performance is the Pacific Northwest’s premier motorcycle performance center. Since 1999 they have won multiple #1 overall championships, nearly 100 class championships, broke 3 lap records, and have won nationally as well as competed internationally. EDR Performance also builds some of the most award winning street bikes in the NW. EDR Performance is located in the Pearl District of Portland, Oregon. MotoCorsa, Portland, OR is not your traditional motorcycle shop, but a group of active enthusiasts dedicated to performance and customer care. Moto Corsa has won numerous awards including 2006 & 2007 Ducati Dealer of the Year as well as having the Top 5 Ducati Service center awards. MotoCorsa is a multi line dealer that carries Ducati, Aprilia, and MV Agusta motorcycles. More, from a press release issued by Wicked Quick Industries: Portland, Oregon Wicked Quick Industries announces the sponsorship support of James “the Rocket” Rispoli and adds him to an impressive lineup of the companies “speed-cult” members. “Rispoli, a 16 year old motorcycle racing phenom represents the spirit and attitude of the brand,” stated Tarran Pitschka. Pitschka founded Wicked Quick, a “built for speed” apparel brand inspired by screaming engines, tattoo art and rock-and-roll. “James’ dynamic personality, spontaneous wit and fiercely competitive nature portrays our company’s brand perfectly which is; life at one speed all out. In 2007 Rispoli earned (4) AMA National Dirt Track Championships and (7) WERA Road Race Championship titles. Rispoli joins such fellow speed-cult members as 2007 NHRA Nitro Funny Car Champion Tony Pedregon and 2006 Australian Top Fuel Champion Darren Morgan. About Wicked Quick Industries Tarran Pitschka, President and Founder of Wicked Quick Industries, has used his 20 years of experience in graphic and apparel design to create an apparel brand for motor sports and speed fans called Wicked Quick. His career has spanned the lifestyle, team sports and motor sports categories. His understanding of the powerful relationship between graphics and apparel stems from his years as Senior Product Designer at Nike and VP of Design at No Fear apparel. Working with the likes of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and surfer, Sonny Garcia has given Tarran a wealth of experience translating a personality and/or attitude into a memorable brand statement. For more information about Wicked Quick, go to the company web site www.wickedquick.com More, from a press release issued by Alessandro Assanti: Alessandro Assanti, the 2007 WERA West Superbike, Superstock, Formula 1 and Formula 40 Champion has obtained sponsorship from Bazzaz Performance, Dianese, Mach 1 Motorsports and British Petroleum which owns the AM/PM Fueling Stations and their Brand Name Drinks, Deluge Sport and Unbound Energy for the 2008 Racing Season. Assanti will contest five rounds of the AMA Superstock Series in addition to WERA West Events and Select AFM Races. In Addition, Assanti along with Corey Sarros and Jimmy Vanbeek will Campaign RWA/Bike 911 Dunlop Shod GSXR 1000’s with Bazzaz Fuel Management Systems and Yoshimura Built Motors by Rhett Lougheed. The tuning duties will be handled by Jeff Akune and Joel Romero of Bazzaz Performance with all other maintenance duties handled by Mach 1 Motorsports of Costa Mesa. More, from a press release issued by Scorpion Helmets: Lake Forest, CA Six-time AMA Superbike Champion, Mat Mladin, recently signed with ScorpionEXO Helmets for the 2008 season. Scorpion’s Vice President, Eric Anderson, stated “What an honor for such a young company! After a successful 2007 for Scorpion Sports we decided that a racer like Mat would be an excellent fit for our extremely aggressive product development cycle. Mat’s professionalism and dedication to innovation is exactly what our rapidly growing helmet company needs.” ScorpionEXO is already responsible for bringing affordable EverClear™ no-fog shields, KwikWick™ moisture wicking liners and quick-change SpeedShift™ face shields to the market. The HelmetPump™, an adjustable cheek pad system, is Scorpion’s latest innovation. Sponsored racers, such as Mat Mladin and Larry Pegram, will be coordinating with the development team on more efficient ventilation and temperature control systems in 2008. ScorpionEXO is constantly developing helmets technologies to enhance performance in both racing and everyday riding applications. Locking shields and racing tear-offs are just around the corner for off-the-shelf ScorpionEXO products. Mladin will be wearing the EXO-700 Chameleon Scorpion helmet in Daytona for the first race of the Superbike series, which is already on the shelves of your local ScorpionEXO dealer. “I am excited to start the year off with a fresh new look,” said Mat, “This helmet is incredible. I am very impressed with the quality and I can certainly see that thought has gone into this helmet.” More, from a press release issued by Austin DeHaven: 2008 RedBull Rookies Cup rider Austin DeHaven launches new media website www.austindehaven.com Austin DeHaven, 13 year old road racer from Los Angeles California today launched his new media website, targeted to fans and sponsors alike. “we really wanted to have a cool new look to the season since we are going to be competing on the international stage”. Set up to be launched along with the announcement by RedBull this week, the site includes pictures, videos, up to date news and press, as well as contact info and a fan forum, designed by Los Angeles based design firm www.evoke.la we are very pleased with how it turned out and invite fans to drop by and see whats new all throughout the 2008 season as we will be making regular updates and video streams from the road as we travel around the United States in competition. 2007 saw Austin compete in many classes including 50cc, 65cc, 80cc, 125GP and 600 Supersport. He took 2 championships with SCminiGP, a number of 125GP class wins and his first 600cc Superstock podium with WSMC in late 2007. 2008 Austin will be contesting the US AMA Red Bull Rookies Cup as well as select WERA, WSMC, and USGPRU rounds.