Pirelli completed three days of pre-season tire testing at Daytona International Speedway on December 6-8. According to Richard Moore, Pirelli’s new Road Race Manager, “Our testing was a great success and we look forward to being the dominate force again in 2006, backing up our Superstock win at Daytona in 2005. We proved last year that Pirelli has an advantage over every other competitor on the high-speed high-banks of the Speedway, which, as many have claimed, is the ultimate measure of performance.” The Pirelli testing at Daytona saw a mix of weather from rain and cold to mixed sun. The Pirelli engineers saw this mix as a blessing, allowing a wide range of updated tires to be tested in various conditions. Joining Pirelli at the test were team M4 EMGO Suzuki with riders Mike Barnes and Geoff May, Roadracingworld.com’s Chris Ulrich, who came for his birthday and departed with the hard-earned gift of his fastest laps ever, racer Shea Fouchek, Team KWS with rider Matt Lynn, Team C.J. Czaia with riders Bob Fisher and John Linder, and test rider Rico Penzkofer from Germany. Pirelli’s Marketing Manger Chris wall said, “The results of our testing at Daytona were just as we’d hoped. We won last year’s Superstock race there with a come-from-behind move by Vincent Haskovec but we knew we needed to step up our racing tires’ performance to stay on top in 2006. And now we’re confident that’s where we’ll be.” More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin: BEN BOSTROM FIGHTS FOR TOP SPOT AT DAYTONA TEST ON HIS RETURN TO DUCATI Daytona, FL (December 12, 2005) – Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin racers Ben Bostrom and Neil Hodgson tested at Daytona International Speedway December 10-12. Both riders shook down their Ducati 999 Superbikes in the first off-season test for the team, with Ben second quickest overall. Although Sunday’s track time was cancelled because of rain, both riders lapped the famed American speed bowl on Saturday and Monday in cool conditions. Bostrom, a former Ducati racer in both AMA and World Superbike competition, made his debut with the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin team at the test. He was the top man on the time sheets when he completed his work and second quickest when the day had ended. “I loved the bike from the first laps on Saturday. The Ducati 999 was just how I like a race bike, very firm and responsive. I could feel every little change we made to the settings. It was good at the test, but we really haven’t pushed the limits with it yet. We made some small changes to the suspension and it just felt right to me. I’m excited about the new season ahead of us and I think the lap times showed that.” Ben went down late on Monday but was unhurt. “I had a crash at the end of the day. It was a small crash for the rider but a big crash for the bike, unfortunately. My foot slipped off the brake pedal at the slowest corner of the track and down I went. I locked up the front,” he said. Bostrom’s best lap was 1m37.849s, well below the existing lap record at the revised three-mile track in his first ride on the Ducati 999 Superbike. “It was interesting to ride the 999 after racing for Ducati while this bike was on the drawing boards a few years ago. I can tell the factory used the data and information us racers gave them to develop the 999. The bike is fantastic.” Neil Hodgson was fourth quickest with a lap of 1m38.707s. The former World Superbike champion from England was able to slice his lap times late in the day as he improved in the difficult turn one at Daytona. “The test was good for me, but obviously it is a bit threatening when your team-mate is quicker than you,” said Hodgson. “It’s early days, though, and we managed to cut our times by the end of the test. Still some way to go for us, but we’re getting there. My comfort level at this track is definitely improved. We were second last year in the race, but I feel more comfortable here already with what we accomplished.” “We are very glad Ben was immediately on the pace. He hasn’t ridden a Ducati in many years and had never ridden a 999. Neil struggled some but in the last 40 minutes was able to up his pace,” said Paolo Ciabatti of Ducati Corse. “I think it is a good beginning. We have a lot of new personnel this year. We have a good harmony in the team and they got along very well. We are happy at this stage and want to see what we do at the next tests.” Lap Times – 1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 1m37.309s; 2. BEN BOSTROM (PARTS UNLIMITED DUCATI AUSTIN) 1m37.849s; 3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 1m38.371s ; 4. NEIL HODGSON (PARTS UNLIMITED DUCATI AUSTIN) 1m38.707s; 5. Jake Zemke (Honda) 1m39.226s; 6. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki) 1m39.334s. More, from a press release issued by Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki: MICHAEL JORDAN MOTORSPORTS SUZUKI AT THE 2005 DAYTONA DUNLOP TIRE TEST The 2006 Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki team of Jason Pridmore, Steve Rapp and new team rider Jake Holden came together for the first time at the annual Dunlop tire test at Daytona International Speedway on December 10th through 12th. They joined other top Dunlop-supported teams that show up each December to help Dunlop race tire technicians sort through the best choices for the traditional AMA Superbike Championship series opener at the track the following March, while also testing new bikes, riders and crew in anticipation of the upcoming race season. While they have taken delivery of their 2006 Suzuki GSX-R1000s, the Michael Jordan Motorsports Team chose to utilize their 2005 models for testing the Dunlop tires and the many new components the team has developed since the 2005 season ended three months ago. New recruit Jake Holden came to the test and impressed the team, even while riding with a broken bone in his right hand. Pridmore and Rapp tested a variety of tires and worked through new parts to determine which will make the cut, while new technicians worked alongside existing crew to get ready for the highly-anticipated 2006 race season. The three-day test started on Saturday, but was hampered by rain on Sunday and forced teams to strategize and compress testing on Monday. Jason Pridmore Superstock – 5th Fastest Superbike – 9th Fastest “It was great to come here and ride problem-free, healthwise,” said Pridmore. “I’m now 100%, I’ve been working out really hard, and I felt great on the bikes. We started with a good baseline on the Superstock bike, so we worked through some of the new parts that Ammar came up with and tested some new Dunlops. The Superbike was the best it has been all year, but we’ve got a lot of work to do with it to run at the front. I’ll get to ride it once, maybe two more times before we come here next March, so it should be a lot better.” Steve Rapp Superstock – 7th Fastest “We got about a day and a half of good testing in,” said Rapp, referring to the rain day on Sunday. “We went through a lot of tires, fronts and rears, all the ones that Dunlop gave us. We definitely made improvements on the bike, though our lap times may not show it. We had a lot of things, both engine and chassis-wise, that we worked through in anticipation of building our 2006 bikes, which we’ll have at the next test in February.” Jake Holden Superstock – 8th Fastest “Overall, it was a good test,’ said the 21-year-old Holden from Eatonville, Washington. “Getting used to the new Dunlop tires, new Suzukis and a new crew, I think it went really well. It’s nice to be back on Dunlops after a couple of years. I was able to get a baseline set-up pretty quick and my crew chief James Compton and I really worked well together. My hand held me back a little bit at this test, but it’ll be okay by the next test at Fontana.” Crew Chief Rich Alexander “We got some really positive data from testing,” Alexander said. “All three riders were within half a second of each other, and were faster than they were in the spring (the AMA series opener in March of 2005). I was very happy with Jake. He got up to speed quickly, and his feedback was good. We’ve got about 90% of our crew together for 2006, so we’re in really good shape for the next test at Fontana.” Crew Chief Ammar Bazzaz “While the rest of our crew was concentrating on tires, I was primarily looking after suspension and the electronics on the bikes,” said Bazzaz. “The rain day set us back a bit, but I would say we reached 75% of our goals. On these 2005 bikes, we had a series of prototype test items, some having to do with engines, some having to do with mechanical things, so we were sorting out which parts we are going to outfit the new bikes with for 2006. Daytona is an unusual track and it requires a unique set-up, but for us to come together as a team, get the new crew structure jelling and look at some new parts, I think it was very productive.” Superbike Lap Times – Daytona Int’l Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL 1. Ben Spies Yoshimura Suzuki 1:37.309 2. Ben Bostrom Ducati Austin 1:37.849 3. Aaron Yates Yoshimura Suzuki 1:38.371 4. Neil Hodgson Ducati Austin 1:38.707 5. Jake Zemke American Honda 1:39.226 6. Roger Hayden Team Kawasaki 1:39.334 7. Miguel DuHamel American Honda 1:39.375 8. Tommy Hayden Team Kawasaki 1:40.011 9. Jason Pridmore – Jordan Suzuki – 1:40.976 Superstock Lap Times – Daytona Int’l Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL 1. Jason DiSalvo Graves Yamaha 1:38.961 2. Aaron Yates – Yoshimura Suzuki – 1:39.455 3. Jamie Hacking Graves Yamaha 1:39.644 4. Eric Bostrom Graves Yamaha 1:40.172 5. Jason Pridmore – Jordan Suzuki – 1:41.089 6. Ben Attard – Attack Kawasaki – 1:41.143 7. Steve Rapp – Jordan Suzuki – 1:41.440 8. Jake Holden – Jordan Suzuki – 1:41.475 9. Josh Hayes – Erion Honda – 1:41.578 10. Aaron Gobert – Erion Honda – 1:41.643 Legendary NBA star Michael Jordan formed Michael Jordan Motorsports in 2004 as a result of his passion for motorcycle racing. His mission is to bring a new level of excellence and style to the motorcycle racing industry. For more information on the team visit the race team website at www.23RACE.com and the Jumpman website at www.Jumpman23.com. For more information and schedules visit the AMA Superbike Series’ official information web site at www.AMASuperbike.com