The New 2004 FastDates.com Calendars now available!

Covergirls Janelle, Chandi and Joanna Krupa get down to work
in the 2004 Garage Girls calendar available right here.

New 2004 Japanese 1000cc Superbikes
DOA in AMA Superbike
Nov 17th - Kawasaki's decission to pull out of AMA Superbike for 2004 has a lot to do with the late arival of their new ZX1000R Superbike, which probably won't arrive in America until the spring of 2004. Too late in the season to develop it as a competive Superbike against the current Honda RC51 and Suzuki GSXR1000. For the same reason we do not expect Yamaha to race its all-new R1, or for Hondar to race its new CBR1000 Fireblade in AMA Superike in 2004.

American Honda will be forced to make do with the current RC51 which will have to make do with now old specifica tions from the 2002 season. Having their Japanese parent companies spending all their race budget on MotoGP and not developing their new generation of in-line fours to compete in World Superbike is having a direct impact on various countries distributor national superbike programs as well.

Only the Yoshimua Suzuki has the race shop technical team necessary to keep their GSXR1000 competitive against Ducati's more current factory Superbike in the AMA Nationals next year.

We hope Ducati, despite its limited US budget for America, will field a 2 factory rider in AMA Superbike next season to go up against the 2 rider teams from Suzuki and Honda. Asking Eric Bostrom to ride solo leaves a lot to change for the Italians. British Superbike Champion Shane Burns would be the perfect choice for the second man on the Ducat Austin team.

Alstare Suzuki withdraws from World Superbike
Nov 17th, Alleur, Belgium -
As one of the members who wish to promote motorcycle racing, Team Alstare Suzuki wishes to thank all the media that are always fair and neutral, and so dedicated to promote the fun and excitement of motorcycle racing in the world.

On 15th November, MSMA made a statement that all the members other than Ducati will not compete in 2004 World Superbike Championship races as factory teams, and furthermore, will not provide any technical assistance on a factory basis. This is due to the fact the organizer has not adopted a set of fair technical rules that had been agreed by all MSMA members, and also the fact that the organizer have decided to restrict tires to a single make.
In accordance with the MSMA’s decision, Team Alstare Suzuki has decided not to participate in 2004 World Superbike Championship races as Suzuki official Team. It is our heartfelt regret that we are not able to show our racing performance at the track to all of the SBK race fun. We do hope that the public can understand that we were compelled to make such a sad decision this time.

However, we would like to announce that Team Alstare Suzuki is going to participate in 2004 World Supersport Championship races with the newly-designed GSX-R600. The official details including Riders will be announced at a later date. -Francis Batta. Team Manager, Team Alstare Suzuki

Japanese Manufacturers let Sportbike fans down
MSMA PRESS RELEASE
Nov. 17th- The MSMA and each of the individual manufacturers who are members of the MSMA would like to thank the media for all the work they put into covering motorcycle racing and for encouraging so many people to take an interest in, and give their backing to, the sport.
In light of rumors and misinformation regarding who will be competing in World Championship Superbike racing, the MSMA would like to make a clear statement of its position. A set of very fair technical rules had been agreed by all MSMA members in order to prevent unnecessarily high market prices for the machines that the series is based on, but the rules have not been adopted.

Consequently, the MSMA members have unanimously determined that unless these rules are adopted and the decision to restrict tires to a single make is rescinded, MSMA members will not compete in 2004 World Championship Superbike racing as factory teams, and furthermore, will not provide technical assistance on a factory basis. Ducati is exempted due to its pre-existing contractual commitments to sponsors.

The MSMA is deeply saddened at having to make this announcement, but has been forced into the decision. As motorcycle manufacturers, we have to take a resolute stand against technical rules that are likely to be detrimental to the interests of ordinary motorbike customers, and also against the idea of restricting tires to a single make so that a tire maker can become World Champion just by buying the title. We sincerely hope that all devotees of the Championship will appreciate why we have to take this approach. Finally we would like to thank fans, the public and the media for all their support and understanding at this difficult time for motorcycle sports.
We would like to ask you for your understanding and hope that you will continue to be able to give your support to the continuing support to the growth of motor cycling and motorcycle racing.
Yours sincerely,
Takanao Tsubouchi
Secretary General

Editor's Note: The above press releease statement from MSMA is pure political BS. The Japanese manufacturers had no intention of supporting the 2004 World Superbike season before the change of the technical regulations. This in turn, forced FG Sport to change the rules and pick up a spec tire sponsor, Pirelli, to support the privaterer teams and keep the Championship viable. Ducati and Foggy Petronas are now the only factory teams racing in the 2004 World Superbike Championship. A suggestion to our FastDates.com sportbike fans - support the manufacturers who support racing.

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Carl said: "This has been one of the best tests I have been to and the atmosphere within the team has been really positive. Chris had a few mechanical problems on the second day but the first day went very well. He
loved the bike from the word go, especially the way it handled in the corners. And I was very surprised to see that he was nearly as fast as Troy at such an early stage. Chris did not really have much of a chance to test thePirelli tyres, but Troy went very well on them on the second day.

"I was very impressed with Troy's performance. He did around 16 laps on the same tyre, with his last lap quicker than the first. I don't think I ever saw that with our Michelins. We still have a bit of work to find the perfect tyre for our bike but Troy said the Pirelli tyres gave good consistent grip throughout. So everything looks good for exciting racing and close competition in the championship next year."

Chris had finished the first day with a best time of 1:38.2, just half a second down on his team-mate. But, while Troy broke into the 1:36s, mechanical problems prevented Chris from making progress with lap times on the
second day.

Chris commented: "I spent the first day familiarising with the bike and the way the team works, but I was unable
to make much progress on the second day because of a few problems with the bike. But I already know that the
bike does certain things very well. All I can do at this early stage is use Troy as a benchmark and I was only half
a second behind him on the first day which was very encouraging. I didn't get much chance to test the new tyres
but there will be time for that."

Troy said: "I was doing lap times today as good as the ones at our last test here, with similar engine performance. It is still early days in our selection but the signs are that the one-tyre rule is going to work well for the championship."