After a fantastic opening to the 2008 season under the floodlights of Qatar, where the Losail circuit played host to another masterclass from Casey Stoner, MotoGP returns to Europe this weekend for one of its classic fixtures - the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez de la Frontera.

Despite setting the fastest lap in wet conditions during the Official Test here in February, when he also found excellent race pace in the dry, the reigning World Champion is also aware that the Andalusian track is one of only four venues where he didn't manage a podium finish on his way to the title last season.

However, Stoner is not the type to look at past results - be they good or bad - and he is ready to work 100% with his team to achieve the highest possible finish this time out.

Stoner's team-mate Marco Melandri heads to Spain in the same spirit after finding a good feeling and rhythm with his GP8 during the second half of the race in Qatar. He can't wait for the next Grand Prix as he targets continued improvements.

A fortnight ago, Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri attended the international media launch of the new Bridgestone Battlax BT-016 tyre at Jerez using a Ducati 848 equipped with the new hypersport tyres.

LIVIO SUPPO, MotoGP Project Director
"Last year Jerez was one of the most difficult races for Casey but during both tests here in November and February he managed to improve his performance a lot and ended up very fast in both sessions. He is in incredible form, as he showed in the first GP in Qatar. His confidence in the bike and tyres is definitely even higher than it was a year ago so I think that at Jerez he can also be amongst the frontrunners. We're also expecting an improved performance from Marco, who we think learnt a lot in the first race. There is no doubting his talent - it is only three races since the penultimate round of 2007 at Sepang when he produced an outstanding display to finish second behind Casey. Now, with the improved feeling he found with the Desmosedici during the race in Qatar, I'm sure the results will start to come for him too."

CASEY STONER, Ducati MotoGP Team
"You could say that Jerez last year wasn't one of our best races, but winter testing went well there and with the general improvements we've made since last year I think we can be competitive next weekend. We worked well with the Bridgestone technicians there and tested a lot of different types of tyre, so we should be well prepared to pick the right one for the race. There are a lot of riders who have started the season strongly, especially the rookies, amongst them riders who will want more of the same and riders racing at home, so they'll be very motivated. We just have to try and make sure we do our job well and then try to achieve the best result possible."

MARCO MELANDRI, Ducati MotoGP Team
"Jerez is one of the circuits where we did a lot of testing in the winter and where we tried a lot of different set-up solutions. It is quite a demanding circuit but for me the first race was very important to understand certain things, more than we'd managed during the tests. I definitely have to decide on a direction during practice and follow it without making too many modifications so that we're ready when the moment arrives to put in a qualifying tyre. Starting closer to the front gives you the chance to be fast from the first laps, something we couldn't do in Qatar. The first race certainly wasn't at the level we want to be at but there were positives to take out of it, especially in the second half, so we have to keep working because we can and must improve."

THE TRACK
Built in 1986, Jerez hosted its first Grand Prix the following year and has stayed on the World Championship calendar ever since. It is a race that the majority of riders look forward too thanks to the special atmosphere created by the Spanish fans and the characteristics of the circuit layout, which reward good riding. Many of the 13 corners flow into each other, requiring a precise and smooth racing line and a well-balanced machine set-up. The track also demands good front grip, whilst a host of slower corners also oblige the riders to control the rear wheel as it slides under acceleration on the exit. The latest resurfacing took place six years ago and the circuit infrastructure was also given a recent facelift.

Circuit Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha - 2005) 1'40.596 - 158.284 km/h
Best Pole: Loris Capirossi (Ducati - 2006) 1'39.064 - 160.732 km/h
Circuit Length: 4.423 km.
MotoGP Race 2008: 27 laps (119,421 km)
MotoGP Schedule 2008: 14:00 CET

http://www.ducati.com/racing/00_home_racing/gp/index.jhtml;jsessionid=JIFHKSCICPRJ0CRNCB3CFFQKFUIHSIV2?family=gpteam&modelName=newsgp

Viper Motorcycle Company's Diamondback Series Motorcycle to Be Reviewed in May Issue of "American Iron Magazine"
Review Focuses on Viper's Proprietary All Billet Short Stroked Engine
BIG LAKE, MN--(Marketwire - March 20, 2008) - Viper Motorcycle Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Viper Powersports Inc. (OTCBB: VPWS), announced today that "American Iron Magazine" recently completed a "Ride Review" of Viper's Diamondback Series of motorcycles, installed with the proprietary 152 cubic inch all billet short stroked engine.

The article will be included in the magazine's upcoming May issue, which will be released to newsstands on April 3 and to subscription holders late March. The table of contents can be accessed at http://www.aimag.com/magazines/AIM_toc_0508.htm.

In the review, Joe Knezevic, Managing Editor, "American Iron Magazine," is quoted as stating, "All I can say is that this engine is impressive, especially since it is a production motor and not a custom-built one-off. Simply put, Viper's engineers have done a wonderful job with this proprietary engine, and this is the only production bike I know of that comes with such a big heart."

Viper Motorcycles can be seen at the following Motorcycle Dealerships: Majestic Trikes, Horicon, WI; Barry Motorsport, Tampa, FL; Bikers Dream, Atlanta, GA; Arizona Thunder, Scottsdale, AZ; Bikers Custom, El Paso TX; Victory of Long Island, St. James, NY; FRS Powersports, Memphis, TN; Las Vegas Trike Center, Las Vegas, NV; and American Classic Cycles, Dothan, AL.

About "American Iron Magazine":
"American Iron Magazine" is an American motorcycle magazine specializing in the coverage of American-made motorcycles including Harley-Davidson, Indian and Big Dog Motorcycles. "American Iron Magazine" features a wide blend of editorial ranging from the latest new American-made motorcycles to customized and classic motorcycles, tech and how-to articles, product reviews, tours and more. It is widely considered to be the "Harley bible" of motorcycle consumer magazines. "American Iron Magazine" has two sister publications: RoadBike and American Iron Retailer.

Viper Motorcycle Dealers Include:
Cycle Works of Elk River, located in Elk River MN; Majestic Trikes, located in Horicon, WI; Barry Motorsport, located in Tampa, FL; Bikers Dream located in Atlanta, GA; Bikers Custom located in El Paso, TX; Victory of Long Island located in St. James, NY; J and N Motorsports in Cave City, KY; Big Tom's Customs in PA; and Las Vegas Trike Center, located in Las Vegas, NV.

About Viper Powersports
Viper Powersports develops, produces and markets a line of premium, custom V-Twin cruiser motorcycles, aftermarket engines and other related aftermarket products. Viper cruisers are distributed and sold under the Viper brand name through an independent, nationwide dealer network. The company designs and manufactures custom motorcycles, accessories and motorcycle engine component parts with patented technology using Computer Aided Design (CAD). Many of the motorcycle and motorcycle engine component parts are machined from solid billets of aluminum utilizing Computer-Numerical-Control (CNC) machines. Viper Powersports and Viper Motorcycle Company's websites are www.viperpowersports.com  and www.vipermotorcycle.com .

'It's the one thing the Hells Angels fear
Ottawa Citizen,  Canada - "We can't be infiltrated, no cops can get inside on us, they don't have the resources, the manpower, or the time to wait. We're unbeatable and untouchable." -- Sonny Barger, Hells Angels kingpin, quoted in the 2007 book Running with the Devil, by Kerrie Droban
For police, the hardest thing to stomach was that Sonny Barger was telling the truth. The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was untouchable by law enforcement and invulnerable to informants and undercover agents.
Mr. Barger is the world's best known biker -- the American legend who founded the Hells Angels' feared Oakland chapter in 1957, the surly bad ass who threatened to kill Keith Richards if he did not keep playing after violence broke out at a doomed Rolling Stones concert in 1969, the central renegade in Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, and the clever entrepreneur who built a small band of thugs into a global empire of the underworld.
Though they have shown a remarkable ability to adapt and survive, the Hells Angels, pictured above riding to Bakersfield, California in 1965, now find themselves vulnerable to rival biker gangs, particularly the Mongols, a California-based biker gang made up mostly of younger Mexican-Americans known for drawing new recruits from street gangs.
For years, he backed up his claim that the gang could not be infiltrated with bulletproof security. New chapters sprouted in cities around the world, with most adopting the onerous recruitment process and code of secrecy that kept the Angels' inner circles sheltered from police.
Law enforcement could not get the access it needed to build evidence of Angels involvement in drug trafficking, prostitution, illegal weapons and violence.
But while the world's most notorious biker gang celebrates its 60th anniversary this week, it is reeling from a series of recent successful police operations, particularly in Canada, where the Hells Angels' supremacy among bikers is virtually unchallenged.
Armed with recent federal anti-gang legislation and evidence gathered by undercover agents and the rare co-operation of full-patch Hells Angels, Canadian police and prosecutors are striking at the heart of the gang's confidence in the loyalty among brothers.
"Up to now, when you had that patch on your back, internationally, every criminal knew you were a righteous bad guy. You weren't an informant. They just knew the Angels do not have informants. That was something they didn't have to worry about. Now, just because you're an Angel doesn't mean you're not an informant," says Insp. Gary Shinkaruk, head of the RCMP's outlaw motorcycle gang unit in B.C. "Now you can see a lot of turmoil."
Not that being sent to jail is a big deal for most bearers of the death's-head patch. In fact, doing time is almost a point of pride. But the odds of getting arrested are rising in Canada for the Hells Angels, which has already been declared a criminal organization in court cases in Quebec and Ontario.
Next week, a B.C. Supreme Court judge will decide whether three members of the East End Hells Angels chapter facing cocaine trafficking charges were acting as a "joint venture" on behalf of the chapter. A conviction under the anti-gang legislation could mean longer prison terms and serious disruptions to the Angels' operations, both legitimate and illicit. That's got the fearless Hells Angels nervous, Insp. Shinkaruk says. And not just in B.C.
A "criminal organization" declaration could resonate through Canada and other countries home to the Red and White. While the relatively untested legislation is now difficult to prove in court, a conviction could carry weight in future cases. And some European countries have laws automatically criminalizing an organization that has already been blacklisted by three other countries, Insp. Shinkaruk says.
"It's the one thing the Hells Angels fear the most," says Julian Sher, investigative journalist and co-author of Angels of Death and The Road to Hell. "They lost that battle in Quebec, they lost that battle in Ontario and now they're facing the battle of their lives in British Columbia." Both books are national bestsellers and Mr. Sher is recognized as an expert on biker gangs.
The Hells Angels have always maintained that they are mostly law-abiding and should not be punished collectively for the misdeeds of a few bad apples.
The club was founded in Fontana, California, in March 1948, taking its name from a crew of American B-17 bombers in the Second World War, who adopted the name from a 1930 Howard Hughes movie.
It wasn't until Sonny Barger and the Oakland chapter entered the scene that the Angels gained attention and notoriety as an inextricable part of the 1960s counterculture in California.
The Angels then presided over the event said to mark the end of that turbulent decade: the free Rolling Stones' concert at the Altamont Speedway in northern California on Dec. 6, 1969. A restless crowd clashed with the bikers, and 18-year-old Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by a member of the Hells Angels after pulling a gun near the stage.
Ever since, the Hells Angels have been expanding with new chapters in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America.
All the while, the Hells Angels have conducted a global PR campaign portraying themselves as motorcycle enthusiasts, cowboys for a new generation and even defenders of democratic values.
The gang incorporated in North America, trademarked its brand and set up chapter websites hawking clothes and merchandise to legions of supporters. It organized rides to raise money for charity and appointed spokesmen to deal with media.
At the same time, it continued to wreak its unique brand of havoc: trafficking drugs around the world, muscling in on street criminals and drug dealers and waging war with rival bikers. To at once project those two conflicting public images, what Mr. Sher calls a "Madison Avenue dream," and the vision of Sonny Barger, is unprecedented in organized crime.
"The Mafia doesn't hold press conferences," Mr. Sher says. "And the Triad doesn't have websites where you can buy stickers and support T-shirts. The Hells Angels has by far the most sophisticated PR campaign of any criminal gang in the world. It's absolutely brilliant. And, overall, it works."
The Angels organization has always scoffed at its treatment in the media. "The way we were depicted, we were like Vikings on acid, raping our way across sunny California on motorcycles forged in the furnaces of hell," Mr. Barger wrote in his autobiography.
The law may have finally figured out how to bring down the notorious gang, which evolved from a small group of bikers 60 years ago into a global criminal empire. Tim Shufelt reports.
Tim Shufelt, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Saturday, March 22, 2008
In many of the 30 countries with Angels chapters, the bikers are regarded somewhere between mischievous rascals and mythological knights of the road. And despite ever more sophisticated police outfits dedicated to reining them in, the club's size remains steady at about 3,000 members in more than 250 chapters worldwide, according to Sgt. Eric Dupré, a national intelligence officer with Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, a government agency established in 1970 that facilitates the production and exchange of criminal information and intelligence within the law enforcement community.
Similarly, the Hells Angels in Canada have kept their numbers after large arrest sweeps in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and B.C., and the collapse of chapters in Halifax and Thunder Bay.
With about 460 full-patch members in 35 chapters, the monopoly the Hells Angels enjoys in Canada is unrivalled in any other country. "This country is strictly red and white," Sgt. Dupré says.
The Outlaws are down to just a couple of chapters, and the Bandidos were virtually wiped out after the murders of eight members in Shedden, Ont., in 2006. Six full-patch members of the Bandidos and two associates ranging in age from 28 to 52 were shot and their bodies dumped in a farmer's field. Police called the massacre an "internal cleansing" within the gang.
Of course, law enforcement in Canada is unmoved by claims that Hells Angels members are unfairly targeted. Neither does the Canadian public subscribe to the Angels' gentler constitution, Mr. Sher says. "In Canada, it is widely accepted by a great number of people that they are criminals."
The biker wars in Quebec went a long way in swaying public opinion against motorcycle gangs. From 1994
until 2002, the Hells Angels, led by Maurice "Mom" Boucher, battled Rock Machine bikers for control of the provincial drug market. Each side waged bloody campaigns that left more than 160 dead, including 11-year-old Daniel Desrochers, who was killed by shrapnel from a bomb planted in a Jeep outside a biker hangout in east-end Montreal in 1995.
Any pretense that the Hells Angels is a harmless brotherhood is shattered by a "simple check with the court cases across the country," says Michel Auger, the former Le Journal de Montréal crime reporter who survived being shot in the back six times in the paper's parking lot on Sept. 13, 2000, the day after he ran a story on the latest round of murders.
"Canadians should be thankful to the Hells Angels of Quebec," Mr. Auger says. "Because of the foolishness of the Hells Angels in Quebec in the '80s, Parliament acted to get tougher laws against organized crime," Mr. Auger said.
Also, biker police in Canada got more determined. They realized the only way to take down outlaw bikers was through infiltration -- an expensive, lengthy and dangerous enterprise. "That's always been one of the biggest challenges we've had. Just the way they operate criminally, getting into that inner sanctum, getting into those secret meetings and getting into the places no one else can, that's really what you need to do," says Insp. Shinkaruk. "Having an inside person is just paramount."
Traditionally, police have been unable to overcome the group's military-like recruitment process, which is designed to weed out the weak or disloyal and establish layers of security.
Becoming a full-patch member can take up to seven years, involving several phases of membership and varying levels of subservience to full chapter members, Insp. Shinkaruk says.
But nowhere in the world have police been so successful at infiltrating the Hells Angels as in Canada. In March 2001, police in Quebec arrested 138 bikers, including the entire Quebec Hells Angels Nomads chapter in Operation Springtime, which involved planting two police agents in the Angels-controlled Rockers gang.
In Ontario, Project Tandem resulted in the arrest of 15 Hells Angels on drug, weapons and murder charges in September 2006. And last April, 16 full-patch members were arrested in Project Develop after police conducted dozens of raids and seized the Toronto chapter's clubhouse, $500,000 in cash, 80 weapons, including rifles and shotguns, more than nine kilograms of cocaine, and almost 500 litres of concentrated GHB, the date-rape drug. In both investigations, police had the help of full-patch members.
And the current Hells Angels trial in B.C. is a result of Project E-Pandora, in which the RCMP paid a Hells Angels enforcer $1 million to help collect evidence against the East End chapter.
Drawing on federal legislation passed in 2001 that defines a criminal organization as three or more people benefiting from serious offences, prosecutors in that trial aimed to prove the Hells Angels chapter as a whole gained from the alleged offences. But a conviction will not permanently blemish the Hells Angels patch in B.C. It has to be proven in court with each new trial.
But it would carry stiffer penalties for the accused, would allow police to more easily seize Hells Angels assets or prevent them from operating legitimate businesses, and would give law enforcement more discretion in putting Hells Angels under surveillance.
It may also cause tension within Angels' ranks. Members are under strict orders not to plead guilty to any "criminal organization" charges, Insp. Shinkaruk says. Members who run afoul of the law will more and more have to draw on chapter funds to pay for expensive legal defences.
And when you add the psychological blow of having been infiltrated by police, there is the potential for some serious rifts among members, he adds. Angels may be less likely to trust their full-patch brothers automatically, or take on new members. And their partners in criminal circles may be less likely to trust the Hells Angels for fear of dealing with informants.
The law may have finally figured out how to bring down the notorious gang, which evolved from a small group of bikers 60 years ago into a global criminal empire. Tim Shufelt reports.
Tim Shufelt, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Saturday, March 22, 2008
The toll is also being felt by law enforcement, however, says Sgt. Dupré. "That's a fault of the judicial system itself. The cases are getting so large, so complex, difficult and costly to try. And at the end of the day, law enforcement can only do so many projects at a time."
Of course, the Hells Angels aren't taking this onslaught lying down. The co-accused and their lawyers vigorously defended against the criminal organization label. And if it doesn't go their way, the Angels will learn from it.
"They do their homework," Insp. Shinkaruk says. "Every prosecution we have, they do an excellent job of sharing information, both nationally and internationally. So it's hard to catch them twice the same way."
All of this comes during a period of transition for the Hells Angels. Like many organizations, the leadership is showing its age, particularly in the United States. Mr. Barger is 69 years old and, though he is no longer president of the Oakland chapter, many other leaders are not far behind him in age.
"We're seeing a generational gap within the Hells Angels," Mr. Sher says. "In California in particular, the older guys don't want to fight as much. They've been to jail. They now have their mansions. They now have a mortgage to pay and wives and children to support. And they don't want to go back to jail. They've done their time and they're living high off the hog now."
That reluctance doesn't sit well with new young members eager to reap the rewards of the patch they worked so hard to earn, Mr. Sher says. And it's leaving them vulnerable to threats from rival biker gangs, particularly the Mongols, a California-based biker gang made up mostly of younger Mexican-Americans known for drawing new recruits from street gangs.
But the Hells Angels has also shown a remarkable ability to adapt and survive, like any resilient corporation. Not eager to replay the carnage in Quebec, for example, the Hells Angels moved into Ontario in 2000 by swallowing up several smaller motorcycle gangs in a massive "patch-over."
And law enforcement harbours no delusions of ever ridding Canada of the biker gang. "What they want is to marginalize the Hells Angels. It's the difference between Mom Boucher being on the front page as almost a folk hero, and the Angels being able to walk with impunity into any bar and terrorize a city, or being marginalized as the criminals that they are," Mr. Sher explains.
"Sonny Barger is proud of saying the sun will never set on a Hells Angels patch. And he's right."

 ULRICH, PIETRI, AND VILLA TEST IN ALABAMA FOR ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI - News release
Expectations are sky high for Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki following their terrific 2008 AMA Superstock season opener at Dayton International Speedway. Coming off a pair of top-ten results, including Chris Ulrich's fourth-place run, Ulrich and teammates Robertino Pietri and Santiago Villa are eager to carry the momentum they gained earlier this month in Florida into next month's second round at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL.

The team traveled to the Alabama circuit this week for two days of testing in order to put themselves in the best position possible to meet their goals.

After working through settings on their GSX-R1000s and a number of Pirelli tires, Ulrich declared the test a success and laid out his aim to better what was one of the team's best-ever combined results in Daytona when they next travel to Barber Motorsports Park.

He said, "The team had a successful test. We ran through a lot of different settings and got to try some off-the-wall stuff before coming back to what was working for us. Robertino ended up going about a second or so faster than he ever went before at Barber. He's recovering from Daytona and got a lot done with his setup. As far as my side of the team goes, we made some changes and learned a lot. We weren't quite able to reach our goal of last year's pole time, but we achieved some very competitive laps and are encouraged for the race. Testing and racing are always two different things and we feel good about coming back."

Colombian Santiago Villa also tested for the team in Alabama. Santiago is the newest member of the team and finished 17th in Superstock at Daytona. "Villa made progress at the test. Every time he gets on the bike, he's moving forward and improving his lap times," said Ulrich. "We're happy to see faster lap times and think his part of the program is going well. The objective with Villa is to find some more speed and he's going faster every time he gets on the bike."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki faced some challenges at the test. "The weather wasn't that great and the temperature will be higher when we come back. We didn't have the actual race tire we'll use in April but Pirelli has some stuff in the pipeline that's going to be an improvement," said Ulrich.

"Our goal is to get both Robertino and me in the top five, and continue the progress with Santiago," Chris continued. "Traditionally, Barber is one of the tougher races for Pirelli but we think they will come up with some good tires for the race. It will be interesting to see what Robertino can do when he's healed up some more."

Ulrich has another unconventional test coming up before the Alabama event. "I'm going to spend two days at Huntsville Dragway working on my starts before the race. The crew is pumped to get racing again, too. We're looking forward to carrying our Daytona momentum into the next few races."

The second round of the 2008 AMA Superstock Championship will take place at Barber Motorsports Park on April 18-20.