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etc.

THAT’S DOCTOR ROSSI...

Valentino Rossi’s nickname is “The Doctor.” Now he really is one! The charismatic 26-year-old multiple world champion recently received an honorary academic award-similar to a doctorate-from Italy’s University of Urbino. The nearly 500-year-old institution applauded Rossi’s “extraordinary communicative capacity, his phenomenal sports talent, his good nature, creativity and innate ability to project all this— not only in the Italian media, but internationally—to further the sport.”

RIDE THE ACE

Planning to be in Jolly Olde England the second week of September? Like old-school café racers? Then pop by the 12th annual Ace Cafe Reunion, scheduled for September 911 at the infamous rocker hangout in Stonebridge, London, where hundreds of the faithful gather to celebrate all things Ace. Smile for the camera and you might wind up on the Discovery Channel! For details, visit www.ace-cafe-london.com.

TWO WHEELS SMOKE FOUR

This year is turning out to be a recordsetter for motorcycle roadracing on television. Ratings for Speed Channel’s May broadcasts of the AMA Superbike and Supersport races from Colorado’s Pikes Peak International Raceway were the highest to date, the former tying the French Grand Prix for the best-rated roadracing broadcast of the year, and the latter topping live coverage of Formula One’s Monaco Grand Prix and the ARCA Stock Car race from Toledo, Ohio.

ART OF THE RACER

Dunlop’s “Legends” advertising campaign has spawned a series of high-quality, collector-edition posters with net proceeds benefiting injured riders through the Clayton Memorial Foundation. Printed in black and white on heavy 19 x 26-inch art stock and suitable for framing, the 10 posters feature legendary racers David Bailey, Yvon Duhamel, Broc Glover, Bob Hannah, Kent Howerton, Rick Johnson, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, Bubba Shobert and Jeff Ward. Priced at $30 each (or $25 for multiple posters), they are available through www.cyclenews.com or by calling 714/751-7433.

SUZUKI & KAWASAKI II

Both Suzuki and Kawasaki have issued press releases regarding the “alliance” formed between the brands in 2001, stating that the agreement had reached a “new phase.” According to Kawasaki, it “will now focus on potential exchanges of indirect resources, rather than on direct OEM product exchanges.” Suzuki’s release echoed this statement, which means that by 2007 most of the shared models will once again only be sold by their respective manufacturer. While the KX-F and RM-Z 250s were developed jointly, the Suzuki release said each company, “may introduce their own versions of this model with features not commonly used on both of the Suzuki and Kawasaki models.”