From a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin:

PARTS UNLIMITED DUCATI AUSTIN GEARING UP FOR
ROAD ATLANTA

Braselton (Georgia) – September 1, 2004: After a long summer break in the AMA Superbike series, the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin team is ready to return to racing at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia this weekend.

Shortly after the most recent race at Mid-Ohio in late July, Eric Bostrom and the crew conducted tests at both Road Atlanta and Virginia International Raceway, the two remaining rounds in the AMA series. It was an opportunity for the team to continue development on the Ducati 999R’s set-up, as well as a chance to evaluate several new Michelin tires. Ducati Corse’s factory World Supersport rider Lorenzo Lanzi also tested with the team in early August to assist with development. The 22-year-old Italian is currently scheduled to race the last round of the AMA Superbike season at Virginia International Raceway series alongside Bostrom.

“I’m definitely looking forward to Road Atlanta. The track has always treated me well in the past and it’s certainly one of my favorite circuits,” said Eric. “The bike did well during our recent testing and I think we’ve got several good tire options. We’ve had our best results on high speed circuits and Atlanta is a fast track so it could be a good weekend for us. I’m looking forward to getting there and putting my head down. It’ll be good to get back to racing again and trying to finish off the year strong.”

“Even though we haven’t had a race in the last five weekends, the team has been busy with testing,” said Racing Manager Tom Bodenbach. “Throughout the Road Atlanta and VIR tests we made steady progress with the new Michelin tires. Michelin has been bringing us new tires to test at each track and they plan to bring more tires for the race.”

The first of the two 25-lap (100k) races takes place on Saturday, with the second race of the double-header to be featured on Sunday.

The Circuit
Built in the late 1960s, Road Atlanta is a 2.54 mile (4.09 km) road course located in the north Georgia hills. The track features 12 turns and a long straightaway that leads into a hard-braking section before returning to the start-finish line. The hilly terrain that makes for great spectating also makes for challenging riding as racers face a mix of high speeds, hard braking, elevation changes and blind turns.

POINTS: 1. Mladin 457; 2. Zemke 436; 3. Duhamel 413;
4. E Bostrom 336; 5. B Bostrom 306; 6. May 299; etc.