Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom earned the provisional AMA Superbike pole position for the 63rd running of the Daytona 200 by Arai Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway.

With a Michelin qualifying tire on his Ducati 999F04 Superbike, Bostrom ripped off a lap of 1:46.835 to officially eclipse the two-year-old Superbike record set by Nicky Hayden (1:47.174).

“I’m feeling really good about the Ducati and the Michelin tires,” Bostrom told reporters on pit lane. “I don’t think I did my absolute best job out there, but that’s how qualifying tires are. You either come away feeling like you could’ve gone faster or you end up on your head.”

Bostrom was also fastest in Wednesday morning practice but called his Ducati an “ill-handling machine” then. He said a miscommunication over shock settings was resolved, which made it feel like “I’m back on Eric’s bike again.”

American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel was second-fastest, some 1.3 seconds behind Bostrom, with a 1:48.116. According to Duhamel’s Crew Chief Al Ludington, their newly-built CBR1000RR racebike has a different feel than the prototype CBR1000RR they tested with over the winter. “We’re barely at the tip of the iceberg,” said Ludington. “1:46s are very doable.”

Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke shook off a troubled Formula Xtreme qualifying effort to post the third-fastest time (1:48.344) in his first-ever Daytona 200 qualifying session, on another CBR1000RR.

Fourth-fastest Aaron Yates (1:48.478) was happier with the race set-up on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Wednesday afternoon thanks to a new shock linkage, but his qualifying effort was hindered by a painful interaction between his left elbow and the pylon at the exit of the chicane. Yates was seen icing the injury after the session.

Fifth-fastest Ben Bostrom (1:49.051) said he was happy with a “huge improvement” he made on the race set-up of his American Honda CBR1000RR and looked forward to better times when he started using his qualifying Dunlops Thursday.

Defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin, sixth-fastest with a 1:49.203, said everything was good with his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the moment, but he couldn’t help but take a jab at rival Eric Bostrom.

“Last year everyone said my bike was too fast,” said Mladin, “but for Eric Bostrom to be on pole at Daytona his bike must be a rocketship. That Ducati must be really, really fast for Eric Bostrom to be on pole.”

Pascal Picotte was seventh on his Yamaha YZF-R1 with 17-inch Dunlop slicks. Josh Hayes was eighth-fastest on his Attack Kawasaki ZX-10R Superbike. Triangle Cycles Yamaha’s Larry Pegram came back from a crash Wednesday morning to post the ninth-fastest time on his Pirelli-shod YZF-R1. Prieto Racing’s Geoff May rounded out the top 10 on his Pirelli-backed Suzuki GSX-R1000.


Provisional AMA Superbike Qualifying Results:

1. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 999F04, 1:46.835*
2. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:48.116
3. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:48.344
4. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:48.478
5. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:49.051
6. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:49.203
7. Pascal Picotte, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:51.417
8. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:51.652
9. Larry Pegram, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:51.280
10. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:51.926
11. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:52.136
12. Jordan Szoke, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:52.233
13. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:52.740
14. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:53.558
15. Mike Sullivan, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:54.121

*New track record


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship – Round 1, Daytona 200
Daytona International Speedway, Florida, USA

CONSISTENCY WILL BE THE KEY FOR MLADIN AT DAYTONA THIS WEEKEND

Daytona Beach, Florida, USA (Wednesday, 3 March) – Defending American AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin, has recorded the sixth fastest time during today’s opening qualifying session for this weekend’s Daytona 200, held at the famed Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

In picture postcard weather conditions, Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki team spent the day acclimatising themselves to the ultra fast layout of the circuit and worked at getting the settings right on the teams Suzuki GSX-R1000 in preparation for Saturday’s 57-lap 200-mile classic.

A time of 1:49.203 leaves Mladin with the sixth fastest time of the day. Provisional pole position went to Ducati’s Eric Bostrom who blasted a 1:46.835 in the closing minutes of the session. Completing the top four placings for the session were Miguel DuHamel (Honda, 1:48.116), Jake Zemke (Honda, 1:48.344) and Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki, 1:48.478).

Mladin, who hails from Camden south west of Sydney, is a two times winner of the Daytona 200 and knows exactly what it takes to not only win this race, but also the championship which he has won on an unprecedented four occasions.

“We had a good session out there,” said Mladin after the conclusion of the opening qualifying session. “I did about seven or eight laps at a decent pace with Aaron (Yates) just to get a feel for some race type conditions and it felt good. The rest of the session was spent circulating around, checking things out and getting things ready for Saturday’s race.”

“I did a lap on a soft qualifier at the end there, but it chunked a bit on my fast lap and that was the time I ended up with. I’m not concerned by times at the moment.”

“Overall things are going according to our strategy for the weekend, so we’re happy with the progress so far.”

Prior to the commencement of today’s practice and qualifying sessions, race officials announced a change in the qualifying format where traditionally the top four riders in the opening session would retain their positions for the race, while the remainder of the field would have their grid positions determined by the overall result of both sessions. The format now reflects the qualifying procedure for each of the other rounds of the championship with all grid positions being determined on combined times from both sessions.

Being a former Pole Position winner in the traditional format, Mladin was not overly perturbed by the late change to the qualifying format.

“I used to like the locking in of the front row after that first qualifying session as it used to put a bit of pressure on you to go out and work harder a bit earlier than at other race meetings. Now the format is the same as everywhere else so it’s no problem.

Qualifying for the Superbike competitors concludes tomorrow afternoon.


More, from a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway:

Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom

Takes Daytona 200 By Arai Provisional Pole In Record Fashion

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (March 3, 2004) – Eric Bostrom made history on Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway during provisional qualifying for the Daytona 200 by Arai.

Bostrom, riding the No. 32 Ducati Austin, turned a track record qualifying lap of one minute, 46.835 seconds, 119.961 mph to capture the provisional pole for Saturday’s 63rd Daytona 200 By Arai.

Bostrom’s lap shattered the track qualifying record of Nicky Hayden, who turned a lap of 1:47.174, 119.580 mph in 2002.

“You just have to hit your marks,” Bostrom said. “The bike was obviously working fantastic and the tires as well. I was a little surprised myself it came out as good as it did. You really just out there playing a video game, trying to hit your marks and do everything better than the lap before.”

Rounding out the top-four qualifiers were 2003 Daytona 200 By Arai champion Miguel Duhamel (118.539), Jake Zemke (118.290) and Aaron Yates (118.144).

Final qualifying for the Daytona 200 By Arai is scheduled for Thursday at 1:55 p.m. The 63rd Daytona 200 By Arai is scheduled to go green on Saturday at 2 p.m.

In other qualifying sessions on Wednesday, Ben Spies, riding the No. 11 Yoshimura Suzuki, stole the Repsol Superstock pole from Yamaha rider Jason DiSalvo. Spies toured the 3.56-mile road course about his GSX-R1000 in a track record one minute, 48 seconds, 118.445 mph.

“Yeah (I’m surprised) for only doing three laps in all of qualifying,” Spies said. “We went out this morning and I did three laps and we were second fastest. Then my bike broke right after the first couple of laps and I was sure we were going to get it figured out. Then I got on a bike (during qualifying) that I hadn’t even ridden and I just went faster than on my Superbike around here. It feels good and hopefully we can keep it up.”

DiSalvo, riding the No. 40 Yamaha, turned a fast lap of 1:48.496, 118.124 mph, was excited about his new Yamaha YZF-R1’s performance.

“The bike is so fast,” DiSalvo said. “It’s unbelievable. You juice the power on and the front wheel pulls up in just about every gear. We did so much winter testing here and other places. It just goes to show you how it paid off and what a good bike Yamaha has put together here.”

In Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme, Honda’s Ben Bostrom captured the pole with a time of 1:52.800, 113.617 mph. Sebastien Legrelle posted the fastest time in provisional qualifying for the BMW BoxerCup with a lap of 103.469 mph.

On tap on Thursday at the Speedway will be final Daytona 200 By Arai qualifying as well as the Repsol Superstock and Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme events.

Tickets for all motorcycle races are available online at http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.



More, from a press release issued by Ducati:

BOSTROM BREAKS DAYTONA LAP RECORD TO TAKE PROVISIONAL POLE POSITION

Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom made the full potential of his 999 clear by breaking the Daytona lap record with a 1.46.835 in today’s first qualifying session for the 63rd running of the Daytona 200. The previous lap record of 1.47.174 was set by Nicky Hayden in 2002. Eric continued his form from this morning’s practice session during which he finished ahead of all his competitors and was only one of two riders to break the 1.50 mark. The clear skies in the morning gave way to overcast conditions during qualifying, but temperatures remained warm.

Fresh from Ducati’s victory in the World Superbike factory team’s season opener at Valencia, Spain, Ducati Corse’s Paolo Ciabatti and Track Engineer Ernesto Marinelli traveled to the U.S. for the major American event. “We didn’t do any big set-up changes between the morning and this afternoon. The big difference were the Michelin qualifying tires,” explained Marinelli. “Tomorrow we really need to concentrate on the race. We just want to do a race distance simulation.”

Bostrom said of his record-breaking lap, “I was surprised. There was a little more left in the tires and I didn’t feel like I did the perfect lap or anything. You’re really out there like it’s a video game and trying to hit your marks and doing everything better than the lap you did before. You’re not trying to be Superman or anything, especially here at Daytona because this place can catch you out really easy so you have to keep that in mind.

“I feel like we have a real good bike. I really hope to accomplish these types of results all year. It’s a bit of a surprise. Daytona’s never really treated me that well and I’ve never really had the best go at this place so maybe this year will be different for us.”

Final qualifying is scheduled to take place tomorrow at 1:55 p.m.