From a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin:

BOSTROM TO MISS SEASON FINALE AT VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

September 8, 2004 – Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom will be forced to miss the final round of the AMA Superbike series at Virginia International Raceway due to injuries sustained from a high-speed crash at Road Atlanta this weekend.

During a visit yesterday to Dr. Art Ting’s Northern California office, the orthopedic surgeon and sports injury specialist diagnosed Bostrom as having a dislocated shoulder with a posterior labral tear, contusions and bruising to the socket and humeral head, and a broken rib.

Dr. Ting has mandated two weeks of complete immobility to be followed by another re-evaluation and a possible probe to determine if surgery will be required. Last July Dr. Ting performed surgery on the same shoulder to repair damage sustained when Eric was caught up in a multi-bike crash during the World Superbike race at Laguna Seca.

“It’s a huge disappointment to end the season this way, especially because I never got to show our speed at Road Atlanta and to show the progress that the team has worked hard to make,” said the 27-year-old rider from Las Vegas, Nevada. “Our times on race tires were strong and I felt we would have been contenders and would have made the race interesting. At the very least we would’ve gotten much better results than we’ve earned lately.

“Missing VIR two years in a row is a big disappointment, especially because the last time that we raced Superbike there we beat Mat after having an epic battle with him. I want to apologize to Ducati, my team, my sponsors, and also to my fans for not being able to compete next weekend. I’m looking forward to quickly getting back to top physical condition.” Bostrom will be in attendance at VIR to sign autographs.

The Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin team will be fielding two riders for the final event at VIR on September 17-19. Ducati Corse’s factory World Supersport rider Lorenzo Lanzi, who tested at VIR in August, is scheduled to race while a replacement rider for Bostrom will soon be announced.