From a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway’s press department:

Speeds Pick Up On Day 2 Of Dunlop Tire Test At Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (Dec. 9, 2003) — Honda stayed atop the speed charts during the second day of Dunlop tire testing on Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the 63rd Daytona 200 By Arai on Saturday, March 6.



Ben Bostrom, aboard the Honda CBR1000RR, broke the one minute, 47-second barrier in the Tuesday afternoon session with a fast lap of 1:47.650 seconds. The Daytona 200 By Arai pole record held by Nicky Hayden is 1:47.174, which was set in 2002 with Dunlop qualifying tires.

“We’re making big head way, but we still have more to go,” Bostrom said.

Honda also had a second Honda CBR1000RR on track on Tuesday for riders Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke to shake down. Both riders turned laps in the one-minute, 48-second range.

Duhamel is chasing his fifth Daytona 200 By Arai victory, which would tie him at the top of the wins list with Scott Russell.



Unlike past years, Duhamel won’t be racing in Supersport in 2004, where he has a record six victories at Daytona. Instead, the Canadian rider will compete in the inaugural Daytona Lockhart-Phillips Formula Xtreme event, which will be held on Thursday, March 4.

Duhamel has spent most of the Dunlop tire test developing the new Xtreme bike.

“Hopefully, we can get six in Xtreme,” Duhamel joked. “It’s a brand new bike. Just a few minutes ago before the lunch, we did a really good change. Some changes do nothing, some changes do a lot. We did a change on it and it went really good. We’re quite a bit happier with it. It’s progressing nicely which is to be expected on a project bike like the Xtreme is right now.”

Dunlop tire testing, which concludes on Wednesday, is free and open to the public with free access to the Oldfield Grandstand through the lobby of DAYTONA USA.

Tickets to the Daytona 200 By Arai and the Daytona Supercross By Honda are available online at http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling the Speedway ticket office at (386) 253-7223.