From a press release issued by Eric Bostrom’s manager, Norm Viano:

Eric back from Europe

September 4, 2002 – Las Vegas, NV. Arriving back in the States a bit sore and frustrated is Kawasaki Superbike rider, Eric Bostrom. The three weeks he spent in Europe didn’t turn out to be quite the vacation he was looking for. “It’s been a miserable trip all the way through, from boat wreck to bike wreck.”

After winning the last AMA Superbike race of the season, Eric flew to Sardinia to meet brother Ben for a short vacation. The two were planning on enjoying their time together and were training hard in preparation for the German WSB race at Oschersleben. It all went horribly wrong, however, when Eric, Ben, and (friend) Kat were involved in a boating accident near Sardinia. “Basically, we were out in a dingy, going from one island to the next, when a high speed power boater ran us over from behind. The guy was truly reckless. He didn’t even help us get out of the water right away, either.” A last-second leap from the boat and subsequent collision left Kat with a punctured lung, broken ribs, and a concussion. While more than a bit beaten up themselves, Ben and Eric were able to get Kat to safety and medical attention. As a result of all this, Eric arrived at Oschersleben more than just a little sore and concerned about the recovery of his friend, Kat.

On Friday, during practice and qualifying, Eric was so sore, in fact, that he could hardly ride the bike. On Saturday, however, a few hours under the watchful eye and hand of Team Eckl Kawasaki’s sports trainer had Eric feeling much better and ready to put in some fast practice laps. Unfortunately, both his recovery and his weekend were cut short by a highside during Saturday’s qualifying that left Eric with a broken scaphoid. “I just started learning the circuit and was feeling good finally, when the bike spit me off. I was on warm, used tires, going slow on the first lap out. It’s strange. I’m still trying to figure out what happened. I wasn’t on the throttle or on the (rear) brakes.”

Fortunately, the fracture in his wrist was minor and Dr. Costa (SBK’s road racing doctor) indicated that the injury should heal within a few weeks without surgery. When asked what hurts, Eric replied, “Everything! Nothing’s that bad, but just banged up from the boating and bike accident. Mainly I’m just waiting for the wrist to get better. It seems pretty good already.”

Considering how his trip went and that he hasn’t been home since before the Virginia AMA round, is Eric happy to be home? “No, not under these circumstances. I like being at home but I would have liked to have had some good results and a little better time while I was over there. The feeling I had at Laguna of leading a world championship race has only made me hungrier to compete against the world’s best,” he said.

Considering how quickly he was coming to speed at a track that he has never visited, he was hopeful to earn some good results for Kawasaki. Eric describes his first time on the track (in Friday’s practice session) like this. “I was so anxious to get on the bike because I hadn’t been on it in three weeks. It was the first lap out and Ben led the way out of the garage with everyone in tow. It was funny because I was like, “Come on, Ben, get out of my way!” I passed him on the back straight and Ben was pretty surprised. He was like, “You didn’t even know where you were going and you were passing me on the first lap!”

That’s a rivalry that more than one fan may be looking forward to next year.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Ben Bostrom, Eric Bostrom and Nicky Hayden are on the verge of signing deals for the 2003 racing season, but none of the big American names have made any announcements yet.

Many of the potential deals around the world seem to be based on where 2002 AMA Superbike Champion Nicky Hayden ends up for 2003. Thought to be entertaining deals in MotoGP, World Superbike and AMA Superbike, Hayden said he had “no news” when reached on his cell phone at his home Tuesday, but is expected to announce his plans any day.

Eric Bostrom is very close, but what Hayden and other riders do will factor into his decision. “Nothing to report yet, but hopefully within the next week we’ll have a much better idea because this seems to be an important week for those who are making decisions,” said Norm “Lawdog” Viano, Eric Bostrom’s manager. “We had a pretty productive time in (Oschersleben) Germany. I got done what I needed to get done. We’re still waiting on a few pieces, sort of based on what other people do. Like with the GP ride, we have to wait on a few GP people to make some moves.”

Viano laid Bostrom’s cards out on the table for Roadracingworld.com, saying “What we’re looking at is, in MotoGP, there’s Kawasaki. That’s the only MotoGP possibility we have. And Aprilia (in) World Superbike. As far as overseas, those are our two most likely opportunities.

“Here in the States, you can kind of figure out the rest, but that sort of depends on what happens overseas.”

When asked if the yet-to-be-determined 2003 AMA Superbike rules were playing into their choices here in the States, Viano said, “Absolutely. Unfortunately, they are, big time. The problem is some of the teams don’t know exactly what they are going to run. They’re really not looking at Superbike like they were last year. It’s unfortunate, but the rules and the fact that it’s taken this long to have any sort of answer and we’re still talking about it is pretty disappointing. It’s certainly a factor in what we’re going to do here in the States.”

Viano is also representing Tony “The Tiger” Meiring. “We’ll probably have an announcement by the end of this week, I hope. We’re still talking to people, but I think we came to terms with somebody. I can’t say yet, but we’ll probably have it sorted out before Eric’s (deal). It was a lot easier.”

While some of the Ducati Superbike and MotoGP seats have been filling up, L&M Ducati rider Ben Bostrom is still on the market, according to his manager, Fred Bramblett of OMS Sports.

“I’m leaving to go meet with some of the race teams in Europe tomorrow,” said Bramblett. “Probably expect to do an announcement within the next two weeks off the offers that we have. It’s just a matter now of going and sitting down with everybody and trying to iron out some of the details to determine which is the best overall package for him.

“Right now, there’s three different offers in Europe and those are the ones we are taking serious. They’re spread out. There’s MotoGP as well as World Superbike opportunities.” Bramblett said that Ben Bostrom was not considering any deals to return to racing in the U.S.

One of Bramblett’s other clients, two-time AMA Formula Xtreme Championship runner-up Jake Zemke, is much closer to his 2003 plans, however.

“There’s probably a 90 percent chance he will be at Honda here (in the United States) next year,” said Bramblett.

When asked if there was anything about a Superbike in the deal Zemke was considering, Bramblett said, “Nothing I can comment on until it’s signed and done. Right now there’s just the letter of intent stage. Once it’s actually signed-signed, I can let you know. It’s just conversation until the ink’s on the paper. Right now I don’t want to speculate on conversation.”

From a press release:

Intersport Fashions West has been named the new North American distributor of Held products, including Held gloves and Held tank bags.

Local Held dealers can be found by calling (714) 258-2120.

More information is available from the Intersport Fashions West website, www.powersportsleague.com

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) conducted a two-day test with Repsol Honda riders Valentino Rossi and Tohru Ukawa and Fortuna Honda Gresini’s Daijiro Kato at the Valencia Circuit in Spain August 29-30.

According to sources in Europe, Kato turned the fastest lap time of the test at 1:34.04, nearly half-a-second faster than Max Biaggi’s official Circuit Best lap of 1:34.496. Kato completed 147 laps on his RC211V during the test.

Ukawa recorded the most mileage, turning 166 laps, and did the second-fastest lap of 1:34.19.

Rossi did 141 laps of Valencia with a best time of 1:34.62.

Reports indicate that HRC engineers were testing changes to the 75.5-degree V5 engine.

The November 3 Gran Premio Marlboro de la Comunitat Valenciana is the 2002 MotoGP season finale.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Team Cabin Honda’s Makoto Tamada won round six of the All-Japan Road Race Series on Sunday, September 1 at Sportsland Sugo in Japan. Riding a RC51 Superbike, Tamada actually finished second in the 25-lap race, seven seconds behind Team Suzuki’s Yukio Kagayama on the prototype Suzuki GSV-R 990cc, four-stroke, V-4 racer.

Prototype machines are allowed to race in All-Japan Road Race Series events on a exhibition basis and are not eligible for race wins, points or purse money.

Kagayama qualified on pole with a time of 1:29.913 and turned the fastest lap of the race at 1:30.456, while Tamada turned the fastest Superbike lap of the race at 1:30.587.

For reference, Neil Hodgson was the fastest rider in timed qualifying for the 2002 World Superbike race at Sugo with a 1:28.778 on his Ducati 998F01, and Noriyuki Haga won Superpole with a time of 1:28.806 on his factory Aprilia RSV1000.

Officially, YSP Racing & Presto’s Wataru Yoshikawa finished second in the All-Japan Sugo race on his Yamaha YZF-R7, two seconds behind Tamada and nine seconds behind Kagayama.

All-Japan Road Race Series Superbike point leader Atsushi Watanabe finished a distant fourth at Sugo and retains a slim, one-point lead in the series over Tamada, 101 to 100.

The next event for the nine-round series will be held September 15 at Suzuka Circuit.

From a press release issued by Traxxion Dynamics:

For Immediate Release:

Traxxion Dynamics, Inc. has rolled out an online store at www.traxxion.com. Traxxion customers will now see a familiar shopping cart and be able to place orders quickly and cut down on product delivery time.

Max McAllister worked in conjunction with Dan Bulluck of Aspitel (www.aspitel.com) for this latest upgrade.

According to McAllister, “This is a big step forward for Traxxion Dynamics. Traxxion.com is an extremely powerful information tool for suspension consumers all over the world; our site currently takes 150,000 hits a month! To add e-commerce functionality to our website puts it at the top of the podium with the best motorsports-related websites. I am very proud of this site. Within 30 days, we hope to roll out another incredible new feature called ‘Virtual Max.’ Virtual Max is a fictional character who will engage our customers in a virtual sales conversation about their own specific bike. Keep an eye out for Virtual Max!”

For more information visit www.traxxion.com or call 770 592-3823.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Contrary to what Roadracingworld.com was told by an AMA official at the scene, Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates will now be fined for lying on an active racetrack during the AMA Superbike race at Virginia International Raceway August 11.

“He’s been sent a letter and he’s been talked to on the phone,” said AMA Pro Racing Superbike Operations Manager Ron Barrick in a telephone interview Tuesday, September 3. “He’s being fined significantly for his actions there (at VIR).”

When it was pointed out that Barrick told reporters Sunday night at VIR that Yates would not be fined, Barrick said, “Yeah, well, you know, things went beyond me and what my personal thoughts were at the time. Of course, when things are happening quickly like that I don’t have a lot of time to think things through as well as I, perhaps, need to at times.

“But yeah, I agree that was a significant action he took, and especially given the fact that he did it for selfish purposes, based on his public comments on wanting to get back in the race.”

Barrick said that the after-the-fact decision to fine Yates was made by AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition, Merrill Vanderslice, who was also in attendance at VIR.

The letter announcing the fine was mailed to Yates on August 30, nearly three weeks after the incident (and the end of the 2002 AMA season), Barrick said. “Yeah, it would seem a little late,” said Barrick, “But we’re busy with an awful lot of things at this stage. It’s not easy for everybody to get together and discuss that when it’s not the top priority of the day. Sometimes people just don’t realize how many things are going on that need to be dealt with and addressed, that are more important than the timeliness of dealing with a situation like that.”

Attempts by Roadracingworld.com to reach Aaron Yates for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful. His manager, Cliff Nobles, said that Yates would issue a statement in response.

In other AMA Pro Racing news, Barrick said he had just returned from a recent trip to Road Atlanta and would possibly be making another trip to the Braselton, Georgia racetrack September 7-8 to consider changes to the 2.52-mile, 12-turn road course.

“We’re primarily looking at turn three at the moment and trying to figure out what our options are there,” said Barrick. “I was down there last week trying to think out of the box and kind of stand back and think about what all of the possibilities are, whether it be moving walls or reconfiguring the track somehow differently, looking at as many possibilities as we could and try to sit down and look at what will work best for the racing as well as be something that will be affordable from a cost standpoint.”

The turn in question is the left-hand sweeper, usually referred to as turn four, in which Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert fell during qualifying for the 2002 AMA Superbike races at Road Atlanta. Gobert broke his right leg when he slid under inflatable air barriers–which set off a controversy as to whether or not the barriers had been properly installed–and impacted haybales stacked against a concrete wall. Gobert missed most of the season as a result of his injuries.

The same weekend, Doug Chandler crashed his HMC Ducati Superbike into the same air barriers and suffered injuries that put him out of several races.

Barrick also re-confirmed that he will be visiting California Speedway, to look at several possible changes to the Fontana, Calfornia facility’s infield road course, and that he will be looking at Barber Motorsports Park over the next few months.