From a press release issued by Eric Bostrom’s publicist:

Seventh Podium for EB

Finishing on the podium for the seventh time this season, as usual Eric Bostrom gave the 1000cc twins all they could handle at Brainerd this weekend, finishing a scant .188 behind Nicky Hayden, but over 9 seconds ahead of Doug Chandler and his factory Ducati.

“Obviously I was disappointed, but I knew going in that it was going to be an uphill battle, because of the nature of the track and the mile-long straightaway. I managed to get my third pole (position) in a row, and got off to a great start, but by the time we hit the end of the straightaway and threw it into turn one, I went straight to the back and was looking at sixth. And that was even in Nicky’s draft! It’s unfortunate that I wasn’t able to get to the front fast enough, had I been able to I would have tried to break away earlier, while the tires were still fresh. When I finally made it to the front and tried to make a little bit of a break, Nick did a good job of following me. But at the end, it was just too much. The tires were too slippery and I had trouble maintaining the pace. I kept trying hard after he passed me, and we were seesawing a bit. I’d catch him in the infield, he’d make it up on the long straight. And at the end there, I got killed lapping the
traffic. It cost me a second and although I was able to make up most of it back up in the infield, I wasn’t able to make a pass on him in the last lap. Going into the last turn, I was either going to shut my eyes and make a bonzai pass or wait until Laguna for my revenge.”

With only two weeks until Laguna, Eric is feeling confident about winning at his favorite track in AMA Superbike and making things interesting in the WSB race, as well. Interestingly, it looks as if Eric will face some of the same AMA racers in Sunday’s WSB races, as wild cards. “I think Nicky will do well at Laguna (in WSB). But, honestly, I’d be surprised if any of the domestic guys, including myself, get top five. That’s not lowering expectations, it’s just reality. I’m looking forward to it, don’t get me wrong, and my Kawasaki is definitely better this year, but I have to be realistic. There hasn’t been one four cylinder on the podium yet this year. Not one! Laguna is a good track for me to try and become the first.”

And with only three rounds (5 races) remaining, and with this being the final year of his Kawasaki contract, Eric realizes that people are already beginning to talk about next year. “My goal this year was to do the best I possibly could to win this AMA Championship. Although we’re currently 2nd, it’s been tough. As a team, we didn’t really gel as quickly as we might have. Now, we’re really getting on well and also working well together and that has made a big difference. But as far as next year goes, I’d like to compete in a World Championship and, of course, on a championship-winning bike. I believe I can win championships, as I’m really riding well at the moment. I’m certainly up to the challenge.”

But which World Championship? Superbike or motoGP? “I don’t really have a preference at the moment. Both are great series. Maybe one will be a stepping stone to the other. But I’d be pretty happy to be in either one.”


More, from a press release issued by Austin Bleu Bayou Ducati:

Austin/Bleu Bayou Ducati Brainerd AMA Superbike Report

Austin/Bleu Bayou Ducati rider Pascal Picotte finished seventh in Sunday’s Chevy Trucks US Superbike event at Brainerd, Minnesota. Picotte and the Austin/Bleu Bayou Ducati team fought through a difficult weekend to consolidate his fifth place in the championship for the Canadian rider. Honda’s Nicky Hayden won the 21 lap event, held in hot and sunny conditions on the 3.0 mile, ten turn Brainerd circuit.

Pascal faced a cracked exhaust and a tire issue in the race that slowed him from the lead pack. “My team worked really hard. I can’t believe how hard they worked this weekend,” Picotte said. “We had some problems here at Brainerd and they worked very late all three days. They pretty much didn’t even have time to even eat but they never gave up. Today, it was my job not to give up out there and do the best to get the best finish we could get. I don’t think it was that great because my guys deserve better than seventh, but it was good to make it to the finish line.”

The team was met with an unfortunate supplier problem at Brainerd, yet it is expected the situation will be rectified by the next race at Laguna Seca in two weeks.

Pascal believes the Austin/Bleu Bayou Ducati can improve at Laguna, as the team continues to learn about Michelin tires and Ducati Superbikes after the project began this spring after Daytona. “One thing about Laguna is that the World guys go there, so Michelin has some experience there and I think we will be in better shape,” Picotte said.


More, from a Honda press release:

American Honda’s Nicky Hayden won his seventh AMA Superbike race of the season, this one a thrilling affair on a sweltering day at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota. Teammate Miguel DuHamel was fourth, with Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts, in his first race since Daytona in March, fifth after leading early in the race.

“Definitely, it’s nice to get a win,” Hayden, 22, of Owensboro, Kentucky, said. “Kind of needed that. You get used to that. Starting to lose isn’t fun.” The win allowed him to stretch his championship points lead to 42 points, 349 to 307, over Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, a close second today. DuHamel, who won the previous two Superbike races, moves to third in points with his fourth place finish today. Hayden led the first lap, then Roberts took over, something of a surprise. He’d been out of racing for three months, since injuring his right leg in a practice crash at California Motor Speedway in April. The leg didn’t bother him in the early going and he and Hayden swapped the lead on the high-speed three-mile course for the first seven laps. Then Bostrom came by, controlling the pace until Hayden made his move on the 17th of 21 laps. Using the power of the Honda RC-51, Hayden moved past on the kilometer long straight to take a lead he would never cede. Bostrom came at him in the final corner, but Hayden was resolute, wining by 0.188 seconds. Then came Bostrom, with former GP rider Doug Chandler third on the Ducati after passing DuHamel and Roberts two laps from the end.

Nicky Hayden, First Place
“When Eric (Bostrom) came by I knew he was going to drop the hammer and go for it. Right there, kind of midway when he was setting the pace, I was just holding on but I couldn’t charge on him or nothing. Then a few more laps went by and I started getting more comfortable, maybe both our tires got greasier. As the race went on I felt better and better and more comfortable. Just one of those deals that it worked out really good at the end. I was able to get a win. It was really nice. It was an awesome weekend right from the start. Me and my bros and my parents and some friends of ours, we chartered a plane up here and we stayed right here at the track condos so in the morning I’d be watching the 600 practice brushing my teeth.”

Miguel DuHamel, Fourth Place
“On the third lap going into turn one (at over 150 mph) I lost the front end pretty bad, like I almost got off the bike. Probably for a lot of guys the same thing happened. For me, since we did a little change to the front end of the bike, it kind of spooked me pretty good. I just was not comfortable hanging it out with those guys. That pace was about as quick as I wanted to go and when Eric (Bostrom) took the lead he took it up a notch and that’s when they split from me. Then after that it was just really trying to keep those guys behind me, Kurtis (Roberts) and Doug (Chandler). Like I said, with the set-up change I just couldn’t get my lines. And here if you’re a little bit off line you’re on the tar patches. I’m pretty happy I didn’t put it on the ground. I had a couple of big moments here and there.”

Kurtis Roberts, Fifth Place
“Going in, with the heat the humidity and not being on a bike for three months I was a little skeptical of the physical aspect of it. Mentally, it was tough. Right after Eric (Bostrom) got around me I started missing some shifts and backshifts and it started playing with my head and it just slowly went downhill from there. Kind of not being around, I thought it was worse than it was. You’re all frustrated. Saw Miguel (DuHamel) get around me and pull away and tried to catch back up. Caught back up to him and got
screwed by some lapper and Doug (Chandler) got around me when I was in third and kind of put his head down and didn’t even drag my leg the last two laps. It was done. Right handers, if it hit the ground the last two laps it felt it. I kept it up the last two laps and it was sore.”

Honda was equally successful in the ultra-competitive Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport class. The lead changed hands three times on the final with Bruce Transportation Group’s Jake Zemke taking it for the final time and holding off a persistent Tommy Hayden to win his first Supersport race by 0.243 seconds and give Honda their second win in a row at Brainerd International Raceway. “I’m so happy,” Zemke said after giving Honda their first win since Miguel DuHamel won here last year. “I’ve never been on a 600 podium before and for the first one to be a win that’s incredible.”

In the Formula Xtreme class, Zemke moved into second the championship point standings, just three points out of first, after a shadow second to Marty Craggill (Suzuki). Starting from the pole, Zemke led the most laps, but came up 0.202 short at the checkered flag. The stifling Midwestern heat was a contributing factor. “The pace definitely dropped, but I think it hurt me worse than anybody,” Zemke said. “Off the time charts all weekend it seemed like I had maybe half a second on everybody in every session.”


From a press release issued by Valvoline EMGO Suzuki:

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Marty Craggill fought off the pain from a broken left foot and came from behind to win the AMA Formula Xtreme race at Brainerd International Raceway, averaging 107.938 mph in the 13-lap, 39-mile race.

Craggill, who broke his foot during practice at Road America three weeks ago, rebroke bones in the foot during the race, when he saved a near-highside but in the process slammed the top of the injured foot against the footpeg.

Iron man Craggill took a few laps to overcome the pain, took a deep breath and went back on the charge, running down and working his way through the lead group. Craggill took the lead three laps from the finish; when he was passed twice, Craggill immediately retook the lead, and held off his pursuers to win by 0.202-second.

It was a great turnaround for the team, which embarked on a rush development program to find more speed after its bikes proved too slow at Road Atlanta, three races ago.

At Brainerd, Craggill was caught on radar at 184 mph, and after the race his competitors commented on the speed of his Valvoline EMGO Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Craggill’s teammate Tom Kipp ran with the lead group early on but DNF with a mechanical problem. Josh Hayes, making his return to racing after three months recovering from a hand injury, finished 7th on his GSX-R1000, running a 2001-spec engine.

In the AMA Superstock race at Brainerd, Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich crashed out, without injury.

In the AMA Supersport race at Brainerd, Kipp finished 9th on his Suzuki GSX-R600, and is a solid 5th in series points.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

European magazines have obtained photos of what they are identifying as the new Ducati 999 street bike.

The photos show what appears to be a manufacturer prototype dressed in flat black bodywork with several stickers and duct tape as a disguise. The bike in the photos has stacked projector beam head lights bracketed by ram-air intakes in the front fairing and turn signals built into the rearview mirrors, similar in appearance to the MV Augusta F4. A trellis-style frame can be seen in the pictures, and the bike is reported to have an under-seat exhaust.

More details as they become available.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Red Bull Yamaha WCM has confirmed plans to run Honda V5 engines in Moriwaki chassis in the 2003 MotoGP series. Red Bull Team Manager Peter Clifford called Roadracingworld.com Tuesday and confirmed that his team plans to run the Honda/Moriwaki combination. “Nothing is cast in stone, but that is our plan,” said Clifford.

Red Bull’s 19-year-old sensation John Hopkins talks about the team’s future plans in his column, The GP Kid, in the September issue of Roadracing World, due out in early August.

After finishing seventh in the Dutch Grand Prix June 29, his best GP finish to date, Hopkins is 10th in the MotoGP World Championship standings. In addition, Hopkins is one of only two riders to have scored Championship points in every MotoGP round this season. The other rider is Valentino Rossi.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

A recent FIM press release announced that the Grand Prix Commission, consisting of Dorna Chairman Carmelo Ezpeleta, Calude Danis of the FIM, Sito Pons of IRTA, Takanao Tsubouchi of MSMA and Paul Butler, the Commission’s secretary, decided to amend the World Championship Grand Prix Regulations and put the new regulations into immediate action.

In a June 26 meeting held at Assen, the Commission unanimously approved the following:

Interruption of a race

1.25.4
If the results calculated show that two-thirds of the original race distance rounded down to the nearest whole number of laps have been completed by the leader of the race and by all other riders on the same lap as the leader, then for the 125cc and the 250cc classes the race will be deemed to have been completed and full Championship points will be awarded. For the MotoGP class, the race will be re-started with the laps and times of the two races added together to arrive at a final result. If it is found impossible to re-start the race, then the results will count and full Championship points will be awarded.


(The new rule enraged many riders, who knew nothing of the change to require a restart until the rule was announced, and who had not chance to offer any input.)

From a press release issued by Dan Murphy of RPM, the promoter of the combined World Superbike and AMA Superbike event scheduled for July 11-14 at Laguna Seca Raceway:


The World Superbike Commission announced today that the following six riders will be the wild card entries at the Laguna Seca round. These riders include: Nicky Hayden, Miguel DuHamel, Aaron Yates, Matt Mladin, Anthony Gobert and Doug Chandler. Eric Bostrom is already entered as a permanent rider in the WSBK series.

The top priority used in making these selections was the Commission’s judgment as to the rider’s ability to finish within the top 5 of each leg.

The Commission will now verify that all six entrants are still willing and able to ride at Laguna Seca. If a rider is not able to compete, a first alternate will be chosen between Pascal Picotte, Jamie Hacking and Kurtis Roberts.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

2001 World Superbike Champion and current point leader in the 2002 World Superbike Championship Troy Bayliss is the clear choice to ride the Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP bike in 2003, says a fan poll on Ducati.com. The poll asked fans to vote for who they would like to ride the Desmosedici in 2003 and gave a list of riders – some current Ducati World Superbike riders, some riders for other teams – to choose from.

Bayliss was the clear winner collecting 47 percent of votes. Current Yamaha factory MotoGP rider Max Biaggi, an Italian, collected 13 percent, while another Italian MotoGP rider, Loris Capirossi, earned 10 percent of the votes. American Ben Bostrom finished fourth in the poll with nine percent ahead of Ruben Xaus (8%), Noriyuki Haga (4%), Alex Barros (3%), Colin Edwards (3%), Carlos Checa (2%) and Kenny Roberts (1%). Valentino Rossi was not listed as a choice.

Ducati.com then followed up with another pole, which is currently running, asking fans to choose who they would like to see as Bayliss’ teammate on the 2003 Ducati.com MotoGP team. Currently, Capriossi is leading the voting with 28%. Biaggi and Bostrom are tied with 18% each, ahead of Edwards (10%), Xaus (9%), Haga (7%), Checa (7%), Barros (3%) and Roberts (3%).

In other Ducati news, the Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP bike will make its first public appearance outside of Italy July 12-14 when it will be displayed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Sussex, England.

From SPEED:

2:00 p.m. FIM 125cc GP, Catalunya
3:00 p.m. FIM 250cc GP, Assen

7:00 p.m. Bike Week
7:30 p.m. Motorcyclist
8:00 p.m. AMA Superbike, Brainerd
9:00 p.m. AMA Supersport, Brainerd
10:00 p.m. FIM MotoGP, Assen
11:00 p.m. Corbin’s Ride On
11:30 p.m. American Thunder
12:00 a.m. Bike Week
12:30 a.m. Motorcyclist
1:00 a.m. AMA Superbike, Brainerd
2:00 a.m. AMA Supersport, Brainerd
3:00 a.m. FIM MotoGP, Assen

All times are Eastern Daylight Time.

From a press release:

Thanks to the efforts of the AMA, Central Roadracing Association and The Colonel’s Brainerd Int’l Raceway, $1725 was raised for the Wegman Benefit Fund over the AMA Pro road racing weekend at BIR.

Spectators were offered a track ride on both Saturday and Sunday plus a t-shirt for a $25 donation to the Wegman Fund.

The Wegman Fund is a non-profit corporation that raises money to assist seriously injured road racers pay medical and related expenses from road racing accidents.

From a WERA press release:

WERA Sportsman Series Presented by Akins Ford Brings Local Racers to Road Atlanta

BRASELTON, Ga.- Road Atlanta will host some of the southeast’s best motorcycle road racers when the WERA Sportsman Series Presented by Akins Ford visits July 6-7.

The weekend of racing will get underway on Saturday, July 6, with the WERA National Vintage Series and the Sportsman Series Solo 20 races. The Vintage Series sprint races are all six laps and feature vintage race bikes ranging from 30 to five years old.

The Solo 20 races are mini-enduros and will include Lightweight, Mediumweight and Heavyweight races, with bikes being divided according to engine size.

On Sunday, July 7, the WERA National Sportsman Series sprint races will entertain fans with close racing and plenty of action. There will be 16 races, with bikes divided according to engine size and the amount of modifications made to the bike.

Akins Ford, presenting sponsor of the weekend, will have a display of their current Ford and Dodge vehicles for fans to see, with a spotlight on the broad range of pickup trucks that they have to offer. The dealership is located near Road Atlanta in Winder. This is the second year that Akins Ford has sponsored the WERA Sportsman Series at Road Atlanta.

Tickets are available for the weekend for just $20 or $15 for the sprint races on Sunday. Camping is also available in Road Atlanta’s infield for $25 for the weekend. More information can be found on Road Atlanta’s website at www.RoadAtlanta.com or by calling the track at 1-800-849-RACE.

Fans will be hearing about the WERA Sportsman Series Presented by Akins Ford event on Star 94, 96 Rock and 96.7 The Buzz. Each station will also have opportunities for fans to win free tickets for the weekend.

WERA Motorcycle Roadracing has been one of the top road racing organizations in the United States since 1971. The series is a breeding ground for many future motorcycle road racing stars that move on to compete in series such as AMA Superbike, World Superbike and Grand Prix. More information about WERA, including the season schedule and complete results from each round, can be found on WERA’s website at www.WERA.com.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

West Honda Pons MotoGP rider Loris Capirossi will miss the British Grand Prix July 12-14 and is in doubt for the MotoGP event at Sachsenring July 19-21 after suffering broken bones in a crash in the MotoGP race at Assen June 29, says a release from West Honda Pons.

According to the team, Capirossi suffered a “double-fracture in his right forearm” as the Italian rider tried to hold on to his bucking NSR500 while racing with the lead pack last Saturday. Capriossi was third in the MotoGP World Championship point standings before the Assen race and now slips to sixth.

On a happier note, Capirossi’s teammate Alex Barros took a battling second place in the Dutch Grand Prix, his first podium finish of the 2002 season, and moves into fifth in the Championship standings, one point behind Carlos Checa.