AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series
Round 12: Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca
By
PAUL CARRUTHERS
PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS
MONTEREY, CA, JULY 13
s dominant as Eric Bostrom was
in last year's thrilling AMA
Superbike race at Laguna Seca, this
year he was even more so.
While last year's race featured a
hectic battle that went to the very
end, this year's version of the Eric
Bostrom Laguna Show was a tad on
the boring side, the Kawasaki rider
romping away from the field to post
his second victory of the AMA/Chevy
Trucks U.S. Superbike Series.
The man who came the closest to
giving Bostrom a fight was American
Honda's Nicky Hayden, but not even
A
the championship leader was up to
the task of beating Bostrom on a
bright, sunny day on the Monterey
Peninsula. Bostrom simply controlled
the race from start to finish, drawing
away slowly at first, more rapidly
(Top) Nicky Hayden (691 may have led
over the crest and into tum two, but
he didn't have it for much longer. The
AMA Superbike National at Laguna
Seca simply belonged to Eric Bostrom
(321, despite the best efforts of Aaron
Yates (20), Doug Chandler (10), Miguel
DuHamel (17), Pascal Picotte (21) and
Anthony Gobert (16).
(Right) Hayden (691 kept Bostrom (32)
honest for a while, but the Kawasaki
eventually pulled clear by over nine
seconds for his second win of the
season.
16 JULv24. 2002' c u e I ...
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... _
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later - until he'd completely demolished the field, including Hayden, to
win by 9.798 seconds.
Bostrom's biggest problem was having to do all of his work three times,
thanks to two red-flag race stoppages
that erased his lead on two separate
occasions. But he was up to the task
every time, getting good starts, taking
the lead and holding it throughout.
Hayden was disappointed with the
result, the 21-year-old obviously
