Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128166
AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Rounds 13/14: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course HAYDEN AND BOSTROM WERE IN A CLASS BY THEMSELVES AT MID-OHIO BY PAUL CARRUTHERS PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS LEXINGTON, OH, JULY 27-28 t would have been a crying shame if both of them hadn't come away with victories from this one. Fittingly, both of them did. Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom and American Honda's Nicky Hayden emerged from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course doubleheader weekend with wins, the duo splitting race victories and second-place finishes after two extremely hard-fought battles. Both were deserving winners, and both continue to leave their mark on AMA Superbike racing in what many believe will be the pair's final few races in the series. It may not be Rainey vs. Schwantz in 1987, but it's close. Friendly and complimentary of each other off the track, Bostrom and Hayden continue to push each other to new levels on the track, and MidOhio perhaps portrayed that more so than the previous 12 rounds of the series. Each showed their strengths, pushing each other as they continue to raise the bar that is beginning to place them head and shoulders above the rest of the Superbike pack. When the dust had cleared from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sunday evening, the scoreboard looked like this: Bostrom - 36 points for a race victory on Saturday, 32 points for finishing second on Sunday, two points for leading the most laps on both days; Hayden - a championship point for earning pole position, 36 points for winning on Sunday, 32 points for finishing second on Saturday. Final score from the weekend: Bostrom 70 points, Hayden 69. The rest of the field? Stick a fork in 'em. They're done. Although we can likely expect more of the same from these two in (Topi Race one on Saturday saw defending champion Mat Mladln (11 get a great Jump on the field, but It w. . Eric Bostrom (32) who kept the thrvttle pinned through tum one for the e.rty I. .d. Aeron Yates (201, Doug Chandler (101, and NI~ Hayden (lie) give chase. (Right) This was the story at the end of race one on Saturday. Bostrom (32) beating Hayden (lie) _ the line by .0341 of. second after a hard fought battle In which the two were In a c.... ofthelr_. 10 AuGUST 7, 2002' cue I • n _ vv s the final two rounds of the series at Virginia International Raceway in a few weeks, it will be difficult for Bostrom to wrest the title away from Hayden. With just those two races remaining, Hayden leads his rival by 35 points, 450-415. Bostrom will need some assistance. The rest of the pack, meanwhile, has simply been left in their wake. American Honda's Miguel DuHamel sits third in the series standings - and he's 104 points behind Hayden. And he's had a good year, a solid third in the standings. Fourth-placed Aaron Yates is 99 points behind Bostrom and 134 points behind Hayden. Ouch. Mid-Ohio featured two stunning battles between Bostrom and Hayden. Bostrom won the first one, and it was the one most will remember from this weekend. Bostrom shot out front, stretching his lead to over seven seconds. Then traffic started to playa part and Hayden caught up, inching right up to the Kawasaki's sliding rear tire in the final few laps. Bostrom had given it everything he had and he wasn't gong to be denied. He battled vicious slides and a tenacious Hayden to win by the blink of an eye - just .0341 of a second. On day two, Bostrom again led the most laps, but this time it was Hayden's turn to assert himself in the final few, pulling away to a 1.616second win in just the waning laps again with a bit of help from that pesky traffic. The final lap was dull in contrast to the race held the day before, but the rest of the race was still memorable. It was also a bit historical, as it moved Hayden to third on the alltime AMA Superbike win list, his 16th career victory moving him ahead of three-time World Champion Freddie Spencer and into a tie with three-time World Champion Wayne Rainey. Unless he passes on offers to go to the World Championships, Hayden won't match the 25 wins of all-time leader DuHamel, or the 20 victories of Fred Merkel. While no match for the Bostrom/ Hayden pairing, the rest of the field was left to battle for the rest of the positions. The best of the rest over the course of the weekend was defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin, the Australian using some new Showa suspension parts to put forth his best effort of late. In the end, that translated to a fifth on day one and a third on day two.