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/128387
his was no ordinary AMA Superbike race weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with the series sharing the facility with all the glitz and glamour ofthe Red Bull U.S. Gp, and this was no ordinary result. Ducati Austin's Eric Bostrom dominated the Superbike National at Laguna Seca and, in doing so, handily beat championship leader, pole sitter, and pre-race favorite Mat Mladin to earn the 14th Superbike win of his career. Bostrom reminded everybody that he's had a pretty good run at Laguna Seca over his last seven years of Superbike racing, and that he's much more than a one-race (Pikes Peak International Raceway) wonder. This win was Bostrom's third Superbike victory (200 I, 2002, 200S) on the Monterey Peninsula, and that ranks second to his six victories at Pikes. This one came as somewhat of a surprise to many of the some 60,000 in attendance, since Mladin had dominated all of the abbreviated practice and qualifying sessions. But a pre-race gamble by Bostrom and his Gary Medley-led crew paid dividends. Since he was fighting a front-end chatter in his final time on the track before the race, wholesale changes were made to Bostrom's Ducati right before the start of the race. In addition to lengthening the wheelbase of the bike, the fork got some major tweaks - so much so that Bostrom went to the start line with his knees knocking. "We made some really big changes before the T start of the race, actually, which was nervewracking for me," Bostrom said. "On the warmup lap, I knew that things were right and we'd basically improved the bike in every way. Everything was positive, and it kind of gave me the confidence to put my head down straight away." And that he did. Charging straight from the start, Bostrom led into the first turn and was never headed, though Mladin gave it one bold attempt on the third lap with a charge up the inside in turn I I. With the bike sliding the rear, then tucking the front, Mladin was forced to pick it up and run wide, allowing Bostrom to cut back underneath to retake the lead. From there, it was all Bostrom, and at the finish his lead was almost six seconds. "I could tell on the first lap that Eric's bike was working pretty well," Mladin said. "I wanted to get to the front and try to control it from the front, but my one attempt sucked pretty badly and I wasn't able to do it. From that point on, I sat there for a few laps, and Eric's pace was a little better today, and I couldn't get it done. Halfway through the race, [Mladin started thinking about] the championship and that sort of stuff, so I needed to ease up on the front tire a little bit. As soon as I did that, Eric stretched out the lead pretty good." Mladin ended up well clear of the intra-squad battle going on behind him between his Yoshimura Suzuki teammates Aaron Yates and Ben Spies. The pair exchanged the position a few