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/128617
A MA/ Che vy T r uck s U .S. S uperb ik e Champions hip R oun d s :2 & 3: Road Atlanta P r o H o n d a O ils B D D ce S u p e r s p o rt Eric Gets His First B y H EN NY R A Y A BRAMS PH OT O BY B RIAN J. N ELSO N BRASELTON. GA. JUNE 4 h a t e ve r it to o k . Er ic Bo strom wa s go ing to do it. Th e Kawasa ki rider was g o ing to win his first -ev er Pr o Hond a Oil s 600cc Supersport ra c e by a ny means ne c essary. If you th ought othe rwise. you ne ed on ly watc h him s lid ing side wa ys into t he tur~ 10A e ntra nce to th e c hica ne at Road Atlan ta . his re ar whee l we ll s tep p e d o u t b ut un d e r co nt ro l. a p a ss ing m a n eu ve r if h e need e d , a bloc king tactic as we ll. As is to be e xp ecte d in the most ex c it ing c la s s o n th e prog ra m . the ra ce. wh ich had be e n red -flagged a nd was now a six- lap spri nt. c a me down to the fina l few tu rn s . an d Bost rom wa s n' t fo lding - not under the re lentles s press ur e of the most pr olific ride r in the history of th e cla ss, Am er ica n Hond a ' s Mig u e l DuH a m e l, and n o t with hometown fav o rite Aaro n Ya tes ready to bre ath e fire on his Yos himura Suzuk i. Bo strom h a d n e ver won one o f the se th ings a nd had s uffered thr ou gh th e dr ought of th e 1999 se ason . Th er e we re gr emlins to pu rge . he was going to do whatever he had to, and he did . W 12 JUN E 14, 2000· cue • e Team Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom (3 2) put in a commanding perfonnance to win his f irst Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport w in at Road Atlanta. Here, he leads Miguel DuHamel (1 7) . Wit h it s two long s t ra ig hts . a nd hard bra king c orners, lea d ing o n the fina l la p isn 't al ways the best path to victory lan e . not unl e s s yo u h a ve to t al co n fid e nce in yo ur m a ch in e . wh ich Bostrom di d . Instead of p laying a ta ctica l ga me . Bostrom s t a yed o n th e gas , ne arly c ras h in g at o n e poi nt in t he late r s ta ge s . but hold ing onto a ve ry narrow victory. "I th o ught m y b ik e was st ro ng e no ug h to t a ke m e d o wn t he ba ck stra ig h t with out to o b ig of a pr ob lem ," Bo st rom sa id . "I k no w t hat Migue l [DuH a m el ] a ctua lly c a me by m e a couple of tim es during the ra ce . I t h oug ht I co u ld p ro b abl y h and le th at ." Whic h he did . be ating Milledgeville, Ge orgia 's Ya te s to the line by 0 .17 5 seconds at th e e nd of the six la ps of all -out war. Bec au s e the ra ce was red flagged , th e re wa s no a ve rage speed or rac e time . It was n 't an e as y pa t h Bost ro m took , a nd ot he rs led the wa y , but he was ther e whe n it m att er ed . He ' d le d t h e firs t s ix la p s o f th e first st art be fore Erion Ra cin g 's Kurtis Rob erts c a m e by , d ro p p in g hi m to sec o n d in fron t o f Du Ha m e l. T h en Kris Clubb c ra s hed on th e ninth la p. and th e re d flag ca me o ut. Quickly. n e vv s everyone re tu rned to the p its for fres h rubbe r front and rear. "I think it he lped me because I was rea lly ca rrying a lot of corner speed out there . a nd m y tires we re g etti ng greasy right a bo ut that time we got the flag . The lap befor e that. th e thi ng s tarted skat ing a litt le bit into t he turn s too much , a nd th e fr o nt wa s pu sh ing a little in tu rn one; the fres h tir e s defin itely h e lp e d ." Yates sa id. "The n it was like , This is going to be li k e a re g u la r old re g ion al rac e a round her e . so e ve rybody's o ut there wide open . It was fun ." On th e re -start it was Robe rts on pole , but it was DuHamel getting the ju m p with Yates second befor e ta kin g th e le ad with a n ins id e m ove in th e c hic a ne . Bo str om a nd Ro be rts wer e right behind. with Am er ic an Ho nd a 's Nic ky Ha yden a nd Yosh imu ra S uzu ki's J a s on Prid more clos e by. Du Ha m el a nd Ya tes w e n t a t it ha rd . Roberts m oving by Bostrom on th e 10 th la p and setti n g a n ew lap re c o rd b y over a s eco n d . a m ar k whic h wo uld s ta nd up to th e e nd . On the ve ry ne xt lap it a ll c ame und on e for Rob erts. En te ring the chi can e , th e Eri on Ra cing ride r m ade one to o ma ny ba cksh lfts, e nded up in fi rs t g ear. a nd . in h is o w n word s . "we nt from being .the fa ste st guy on th e trac k to be ing ninth. th at quick." Rober ts s kitt led off the ma cadam a nd t h roug h th e gra vel trap . c a me ba c k o n tra c k in n inth p lac e . then m ount ed t he ch arg e wh ich wou ld ta ke him up to s ixth. "I fe lt re ally co mfo rta ble ." Roberts s a id of his tim e in the lead. "I felt if I g ot ar o u n d Migue l I c o u ld h a v e m a ybe got a way. He was ridin g pretty def ensive . so if I got a ro un d I c o uld p rob a b ly go , bu t it d id n ' t wo rk o ut th at way ." With Roberts o ut of the wa y. it was Du Ha m el in t he le ad until Bo s tr om we nt insid e of him with a be autifully execute d s idewa ys s lide into the chi ca ne o n th e 1 2 th la p . D uH am el s t ruc k rig h t b ack . g o in g ins ide of Bost rom in t urn 12. t h e fina l tu rn before the finish line . O n the . 13th la p, Bostrom blew by DuH am e l o n t he b a ck s traig ht a nd th e Honda r id e r h a d n o a ns we r . Bo s t rom wo u ld lead t o the finish , h a ngi ng o n t o the win d esp ite o ne n ota bl e o ff-t rac k exc u rsi on o n t he fina l la p. " Las t la p . wh en I c a me ou t of seve n, I a lm o s t c ra shed ," Du Ham e l sa id b e fo re am e nd in g h is v ie w. "I didn 't a lmost c ra s h. I just s lid a nd did a bit of a big o ld wo bble a nd lo st a lot o f dr ive . a n d t ha nk God Eri c [Bo s t ro m ) wen t to lo o k for so m e pot ato e s o r so m e t hi ng - he al most we nt o ff th e t rac k . Th at h el ped m e g et ba ck to him . bu t th at m eant it h e lp ed a lot tha t Aa ro n wa s t he re. be caus e h is b ik e wa s sl ow a n d h e wa s ab le to latch o n and co m e up he re ." " I was ju st goi ng to le a v e it pinn ed." Bostrom s a id . "I d idn 't ca re if I e nded up o ut ther e ." That me a n t th e c h a nc e s for DuH am el we re runn ing out , but he was still t h inki ng win , a nd tha t cost him sec ond. "Eric was pr ot e ct ing the ins ide, s o I went a litt le wide thinking I mi ght do s ometh ing if he 's too c autious com in g do wn t he h ill , a nd t her e g oes Aaron [Yates ] on th e in s ide of m e ." Du Ha m el sa id . "Arid I' m th inking 'We ll, o h wel l.' .. The m ov e on DuHamel was so me th in g Yates h ad b e en p la n nin g fo r some t ime. "The race. ea rly on, I kind of figured out th at I was getting up .. .I was com ing out of th e c hica ne th er e pretty g ood . u p to t he bridg e . t ried it a couple of time s , se e what it wa s like comi ng u p th e insi de th er e a nd wh en we go t to th e red flag . Vic [Fa so la , his c re w chi e f] a s ked m e if I th ought I ha d a nyth ing for t h e s e gu ys . a nd I sa id , ' No m an, no way . Un le ss I' m clo se e n o u g h dr iv in g up th e h ill . m a yb e .' It ju st wor ked o ut to wh er e I was the re , a nd lu c k ily a co u p le o f M iguel DuHamel (rig ht ) had the le a d on t he 600cc restart, but both Eric Bostrom (center) and Aaron Yates (left) got by.