BOSTROM CRASHES OUT OF UTAH RACE WHILE FIGHTING FOR LEAD
Tooele (Utah) 18 June 2006: Parts Unlimited Ducati pilot
Ben Bostrom continued his quest for victory in the early portions
of Sunday's AMA Superbike race at Miller Motorsports Park.
Despite a strong challenge that saw him qualify on the front
row and fight for the lead in both races, Bostrom had an unfortunate
crash while battling for the win. His teammate Neil Hodgson
worked his way from outside the top ten to sixth place in
the 21-lap race.
Bostrom charged off the line and took the lead on lap one.
The Californian led the event for the first three laps, riding
the Ducati 999 aggressively in the Utah heat. On lap four,
Ben Spies passed Bostrom, but the former series champion stuck
to the younger rider's tail. Bostrom closed the gap even tighter
over the next few laps and was fighting for the lead on lap
seven when he highsided and lost out on his chance for victory.
"The Ducati was capable of running 1:50 flat lap times
and I was impressed," said Bostrom. "I had a couple
of moments out there while I was in the lead and so I just
decided to chill and see how the race developed. Spies passed
me, but I was sticking with him. I caught right back up to
him so I decided to hammer it again. We were running very
close for a while, but then I crashed in a weird spot. I'm
okay."
Bostrom suffered a hip contusion after the crash, but felt
very positive about his weekend. "Now that we have a
half year on the bike, I'm understanding the Ducati 999 much
better," said Ben. "From here on out, we'll do our
best to challenge for wins starting with the next race at
one of my favorite tracks, Laguna Seca."
Hodgson fought through a difficult race. Despite two separate
trips through the gravel traps (one in each leg of the red-flagged
race), Neil claimed sixth place and kept his fourth pace standing
in the series points.
"I made a mistake in both legs that cost me everything,
really," said Hodgson after the race. "It's frustrating.
I guess I was fortunate to climb back up to sixth but I wanted
more from the weekend."
The next race for the Parts Unlimited Ducati Team is July
21-23 at Laguna Seca.
Results: 1.Jake Zemke, Honda 2. Mat Mladin,
Suzuki 3. Ben Spies, Suzuki 4. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 5. Tommy
Hayden, Kawasaki 6. Neil Hodgson, Parts Unlimited Ducati 7.
Aaron Yates, Suzuki 8. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki 9. Steve Rapp,
Suzuki 10. Matt Lynn, Suzuki DNF Ben Bostrom, Parts Unlimited
Ducati.
AMA Superbike Points (after 11 races): 1.
Ben Spies, Suzuki 388 2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki 367 3. Miguel
Duhamel, 302 4. Neil Hodgson, Parts Unlimited Ducati 288 5.
Aaron Yates, Suzuki 278 6. Jake Zemke, Honda 273 7. Tommy
Hayden, Kawasaki 272 8. Ben Bostrom, Parts Unlimited Ducati
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