Brainerd: Ducati Austin Saturday summary

Bostrom Picks Up Pace in Saturday Qualifying

Brainerd (Minnesota) - June 26, 2004: Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin's Eric Bostrom shaved nearly 1.4 seconds off his Friday qualifying time today, putting his Ducati 999R in sixth spot for tomorrow's Trofeo Ducati U.S. Superbike AMA Championship race.

Bostrom was upbeat after the only Superbike session of the day, but wanted even more from qualifying at the 3.1-mile (4.58 km), 10-turn Brainerd track. Eric's time of 1:36.380 set on his Michelin-shod Ducati was just behind the top five runners, who were separated by a mere 0.2 seconds at the Minnesota track.

"We improved, but to be honest I was looking forward to being even faster today. Our times on race tires were pretty good, even though we didn't drop as much time as the other guys since they used qualifying tires," said the 27-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Saturday was warmer at Brainerd, although still cool for June. More importantly, the crosswind that bothered the riders in turn two wasn't as much of a hindrance today as it was on Friday.

The team is optimistic about a positive result in Sunday's race. "We were fast on race tires today; it's a lot closer than our qualifying position shows," said Racing Manager Tom Bodenbach. "The guys will be making just a few changes to the bike for tomorrow and then we plan on being in the hunt."

"We'll be a factor. Tomorrow's going to be a good race, I'm sure of that," said Eric, who was among the quickest on the top speed guns into Brainerd's famous turn one.

Tomorrow's 21-lap (100 km) race is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. (Central Daylight Time).

TIMES: 1. Zemke (Honda) 1:35.655; 2. Mladin (Suzuki) 1:35.671; 3. Duhamel (Honda) 1:35.819; 4. B Bostrom (Honda) 1:35.828; 5. Hayes (Kawasaki) 1:35.876; 6. E Bostrom (Ducati) 1:36.380; etc.

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