Ducati Road America race one notes

Fifth Place Finish for Bostrom in Race 1 at Road America

Elkhart Lake (Wisconsin) - Saturday June 5, 2004: Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin's Eric Bostrom finished fifth in Saturday's AMA Superbike race at Road America after leading the early stages. The 27-year-old from San Francisco, California led into turn 1 and kept his Ducati 999 at the front throughout most of the first six laps of the 16-lap race.

"The bike is really fast and I got a great start off the line," said Eric. Unfortunately, Bostrom's bid for two consecutive Superbike wins fell short. "When the rear tire started to taper off a bit, I started to drop back. Right now our set-up is based on the rear tire; that worked well at the beginning because I'm sure Michelin has the best rear tire out there.

"We put the Ducati 999 up front for the first part of the race, which always feels great, especially since there are a lot of Ducati fans here at the track."

"Eric had a great start and was running well in the first part of the race," said Racing Manager Tom Bodenbach. "The Ducati power is great for getting off the line. It was good to see Eric outbraking some of the other riders in the beginning."

Bostrom will look to improve his finishing position tomorrow at the 4.048-mile (6.51km) track. "I think the key is that we have to get through the corners faster," said Eric, currently fourth in the AMA Superbike points. "Tomorrow, we'll roll the dice in a couple of areas when it comes to the set-up. I'm sure we can make it a little better but we'll have to take some chances since we'll only have the morning to test the changes."

Race two of the doubleheader at Road America is scheduled for tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. (Central Daylight Time).

RACE: 1. Duhamel (Honda); 2. Mladin (Suzuki); 3. Zemke (Honda); 4. B Bostrom (Honda); 5. E Bostrom (Ducati); 6. Crevier (Suzuki); etc.

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