Fontana: Ducati Austin preview

Bostrom Ready For California Speedway at Fontana Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin rider Eric Bostrom goes into the second round of the AMA Championship at California Speedway at Fontana with high hopes after showing the 999's abilities at Daytona ...

Bostrom Ready For California Speedway at Fontana

Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin rider Eric Bostrom goes into the second round of the AMA Championship at California Speedway at Fontana with high hopes after showing the 999's abilities at Daytona where he smashed the lap record in qualifying and then led for much of the 200 mile race.

The 27-year-old Bostrom from Las Vegas, Nevada, has tested the 999 several times at Fontana and the team feels ready to make a podium run at the upcoming event in Southern California. "After such a heartbreaker for us at Daytona, I'm looking forward to racing at Fontana and giving the Ducati fans there something to cheer about. We've shown how competitive we're going to be this year, so it should be a good, fun race." Bostrom has twice finished on the podium at Fontana in the two years that the AMA Superbike series has been held there.

Racing Manager Tom Bodenbach is ready for the challenge at Fontana. "We tested here in February with Jon Cornwell from Ohlins and Jean Herisse from Michelin to help us with technical issues so we feel pretty prepared to do well at Fontana."

The Circuit

Built on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill, construction began in November 1995. Abandoned structures had to be removed, resulting in over one million tons of rubble being hauled away before the earth could be graded and 300,000 tons of asphalt could be laid down. The $120-million facility opened 18 months after construction started, hosting the inaugural California 500.

The facility held its first AMA race in 2002. The challenging and technical 2.36 mile course has 21 turns and uses the banked straightaway along the start/finish line.