Eric caught up with me last week after his wire to wire victory in the AMA Superbike race at Laguna Seca, and saying that he was happy just doesn’t quite capture his mood. “Man, I am just having fun riding my Ducati. I was stoked getting a win for the Parts Unlimited Austin Ducati team, but the biggest thing was that I was having a blast riding the bike!” I had a ton of questions for EBoz, but he was one step ahead of me the entire time. “Matt, everyone has been asking me what is different with the bike, and the answer is NOTHING. We had the victory in Colorado and then we were running good at Road America, but the big thing is that we have been enjoying some success at our recent tests. We started getting some positive front end feel at Fontana, but the rear was still kind of vague. My team has been working their butts off and now we’re getting the feel that we need, and the bike is just a lot more fun to ride.” “It was the coolest thing, I was pretty fast out of the gate all weekend but we knew that we needed a little more for the race so we took a big gamble. I want to race for wins, and I know what the Ducati 999 is capable of and I know what the team is capable of, so we took some big risks with the bike set up before the race and it paid of. As soon as I set out on the warm up lap I just felt a big sense of relief, the bike had the feel I wanted. After that, the race was just enjoyable.” I had to ask The Boss how it felt to mix in an AMA weekend with a Moto GP race and again he had nothing but positive things to say. “It was great getting to showcase the talent here in American on a World Championship level and it was great for the fans. Having Red Bull at the race was the best, their hospitality was unbelievable. I got to hang out with Matt Lablanc and Brad Pitt, and Michael Jordan was there and Von Dutch was there, it was just awesome. I have to say that this was the coolest road race that I’ve ever been involved with and Red Bull was a big part of that.” I am also pleased to announce that Eric has tentative plans to race in some upcoming AMA Supermoto Events! Eric will be racing in Shawano, WI on July 30 and Reno Nevada October 1. Eric is also Scheduled to ride in the X-Games the weekend of August 6. I can’t wait to see what Eric does this weekend at the Mid-Ohio round of the AMA Superbike series. Until Then, Matt “Pooch” Repucci