Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom got the worst of the first-lap, turn-two, five-rider pile-up in the first World Superbike race at Laguna Seca Sunday, but the AMA Superbike Championship hopeful says his injuries are actually minor, despite the ominous information released by the Laguna Seca press office shortly after the crash.

“I banged up my shoulder and my back, but I’ll be alright. Just take it easy for a couple of weeks and get ready for Mid-Ohio,” Bostrom said Sunday evening while sitting in the Kawasaki transporter with his right arm in a sling.

Bostrom suffered a dislocated right shoulder in the incident, but the shoulder was relocated into its socket in the medical center at Laguna Seca. Although he has no broken bones, Bostrom plans to visit famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. Arthur Ting Monday for an MRI scan “to be safe.”

Originally, Bostrom said he did not have a good chance to do well in the World Superbike races on his less powerful 750cc machine, but those feelings changed during Sunday morning warm-up at Laguna Seca. “We made a lot of really good changes to the bike that I wish we would’ve known about yesterday,” said Bostrom. “I felt like we had a bike that could run 1:26s for a long time. I’m disappointed.”

Update: At about 1:15 p.m. Monday, Bostrom was undergoing an MRI at Dr. Art Ting’s office in Fremont, California.

Chris Ulrich underwent an MRI at Dr. Ting’s office Monday morning and was awaiting analysis of the MRI when Bostrom arrived for his MRI.