Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Eric Bostrom will race a ZX-6RR in the AMA Supersport race at Daytona and will race an over-bored ZX-7RR Superbike in the 2003 AMA Superbike series.

“For sure, Eric will ride the 600 at Daytona,” said Kawasaki Road Racing Team Manager Michael Preston Friday, November 22. Preston made the announcement at Kawasaki’s 2002-2003 Motorsports Celebration held at Oakley’s world headquarters in Foothill Ranch, California.

When asked if his team will take advantage of the over-bore allowance in the 2003 AMA Superbike rules, Preston said, “Absolutely. He’s going to campaign the Superbike, make an assault there and see if we can’t get that Championship.

“(The new engine) it’s in development. The rules are what, three-weeks-new? So we’re scrambling to get stuff ready to go. So like I say, it’s in the development process. I’m not sure if we’re going to have everything ready or not for (the Dunlop tire test at) Daytona. We’re still waiting for some pieces, and we want to make sure that we test them really good on the bench. And as you know, we’re running out of time fast. Daytona is very fast and can be very dangerous if we have a problem. So we don’t want to set Eric down on something that hasn’t been tested thoroughly on the bench and stuff.”

Kawasaki recently held a multi-day test at Thunderhill Race Park, a club racing track in Willows, California, but did not run the updated Superbike. “We were just shaking down some of the new 600s,” said Preston. “We just want to see how they work, just kind of shake ‘em down. We’ve got all new cowlings and new bikes, just making sure nothing rubs wrong and everything goes right so we can have a smoother run down at Daytona.

“(Bostrom) was riding his 600. It’s been a while since he’s been on it. Again, he was a Champion, so he’s definitely got a lot of experience that can help the other guys, too.”

Tommy Hayden and Tony Meiring will campaign Kawasaki ZX-6RRs full-time in AMA Supersport and the 636cc version of the ZX-6RR in AMA Superstock in 2003.

“I like it a lot,” said Hayden of his new Kawasaki 600. “It’s definitely a lot more different than I expected, but the potential the new bike has is really good. We’re pretty far away from what we’re going to have at the Daytona tire test, and even then, I think the potential of the bike is unreal. It felt really good!

“We went through a lot of basic stuff, getting comfortable on the bike. I learned a lot, and we’re going to be way ahead going into the tire tests in a couple of weeks. I’m glad we got a couple of days in.

“The (radial-mounted front) brakes are really good. I was really impressed. We tested the whole time on stock pads and everything, and they worked perfect. It’s as good as anything I raced with before. So that’s pretty good to have that stock.”