From a press release:

FROM WET TO DRY. HOPEFULLY.

May 29, 2002 – Fountain, CO. After a tough, rainy, and cold race in England last weekend, Eric Bostrom is back in the States, ready to race again. But this time he’s hoping for a race without rain when he tries to put a stop to Nicky
Hayden’s win streak, this weekend, at the AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike round at Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR). Eric arrived in Colorado last night, straight from England, and is spending the next few days acclimating to the time zone, enjoying the beautiful weather, and reflecting on his Silverstone World Superbike experience.

Although his best result at the British circuit was an 11th place in Race 1, the experience proved to be a fun and valuable one. “Silverstone is twice as wide as any track we have here. It’s super flowing, and it’s pretty safe. The only place that’s dangerous, with not much runoff, is coming onto the front straight. And there are these big, painted grid boxes for the F1 cars that are real slippery. But otherwise, it’s very safe and it’s just a bitchin’ track to ride. I just wish it had been dry. But we learned a lot in setting the bike up that weekend. Some of the choices we made worked really well. Might not be compatible with all the racetracks in the States, but it should help us with a few. But what made things tough (at Silverstone) with the rain, was not being
able to see where I was going on a track that is really, really fast. But actually, it was fun. I’m starting to get better at racing in the rain. Once things got started and I was able to see, it was okay. The unfortunate thing was that I got such bad starts that I was so far back you couldn’t see anything for awhile, through the spray. But, particularly in the first race, I got faster every lap. We just ran out of time. I think with a few more laps I could have been in the top 10. In the second race, it was just a total disaster. We picked the wrong tire and I had no grip.”

It should be a different story for Eric and his fans this weekend, as PPIR is a track where Eric has earned some of his best results. In 2000 he finished 2nd on the Kawasaki Supersport bike and 1st on the Kawasaki Superbike. Last year, he swapped those results, finishing 1st in the Supersport race and 2nd in the Superbike race, giving Eric confidence about his chances this weekend. “I own this place. I think that it’s a 48 lap race, and the Supersport race took a lot
out of me last year. Especially since Anthony (Gobert) rode a really great race coming after me. (Eric lead from ‘stripe to stripe’ and won the race, beating Gobert). So when the Superbike race kicked off just a few hours later, I didn’t
have the mental stamina to beat Nicky (Hayden). This year, it’s a different story since I’m focusing solely on the Kawasaki Superbike. So I’m looking forward to it. I know that I can ride 100% this weekend and make things tough for Nicky.”

After PPIR (and the subsequent AMA Road America round), Eric will get a much needed break before perhaps getting another chance to race the World Superbike boys, this time at Misano. “Izutsu might be back for the Misano round in a few weeks, and that’s obviously good for him to get back. He’s had a tough injury, and I think they’re going to test him over in Japan first. But there’s a possibility that we can get a wild-card ride for Misano, even with Izutsu there.
I hope so, because I really think I could do well at that track.”

Eric Bostrom is proudly sponsored by:
Kawasaki (www.Kawasaki.com and www.Kawasaki-Eckl.com)
RedBull (www.RedBull.com)
Alpinestars (www.Alpinestars.com)
Arai (www.AraiAmericas.com)
Oakley (www.Oakley.com)
Airtrix (www.Airtrix.com)
Ecko (www.Ecko.com)
Dunlop (www.DunlopMotorcycle.com)
Maxima (www.MaximaUSA.com)
Lockhart Phillips (www.LockhartPhillips.com)
Akrapovic (www.Akrapovic-ai.si)
Ohlins (www.Ohlins.com)