From a press release issued by Eric Bostrom’s publicist:

Laguna Seca Recap: Eric Rocked!

Proving that he is currently the fastest and most consistent road racer in the United States, Eric Bostrom took Laguna Seca by storm and gave the 98,000+ fans something to cheer about. Starting with the AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike Championship, Eric qualified his Kawasaki Superbike on pole for the fourth time in a row. “It’s definitely the way you want to start the weekend.”

Eric had obviously been looking forward to racing at his favorite track. “It’s just nice to be out there on a great racetrack. I enjoy the place so much; it can’t help but put a smile on your face when you’re out there. And the fans are just incredible.”

When the lights turned green for the race on Saturday, Eric stormed away to the lead and was pulling a gap on everyone until a red flag on lap four brought the riders back to the grid. The second restart was a carbon copy of the first, with Eric again leading and pulling a gap on everyone, only to have another red flag interrupt things. Although Nicky was a bit closer after the third restart, Eric got the holeshot again and never relinquished the lead, as he beat the current points leader by over ten seconds.

“The third time was the charm. It’s tough to keep focus after that many restarts. And by the third start we ran out of tires because we didn’t anticipate three restarts. So the tires were a little more slippery than I would have liked. And there was no getting away from Nick; he was just right there on the tail. I tried to keep my head down and keep mistake-free, and we got a little bit of a break with lapped traffic. I got by four guys going in on the brakes, going into the corkscrew. And I was like, man that had to have helped!”

The win was Eric’s second of the season and his eighth podium, as he tries to return the #1 plate back to Kawasaki. “It was a great race. The Kawasaki ZX-7 Ninja worked great, and I can’t thank my crew enough. They have been working so hard lately; you wouldn’t even believe it.”

Not one to rest on his laurels, Eric made Kawasaki owners and fans all over the world ecstatic with his World Superbike performance. Although his pace in race one was a bit slower than expected, he still finished as the highest four-cylinder with a sixth place finish.

“In race one, we had a fork problem. I guess on my victory lap after the AMA win I busted the fork valves when I set the front wheel down (doing victory wheelies). After the race, the guys got in there and fixed the thing up and it made it much better for race two.”

With the problem fixed, Eric gave a performance that his fans expected, and did what no other racer in the world has been able to do, by getting the holeshot and leading the World Superbike regulars for a few laps on his four-cylinder Kawasaki Superbike. Ultimately the performance of the factory twins was too much, but Eric put on a valiant effort by staying with the leaders and finishing a very close fourth.

“Near the end of Race Two, Neil got by me. The lap before that Bayliss had made a big mistake and dropped off the back of Colin a bit. So I thought Bayliss might tow me back up to Colin. I could make time on them everywhere, except down the hill and on the front straight. But then Neil came by me and, I don’t know, just disappeared from me. He and Bayliss just rode off into the sunset. I tried my best. And it was such a great feeling to lead the race. It seemed like an eternity, even though it was only four or five laps. I swear I was giving the throttle the death grip. That throttle cable’s got to be an inch longer now! But it felt great knowing the world champion was behind me.”


From a press release issued by RevUp Ducati:

Jessica Zalusky finishes 9th in 2002 AMA Pro Thunder Standings.

After finishing her last Pro Thunder race of the year at Laguna Seca, Jessica finished strong in 9th in the overall standings for 2002. After having an early set back, a crash in practice, the Laguna Seca rookie finished 32nd in the field.

After learning the disappointing news of the elimination of Pro Thunder from the AMA Series for 2003, Jessica plans to continue to race in AMA in another class. For the remainder of this year, Jessica plans to follow the Formula USA series.

A big thanks to all of those who supported Jessica for 2002, including Ducati, RevUp Energy Drink, Moto Primo, Teknic Gear, HJC Helmets, Motul, STM Italy, Azione Moto, Mason Racin’ Tires, Tuning by Frey, Roadracingworld.com, and Edge Performance Riding Courses.

RevUp Ducati www.roadracinggirl.com