Daytona 200 Week Preparation In High Gear During Dunlop Tire Test DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., — The motorcycle world converged on Daytona International Speedway for the past three days to participate in the annual Dunlop tire test in preparation for March 3-11 Daytona 200 Week. More than 20 riders from the factory teams such as Honda, Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki tested on both Saturday and Monday in preparation for Daytona 200 Week events, which culminates with the 65th Daytona 200 By Honda on Saturday, March 11. Sunday’s second day of testing was rained out. “This test is huge,” said Eric Bostrom, who is joining factory Yamaha in 2006 and will compete in the Daytona 200 By Honda. “Everyone knows that Daytona sells a lot of motorcycles. There’s a lot of pressure on us to do really well here. This (test) is it. That’s why you see a lot of Japanese engineers here. There’s a ton of importance put on this test because of how important this race is.” While Dunlop utilizes the test to prepare tires for competition at DIS in March, teams are able to shake down new equipment and personnel and get a sneak peek at what the competition is doing. Said Honda team manager Ray Plumb: “We’ll see what everybody else is doing. See their lap times. There’s always room for improvement. We’re always riding forward on our own plan but also looking at the competition seeing what they’re doing and where we need to go.” All of the season-opening AMA events at Daytona are critical to manufacturers, who use Daytona victories to boost bike sales. “Daytona is huge,” said Ducati team manager Tom Bodenbach. “It’s the beginning of the selling season of bikes. From a marketing side, it’s always huge. If you win Daytona, those ads run almost all year.” New Homes For The Bostrom Brothers: The Bostrom brothers Eric and Ben shook down new rides during the Dunlop tire test. After spending last season with Ducati Austin, Eric Bostrom is learning the ins and outs aboard the factory Yamaha. “I really love the bike,” said Bostrom, who’ll compete in the Formula Xtreme and Superstock classes and make his sixth start in the Daytona 200 By Honda. “It’s so agile and just moves quick. It’s strange riding around on a 600 on the banking. You get use to the Superbike spinning and bucking. The 600 is pretty relaxed up there. It’s still fast but it doesn’t do all the wheel spinning that the Superbike would do. I’ve got a lot to sort out.” Eric Bostrom’s new ride with Yamaha will also give him the opportunity to compete in the Daytona 200 By Honda, a race he has yet to win. “I’m really excited to be back in the 200,” Bostrom said. “It’s going to be good. It sounds like we’ll have some good competition with Miguel and Jake and Jason (DiSalvo) and the Erion boys. I think it’s going to add to the race.” After competing overseas for the past year, Ben Bostrom is returning to the United States and will replace his brother Eric at Ducati Austin. Bostrom, who will be reunited with former crew chief Gary Medley, will have Neil Hodgson as a teammate. “We’ve stepped up the crew on both sides,” Ducati team manager Tom Bodenbach said. “We’ve added a few people. Neil has some experience learning the tracks last year. He’s looking real good this year. Now we have two riders who know all the tracks in the AMA series. We’re looking for some good things to happen.” Duhamel Drives For Six: Defending Daytona 200 By Honda champion Miguel Duhamel begins his pursuit for a record sixth triumph in the legendary motorcycle event. Duhamel, who is the winningest motorcycle rider at DIS with 12 wins, is currently tied with Scott Russell atop the Daytona 200 By Honda wins list with five victories. And even though Honda is not competing for the season championship in Formula Xtreme class, they are still entering in the Daytona 200 By Honda. “It’s an event that we’ve always competed in,” said Honda team manager Ray Plumb. “As long as there’s a 200 we want to be here. It’s very important to Honda and it’s very important to the spectators. “If you win on Sunday, you sell on Monday. That’s the motto. We’ve always found it seems to help throughout the year. It good advertising and it kicks off the year in a good way.” DiSalvo Ready For First Daytona 200 By Honda: Included in the stronger field for the upcoming Daytona 200 By Honda will be Jason DiSalvo, who will ride the No. 40 Yamaha. The 21-year-old DiSalvo of Stafford, N.Y., will be making his first start in the historic motorcycle classic. “I’m very excited,” DiSalvo said. “It’s been the race that I’ve wanted to win since I was four years old. Not only win but get the pole here and get that watch. Unfortunately it’s already been promised to my dad. He made me make that promise when I was knee high and didn’t even know what a Rolex was.” DiSalvo won the Daytona Supersport event in 2004 and understands the impact of a Daytona victory on a racing career. “It kind of opened up a lot of doors and a lot of opportunities for me,” DiSalvo said. “One could only hope winning the 200 would have an even bigger impact. I think it will. That’s just my goal right now to win the 200. I think Yamaha, it’s one of their primary goals for the season of course besides winning the championship.” Thumbs Up To New Pavement: The infield sports car road course at DIS was repaved in June and the AMA riders during the Dunlop tire test got their first look at the new asphalt. “The lap records are going to fall when we come back here in March,” Bostrom said. “It’s got a lot of grip and it’s nice and smooth and fast.” Said DiSalvo: “It’s going to make the track not only faster but safer. It’ll make for a better show for the fans.” Tickets for Daytona 200 Week events are available online at http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.