Graves Motorsports YZF-R6 rider Ben Bostrom survived a wet track, delays, crashes and disqualification by his competition to win the sixth round of the 2008 AMA Supersport series at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. on Sunday, June 8. The veteran racer’s fourth win of the season moves him into a four-point lead over Jake Zemke in the championship standings with the series now one-third complete. Graves teammate Josh Herrin fared less well however, finishing 14th after drying track conditions caught him out with a “wet” weather front tire. Herrin is now fourth in the standings.
Supersport... A crash delayed Saturday’s Supersport qualifying until a rainy Sunday, giving some riders in the field (who already had track time in the wet) an edge and relegating “B Boz” to seventh on the grid. By race time the track was only partly dry and the weather iffy. Bostrom got boxed in by two slower riders at the start and was back to 20th in the first turn before muscling halfway to the front on the first lap, likewise on rain tires. With the track drying, the prospects didn’t look good for a race win on “wets,” but Bostrom got a reprieve on lap two when the race was red-flagged due to a crash. On the restart, Bostrom put his R6 – now shod with proper “dry” rubber – quickly to work, hitting nearly 170 mph on the long back straight and quickly gaining positions. He grabbed second place with three laps remaining and was closing fiercely on leader Steve Rapp – by an incredible three seconds per lap – at the checkered flag, setting the fastest race lap in the process. But Rapp was disqualified after a post-race inspection discovered an illegal rear tire, and Bostrom was awarded the win.
“That’s not how I want to win but we’ll take it,” Bostrom admitted afterwards. “The bike’s incredible and I can’t say enough about my guys. We all learned a good lesson last weekend (at the Salt Lake City, Utah round) and we’re better for it now. Today I just think we had a better package.” Yamaha Road Race team manager Tom Halverson added, “It was good for Ben to get back on the podium and get his confidence up. At Miller he had some back luck that was not his fault, so it was good to see him get another win here at Road America and shake that off. That shows what a seasoned professional Ben Bostrom really is.”
Supersport Results |
| 1 |
Ben Bostrom - YAM |
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| 2 |
Jake Zemke |
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| 3 |
Josh Hayes |
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| 4 |
Blake Young |
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| 5 |
Cory West |
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| 6 |
Garrett Carter |
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| 7 |
Chaz Davies |
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| 8 |
Aaron Gobert |
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| 9 |
Gabor Rizmayer |
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| 10 |
Danny Eslick |
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Standings after round 6 of 11 |
| 1 |
Ben Bostrom - YAM |
191 |
| 2 |
Jake Zemke |
187 |
| 3 |
Blake Young |
156 |
| 4 |
Josh Herrin - YAM |
153 |
| 5 |
Josh Hayes |
152 |
| 6 |
Cory West |
139 |
| 7 |
Chaz Davies |
139 |
| 8 |
Aaron Gobert |
125 |
| 9 |
Danny Eslick |
119 |
| 10 |
Michael Beck - YAM |
102 |
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Superbike Results - Race 2 |
| 1 |
Mat Mladin |
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| 2 |
Ben Spies |
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| 3 |
Jamie Hacking |
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| 4 |
Neil Hodgson |
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| 5 |
Eric Bostrom - YAM |
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| 6 |
Miguel Duhamel |
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| 7 |
Geoff May |
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| 8 |
Aaron Yates |
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| 9 |
Alastair Seeley |
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| 10 |
Chris Peris |
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Standings after round 6 of 11 |
| 1 |
Ben Spies |
378 |
| 2 |
Mat Mladin |
338 |
| 3 |
Neil Hodgson |
293 |
| 4 |
Jamie Hacking |
292 |
| 5 |
Jason DiSalvo - YAM |
265 |
| 6 |
Eric Bostrom - YAM |
254 |
| 7 |
Miguel Duhamel |
238 |
| 8 |
Aaron Yates |
234 |
| 9 |
Geoff May |
199 |
| 10 |
Scott Jensen |
188 |
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Superbike Results - Race 1 |
| 1 |
Ben Spies |
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| 2 |
Mat Mladin |
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| 3 |
Jamie Hacking |
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| 4 |
Neil Hodgson |
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| 5 |
Miguel Duhamel |
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| 6 |
Aaron Yates |
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| 7 |
Jason DiSalvo - YAM |
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| 8 |
Eric Bostrom - YAM |
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| 9 |
Geoff May |
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| 10 |
Alastair Seeley |
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