Duhamel and Zemke podium at Fontana

AMA Chevrolet Superbike Series
Round 2: Fontana, California, Race 1
April 3, 2004

Sunny Southern California? You can throw that stereotype out the window as
cloudy and cool weather yielded to rain by the conclusion of the first AMA
Chevrolet Superbike race held during Round 2 in Fontana, California.
Honda's trio of Red Riders began the event right in the thick of the
front-running action, but only Miguel Duhamel and his Honda CBR1000RR made
it to the podium as Erion Racing's Jake Zemke took fourth place and Ben
Bostrom garnered no points for the second race in a row.

Race action launched to a start under heavy clouds and Team Honda's Miguel
Duhamel looked as though he was going to snare the holeshot, but it was not
to be. In short order, Mat Mladin led the race, followed closely by Eric
Bostrom, then the Honda trio of Zemke, Ben Bostrom and Duhamel. The running
order had no sooner gotten sorted out when Ben Bostrom spurred his
CBR1000RR and passed Zemke for the number three spot. After settling into
his new position, Bostrom then put his sights on his younger brother Eric,
and slowly began reeling him in-despite deteriorating weather conditions.

Ben seemed oblivious to the persistent light rain sprinkles, and for good
reason. "I was really praying for it to spit rain the whole time," he said
after the race. "I love that. I love riding in the rain; you just don't
ride on the paint." He demonstrated his affinity for racing in dampness by
closing the gap on his younger brother, this despite his dodging lapped
traffic. Unfortunately, Ben's remarkable charge came to an end on lap 12 as
he hurled into a right-hand bend and touched the bike down hard enough on
the curbing to induce a low-side. Later, he said, "I was paying attention
to what was in front of me and not really watching my line. There were a
couple of lappers there, and I was just looking ahead, and not looking
where I was going."

With Ben's departure, Zemke inherited third place, with Duhamel about three
seconds back in fourth place. As the 28-lap race wore on, Duhamel closed on
Zemke and the best racing of the day commenced-on a wet track, no less-as
Duhamel and Zemke repeatedly passed one another.

Zemke explained after the race, "It was probably about the sixth lap when
it started sprinkling on us, and it got progressively worse the whole time.
The track was getting slick, worse and worse every lap. There were spots
where the track was getting wet, but those spots kept changing as the storm
swirled around. By the end of the race rain was coming down everywhere.
Miguel and I had a pretty good dice going, but there was no grip whatsoever
on the racetrack. Riding in the rain on slicks is not a good idea."

Regarding the view from the number 17 CBR1000RR, Duhamel said, " It was
slippery out there, so Jake and I were both on eggshells, wondering, 'Okay,
who's going to push what?' We were pushing each other, and he passed me on
the brakes. He was sideways quite a bit but he made it and I'm thinking
'Okay, now I've got to try and get back by him.'

"But you have to understand that Jake and I are teammates, and we all get
along real well. So if anything, that puts a little more pressure on us to
make a clean pass. We definitely don't want to do something that makes both
of us look bad, or fall or something like that. So when you make a move you
try to be as assertive as possible to make sure there's no danger of having
an incident. We have a great respect for each other, and that's the barrier
that keeps us safe out there when we're riding together.

"Jake got me at Daytona, and I knew from that race he wouldn't quit, not
even a millimeter away from the finish line. So when I passed him the last
time I thought, 'Maybe this time he's going to back off with the rain,' but
then I said, 'No, Jake's not going to.' If there's anything I learned it's
that Jake Zemke is not going to back off, so I made sure I kept going, and
I brought home third for my guys."

AMA Superbike Overall Results:
1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki
2. Eric Bostrom - Ducati
3. Miguel Duhamel - Honda
4. Jake Zemke - Honda
5. Geoff May - Suzuki
31. Ben Bostrom - Honda

AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki - 75
2. Jake Zemke - Honda - 59
3. Miguel Duhamel - Honda - 58
4. Lee Acree - Suzuki - 45
5. Opie Caylor - Suzuki - 44
43. Ben Bostrom - Honda - 0 (tie)


AMA Chevrolet Superbike Series
Round 2: Fontana, California, Race 2
April 4, 2004

Southern California redeemed its reputation for sunny weather on Sunday as
the second event of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Round 2 double-header at
Fontana, California flagged off in near-ideal conditions. Once again, the
three Honda Red Riders figured prominently in the race, with Jake Zemke
claiming a podium finish and Miguel Duhamel staging a dramatic
come-from-behind charge to nip teammate Ben Bostrom by 0.382 of a second at
the finish line as the pair followed Zemke to the checkers.

At the start, Honda Erion's Jake Zemke got a strong launch from his
CBR1000RR and he tucked in immediately behind pole-sitter Mat Mladin. Eric
Bostrom trailed the lead duo, with his older brother, Team Honda rider Ben
Bostrom, right behind in fourth place. Unfortunately, Miguel Duhamel
suffered from a mediocre launch and he had to work his way up through
traffic. He eventually climbed back up to fifth place, but he was running
quite a ways behind the lead quartet. On the second lap, Eric Bostrom drove
around the outside of Zemke to take over the runner-up position, and that
running order stayed in place for about the first third of the race as
Mladin, E. Bostrom, Zemke, B. Bostrom and Duhamel rapidly outpaced the rest
of the field.

On lap nine, Ben Bostrom passed Zemke to take over third place, but the two
stayed glued together for several laps. Ben held onto his slim margin until
the 14th lap, when Jake repaid Bostrom with a solid pass. "I had third
place for a while there, but I was riding like a wild man, not controlled.
I was just spinning from lap one," Bostrom later explained.

Jake Zemke disagreed with Bostrom's assessment, saying, "Ben didn't look
like he was too out of control. Actually it looked like his bike was
sticking to the ground better than mine. Ben stuck it in pretty good on me
there right at the same place he passed me yesterday, but I was getting in
there a lot better today. So he had to get in there pretty hard and he ran
both of us off line pretty far. But it was all good. I knew he had been
back there; my board was reading +0, +0, so obviously he thought he could
make a little bit of a run if he got by me.

"But once he got in front of me I just sat behind him. I think our pace
stayed about the same, or maybe we dropped off a little bit because our
tires were dropping at the same time. So I just waited and I saw the
traffic coming up and I knew I wanted to be the first one through the
traffic for sure. I felt that I was a little bit stronger than Ben in a few
areas and so I passed him right before we got into the traffic and once I
did I was able to make a break from him."

As the 28-lap race wound down, Zemke worked to secure his third-place
position, but Ben and Miguel were far from calling it quits. As Duhamel
later recounted, "Towards the end of the race, Ben was really motivated
because he saw what I saw, which was that we were catching Jake. So that
made it hard for me to get Ben. If that carrot hadn't been out there, maybe
we wouldn't have tried so hard. But we put our heads down for the last five
laps and we made substantial progress in catching Jake. Unfortunately, we
ran out of time to catch him and the last lap came up.

"As Ben and I got to the chicane, I took advantage of the situation with
lapped riders in front of him. So I backed up and gave myself a big run and
I got to the chicane and caught his draft. It was the exact same move I did
yesterday with Jake to get third, but today I did it to get fourth. I went
by Ben, and I don't think he was expecting it. But he didn't counter-attack
because it was kind of shaky going into that next corner, so as I came out
of the last corner I got to the finish line in fourth place."

Ben explained his take on the last lap by saying, "We got into that group
of lappers and I couldn't get any acceleration out of the corner to pass
them. I thought Miguel was a couple seconds back or I would have made a
move. As I was sitting behind that little pack, suddenly Miguel came next
to me and I almost pushed him into the grass so I had to open up. We were
racing for one point, and that's not worth crashing over. Second place
isn't worth crashing over. The win's worth crashing for, but not anything
else. If you're racing for the win, you put it all out there.

"I got my first points today, my only points so far. Whether it was
fifth-place points or second-place points, I don't care: I only want to win
races on that bike. I really like the CBR1000RR, but we just missed today,
somehow. We had a pretty good bike yesterday, but today we missed the
set-up a little bit. I've just got to be focused for testing, then we go to
Infineon/Sears Point for the next race."

AMA Superbike Overall Results, Race 2:
1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki
2. Eric Bostrom - Ducati
3. Jake Zemke - Honda
4. Miguel Duhamel - Honda
5.Ben Bostrom - Honda

AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki - 112
2. Jake Zemke - Honda - 88
3. Miguel Duhamel - Honda - 85
4. Larry Pegram - Yamaha - 74
5. Eric Bostrom - Ducati - 70
20. Ben Bostrom - Honda - 26


AMA Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme Race
Round 2: Fontana, California
4 April, 2004

Under sunny skies at the California Speedway in Fontana, California, round
two of the Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme series kicked off with Erion
Honda's Jake Zemke taking the pole position with a 1:27.376 followed by
Team Honda's Miguel Duhamel in second. This competitive race showcased the
talent of both riders on their CBR600RRs. Duhamel and Zemke would keep the
fans on their feet all the way to the checked flag where Duhamel would
claim his second win of the season and Zemke his second podium in the FX
series. Erion Honda's Alex Gobert started fifth and rode a steady race to
finish fourth.

Zemke and Duhamel had to compete in the Xtreme race just minutes after
finishing the Superbike race. Zemke, who took third in the Superbike event,
rocketed from the pole in the Xtreme race, but Miguel had other ideas.
After finishing fourth behind Zemke in the Superbike race, Duhamel wasn't
going to settle for anything but a win.

From the get go, Duhamel took the lead and didn't have to look much farther
than his rear wheel to find Zemke. Jake shadowed Duhamel for five laps,
looking for an opening, and finally made a pass on lap 6. It didn't last
long, as Duhamel grabbed the lead back. The two swapped the lead several
more times on the sixth lap before Duhamel was able to make it stick. But
Zemke never let off; they crossed the finish line separated by only a bike
length, with Duhamel taking his second consecutive Xtreme win of the
season.

"The bike is great," said the smiling Duhamel. "I think Jake and I are
having a great time out there. We pulled side-by-side and were like 'Hey,
this is a lot of fun.'" Said Zemke, "At least we were racing for the lead
[this time]. That makes it a little bit nicer. Miguel and I had a great
race out there. It was a whole lot of fun." Zemke's teammate Alex Gobert
would finish the FX race in a comfortable fourth.

Miguel Duhamel added to the record books today posting his 70th AMA
National win, and by taking Honda to its 37th Formula Xtreme win. The Red
Riders can be seen next racing at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,
California on April 30.

AMA Formula Xtreme results
1. Miguel Duhamel-Honda
2. Jake Zemke-Honda
3. Jason Pridmore-Suzuki
4. Alex Gobert-Honda
5. Vincent Hasovec-Suzuki

AMA Formula Xtreme Points
1. Miguel Duhamel-Honda-74
2. Jake Zemke-Honda-62
3. Alex Gobert-Honda-54
4. Vincent Hasovec-Suzuki-51
5. Jacob Holden-Suzuki-48


AMA Repsol Superstock Series
Round 2: Fontana, California
April 4, 2004

The California Speedway in Fontana, scene of the second round of the AMA's
newly revised Superstock series on Sunday, April 4, hosted Anthony Gobert's
return to racing aboard the Honda-supported Erion Racing Team. A seasoned
veteran, Anthony joined his younger brother Alex Gobert on Honda's new
CBR1000RR in the liter-bike class that rivals Superbike racing for lap
times and drama. Having had a late start this season, both Goberts and
their crews have been working feverishly to bring the program up to speed,
a fact reflected by their placings with Alex netting 14th place overall
while Anthony finished in 16th position.  Ben Spies took the checkered flag
just 1.847 seconds ahead of Damon Buckmaster.

The Erion riders set reasonable goals for themselves as the team continued
to develop the RR for Supersport duty. Alex hoped to finish in the top 10
and looked to be on target before the race was stopped when another rider
crashed. "I had just moved past seven guys and got up to 11th before the
red flag. But on the restart, I bogged down off the line and I had to pass
a lot of guys just to finish where I did." Still, young Gobert remains
optimistic about the future. "This weekend was a huge step forward for us.
We are probably the most improved team since Daytona. We haven't had very
much development time compared to the other teams and we'll be ready for
the next race at Infineon/Sears Point."

After a sustained layoff, Anthony also had practical expectations for his
return to racing. He said, "I rode at the best pace I could this weekend.
Even though I've been training hard, I haven't raced for about eight
months. So I'm still adjusting to the amazing speed of these bikes.

"And I've had only one testing session on the new CBR1000RR, so we haven't
even finalized things such as seating position, much less tuning up the
chassis or engine. There's still so much to learn. For example, in practice
I picked up nearly a second and a half in a left-right turn combination in
the infield just by using a higher gear. That's amazing when you think
about it. We made a good step forward today and now that I've had one race,
we'll make another leap forward at the next race. I'd like to start in the
second row at Sears; that's a good goal for me. And I'd like to finish in
the top six, if that's not reaching too far."

Erion Crew Chief Rick Hobbs commented on the progress the team has made so
far with the CBR1000RR. "We're moving ahead and finding out what the bike
needs. We started off a bit behind because our bikes arrived later than our
competitors' and they've had more time for testing. The 1000 engine is very
powerful, but this track also demands a lot of chassis set-up and
fine-tuning. We made a lot of progress here and we will continue to
improve. I'm confident we will be more competitive as the season goes
forward."

AMA Superstock Overall Results
1. Ben Spies - Suzuki
2. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha
3. Jamie Hacking - Yamaha
4. Jason Disalvo - Yamaha
5. Aaron Gobert - Yamaha

AMA Superstock Point Standings
1. Ben Spies - Suzuki - 62 (tied)
1. Aaron Gobert - Yamaha - 62 (tied)
3. Jamie Hacking - Yamaha - 61
4. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha - 60
5. Tommy Hayden - Kawasaki - 53
17. Alex Gobert - Honda - 26
21. Anthony Gobert - Honda - 15