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AMA: MBNA Superbike Tour Road America

14 June 1998

Saturday notes from the American Motorcyclist Association's MBNA Superbike Tour races at the Road America Coca Cola SuperCycle Classic in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Conditions: Mostly sunny with temperatures in the low seventies.
Course length: Four miles

TEAMLINE 750 SUPERSPORT RACE
Jason Pridmore and his No. 1 HyperCycle Suzuki had the pole and went on to take a third season win in today's Teamline 750 SuperSport race. Pridmore's qualifying time of 2:18.517 broke Pascal Picotte's 1996 record of 2:19.602. "I just put my head down," said Pridmore. "I knew these guys would be riding great and I just want to give credit to my crew and Dunlop."

A 4.039 second margin of victory separated Pridmore and second-place finisher Rich Alexander and the No. 5 Barnett Suzuki. The finish allowed Alexander to move up a notch, knocking James Randolph and the No. 6 Ricci Motorsports Suzuki out of series second-place. A third-place finish keeps series leader Steve Rapp and the No. 15 San Gabriel Springs Suzuki at the top of the point standings.

PIRELLI FORMULA XTREME RACE
Eric Bostrom and the Erion Honda No. 17 machine took a fifth series win today at Road America. "I was pretty amped up to ride this weekend," said the energetic Bostrom. "On Thursday I think I had my guys worried because I was jumping around ready to get on the bike, and it was raining out, and they were like, "No, no, Eric we'll wait until Friday."" The win puts Bostrom at 185 season points -- two points out of series first-place.

Bostrom was followed in second-place by Erion Honda teammate and series leader Tripp Nobles aboard the No. 87 bike. Mark Miller and the Graves Motorsports No. 24 bike joined the Erion riders on the podium today. The third-place finish allowed Miller to move up into series third-place with 157 points, displacing Michael Taylor and the No. 15 Canada Kawasaki .

MBNA SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING - DUHAMEL WINS INTERSTATE BATTERIES POLE AWARD
American Honda No. 17 rider Miguel Duhamel broke the track record and won the $1,000 Interstate Batteries Pole Award with a time of 2:11.024 and an average speed of 109.94. The pole is the Quebec native's first in the 1998 MBNA Superbike series, and the extra point awarded for pole position puts Duhamel in season first-place, bumping Muzzy Kawasaki rider Doug Chandler into second. ( a recent review of season points found that Duhamel and Chandler were tied at 203 points after the Road Atlanta rounds ). Duhamel also had the pole and set the track record of 2:11.630 at last year's Road America MBNA Superbike round.

A time of 2:11.063 earned Australian Anthony Gobert and the No. 95 Vance & Hines Ducati the number two spot on the front row for tomorrow's race. Ben Bostrom and the No. 11 American Honda were third fastest with a time of 2:11.158. Australian Mat Mladin and the No. 66 Yoshimura Suzuki took the final front row spot with a time 2:11.325. Mladin was the winner of last year's Road America MBNA Superbike round.

PRO HONDA OILS 600 SUPERSPORT QUALIFYING
Doug Chandler and the No. 10 Muzzy Kawasaki have the pole for tomorrow's Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport race. Chandler broke Miguel Duhamel's 1995 Road America course record of 2:20.341 during today's qualifying session with a time of 2:19.123 and an average speed of 103.506mph. American Honda No. 11 rider Ben Bostrom -- who won the last series round at Road Atlanta -- grabbed the number two spot on tomorrow's grid with a time of 2:19.932. Bostrom's teammate and No.1 Honda pilot Duhamel is third on tomorrow's race grid with a time of 2:20.246. Ben's brother Eric Bostrom and the Erion Honda No. 17 machine were fourth fastest today with a time of 2:20.361, and reserved the last spot on the front row of the grid.

PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE PRO THUNDER QUALIFYING
Series leader Paul Harrell and the No. 47 Orange County Triumph are on the pole for Sunday's Progressive Insurance Pro Thunder race. Harrell's teammate and series second-place rider Curtis Adams earned the number two spot on the front row aboard the No. 145 Triumph. Road Atlanta winner Shawn Higbee and the No. 3 Tilley's Buell have third place on tomorrow's gird, and Michael Gage, aboard the No. 19 Orange County Triumph has the final spot on the front row.

ELF RACE FUELS & LUBRICANTS GRAND PRIX RACE GRID
Series leader Roland Sands and the Performance Machine No. 10 Yamaha have the number one spot on tomorrow's Elf Race Fuels and Lubricant's Grand Prix race grid. Chuck Sorensen and the No. 90 World Sports Yamaha have the number two spot on the front row, followed by Bobby Keith on the No. 6 American Honda and Takahito Mori aboard the Honda Racing of Japan No. 42 machine.