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1999 MBNA Superbike Tour presented by Parts Unlimited results Round 11 of 12 July 30-August 1, 1999 Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, MN

Sunday, August 1

BOSTROM WINS HIS FIRST MBNA SUPERBIKE NATIONAL 
Ben Bostrom seems to like to do things a little backwards. The 25-year-old Californian won the American Motorcyclist Association MBNA Superbike Championship last year without winning a single race; three weeks ago he won the U.S. round of the World Superbike Championship in Monterey, Calif., and Sunday at Brainerd International Raceway Bostrom finally got around to earning his first AMA Superbike win on his Vance & Hines Ducati. Bostrom, the third-year Superbike rider who started from the pole, averaged 110.329 mph during the 63-mile race establishing a new race record.

The victory pulls Bostrom to within eight points of series leader Mat Mladin, of Australia, with just one race remaining. Mladin finished second on the Yoshimura Suzuki. After a poor start Australian Anthony Gobert made a late-race charge on his Vance & Hines Ducati to finish third.

"I think it's pretty neat that my brother (Eric) won his first AMA Superbike race at Brainerd last year and now I've finally won my first one here," said Bostrom, who was competing in his 31st AMA Superbike race. "Mladin, Gobert, my brother and all these guys were winning Superbike races and I kept wondering when I was finally going to get my first one. I have to credit my team who put me on the best bike out there."

Bostrom's 31 Superbike starts before his first victory was the second highest number of starts before a win in the 23-year history of the series. Only one rider had to endure a longer wait before tasting victory. Dale Quarterley, the now retired Rockland, Mass. rider, competed in 70 Superbike races before his first win.

Mladin is now in an excellent position to give Suzuki its first AMA Superbike title in ten years. The 27-year-old native of Shellharbour, New South Wales, Australia, can be assured of wrapping up the championship next month if he finishes second or better, something he has been able to do six times this season.

Bostrom's win also helped Ducati wrap up the Superbike AMA Manufacturers Championship, breaking Honda's four-year ownership of that title. Ducati also won the Superbike manufacturers title in 1993 and 1994.

The series finale is at Pikes Peak International Raceway on September 19.

HACKING WINS HIS SECOND 600 SUPERSPORT FINAL 
Jamie Hacking took advantage of a last-turn mistake by Kurtis Roberts to win his second Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport race of the season. Nick Hayden finished a distant third and extended his series lead over his brother Tommy to 14 points going into the final round next month in Colorado. Hacking's average race speed of 105.401 mph shattered the old race record of 103.654 mph set last year by Aaron Yates.

In yet another great final-lap showdown, Roberts charged his Erion Honda F4 into the last turn and tried to make the turn at an incredible rate of speed. Robert's bike couldn't hold the line and it broke loose nearly spitting him off. Hacking took advantage and slipped his factory Yamaha R6 underneath to win by two-bike lengths at checkered flag. 

Tommy Hayden made a spectacular run through the field after being forced off the track early in the race. Hayden fell to 22nd place after an incident in the final turn on the first lap. The Yamaha rider charged through the field and began making his way to the front. On lap 11 Hayden turned the fastest lap of the race with a 1:41.419. On the white flag lap Hayden picked off five riders to finish fifth - two seconds behind Valvoline Suzuki rider Josh Hayes - keeping his championship hopes alive.

WOOD TAKES WIN NO. THREE, CONRAD TAKES THE TITLE 
For the second-straight time Eric Wood ruled the Progressive Insurance Pro Thunder final, taking his third victory of the season on his Penguin Racing School Ducati 748. Wood passed early leader Dave Estok on the first lap and pulled away to almost a ten second margin of victory. HMC Racing Ducati rider Shawn Conrad made a bold last-turn move on Estok, despite having the championship on the line, to take second. Conrad's finish enabled him to secure his first AMA Pro Thunder championship. 

THE SORENSEN DYNASTY 
Over the years the Mazda Truck 250 Grand Prix Series has been one of dominant riders. In the early 1980s Eddie Lawson burst onto the roadracing scene by towering above the 250 competition. By the late 1980s it was John Kocinski who was the one to beat before, like Lawson, moving on to win world championships. In the early '90s it was Jimmy Filice who set the standard. The mid-'90s saw Rich Oliver obliterate all existing 250GP records. Chuck Sorensen is the latest rider to lay claim as the king of the class. Sorensen not only earned his sixth victory of the season at Brainerd Sunday, he also nailed down his first AMA National championship. Mike Hale return to racing in the U.S. and finished second in his first 250 race and South Carolina's Derek King continued to show good consistency by finishing third.

B.I.R. has been good to Sorensen. It was at this track that he won his first 250 GP race back in 1994. The surprise appearance by Hale this weekend inspired Sorensen.

"I knew Mike was going to be on the gas since he's coming off the world championship circuit," said Sorensen, a 26-year-old from Sunnyvale, Calif. "I can't predict the future, but I would like to think that people would someday compare me to some of the great riders who have won this championship in the past."

Hale, from Carrollton, Texas, came to Brainerd hoping to return to form before resuming 500cc Grand Prix action for the Modenas team next month. 

"It felt good to be on podium again," said Hale. "I had never raced this series before so I had no idea what to expect. There are some really good riders here and it was fun to be able to be competitive with these guys in my first time on this kind of bike."

HACKING TOPS 600 SUPERSPORT QUALIFYING
Jamie Hacking will start from the pole for Sunday's Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport final. Riding a factory Yamaha R6, Hacking blistered the old 600 SuperSport mark of 1:43.526, set last year by Aaron Yates, when he clocked in a 1:41.810 in the first qualifying session Saturday. Hacking will be joined on the front row by brothers Nick Hayden (Erion Honda) and Tommy Hayden (Yamaha) as well as Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda.

The tailwind helped 10 riders run under Yates' old track record. 

"It's amazing that we were able to go so much faster than last year," said Hacking, who is third in the series standings. "I think I could have even gone faster if we'd put a fresh rear tire on the bike late in the session. We had a big tail wind on the front straight, so we were probably pushing 160 miles per hour. Maybe that record will stand for a while."

WAIT'S DUCATI HAS HIGHEST TOP SPEED IN SUPERBIKE PRACTICE
Matt Wait's Ferracci Ducati 996 hit 185 mph on the front straight during Saturday morning's practice session. Wait's machine had the fastest top radar speed of any Superbikes during the session. A number of bikes hit 184 mph including Ben Bostrom's Vance & Hines Ducati, Eric Bostrom's factory Honda RC45, Larry Pegram's Ferracci Ducati and Anthony Gobert's Vance & Hines Ducati 996.  The Yoshimura Suzuki GSXR750 Superbikes of Mat Mladin, Jason Pridmore, Steve Rapp and Steve Crevier generally hit the 181 to 183 mph range. The factory Yamaha R7s of Rich Oliver and Jamie Hacking and the Muzzy Kawasakis of Doug Chandler and Aaron Yates ranged from 179 to 181 mph. Scott Russell's Harley-Davidson VR1000 topped out at 179 mph.

CHAPARRAL SUZUKI RIDERS LEAD THE WAY IN 750 SUPERSPORT QUALIES 
Chaparral Suzuki teammates Damon Buckmaster and Tom Kipp qualified first and second Saturday for the Lockhart Phillips 750 SuperSport final. It marks the first pole of the season for Australian Buckmaster who missed much of the early season after getting injured in a motocross training accident. Buckmaster's time of 1:41.859 breaks a three-year-old 750 SuperSport record of 1:42.081 set by Pascal Picotte. Jimmy Moore and Jake Zemke round out the front row starters.

HIGBEE THUNDERS TO POLE
Tilley Harley-Davidson Buell rider Shawn Higbee earned the pole for the Progressive Insurance Pro Thunder final by easily winning his heat race over Dave Estok on the Motorcycle Online Buell. Eric Wood, winner of two races this year, dominated the first qualifying heat and will start second on the grid Sunday. Series leader Shawn Conrad will have to start from the back of the grid after burning a clutch in his Ducati forcing him to drop from the race.

Higbee said that his bike was starting to ping on the last lap and sounded apprehensive about the final. "We have to figure out a way to make it last the entire race. The speeds are so high at this track that it generates a great deal of heat in the engine. It's going to be a challenge for our crew."

BOSTROM SHATTERS TRACK RECORD, GAINS CRUCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINT 
At Brainerd International Raceway Ben Bostrom earned his third MBNA Superbike pole of the season and more importantly gained a crucial championship point in his quest to defend his title. On the final lap of Saturday's qualifying session Bostrom clicked off a remarkable lap of one minute, 36.070 seconds at 112.418 mph on his Vance & Hines Ducati setting a new motorcycle track record. 

Series leader Mat Mladin kept Ducati from sweeping the front row by qualifying his Yoshimura Suzuki in second with a time of 1:36.410 at 112.022 mph. Third in series Anthony Gobert took third in qualifying on his Vance & Hines Ducati with lap at 1:36.418. Matt Wait earned the first front row Superbike start of his career by nailing down the fourth spot with time of 1:36.587 at 111.816 mph on the Ferracci Ducati.

"My brother (Eric) won his first AMA Superbike national here last year, maybe I can do the same," said Bostrom, who won a World Superbike round three weeks ago in Monterey, Calif.. "My confidence has been pretty high since winning at Laguna. I had Mid-Ohio pretty much wrapped up before we had bike problems and I feel good about my chances here."

HAYDEN WINS HIS SIXTH FORMULA XTREME FINAL 
In what is becoming almost routine, Erion Honda's Nick Hayden made yet another dramatic last-lap pass this time on Graves Yamaha rider Paul Harrell to win his sixth Sunoco Race Fuels Formula Xtreme race of the season. The race came down to a three-way battle between Hayden, Harrell and Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Josh Hayes. On the last lap Hayden made a bold inside move approaching turn nine and slipped underneath Harrell to take over the lead which he held to the finish. By making great late-braking maneuvers Hayes managed to be right there at the end, but the rear sprocket on his Suzuki threw a few teeth preventing him from making good drives out of the turns.

The victory for Hayden keeps him at least mathematically alive in the series chase going into the final round at Pikes Peak. Kurtis Roberts finished fifth on another Erion Honda and holds a 30-point lead over his teammate going into the last race next month in Colorado.

SORENSEN TAKES YET ANOTHER 250 GRAND PRIX POLE 
Racing at the site of his first AMA national win five years ago, Chuck Sorensen continued to flaunt his dominance in the Mazda Trucks 250 Grand Prix Series by winning his heat race and the pole in convincing fashion. Sorensen beat Modenas 500cc GP rider Mike Hale by over 12 seconds in the first 250 GP qualifying heat. Veteran Randy Renfrow won the second heat race over local favorite Bryan Okubo of Lakeville, Minn. Renfrow will start second on the grid for Sunday's final.

BUCKMASTER BREAKS THROUGH, KIPP THE CHAMP 
It was a very good day for the Chaparral Suzuki team in Lockhart Phillips 750 SuperSport competition. Australian Damon Buckmaster, finally recovered from pre-season injuries, broke through to win his first AMA national. Meanwhile, Chaparral's Tom Kipp rode to a conservative fifth-place finish which was good enough to earn him his third  750 SuperSport title. 

Buckmaster rode a flawless race, leading from start to finish and crossing the line 8.396 seconds ahead of Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Grant Lopez. Cycle Gear Suzuki ace Jake Zemke took third, his fifth-straight podium finish in the series. While Buckmaster won easily, the battle between Lopez and Zemke was intense. The two traded second place back and forth several times on the final lap with Lopez edging out Zemke at the flag.

"It's been a long time coming and then some," said Buckmaster, a former Australian Supersport champion. "This season didn't turn out quite the way I had hoped, but it feels great to finally get a win. A lot of people question me when I came back from my injuries so early and I wanted to prove I could still win races."

Ironically, it was Kipp who was brought in to ride for Buckmaster just two weeks prior to the opening of the season.

"I feel incredibly fortunate to be in the position to even race this year, much less win the championship," said Kipp, who last won a 750 title back in 1995. "My goal is to get back into Superbike racing and I hope that winning this title will give me that chance."

HAYES TOPS XTREMIST
Josh Hayes won the pole for Saturday's Sunoco Formula Xtreme final. Hayes, who is fourth in the FX series standings, clicked off a lap of 1:40.055 at 107.941 m.p.h. on his Erion Honda CBR900. Michael Barnes came through with a run of 1:40.090 on the Dutchman Yamaha R1 to take second on the grid. Barnes is back with the team after being fired by Dutchman Racing's owner Dave Schlosser earlier in the season. Rounding out the front row will be Graves Yamaha's Paul Harrell and Erion Honda's Nick Hayden. Series leader Kurtis Roberts qualified a disappointing 11th after his Erion Honda broke early in the session.

BOSTROM EARNS PROVISIONAL POLE 
Under threatening skies defending AMA Superbike champion Ben Bostrom won the provisional pole for Sunday's MBNA Superbike Tour presented by Parts Unlimited event at Brainerd International Raceway. Bostrom pushed his Vance & Hines Ducati 996 to a time of one minute, 37.320 seconds at an average speed of 110.974 miles per hour on the three-mile circuit. Bostrom edged out series leader Mat Mladin who turned in a time of 1:37.508 at 110.760 m.p.h. on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSXR750. Rounding out the provisional front row is Vance & Hines rider Anthony Gobert (1:37.766) and, in somewhat of a surprise, Yoshimura Suzuki's Steve Rapp (1:37.929). Bostrom's best lap was less than a tenth of a second off the track record set last year by Mladin of 1:37.263.

"I thought for sure it was going to rain during our session," said Bostrom, who won a round of the World Superbike Series in Monterey, Calif., just three weeks ago. "I wanted to turn in a fast lap early in the session, but we had some problems. As the session went on we figured out that it probably wasn't going to rain so I saved my best for the final minutes of the session. I think I could have gone under the track record had I not caught slower traffic. Tomorrow it's going to be important for me to get a clear lap at some point in the session if I'm going to have a chance to win the pole."

Qualifying continues on Saturday. The single point awarded for the pole will be especially important to Mladin, Bostrom and Gobert who are in the midst of a heated battle for the Superbike championship with just two races remaining.

OLIVER IN, DUHAMEL OUT
Rich Oliver is making his return to racing at Brainerd this weekend after suffering injuries at Road Atlanta. Oliver said he felt surprisingly good in his first practice session in 600 SuperSport on Friday morning.

"My arm is a little weak," Oliver admitted. "I haven't been able to do anything with it at all until just last week. As far as cardiovascular conditioning, I did keep up with that while I was rehabilitating. I'm just glad I'm making my return at Brainerd. The long front straight gives you a good place to rest."

Honda's Miguel Duhamel, who was also injured at Road Atlanta, will not be racing this weekend as expected. His doctor recommended he not race this weekend. Duhamel is expected to return to action at the final round at Pikes Peak in September. Nicky Hayden will ride one of Duhamel's RC45 Superbikes this weekend under the Erion Racing banner.

MLADIN FASTEST FRIDAY MORNING 
The hard work turned in by Superbike points leader Mat Mladin last week seems to be paying off. Mladin  was fastest during Friday morning's Superbike practice session turning a 1:38.142 on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSXR750 Superbike. Ben Bostrom, who is second in the tour standings, was second fastest  on his Vance & Hines Ducati with a time of 1:38.595. The motorcycle track record is 1:37.263 set by Mladin last year. Mladin cut short a scheduled vacation last week to fly back to Southern California and train by motocross riding at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Calif.

In a mild surprise Vance & Hines rider Anthony Gobert was only 10th fastest in practice. Gobert, who has won five Superbike races this season, turned a time of 1:39.967 on his Ducati 996. This was Gobert's first time around Brainerd International Raceway's three-mile circuit. There was not a practice session on Thursday.

"It's good when your bike works well right out of the truck," said Mladin. "To be honest though it really doesn't mean a great deal this early in the weekend, but it is a good start." 

HALE RIDING 250 GRAND PRIX BIKE AT BRAINERD
Former factory Honda Superbike rider Mike Hale is racing in the Mazda Trucks 250 Grand Prix this weekend at B.I.R. Hale was a surprise entry at Brainerd. It was a total surprise to most on hand when Hale took to the track in a Friday practice session. Hale was fourth fastest in the Friday afternoon session. He is riding a World Sports Honda RS250.