Ben Bostrom

[Craig]

Being quite a new convert to the bike racing scene, I don't know all that much about all the riders.

What can you tell me about Ducati's new recruit ?

I know he's been racing in America for Ducati, and he was pretty impressive at Laguna Seca, but that's about it!

How will he fair against Foggy & the Hondas ?

[Warwick]

It has been said that the only reason that Bostrom has been given the ride in favour of Corser is the fact the American market is the biggest potential market for Ducati, this was also the part of the reason Edwards got the ride for Honda although that was more about the Castrol marketing in that part of the world than Honda,apart from that American riders have normally done well even that prick Koscinski,Although to knock Foggy off his perch is a pretty tall order,have to wait and see how the new V-twin Honda's go.

[elephino]

Bostrom should do well, but I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't do any better than Corser did this year. Bostrom and Gobert seem to be about the same pace, so that gives a good indication of Ben's speed...quick.

The new Honda V-Twin is really an unknown quantity. I hope it does well, but I have no idea how it will go.

[Rossifumi]

You must not underestemate Ben.He really is good.In tests at Valencia he was just 0,05 of a sec slower then Carl,so maybe he will show us some surprices.

[Chuck Lantz]

Oh, happy day...something I can comment on without looking too stupid. I raced against Ben's dad and uncle on the AMA pro flat-tracks over here years ago, (Dave and Paul Bostrom) Both super-fast and very nice guys. Ben is of the same mold. He was most certainly NOT hired simply to "fill the ranks with an American"...he's the real deal.
His head is screwed on tightly and he has a bit of flat-tracker in his blood...just like KR, Senior...remember him??? ...hehehe

[Kai Higdon]

I'll have to agree with my friend Chuck on this one! Ben is the real deal. He has won the AMA Superbike Championship with Honda, damn near won it this year with Ducati and his whole family seems fast. Hell, I bet even his mom has speed!

Ducati, for all intents and purposes were set to hire Gobert for the WSC job, but as we all know, that fell through due to "Go-Show" being a "No-Show" at the final race.

While I'm a big Gobert fan (ask Chuck) and think he had the measure of Bostrom early in the season, Ben slowly but surely "caught up" Gobert and eventually surpassed him. Which, I think was/is part of Gobert's self destruction issue.

I like Ben's riding style, he seems to be very comfortable riding a bike that looks to be very, very "loose" at times in contrast to Gobert who, most of the time just looks "smooth". That will come into play in Europe if he needs to muscle his way past a few of those guys (like the SuperMotard exhibition he won over in Italy). He's been faster than Foggy in testing as well, so that bodes well for him.

Slick (Foggy's mechanic) reckons they should've kept Corser, but really, I think it's a case of both Foggy and Slick knowing they could trounce Corser, who at times in '99 seemed deflated by Carl's performances. Ben is an unknown quantity to them, but Ben seems a likeable enough kind of guy (not to mention Leanne...)so they should be a formidable duo for '00.

Aoki is really the wildcard coming into WSC on the Romboni run Ducati team (tuned by France Farne, ex-factory Ducati racer, mechanic). I think Ben will win some races though and should fare well in the Championship his first year out.

Later!

[Warwick]

Dont think i've ever heard anyone call Gobert smooth before,if you watched him on the Kawasaki in world superbikes he used to slide it all about the place,he was the most spectacular rider i had seen,also at no time did i say Bostrom was hired just to fill the ranks,but in two seperate articles in different magazines it was reported preference was given to a American rider to increase Ducati's exposure in that country,obviously if he wasn't capable of getting results he wouldn't have the ride.

[elephino]

A year ago I wouldn't have called Gobert smooth, but after seeing him in action at the Laguna Seca WSBK round...he was very smooth then. It almost didn't seem normal having a smooth riding Gobert.

[Kai Higdon]

Sorry, I should've made the distinction clear. Bostrom versus Gobert on the V&H Ducati.

Yes, Gobert used to be very wild, especially trying to get something from the Kawasaki WSC and Suzuki 500 GP bike. Nothing wrong with that, but Gobert has stated the Ducati is very easy and forgiving to ride, and if you look at the Laguna Seca WSC race (I forget some of you guys don't get to see the AMA races!), Ben's riding style was/is quite a bit looser than Gobert's for comparable speed. Nothing wrong with either method, just down to technique and riding backgrounds.

Gobert only crashed twice the entire time he was in the States, once in a Daytona practice crash, and the Laguna Seca WSC race. Not a bad record I'd say for how competitive he was!

[elephino]

It seems that riding a Kawasaki almost backwards into a corner is the quickest way. So it is good to see that Gobert changes his style to suit the bike.

And yes, unfortunately we don't get to see the AMA races out here (Australia), so can only judge on second hand news and WSBK races.

[Kai Higdon]

...and being from Australia, you'll have to keep us informed of young Alex Gobert's progress. From what I understand, he's going to be running some national classes there, no?

<Edit sure is nice!>

[This message has been edited by Kai Higdon (edited 28 January 2000).]

[Kai Higdon]

Geez, sorry about that last post, I tried hit "stop" on my browser before it posted, but apparently it went through - poor spelling and no spell-check until it was too late!

[elephino]

I'll try to. I know he's doing something, I read it somewhere...I'll get back to you on the weekend with more info.

[Alex K]

He didi what he did in Ducati. But, can you tell what is he doing in Renegade ? This one of few teams, that I have no info, no man in it :wink:... and I'd like to know if any of you know what is the biggest problem of Bostrom. We all know that he had dismal seasons in USSuperbike, now tragic season in Renegade. What is happening with him or the bike?

AFAIK Renegade has the same treatment and equipment as Klaffi, and (AFAIK !!) very good financials. I don't understand why does Klaffi is doing good (not the best, but good) and Renegade has so poor results?!

[chunder]

Basically at the beginning of the year Ben was using a pretty standard bike I think. Plus I wouldnt imagine he is the worlds best development rider is he!
He has shown occasional flashes of brilliance but I reckon most of his problems are to do with tyres.
Remember him flaling about on Michelins on the works Duke a few years, then riding a private bike adn getting rostrums on Dunnyys.
He got his way and got a factory Duke on Dunnies won a load of races and was then rubbish.
Fr Honda US he was rubbish and hardly won, then presumably his Honda links get him a ride with Renegade where he tuggs round outside the top ten most of the time.
I have some sympathy with the tyres as there is an undercurrent of complaints about Pirelli and the temas and press etc are not allowed to say anything disparaging about the tyres. I have heard rumours of compunds being wrong and all sorts of other things. Not a help if your confidence is low!

[Alex K]

You are right man.

Hey chunder, I think Ben read what you wrote... because he is really doing just fine in last two or three races.

The best SBK tyre is Dunlop D20X. Thereis not point not to argue with this. Most of factory teams in the best national championships running Dunnies, I assume only HM Plant Honda Racing is using Michelin rubber. None of factory teams in USSuperbike, BSB and All-Japan is using Pirellis. Why, I have checked times between top Michelin and Dunlop users with Pirelli users, it's a big disadvetage to use Pirelli.