Monday, March 14, 2005

 

Bostrom hopeful that upcoming tests will end his set-up woes -- so are we


Eric Bostrom told Superbikeplanet.com's Evan Williams that he plans to make the most of a series of upcoming Ducati test sessions, after a disasterous 11th-place finish in Saturday's superbike race.

Good idea.

"We're lost but the good thing is we have three or four test sessions coming up so we have some opportunities to sort things out to get to where we need to be," he was quoted as saying in the Superbikeplanet.com article.

As a process of his hair-pulling qualifying effort (he placed 11th on the grid, as well), Bostrom reportedly resorted to a series of unorthodox suspension settings in an effort to sort out his seemingly untamable Ducati 999 superbike. The work was obviously for naught, however, as he failed to overtake even one of the handful of privateer and factory-support riders that finished ahead of him in the race. Combine the pitifulness of Bostrom's performance with the fact that his new teammate, former WSB champion Neil Hodgson, scored a solid 2nd-place podium spot in the very same race on the very same bike (after having led the race momentarily, no less), and even a die-hard Bostrom fan like me gradually becomes less willing to offer up the benefit of the doubt.

The whole thing makes me want to talk in my best Jerry Seinfeld voice: "Hey, what's the DEAL with Eric Bostrom?"

I stuck it out with Eric last season as he struggled to get comfortable on the then-new 999 and its new rubber. I offered up every possible excuse for why he wasn't getting the job done. But a year later, he's still a disaster atop the Austin Ducati package.

Eric, we love you man, but it's time for you to get your shit together. Your Ducati is one of the winningest basic roadrace designs ever built, you are one of the most talented riders in North America, and you have more total support than a racer could ask for. Furthermore, you're young, you're single, and you have nothing but time to concentrate on riding that bike correctly. I cringe at the idea of quoting Mat Mladin, but in his own words, its time to stop making excuses and "get it done."

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