Tuesday, May 24, 2005

 

Ponderings on the Bostrom/PPIR anomaly



I love watching Eric Bostrom win races almost as much as I love watching Mat Mladin lose them. And while those two happenings are generally co-dependent upon one another, they rarely ever happen simultaneously. So for those of us who long to behold such rare alignments within the superbike cosmology, we're always sure to have our figurative telescopes pointed toward PPIR in giddy anticipation. Just like atomic clockwork, Eric didn't disappoint last weekend (and neither did Mat).

That said, Eric's ability to win consistently at PPIR is an unarguable anomaly. After all, he hasn't won a championship since 2001, nor has he been a contender for the superbike title since 2003. He and his brother Ben, for whatever reason (and I have my own speculations as to why), have both relegated themselves to also-rans amongst their factory peers over the last few seasons. Be that as it may, the riddle of Eric's prowess at PPIR is made even more perplexing by the fact that he's won at Pikes Peak once on a Honda RC45 ('98), three times on the legendary Kawasaki ZX-7RR ('00, '02, '03), and twice on his latest mount, the Austin Ducati 999 ('04, '05). Whether he's straddling a V4, I4, or V-twin, he frequently figures out a way to get it done in the shadow of the peak.

Oh, and all of those bikes were arguably inferior superbike platforms at the time of those victories, I might add.

Perhaps it's strong confidence and an incredibly positive mental attitude that overtakes and pushes EBoz to victory in the wilds of Colorado. Hell, maybe it's the thin air. Whatever it is, I wish Bostrom and his team could figure out a way to make it happen more often elsewhere.

Until that time, I'll be looking forward to next year's race at PPIR. It's more than likely that Eric won't win again until then.

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