Bostrom Breaks In New R1
Next season Ben Bostrom will return to the Superbike fold, completing Yamaha's successful reclamation project. Following a strong season with the manufacturer in Superstock competition in '07, he enjoyed remarkable '08 in which he won the Supersport crown going away, suggesting the old Ben Bostrom was back.
A combination of a renewed focus and proper treatment of allergic issues allowed Bostrom to tap into his old magic. Perhaps all he needs now in order to become a full-fledged Superbike contender once again is the right weapon.
Yamaha's new 'long bang' R1 looks potent on paper, and the Californian is finding out how that translates to the pavement this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
After improving considerably from Friday to log the second best time
on Saturday, Bostrom said, "The bike has so much potential. We could see it yesterday but we were really slow. I said the goal was to knock a second a day off and today it worked out. We worked on the fuel map and we got the thing coming on a bit easier -- we got rid of that abruptness so that made a lot of time.
"We've still got to work on it. Once we got the fuel mapping working better, we gained some time at the end taking away trail. The bike starts off… probably for a fast European track it's good but here because it's all stop-and-go you have to have very little trail and our bike starts off with a lot. We took that away and instantly I was like, 'Whoa!' Happiness, the smile came back."
Bostrom claims there's still plenty to come. "That's just a stock bike. People don't understand it, but that's a stock bike."
