| Ben Bostrom
Bostrom smashes lap record, 999 on Monday
December 13, 2005
Chris Martin
If anyone wasn't taking Ben Bostrom's latest return to the AMA Superbike Championship seriously prior to the Daytona tire test, they’ve officially been put on notice. In his first ever ride aboard Ducati Corse’s notoriously finicky 999 racer, Bostrom immediately found himself at home on the bike and even challenging ’05 runner-up Ben Spies for fast lap honors.
The Californian actually held down the fastest lap when he called it a day about an hour early on Monday following a low-speed crash in the infield that left his machine much worse for wear.
Bostrom, who was perfectly fine following the spill, explained what happened, “My foot slipped off the rear brake and I was going to run off the track and I just lost the front. The infield corner -- the left -- it’s really important to stay on the rear brake and slide the bike in…
“I’ve had a little bit of trouble on the weekend. I should have probably extended the brake pedal and the shifter but I didn’t and I paid the price. My foot slipped off and then I was all on the front brake and trying not to run off into the grass. I panicked a little bit and grabbed too much front brake and locked the front.
“I thought it was going to be a very easy crash. It was for the rider, but the bike ended up flipping. It tore the swingarm in half so it’s kind of a bummer.”
Despite the fall, the new Ducati Austin runner was very pleased with how quickly he came to grips with his new machine.
“I’m very surprised. I just expected to come and hang out, ride the bike and wait for the next test. But as it turned out, on day one I said, ‘I love this bike,’ and when you like a bike the times come a lot easier.”  | 
16-Dec-2005, 16:59 
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