Eric Bostrom

Eric Bostrom (born November 19, 1976 in San Francisco, California) is an American professional motorcycle racer and brother of Ben Bostrom, who also races motorcycles professionally.

He is currently racing in the AMA Superbike series for Yamaha, but he is better known for being a member of the Austin Ducati and Parts Unlmited Ducati teams in 2004 and 2005, and perhaps best known for riding for the factory Kawasaki team from 1999 to 2003. Bostrom raced for Erion Honda in 1998 and Zero Gravity Racing in 1997.

Statistically, Bostrom's best season was the 2001 season. Riding for Kawasaki, he finished a close 2nd to Mat Mladin in the AMA Superbike series and won the AMA Supersport Championship.

Timeline

Bostrom won the Progressive Insurance Harley-Davidson SuperTwins Championship in 1997, winning 10 of the 11 series races.

Bostrom's AMA Superbike career began in 1998 when he replaced the injured Miguel Duhamel on the Erion Honda, winning his 2nd and 3rd races in the class. He was entered in several Superbike World Championship races as well. Bostrom also won the AMA Formula Xtreme Championship in 1998 riding for the Erion Honda team.

Bostrom raced for Kawasaki from 1999 to 2003 riding the ZX-7R in the AMA Superbike Championship. He also rode the ZX-6R in the AMA Supersport Championship, winning the AMA Supersport championship in 2001. In 2001, Bostrom finished second in the AMA Superbike Championship to Mat Mladin. He also finished second in the AMA Superbike Championship in 2002, this time behind Nicky Hayden.

Bostrom rode the Austin Ducati in the AMA Superbike Championship in 2004 and the Parts Unlimited Ducati in 2005. He was the sole AMA Superbike Ducati rider in 2004. Former Superbike World Champion Neil Hodgson joined the Parts Unlimited Ducati AMA Superbike team for the 2005 season. Bostrom's brother, Ben, took his spot on the Ducati team when he left for Yamaha after the 2005 season ended. After the 2006 season, Ducati pulled out of all AMA competitions.

Bostrom joined the factory Yamaha team before the 2006 season to ride in the AMA Supersport Championship and AMA Formula Xtreme Championship. His factory Yamaha teammate was Jason DiSalvo. For the 2007 season, Yamaha is competing in AMA Superbike after a long absence from the championship with both Bostrom and DiSalvo riding and developing the Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike.

uperbike World Championship

Bostrom has also raced in the Superbike World Championship, usually as a wildcard entry in the United States rounds at Laguna Seca. In SBK|1999 he finished 10th and 7th, and in SBK|2001 he finished fifth twice. In the SBK|2002 season, Bostrom was entered at five meetings as a third rider in the Kawasaki World Superbike team, with his best results being 6th and 4th in the US. He also appeared at Laguna in SBK|2003, but an accident caused by Aaron Yates in the second turn of the first lap prevented him taking any further part in the action.

Career statistics

*2005 - 3rd AMA Superbike Championship
*2004 - 4th AMA Superbike Championship
*2003 - 7th AMA Superbike Championship
*2002 - 2nd AMA Superbike Championship
*2001 - 1St AMA Supersport Championship
*2001 - 2nd AMA Superbike Championship
*2000 - 2nd AMA Supersport Championship
*2000 - 4th AMA Superbike Championship
*1999 - 7th AMA Superbike Championship
*1999 - 9th AMA Supersport Championship
*1998 - 1st AMA Formula Xtreme Championship
*1998 - 3rd AMA Supersport Championship
*1997 - 1st AMA Super twins Series
*1996 - 1st AMA Harley Davidson 883 Dirt Track

Trivia

* There are three Bostrom brothers total: Eric, Ben, Tory (Torsten). Tory (named after World Champion motocrosser Torsten Hallman) is the oldest, with Eric being the youngest.
* Bostrom’s cousin, Jeff Bostrom has also participated in AMA races.
* Bostrom is an avid big-wave surfer. He also enjoys climbing, cycling, and motorcycling.
* Critics have often opined that Bostrom hasn’t regained his Championship-calibre form since suffering a crash caused by Aaron Yates in turn 2 of the 2003 Superbike World Championship race held at Laguna Seca. The crash severely injured his shoulder as well as his back and neck. This was considered Bostrom’s best chance to compete against Superbike World Championship riders in a season where he was one of the heavy favorites to win the AMA Championship; and possibly get a promotion out of the AMA Championship. Yates also caused fan favorite Pierfrancesco Chili to crash in the same incident.
* Bostrom’s race number is 32.

External links

* [http://www.bozbros.com/ Official Bostrom Brothers site]
* [http://www.amaproracing.com/archive/2006/ama_sb_06/eric_bostrom.html Eric Bostrom] profile at [http://www.amaproracing.com/ AMAProRacing.com]
* [http://www.the-doesman.nl/bikestuff/ebostrom-nl.htm]
* [http://www.roadracerx.com/article.php?article_id=310 RoadRacerX interview] March 7, 2007
* [http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Article_Page.aspx?ArticleID=309 Motorcycle USA Laguna Seca report] July 16, 2003