[ Richard Stanboli and Eric Bostrom. (Photo by James Wirth) ]
Eric Bostrom was a late—but welcome!—addition to Team Cycle World Attack Performance Yoshimura Suzuki. Here’s what the four-time AMA national champion and 15-time AMA Superbike race-winner had to say about Suzuki’s venerable GSX-R1000, working for the first time with Attack Performance’s Richard Stanboli, Yoshimura Racing’s brand-new engine-lease program, Dunlop’s spec tires, DMG’s takeover of AMA Pro Racing and his older brother, Ben, among other subjects.
I’d been in Brazil for three months. I was spending 50 percent of my time there. Ben said, “Hey, there’s an opportunity to ride a bike that should be first-class.” I was like, “Man, I don’t know. Everybody’s already hot, and I haven’t ridden a motorcycle in a year and a half.” Everything—my concentration, my fitness—was a bit of a question, not to mention all of the loose ends that I had to tie up.
But to my surprise, I wasn’t able to sleep that night. I guess I’d been suppressing my emotions—that two wheels are my life. I didn’t realize how much I missed it. The next morning, I got out my computer and typed, “I’m in.”
I knew Richard Stanboli, but I’d never spoken with him. On the first day of the Barber test, the bike was unrideable. The thing was backing into turns so badly that I had to wait, wait, wait to enter corners. It was disheartening to be putting in a big effort and be that far off the pace. I wasn’t able to express myself on the motorcycle, to get 100 percent out of the bike. I thought, “Man, what did I get myself into? This isn’t going to lead to anything good.”
Next morning, we got the bike sorted out—it was really good on the throttle—and the smile came back on my face. Then, about six laps in, the chain jumped off and I ruined the motorcycle and myself. I left Barber thinking, “Well, the first day was really bad. The second day we made some progress.” I was gaining confidence in the team. At that point, I started thinking again that I’d made the right decision.
You have to be really proud of the manufacturers. Today’s streetbikes are comparable to or better than Superbikes from a couple of years ago. They’re potent.
Time sweetens memories. But you forget how big of an effort—how much heart—it takes to put in a winning performance.
[ Photo by Brian J. Nelson ]
Initially, we were chipping away at broad problems. Then, when we got within the same second as the leaders, we were chipping away at tenths—trying to bridge the gap. That’s when you’re on the throttle sooner, braking later, tipping the bike into the corner harder, just to make those small chunks of time.
We kept going forward. That’s easy to do when you’re off the pace, but we kept moving in the right direction. Each weekend, I gained more respect for Richard’s ability to keep us on track.
Scott Tedro really went above and beyond. It took a lot of courage on his part to get his company, Sho-Air, behind our effort. Kevin Schwantz suggested that we needed a practice race, and he was right. I think it was Scott’s respect for Kevin to take his word literally and kick the thing into gear. It was a “mother hen” thing to do.
Richard’s self-built, handlebar-mounted switchboard gave me the ability to flip through the four separate maps [each of which had numerous options] on the fly. Richard was attempting to address all of the problems we had at Barber without testing. It was incredible. Remembering the sequence was tough; it’s strange how poorly your brain works in the heat of the moment.
We weren’t just working on maps. We were also developing new suspension. We were putting out fires. All the other teams were into the fine-tuning phase.
At Laguna Seca, I didn’t want to be the idiot that makes a big splash and takes two or three guys out of the championship that they’d been competing in all year. I could roll around the track pretty quickly, but when it came to making desperate passing attempts, the feedback from the motorcycle was all wrong. That’s an early sign that it’s all going to fail. So, I had to take a slow, steady approach. But it was a big confidence booster to come through the pack.
The Suzuki is very rigid. That makes the bike really potent on the racetrack, but it also doesn’t leave much margin for error. For example, at Virginia International Raceway, in the second race, I was determined to ride at the front. I bottomed the fork and crashed because I was pushing harder than I had been all weekend. When I crashed, we lost a race. And we destroyed a motorcycle.
Yoshimura’s engine was incredible. For places like VIR, the thing was basically a single-speed. It didn’t matter if I had 5000 rpm or 14,000. I didn’t have to shift—I just put it in gear. It was a tractor. Plus, the engine seemed to get progressively faster. At Barber, we had the strongest motor yet. They definitely kept stepping up their support. I know that wasn’t easy, and I’m really thankful for their support.
I don’t blip the throttle between downshifts. It negatively affects my braking zone. Richard’s automatic “throttle blipper” was a pretty genius solution. I wish we’d had more time to develop it. Basically, we made some initial adjustments and never paid any more attention to it. It was good right out of the box. Fine-tuning could have made corner entries even better and exits easier, especially on worn tires.
I’m a fan of the spec-tire rule. It’s made for great racing across the board—MotoGP, World Superbike and, now, AMA Pro Road Racing. The front tire is great; Dunlop has always had a great front tire. With the new spec rear, you can go straightaway. It makes a little drop after a few laps and then holds steady. I love that. I think it makes the racing better.
We never got all of the potential from the motorcycle. Öhlins was confident with its off-the-shelf, production suspension, and we had good results with it. We struggled with some “pumping,” but that was due to our lack of time with the motorcycle.
I think it’s incredible that you can buy that stuff from a dealership. Trackday guys can buy the same parts that win SuperBike races. That’s really encouraging for the sport.
DMG upset a lot of people. It’s going to take a while to fix that tarnished image.
[ Photo by Jeff Allen ]
The “new” DMG is doing it right. Simple things, like eliminating some of the really high-end stuff so guys like Taylor Knapp can showcase their talent. Previously, the sport was propped up by manufacturers spending a lot of money. The organization lacked organization. The series was falling apart. Everyone had his own agenda. It was a mess.
I’d much rather go into the AMA paddock, where all the bikes are on display, as opposed to MotoGP, where you basically have to be a racer, a mechanic or a magazine editor to step foot in the garage.
SuperBikes take so much effort. A 600 has good grip every lap. Every corner feels the same. The 1000s never feel the same. The tire is constantly changing. Each lap takes more concentration.
Daytona SportBike is a better show than American SuperBike, because there are more guys who can run at the front. That will always be the case with 600 racing. On a 600, you can make up a tenth if you put in a better lap. On a SuperBike, you can make up a second.
At some point, Ben had an epiphany. He’d come along a pretty amazing path, and then the wheels came off. He’s a complicated guy. He had other interests. We started racing motorcycles around 11 to 13 years old. While our friends were doing other things, we were at the track. We wondered if we’d missed out on some life experiences. In fact, we didn’t miss anything. We experienced 10 times more! Then, there’s the reality of being four years from 40. Maybe you only have four good years left. So, you better take advantage of them because you don’t want to live life with any regrets. That’s what you’re seeing in his eyes.
Virginia showed that we had the speed. For me, it just felt right. That’s where my mind lives. I feel like I’m a front-runner; that’s where I belong. Also, it gave me more confidence in the team because you cannot do that on your own. I could do it. The bike could do it. We could do it.
Downside is not posting a result that I’m really proud of. It was acceptable to finish eighth at Mid-Ohio because it was my first race back. After that, we should have finished sixth, fifth, fourth. Ultimately, what I wanted, what I felt like we were capable of, was at least hanging onto the tail end of the leaders for at least half of the race.
The project was a success. We accomplished so much in a short amount of time with so little track time. It was really incredible.
I haven’t been this excited to go racing for more than a decade. Maybe I’m having a bit of the epiphany that Ben experienced recently. Something’s changed; racing is all that seems to matter to me right now. It’s a great feeling.
