Ben Bostrom

Benjamin "Ben" Bostrom (born May 7, 1974 in Redding , California ) is an American motorcycle racer .

Career

Ben Bostrom comes from a motorsport-loving family. Father Dave and Uncle Paul Bostrom were successful dirt track drivers, his brothers Eric and Tory are also motorcycle racers. Ben Bostrom started dirt track racing at a young age. In 1993 he won the AMA's National 600 Dirt Track Championship , and in 1995 he switched to road racing.

In the 1998 season, Ben Bostrom, starting on a Honda RVF 750 RC45 , was able to secure the championship title in the AMA Superbike Championship , the US Superbike Championship, although he did not win a single run. In the same year he made his debut as a wildcard driver in the race in Laguna Seca in the Superbike World Championship and immediately achieved his first podium finish with third place in the second race.

In 1999, Ben Bostrom, now on a Ducati in the Vance & Hines team , was runner-up behind Mat Mladin in the AMA Superbike Championship. At the World Championship run in Laguna Seca, he achieved a race win and a second place this year.

Due to his strong performance, Ben Bostrom rose permanently to the world championship for the 2000 season . He drove a Ducati 996 for the Ducati Infostrada factory team , his team mate was four-time world champion Carl Fogarty from Great Britain . Bostrom had a strong debut year and finished seventh overall with four podium finishes.

In 2001 , Ben Bostrom started in the Ducati L&M team , as he had been replaced by Rubén Xaus in the works team , but again had works material available. After a difficult first half of the season with a few crashes, he performed very well in the second half of the year. Bostrom won five races in a row and was third behind Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards . After a winless season in 2002 with Ducati L&M with a far behind fifth place in the World Championship, Ben Bostrom started again in the US championship in 2003 and 2004. He first drove an RC 51 for American Honda , later a CBR 1000 RR, and finished fourth in the overall standings.

For the 2005 season , Ben Bostrom tried to return to the World Championship stage on a Honda CBR 1000 RR for Team Renegade Koji , but was not very successful. With just a few placements among the top ten, he finished the season in 15th place in the World Cup.

2006 returned Bostrom again in the AMA Superbike Championship back and started alongside Neil Hodgson with factory support team Parts Unlimited Ducati on Ducati 999 R . After a difficult season in which the two-cylinder Ducatis did not have much to oppose the more powerful four-cylinder, especially the Suzukis from Ben Spies and Mat Mladin, Ben Bostrom achieved ninth place in the overall standings. At the end of the season, the Italian manufacturer ended its factory involvement.

2007 was a transition year for Ben Bostrom, he started on a Yamaha YZF-R1 in the AMA Superstock Championship and finished second in the overall standings without being able to clinch a win. In 2008, Ben Bostrom competed in the supersport class of the US championship with his traditional starting number 155 . With six wins he won the championship on a Yamaha YZF-R6 . Bostrom collected 361 points and at the end of the season was 31 points ahead of runner-up Jake Zemke Honda CBR 600 RR .

At the US Grand Prix in 2011 , Ben Bostrom made his debut in the motorcycle world championship at the age of 37 . He entered in the MotoGP class with a wildcard in the Team LCR of Lucio Cecchinello on Honda RC212V as team-mate Spaniard Toni Elias at.

Web links

• Official website (English)
• Ben Bostrom on the official website of the Motorcycle World Championship (English).
• Ben Bostrom on the official website of the Superbike and Supersport World Championship