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| KAWASAKI AMA SUPERBIKE SHOWDOWN, PRESENTED BY SUPERCUTS |
| KAWASAKI AMA SUPERBIKE SHOWDOWN, PRESENTED BY SUPERCUTS
SONOMA, Calif. (May 9, 2008) — Infineon Raceway will host the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown, presented by Supercuts, May 16-18, on the twisting 12-turn, 2.22-mile road course. Below are a series of quotes from top AMA riders for media use.
WHAT MAKES INFINEON RACEWAY UNIQUE FROM OTHER TRACKS ON THE AMA SUPERBIKE SERIES SCHEDULE?
Mat Mladin (Suzuki): “It’s a scrapper’s race track and, you know, guys who are good at picking up the pieces after making a couple little mistakes and things like that are going to do very well around this race track. But, you know, honestly, the race track is very technical. There is no place to rest around here, so good, physical condition plays a big part around this racetrack.”
Ben Bostrom (Yamaha): “Infineon Raceway is one of the toughest tracks in the world. I believe that. The great thing about Infineon Raceway is that they’ve made the track very safe, yet they’ve kept all aspects of the track, with the hills and the corners. There’s no straightaway. Every straightaway is actually a corner. You just can’t take a break; so for 20 laps, it’s 110 percent. It’s the biggest challenge and everyone knows when you come to Infineon, you better be in shape.”
Eric Bostrom (Yamaha): “By far it’s the most physical, and that shouldn’t be too big of a problem, but the real issue is how sharp you have to have the bike handle, but also find the grip. That’ the thing that everyone struggles with here because you can get a quick handling bike or a bike that gets grip, but it’s hard to get both and that’s what we’re always searching for.”
Neil Hodgson (Honda): “I forgot what a great little circuit it is. It’s definitely one of my favorite tracks; so physical on a Superbike. It’s really, really tiring. The bikes, every year, get faster and faster with more brake horsepower, and this track seems to get smaller. I’m riding around the track, probably 60 percent of the time, with my foot on the rear brake trying to use myself as my own traction control to stop my bike from wheelieing. I’ve been away for a year, so coming back, it seems that the bikes seem faster and the track seems smaller.”
Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki): “I like a very technical race track and Infineon provides that. It’s got many variations of corners, off-cambers and blind crests; so it really challenges the rider to get the bike set up to do well around here.”
Steve Rapp (Attack Kawasaki): “Some tracks all flow together and they’re either tight-and-slow or long-and-fast corners. This is a little bit of everything. I’m really lucky I grew up racing here. I think it’s a good platform to ride here. If you can ride here there’s nothing you’ll come across at any other race track that you won’t have already ridden here.”
INFINEON RACEWAY IS CELEBRATING ITS 40TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2008. IS THERE A PARTICULAR MEMORY YOU HAVE FROM THE TRACK?
Miguel Duhamel (Honda): “One of my most cherished moments was in 1993. I won here. It was my second win in Superbike in AMA. I wasn’t on a Honda, I was on a Kawasaki and I beat Doug Polen, on the Ducati, and that was a big moment for me. I thought, if I could beat him, I could beat anyone. That was a good year and all the years since then.”
Mat Mladin (Suzuki): “When I first came to America, Infineon was one of the places that blew me away when it came to how far behind the times they were with safety and all the rest of it. Those guys have worked so hard and improved that racetrack so much. It gives you joy and pleasure to go there and race there and try to put on a good show because these guys have worked very hard and done a great job and been very proactive in a lot of ways to try and improve motorcycle racing in the area.”
Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki): “This place has been tough for me, but in the last few years it’s also really rewarded me. I’d really like to complement the track improvements that have been made. It’s really made me comfortable racing around here and taking the bike to the limit. To look back on what we used to have here and look at what we have now, it’s created some nicer memories.” |
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