Bostroms on Kawasakis in 2011

Henny Ray Abrams | October 19, 2010

BROOKLYN, NY, OCT 20 – The Pat Clark Motorsports team is expected to replace their black Yamahas with green Kawasakis for the 2011 season, while increasing their rider pool by a Bostrom, and working with Attack Performance, according to reliable sources. An announcement is expected next week.The team is expected to add Eric Bostrom to older brother Ben and Chris Clark, the son of the team owner, while switching from the R1 to Kawasaki’s new ZX-10R, the sources, who asked not to be identified, said.The addition of Kawasaki is a plus for the AMA Pro Road Racing championship, which lost both Honda and Kawasaki after the 2009 season. Both had been involved through satellite teams, Honda through Corona Extra Racing and Kawasaki through Attack Performance. It’s unlikely that Honda will return in 2011.Ben and Chris Clark ran mostly black Yamaha R1’s with backing from the Palms Casino & Resort, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Yamaha Motor Corp. this season. The structure of the team is still being worked out, with the possibility that Eric Bostrom will be backed by Sho-Air, the air freight and logistics company, on one bike, with Ben and Chris Clark backed by the team’s current sponsors and Kawasaki. In 2010, the team was staffed almost entirely by former Yamaha technicians. They are expected to be asked to stay with the new team.The highlight of the team’s season was Ben’s win in the AMA American SuperBike support race on the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Bostrom followed that with a pair of seconds at Virginia International Raceway and a third in the first race at New Jersey Motorsports Park. That put him fourth in the points and only six out of third place. A second race crash in New Jersey would end his season. Bostrom was on the short straight between turns one and two when his R1 suddenly snapped sideways. The former AMA Superbike Champion broke ribs in the accident which would keep him out of the second race, along with the season finale at Barber Motorsports Park. He ended the season fifth overall, two points behind Larry Pegram.Eric Bostrom ran a limited AMA schedule on the Cycle World Attack Performance Yoshimura Suzuki this season. For 2011, it was rumored he’d be riding a Kawasaki with backing from Sho-Air, which funded a second Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the Cycle World team this season. He began the season at Mid-Ohio before racing at Laguna Seca, VIR, and Barber. His best finishes were sevenths at Laguna Seca and the first race at VIR. Eric was a turn away from a season best fifth on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park when he was taken out by Jordan Suzuki’s Brett McCormick. Bostrom suffered a life-threatening laceration to his upper thigh-his femoral artery was nearly severed-and he was transported to a Birmingham hospital, where he spent two nights before flying home to California to make a complete recovery.Eric Bostrom had his greatest success at Kawasaki, where he rode from 1999 through 2003. Bostrom won nine of his 15 Superbike races on Kawasakis, along with five Supersport races, three of which came in 2001, the year he won the Supersport championship.Chris Clark finished the season 12th overall, with a pair of ninths at Road Atlanta as the highlight.The team, which worked out of the Erion Racing shop this year, is expected to relocate to the Attack Performance shop.Whether Yamaha will add a satellite Superbike team to replace the Pat Clark Motorsports team isn’t known. Attempts to reach senior management at Yamaha were unsuccessful. As were efforts to reach management of the Pat Clark Motorsports team.