On June 27-29 the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited comes to Brainerd for round 11 of the 18-race series. A single point separates series leader Eric Bostrom from three-time AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin in one of the tightest battles in the history of the series. Mladin’s Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates, who led the series earlier in the season, is solidly in the championship hunt as is Honda’s Ben Bostrom and Kurtis Roberts. Any one of the top five riders could conceivably leave Brainerd with the series points lead.

Miguel Duhamel, who rides for Honda, will attempt to become the first four-time winner of the race. Duhamel heads up a trio of former Brainerd Superbike winners taking to the track this weekend that also includes the brothers Eric and Ben Bostrom.

This year will mark the 20th anniversary of AMA Superbike racing at Brainerd. Motorcycle Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey won the very first race held there in 1983. Rainey’s win came on a factory Kawasaki, but since that time the race has been practically owned by Honda. Fred Merkel and Rainey combined to give Honda four-straight Superbike wins at the track in the 1980s. Coming into this year Honda is running a three-race winning streak at BIR. Even more impressive is the fact that Honda made a rare sweep of the Superbike podium at Brainerd in 2001.

All three factory Hondas have good reason to believe they can win at Brainerd this year. Duhamel has won three times before at the track and always goes well there. “A lot of drafting comes into play at Brainerd,” said Duhamel, the all-time AMA Superbike wins leader. “Horsepower helps, but the draft can keep you in there even if you lack a little power.” Duhamel should know; he memorably led Brainerd on the Harley-Davidson VR1000 Superbike in the 1994 race.

Duhamel’s teammate Ben Bostrom should feel right at home at Brainerd even though this will be his first visit to the track since 1999. Bostrom won his only AMA Superbike race at BIR that year and is hoping to earn his second-career victory this weekend.

The third factory Honda rider Kurtis Roberts, of the Erion Honda Racing squad, feels he should have earned his first AMA Superbike win at Brainerd two years ago. That year Roberts made a spectacular pass on fellow Honda rider Nicky Hayden coming into the final corner. He led coming out of the turn and heading to the checkered flag, but he grabbed just a tad too much throttle. That sent his bike sideways and gave Hayden the opportunity to pass him by mere inches at the line. It proved to be one of the most dramatic and closest finishes in AMA Superbike history with Duhamel and Jamie Hacking taking a very close third and fourth -- the top four covered by .500 of a second at the stripe. Roberts hopes to erase the memory of the race that could have been with a victory on Sunday.

As good as Honda’s luck has been at Brainerd over the years, it’s been almost equally as rotten for both Suzuki and Kawasaki. Suzuki has never won an AMA Superbike race at Brainerd and Kawasaki’s one and only victory came 20 years ago. Ironically, all that could change this weekend since the top two riders in the series are Kawasaki- and Suzuki-mounted.

Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom comes into Brainerd leading the series. He won his very first AMA Superbike race at Brainerd in a shocker back in 1998 as a replacement rider for the injured Duhamel. It would be fitting for Bostrom to give Kawasaki its second AMA Superbike win 20 years after Rainey gave the company its first and only win at the circuit.

Mladin would love to break through to win his first at Brainerd. It’s one of the few tracks on the circuit where he hasn’t won. He’s been runner-up three times at BIR, but his luck took a turn for the worse here in the last few years. In 2001 he suffered a rare crash on the first lap of the race and last year his Suzuki had mechanical problems and he was forced to retire. Mladin would love to finally give Suzuki a win at Brainerd.

Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates is third in the standings coming into this race. For some reason, Brainerd has never been kind to Yates. His best finish at the track was a seventh in both 1996 and 2000. He, like Mladin, will be shooting to give Suzuki a victory at BIR.

Austin Ducati split with rider Anthony Gobert and will bring in Italian racer Giovanni Bussei. The last time Ducati brought over a rider from Italy mid-season it resulted in a Brainerd win for the Italian maker when Alessandro Gramigni took the unexpected victory in 1996.

Of the privateers Jason Pridmore has the most history at BIR. Pridmore had one of his best AMA Superbike races ever at Brainerd in 1998 when he finished fourth on a Ducati.

Supersport

Yamaha’s leading Supersport squad headed by South Carolinian Jamie Hacking is heading to Minnesota for round seven of the 2003 Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Championship presented by Shoei on Sunday, June 29, at Brainerd International Raceway. Hacking narrowly leads the series over Aussie teammate Damon Buckmaster. Just eight points separate the teammates. Yet another Yamaha rider Aaron Gobert is third in the series standings, but will miss Brainerd with a broken wrist. For Yamaha to have the top three riders midway through the season in the ultra-competitive Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship is a rare feat indeed. The last time a single manufacturer held the top three spots in the series at the halfway point was eight years ago.

Four riders have won Supersport races in the six rounds leading up to Brainerd, but Hacking, with three wins, is the only multiple winner so far. Hacking, in his seventh year of AMA professional racing, is attempting to earn his first AMA championship. The same can be said of teammate Buckmaster. The hunger of both riders is evident and the fierce competition for the championship has left the teammates at odds several times this year. After the Pikes Peak round, Buckmaster criticized Hacking for what he thought was rough riding tactics. Hacking retorted by saying that Supersport racing has always been a contact sport and claims innocence. Both teammates claimed to have settled their differences and are looking forward to getting on with the remainder of the season.

Hacking comes into Brainerd a past winner of the race. The British-born rider came out on top of a furious last-lap battle with Kurtis Roberts in the 1999 race to emerge victorious. Hacking became the only Yamaha rider to win the Brainerd Supersport race.

“Brainerd always seems to produce close racing in Supersport,” said Hacking, who finished fifth at the race last year. “The last lap there is usually a mad scramble. I’m hoping I can put some distance on the rest of the field this year so it doesn’t come down to that, but I have enough experience with last-lap tactics to hopefully be where I need to be at the finish.”

Hacking will face defending Brainerd winner Jake Zemke who is still seeking a Supersport victory this year on his Erion Honda. Zemke favors high-speed circuits like Brainerd. Miguel Duhamel should be fully recovered from a broken collarbone suffered in early May and should be a factor at BIR. The Honda racing veteran has won four AMA Supersport races at Brainerd.

Kawasaki’s duo of Tommy Hayden and Tony Meiring both feel they are overdue for a Brainerd Supersport victory. Meiring opened a large lead in last year’s race before crashing out on lap five. Teammate Hayden then led the closing stages of the race before being nipped by Zemke at the line. Suzuki’s young ace Ben Spies is hoping to give Suzuki its first Brainerd Supersport win in five years.

Mladin Preview

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin arrives at Minnesota’s Brainerd International Raceway, host of round 11 of the 2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship holding down second place in the championship, just one point shy of Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom.

The season has been a battle of wills for the Australian. He has won six of the ten races held this season, but has had his consistency affected by tyre related problems. With just seven races remaining for the season, Mladin will be digging deep to obtain the results that he needs to regain the championship lead.

Brainerd is one of Mladin’s favourite circuits on the American race calendar and always looks forward to the cross-country trip.

“Along with Road America, Brainerd is a place that I look forward to,” said Mladin. “I like the countryside around here where you can get out and do a few different outdoor activities. I also like the circuit itself. It’s a place that we’ve done well at in the past, but are yet to crack it for a win, hopefully we can change that this weekend.”

While the three-times AMA Superbike champion does like the circuit and is the existing Superbike lap record holder around the 4.828km (3.00miles) complex, he has never won there. He has been runner-up on three occasions, but his last two visits saw him leave empty handed after suffering a first lap crash in 2001 and engine problems last year. With the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 at his disposal this year, Mladin will be aiming at a return to the winner’s podium this weekend. Further incentive for Mladin to aim for the top step on the podium is that Suzuki have never won at Brainerd in the 20-year history of the event.

“We need to get back to winning. It was good to get the win at the first race at Road Atlanta, but we made a wrong tyre choice for the second race and paid the price. Tyres have definitely been the most crucial factor for us this year. We have been working closely with Dunlop, so hopefully we can get a tyre from them that will suit the needs of the Suzuki.”

Preparations for this Sunday’s 21-lap Superbike national get underway with practice and qualifying sessions commencing on Friday and continuing through Saturday.