Superbike drama ready to unfold at BIR
There are more story lines than a Stephen King novel for the Trofeo Ducati Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike AMA Championship at Brainerd International Raceway June 25-27.
Team Honda rider Miguel Duhamel could win his fourth straight superbike race.
Mat Mladin on his Suzuki, a five-time winner this season, could increase his points lead.
Duhamel's teammate and superbike rookie Jake Zemke, third in season points, could win his second race at BIR (he won the 2003 Formula Xtreme final).
And, if defending champion Aaron Yates wins, it would be the second consecutive victory for Suzuki at the three-mile road course in 21 years.
BIR is the seventh round of the 11-round series. Superbikes reach speeds of 180 mph around the sweeping first corner of the 10-corner, 3-mile road course.
Duhamel, a three-time superbike winner at BIR, is one of the favorites to win the Superbike final. He raced to a "hat trick" at Road America in Elkhart, Wis., June 4-6, winning both superbike finals and a Formula Extreme final. Not since 1985 has a racer won three AMA national races on a weekend.
With his second Superbike win of the weekend, Duhamel jumped to the top of the Superbike win list with 30 victories. This win also made him the winningest rider in history with 75 overall career wins. He finished second in last season's BIR Superbike final.
For Honda, his latest win also marked the 110th Superbike win.
For defending points champion Mladin, who has struggled at BIR the last few years, he is only 10 points ahead of Duhamel. The four-time points champion has 29 overall Superbike victories. His worst finish this season has been sixth.
Revving it up
What: The Trofeo Ducati Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike AMA Championship
Where: Brainerd International Raceway
When: June 25-27
Last season at BIR, he earned the provisional Superbike pole. He also owns the track record of 1 minute, 35:320 seconds at 113.03 mph set in 2001.
Zemke has finished among the top three racers more than anyone else in the class this season. He's also finished second a total of six times. In his victory at BIR last season, he took the lead with a lap and a half remaining.
He has also won another Formula Xtreme final and a Supersport final at BIR and finished fifth in the Superbike final at BIR in 2002.
Yates has not competed in every round this season but still is eighth in points (he has two podium finishes this season).
Last season's third-place finisher in the Superbike final at BIR on a Honda, Kurtis Roberts, returned this season to racing in the MotoGP World Championship Series overseas.
Eric Bostrom, who won at BIR in 1998, also has something to prove. He would like nothing better than winning for his sponsor, Ducati. He has one victory and two podium finishes this season.
If Bostrom wins, it will just add to Ducati's high visibility at the raceway.
Qualifying for Superbikes is from 3:50 until 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. until 12:10 p.m. June 26. The 21-lap final is 3 p.m. June 27.