AMA - Ducati Teammates Focus On Race Set-up - September 3rd 2005

The Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin team began practice and qualifying at Road Atlanta on Friday with Neil Hodgson and the Ducati 999 in the mix for a front row starting position. Teammate Eric Bostrom was eighth in qualifying despite missing an opportunity to set a quick lap at the end of his session.

Hodgson, third quickest in the morning session, spent most of the day's track time working on race setup for his Ducati 999 Superbike for the races to be held on Saturday and Sunday. His qualifying time was fifth best, but the former World Superbike Champion was involved in a group of riders fighting for second place with lap times in the 1:23-range. "We were testing some things today and I wasn't going out and out to set a really quick lap time. I was also getting more comfortable with the track and I really like it. We'll step it up a bit tomorrow and see how it goes," said Neil Hodgson. "We've found a direction we like and think we can make some more progress."

Eric Bostrom turned in a time of 1:24.941 in the warm afternoon session but did not get a shot at bettering his place in the order as time ran down. "We had a rough day," said Eric, winner of three races this year. "In the morning, we were trying a few things out, so we weren't expecting much in terms of lap times. In the qualifying session, we had some things happen and we didn't get to put a quick lap at the end."

Team manager Tom Bodenbach discussed the team's results: "With Eric, we had some issues and he lost an opportunity to improve at the end. We will rectify the problem for tomorrow. With Neil, we had a pretty good day. We'd like to be higher up the charts, obviously, but we never really went for that one flying lap to get closer to pole. We're looking forward to tomorrow and having another shot at qualifying in the morning."

On Saturday, qualifying will conclude in the morning and the 25-lap race begins at 3:00 PM local time.

Qualifying Times:

1. 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki - 1:22.339
2. 2. Ben Spies, Suzuki - 1:23.161
3. 3. Miguel Duhamel, Honda - 1:23.337
4. 4. Aaron Yates, Suzuki - 1:23.391
5. 5. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999 - 1:23.785
6. 6. Jake Zemke, Honda - 1:24.038
7. 7. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki - 1:24.481
8. 8. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 999- 1:24.931