Ben Bostrom is sporting number 2 this year for the factory Yamaha team.
The AMA Pro Road Racing Series got in some testing this weekend at Fontana, with some familiar faces making their first appearances in support of the 2009 AMA campaign. No official lap times to report, but fans finally get to see the AMA stars on the track with their new rides.
Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom turned laps with 2008 Supersport rival, Josh Hayes, who has finally received his long overdue seat aboard a factory Superbike. The duo campaign the YZF-R1 for factory Yamaha team in the new American Superbike series, which replaces the previous premier class, AMA Superbike.
Hodgson was the fastest Superbike rider at the Fontana test.
Bostrom and Hayes will also ride in the Daytona SportBike class for the Daytona 200 opener alongside young guns Josh Herrin and Tommy Aquino, who will contest the remainder of the season. Although the Superbike series figures to be the true premier series, its officially the Daytona SportBike class, a hodgepodge of homologated machinery made up of 600cc Inline-Four supersports from the Big Four along with larger displacement Twins from manufacturers like Buell, Aprilia and BMW (Daytona SportBike will also be the class running the prestigious Daytona 200).
Neil Hodgson was in attendance at Fontana, seeing his first action for the Corona Honda team. The former World Superbike champion figures to be competitive in 2009 as he campaigns the CBR1000RR in the American Superbike class. Hodgson was the fastest rider during the test on the literbikes.
Jamie Hacking looks for the remnants of his SportBike competition.
Other Honda riders in attendance at Fontana include Erion Honda pilots Jake Zemke and Chris Peris. The duo will be running the CBR600RR in the Daytona SportBike series.
Last year’s Monster Energy Kawasaki team of Jamie Hacking and Roger Hayden were back at work, but under the Attack banner this time. The pair will only campaign in the Daytona SportBike series, a disappointing turn of events as Hacking seemed the only man capable of challenging Mladin and Spies last year on the literbike. Hacking was the fastest rider in the SportBike field.
One more rider turning laps for the upcoming American Superbike series is Ducati’s Larry Pegram, who is racing the 1098R.
As for the Yoshimura Suzuki team, they tested Monday and Tuesday but bailed on Wednesday. Mladin only turned a few laps.
