With MotoAmerica set to bring AMA Superbike racing back to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, August 16-18, we’re taking a closer look at past Superbike races at the iconic racetrack in Lexington, Ohio.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates missed three rounds of the 1998 AMA Superbike Championship as he nursed a wrist injury. By the 10th round of the ’98 championship, Yates was back to full health, and he showed it by dominating every aspect of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course weekend.
Yates was fast from the time wheels were turned at Mid-Ohio. He was fast in practice, qualified on pole position and led the race from start to finish after jumping away from the pack in an uncharacteristic fast start for the Georgian.
From there, all Yates had to do was fight the temptation to keep looking back.
“All the way from the first lap, I was curious as to who was back there,” Yates said after his second win in a row and second of the season. “I wanted to look back there, but I just kept myself from looking back – until the last lap. I think that was a good thing. I didn’t want to think about who was there.”
Second place went to the Yamaha of Jamie Hacking, who for most of the race was in a battle for the spot with Fast By Ferracci’s Tom Kipp. Kipp did most of the leading, but Hacking led when it mattered most – at the end.
Third place went to a Ducati, but this time it was Kipp on the Ferracci bike and not Anthony Gobert and the Vance & Hines Ducati. Gobert had tested positive for marijuana in a test given by the AMA on Thursday and was suspended the next day for the rest of the season.
American Honda’s Ben Bostrom ended up fourth, hot off his strong finish from the World Superbike round at Laguna Seca. And he wasn’t happy about it.
“I think I should have won that race,” Bostrom said. “The race pace was nice and easy. Aaron (Yates) was doing low 29s and I’ve been doing 28s all weekend. It was just too much stress, too many people telling me not to go for a win, to go for the championship. I want to win races and win a championship. I just choked. All I was thinking was ‘Where’s (Doug) Chandler? Don’t crash.’ I just didn’t want to crash. I had a dream last night that I crashed. It was my worse race since Daytona. I wasn’t even tired after because I didn’t ride hard enough.”
Eric Bostrom, meanwhile, finished fifth in what was his AMA Superbike debut.
An injured Chandler finished eighth at Mid-Ohio and left the facility leading Ben Bostrom by seven points after 10 of 14 rounds.
