Benjamin Bostrom (born May 7, 1974) is an American former professional

motorcycle racer The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

. From 1995 to 2011 he competed in the

AMA Superbike Championship AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series based in the United States. The series is organized by MotoAmerica and is sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) as well as the Fédération Internationale de ...

, the

World Superbike Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champio ...

and the

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

world championship.

Motorcycle racing career

The son of Dave Bostrom and nephew of Paul Bostrom, both successful dirt track racers, Bostrom began his motorcycle racing career in the same fashion by winning the

American Motorcyclist Association The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is an American nonprofit organization of more than 200,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights. Its motto, mission statement is "t ...

(AMA) 600 Dirt Track National Championship in 1993. He switched to

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

in 1995. Bostrom captured the AMA Superbike national championship as a

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

rider in 1998, without winning a race. A year later Bostrom, astride a

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. History Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...

and still racing full-time in the AMA series, won a

Laguna Seca Raceway Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 ...

World Superbike race (and finished second in another) as a

wild card Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

entry. Bostrom first raced full-time in the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

on a factory

. In

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

he won an unexpected 6 races, including 5 in a row on a factory L&M

, to finish third overall. Bostrom did not win a race in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, and scored weaker results as the season progressed. For 2003 Bostrom returned to the domestic series for American Honda on an RC51, staying there in 2004 on the brand new

Honda Fireblade The Honda Fireblade is a family of Sport bike, sport motorcycles manufactured by Honda since 1992. The first model was designed by Tadao Baba. * Honda CBR900RR, CBR900RR, 1992–1995 ** CBR919RR, 1996–1999 ** CBR929RR, 2000–2001 ** CBR954RR, 20 ...

CBR1000RR. He finished 4th in AMA Superbike in both years. He made a return to international racing for

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, with the Renegade Honda team in the World Superbike Championship, but was not successful. He qualified slowest of the 28 international entries in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

at the first round, but scored a few top ten finishes during the season to come 14th overall. Bostrom returned to Ducati as

Neil Hodgson Neil Stuart Hodgson (born 20 November 1973) is a British former motorcycle racing, motorcycle racer, who won the 2000 British Superbike Championship, and the 2003 Superbike World Championship season, 2003 Superbike World Championship titles. He ...

's teammate for the 2006 AMA Superbike Championship. Ducati withdrew from the AMA Superbike Championship at the end of 2006, leaving Bostrom to join the

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

/Graves Motorsports team in 2007 for a rebuilding year, riding in the AMA Superstock Championship, where he finished second in points, though unable to score a win. In 2008, Ben Bostrom switched from Superstock to Supersport and led the Graves Motorsports

team to an AMA championship in the 600cc class. At

Virginia International Raceway Virginia International Raceway (VIR) is a race track located in Alton, Virginia, near Danville. It is less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina, on the banks of the Dan River. VIR hosts ...

that year, Bostrom finished 2nd and gave his trophy to Sam Koup (the Grandson of racer Larry Koup), and distributed his champagne bottle and hats to others. Bostrom went on to win the 2008 Supersport Championship for under the Graves Motorsports banner. This was the last year of the AMA series before ownership transferred to the Daytona Motorsports Group, and the 600cc class was renamed AMA Daytona Sportbike. For 2009, Bostrom raced a 1000cc Yamaha YZF-R1 in the American Superbike class. He also moonlighted in select 600cc events, including the season opener,

Daytona 200 The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Mo ...

, in which he took 1st place. In addition to Superbike, Bostrom races

Supermoto Supermoto is a form of motorcycle racing held on race tracks that alternate between three kinds of track surfaces: the hard packed dirt of flat track, the irregular jumps and obstacles of motocross, and the paved tarmac of road racing. Superm ...

- a multi-discipline format involving

off-road Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

flat track Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced banked oval racetracks. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s using both automobiles and motorc ...

and road-racing in one event. Bostrom won the 2003

AMA Supermoto Championship The AMA Supermoto Championship was an AMA Pro Racing-sanctioned Supermoto motorcycle racing series that ran from 2003 through 2009. AMA Pro Racing was a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Motorcyclist Association. An amateur national champi ...

and the gold medal at the inaugural

X-Games The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and aired on ESPN networks and ABC. In late 2022, ESPN sold the long-running property to MSP Sports Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jahm Najafi and Jeff Moor ...

Supermoto competition. The X-Games race (whose field included European Supermoto Champion Eddy Seel and seven-time Supercross champ,

Jeremy McGrath Jeremy McGrath (born November 19, 1971) is an American former professional motocross and AMA Supercross Championship, supercross racer. Considered one of the most popular and influential riders in the history of motorcycle racing, McGrath won se ...

) saw Bostrom win after nearly tipping over five laps from the finish. Ben also dabbles in journalism with an article entitled "Boz Bros Chronicles" which is featured in 2Wheel Tuner Magazine each month as well as Sportbikeclub.com. In 2011 Ben Bostrom made his

class début as a wildcard rider during the

2011 United States motorcycle Grand Prix The 2011 United States motorcycle Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 2011 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of July 22–24, 2011 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. As in previous years, only the MotoGP class ra ...

in a

-backed

LCR Team LCR Team is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP World Championship under the name Castrol Honda LCR with rider Johann Zarco and Idemitsu Honda LCR with rider Somkiat Chantra, as well as the MotoE World Cup under the name LCR E-Tea ...

and thus became the oldest rookie to début in MotoGP class era at 37 years old (similar to

Toshio Suzuki is a Japanese film producer. He is a founder, chairman, and former president of Studio Ghibli. Early life Suzuki was born in Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture in 1948. In 1967 he enrolled at Keio University and graduated with a degree in literature ...

's feat at 1993 Japanese Grand Prix in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

). In 2014 Bostrom was part of a winning team in the

Race Across America The Race Across America, or RAAM, is an ultra-distance road cycling race held across the United States that started in 1982 as the Great American Bike Race. RAAM is one of the longest annual endurance events in the world. All entrants must prov ...

, cycling alongside

Dave Mirra David Michael Mirra (April 4, 1974 – February 4, 2016) was an American Freestyle BMX, BMX rider who also competed in rallycross racing. He set the record for most medals in BMX Freestyle at the X Games (later tied by Scotty Cranmer) and earne ...

, Micky Dymond and

Dave Zabriskie David Zabriskie (born January 12, 1979) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from the United States, who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stag ...

. His brother,

Eric Bostrom Eric Bostrom (born November 19, 1976, in San Francisco, California) is an American professional motorcycle racer and brother of Ben Bostrom, who also races motorcycles professionally. He is currently racing in the AMA Superbike series for Attack ...

, is also a professional motorcycle racer.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

AMA Pro Racing

References

External links

BozBros.com
- Official Bostrom Brothers site
www.gravesport.com
- Official Graves Motorsports site {{DEFAULTSORT:Bostrom, Ben 1974 births Living people American motorcycle racers Superbike World Championship riders AMA Superbike Championship riders AMA Supersport Championship riders LCR Team MotoGP riders MotoGP World Championship riders