AMA: MBNA Pays First Round Superbike Tour Bonuses
12 May 1998
WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- Kawasaki's Doug Chandler and Suzuki's Mat Mladin are the big winners in the first round of the 1998 MBNA Superbike Tour championship bonuses, which have been distributed to the top 20 Superbike riders following the April 19, Honda Challenge of Laguna Seca.Currently tied for first place in points, co-leaders Chandler and Mladin take home $5,000 and $4,000 respectively from the $30,000 American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) MBNA Superbike Tour Championship Bonus Awards program. Other top money-earners from the first round of MBNA bonuses include Vance & Hines Ducati rider Anthony Gobert, winner of the opening round at Phoenix, earning $3,000; Honda-mounted Ben Bostrom, $2,000; and Fast by Ferracci Ducati-mounted Tom Kipp, $1,700.
MBNA Superbike bonuses will be paid out in two additional segments over the course of the 1998 season. The second segment will begin with a clean slate at the May 3 event at Sears Point Raceway. Points from May 3 through the New Hampshire International Raceway event on June 21, will be tabulated for the second round of MBNA Superbike bonuses, when another $30,000 will be divided among the top twenty riders.
The third and final round of bonuses, $40,000, will be paid to the riders earning the most points beginning with the July 17 MBNA Superbike Tour event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, through the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, October 3-4.
Following are the first round of 1998 MBNA Superbike bonus award recipients:
Pos. Rider, Hometown Mach. Amount 1 Doug Chandler, Salinas, CA Kawasaki $5,000 2 Mat Mladin, Australia, Suzuki $4,000 3 Anthony Gobert, Australia, Ducati $3,000 4 Ben Bostrom, Granada Hills, CA Honda $2,000 5 Tom Kipp, Chardon, OH Ducati $1,700 6 Miguel Duhamel, Repentigny, PQ, Canada Honda $1,600 7 Jamie Hacking, Spartanburg, SC Yamaha $1,500 8 Aaron Yates, Milledgeville, GA Suzuki $1,400 9 Thomas Wilson Jr., Oregon, OH Harley-Davidson $1,300 10 Larry Pegram, Baltimore, OH Suzuki $1,200 11 Steve Crevier, Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada Suzuki $1,100 12 Tommy Hayden, Owensboro, KY Kawasaki $1,000 13 Richard Oliver, Fresno, CA Yamaha $950 14 Thomas Stevens, Woodstock, GA Ducati $900 15 James Randolph, Santa Rosa, CA Suzuki $850 16 Pascal Picotte, Repentigny, PQ, Canada Harley-Davidson $500 17 Michael Hale, Carrollton, TX Ducati $500 18 Rad Greaves, Ann Arbor, MI Suzuki $500 19 Scott Russell, Conyers, GA Yamaha $500 20 Jamie James, Marshall, NC Harley-Davidson $500