NCR Ducati rider Ben Bostrom, with bleached hair and his signature quick smile is cruising around the paddock tonight on his scooter, throwing small firecrackers at Troy Corser and waiting for the weekend to start. I stopped and asked him some questions:
Q. You didn't test here, but you must have done some laps on your scooter today. What do you think thus far of Assen?

A. Looks nice. Fast. It snakes around and has a flow to it, but passing here looks difficult. There are only two places to make a safe pass, it will take a daring move to get by somebody, I think.

I talked to Carl, and he said this place is no problem. But that's coming from somebody with eighty percent of the wins here. Carl says the place is all laid out in front of you, and there are no blind corners. That was my problem at Brands Hatch. I'd get a second or a half second faster each time I went out, but I just ran out of time. In the second race I was almost as fast as the leaders .. if we had the race on Monday that would have been okay ... (laughs). I'm looking forward to getting up to speed a bit quicker here. I can't wait.

Q. Has the silly season aspect of this part of the season distracted you?

A. Not at all. I've not even thought about it, to be honest. Fred (Bostrom's manager) is here and I just told him to handle it. He'll take care of it.

Q. Safe to assume that you'd like to stay in World Superbike?

A. Well, Dean, I want to win a world championship, that's my goal, so it would be a bit difficult to do that racing somewhere else. And besides, I love it here.

I think next year will go much better. I will know all of the tracks and want to win races and be challenging for the championship. I miss that, that adrenaline rush of getting on the bike knowing you're racing for the championship.

I've just got a plethora of reasons to stay here.

Q. Wow.

A. What?

Q. The word "plethora" coming out of a rider's mouth. Amazing. Three syllables.

A. Do you know what game I am the best at?

Q. No.

A. Scrabble. I could probably kick your ass in Scrabble. When I was a kid my parents wouldn't let us watch television, so I either had to ride my dirt bike, play outside or go read a book. I have a good vocabulary.

Q. What did you do during the break between Brands and here, Assen?

A. Went island hopping on two small islands off the coast of Italy and Spain. Went swimming and watched the sunrise every day for two weeks. Relaxed.