09-18-02  BEN CHECKS IN "…Sometimes in life it’s necessary to take the option of a new adventure, to explore a new opportunity, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do…". Assen has always been a difficult track for me. It’s an awesome track and I really like riding it, but you know, for some reason it just doesn’t like me very much and I was kinda hoping that this year it would be a little kinder to me, I mean, I’ve never been in the top ten at the place before. During Superpole I was doing terrible and just got myself into the top ten in 9th place so things were maybe improving a little. In the first race I was fighting for like 7th or 8th but in the second race I benefited a bit from Troy’s misfortune and then Nori and Neil had their little off road adventure which pulled them back to me and I got into a real battle with Nori. Before the race I’d said to my guys, “Hey, if we can get 5th here, that would be incredible,” but it was what I wanted. Then I found myself in 6th on the last lap and I just had to make that one last effort to squeeze by and that was it, 5th place. I was pleased with my ride. Kat is making great progress; she’s walking real well, which is about what she does best with this injury. She’s not sleeping too good, as the ribs still hurt, but time will deal with that. She’s missed the New York and London fashion shows but the Milan shows aren’t far away and she’s aiming to be there, and who knows, maybe she’ll be in Imola as well. The headaches have receded and she’s made such great progress, which is a real relief for me. After Assen I jumped onto an airplane back to the States to explore the options that were open to me there. I loved my time with Ducati but I’m pretty excited about spending a year or so back home. They knew how important it was for me to go back to the States and they did so much to help me and made things possible for me, and, well, I can't thank them enough. They’re like a big family and they’ve looked after me and helped me a real lot. The times I’ve had with this family I’ll always treasure and who knows what the future might bring. But sometimes in life it’s necessary to take the option of a new adventure, to explore a new opportunity, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. But Superbike hasn’t seen the last of BB. I’d got kinda beaten down this last season but Ducati have always treated me real well and I’ve got nothing but good things to say about them. Now I’m looking forward to repaying them in some way with the last race in Imola. Be cool, Ben BACK    03/10/02 VALENCIA Spain 03/24/02 PHILLIP ISLAND Australia 04/07/02 KYALAMI South Africa 04/21/02 SUGO Japan 05/12/02 MONZA Italy 05/26/02 SILVERSTONE Great Britain 06/09/02 LAUSITZRING Germany 06/23/02 MISANO San Marino 07/14/02 LAGUNA SECA United States 07/28/02 BRANDS HATCH Great Britain 09/01/02 OSCHERS-LEBEN Germany 09/08/02 ASSEN Netherlands 09/29/02 IMOLA Italy