American SuperBike 2001 - Final Round - Alton

Australia's Mat Mladin moved a step closer to securing his third consecutive AMA American Superbike Championship when he set the fastest lap time in qualifying to take pole position for tomorrow’s final round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship being held at Virginia International Raceway.

Riding for Team Yoshimura Suzuki, Mladin will need to finish eleventh place or better to clinch the title. His main championship rival, Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom completed qualifying with the seventh fastest time (1:26.603), over a second slower than Mladin’s pole winning time of
1:25.428. Second fastest was fellow Australian Anthony Gobert (Team Yamaha, 1:25.549) ahead of Nicky Hayden (American Honda, 1:25.886) and Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda, 1:26.220).

Today’s pole position gave Mladin a record equaling nine pole positions for the season. There has only been one round that he has failed to grab pole position for and earlier in the season set a new record of eight consecutive AMA Superbike poles.

“We got the extra point for pole position today and we calculate that we have to finish eleventh or better to win the championship,” said Mladin. “The team tried hard to get pole and we were able to get a good lap in. As for tomorrow, we’ll just go out and do what we have to.”

The final round of this year’s championship will be highlighted with a 150km Superbike race that will see all of the teams having to make a pit stop for new tyres and fuel. This is the only race other than the Daytona 200 (which Mladin won earlier this year) where pit stops are included.

“We just have to keep the bike running tomorrow,” Mladin added. “It won’t be easy, but we have put a lot of work into this race and the championship. As for a pit stop strategy, everyone has to do one, so I’m not that concerned by it. We know what we have to do.”

Final qualifying – top ten
1. Mat Mladin (Team Yoshimura Suzuki) 1:25.428 mins
2. Anthony Gobert (Team Yamaha) 1:25.549
3. Nicky Hayden (American Honda) 1:25.886
4. Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) 1:26.220
5. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) 1:26.281
6. Steve Rapp (HMC Ducati) 1:26.366
7. Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki) 1:26.603
8. Aaron Yates (Team Yoshimura Suzuki) 1:26.613
9. Andreas Meklau (HMC Ducati) 1:26.642
10. Tommy Hayden (Team Yamaha) 1:26.667