Gobert and Mladin would have to be considered front-runners, but the rest of the U.S. Superbike field is hungry. This weekend marks the first AMA Superbike doubleheader of the year -- one final will be held Saturday and another on Sunday.

After a year's absence from the U.S. Superbike series, Australian Anthony Gobert has returned and is hoping to win the Big Kahuna Nationals for a third time in as many tries. Gobert, 26, is coming off a hard-fought May 6 win at Sears Point that left him in the Sears Point Raceway care center with an IV drip after suffering dehydration. 

The win marked the first for Yamaha in AMA Superbike since 1998. With a rejuvenated team and a new and improved Gobert, it should be a great showdown between the Aussies Gobert and Mladin.

Throw in the young and aggressive Nicky Hayden and his Honda teammate, former Road Atlanta winner Miguel Duhamel; local Georgian favorites Aaron Yates and Mike Smith, and you have the makings of an epic pair of races. 

The former wild-child now seems to be in the best shape of his life and appears focused on getting back a reputation as a winner so that he can make yet another run someday at the world championship crown he seemed destined to win during his early meteoric rise in the sport in the mid-90s. 

Countryman Mladin is coming off a remarkable championship-winning 2000 season. He easily won both legs of at Road Atlanta last year and went on to hold off Honda's young Hayden to win his second-straight title. Mladin showed his toughness by racing at Sears Point two weeks ago with a broken left leg. He gutted out a solid fourth-place finish, despite barley being able to walk on the injured leg. The No. 1 Suzuki rider will still not be completely healed by Road Atlanta, but even at less than 100 percent Mladin has proved to be a rider to beat. 

"I'm definitely going to Road Atlanta looking for a double win," said Mladin who rode to fourth place at the previous round while still recovering from a broken left Fibula. "I won both races there last year and I feel that everything is right to repeat that. My leg is a lot better with the extra couple of weeks since Sears Point, so I feel that it won't be as much of a problem as it was there.  Road Atlanta does have a fast back straight that may tend to favour the V Twins, like Nicky Hayden's Honda, but we'll be right there. I'm sure that Anthony (Gobert) will be there on the Yamaha. He rode well at Sears and looks to be in the right frame of mind at the moment to do well. It will be important to come away from here with two good results because the next round at Road America will favour the others as it is a very fast circuit and we'll be looking at just trying to stay with them there more than anything."

Mladin's teammate Aaron Yates is a favourite of Georgia motorcycle racing fans. Yates was the fastest rider in test sessions held at Road Atlanta a month ago, and the Road Atlanta doubleheader would be a great opportunity for Yates to get back in the championship points race after suffering a race-ending crash in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. 

Honda's Nicky Hayden gave Gobert a great race at Sears Point a few weeks ago, losing by less than a bike length at the flag. The 19-year-old will have a big following in Atlanta and he was the only rider able to keep Mladin in sight in last year's races. 

The quiet rider in the series so far this year has been Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom. The young Californian has parlayed a second-place finish at Daytona and a sixth at Sears Point into second in the standings, 9 points behind Mladin. Bostrom seems to be a rider on the rise and could be a major threat at Road Atlanta. 

The always exciting Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport Series comes to Road Atlanta with a tie atop the point standings. Gobert and Duhamel have each won a race apiece and are tied with 66 points. Duhamel is the winningest rider in the history of 600 SuperSport, but surprisingly he's never won the 600 race at Road Atlanta. Last year's winner Bostrom is close behind in third and hopes to gain ground in the title chase with another Road Atlanta win this year.