The 29-year-old Australian from New South Wales is at home on every track in the AMA series, but he and his factory Suzuki GSXR750 seem to be an especially superior combination on the twisty 1.6-mile New Hampshire road course. Mladin, shooting for his third Loudon win, won last year and in '97.

"Everywhere where we have gone this year, the new bike has worked well and I hope that will continue at New Hampshire," said Mladin. "I've won there twice before (1997 & 2000), so I'll be looking at repeating that result. There's a bunch of people that can do well this weekend, it's a tight and twisty track so it will not suit any one particular bike, so I think it will be wide open. There are a few guys riding well at the moment, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm a little bit sore after the falls at Road America last weekend. I haven't crashed in about two and a half years, so it was a bit of a shock for the body not only to crash once, but twice. I seem to have bumps and bruises everywhere, but I'll be right for the weekend. The last four races have been good for us. I expected more of a fight in the first race last weekend. I was surprised that I was able to stretch a lead as easily as I did. This is an important part of the championship and we've been able to build a reasonable size buffer, but that won't stop us chasing more wins and more points."

The Loudon Classic is one of the oldest events on the Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike calendar and can trace its roots back to the early 1930s. It became one of the first events to run under a new street-legal formula called Class C that the AMA implemented in 1933. The Classic was held at several venues in New Hampshire over the years, including Keene and Laconia. New Hampshire International Speedway has hosted the race since 1965.

Mladin comes into this weekend's race at Loudon, which marks the halfway point in the 14-race series, with a 35-point lead over Kawasaki ace Eric Bostrom. Mat has won three of the six AMA Superbike races leading to this Sunday's final and has also earned the pole and track record at every event. Mladin is attempting to become only the third rider in AMA Superbike history to win three consecutive championships. Reg Pridmore (1976-1978) and Fred Merkel (1984-1986) are the only other riders to accomplish the feat.

So far another Australian, Anthony Gobert, who rides for Yamaha, and Mladin's Suzuki team-mate Jamie Hacking are the only other riders who have won an event this season.

Anthony Gobert - "I am really looking forward to going into Loudon this week end because the last couple of race tracks have been a lot of long straights and high horsepower and the Yamaha is a little down on horsepower. Loudon is similar to Sears Point with no real straight-aways and lots of turns so it should be much better suited to the Yamaha right now."

Doug Chandler, Aaron Yates and Miguel Duhamel join Mladin as past winners of the Loudon Classic. Yates is especially eager to race at the circuit and hopes to get his first Superbike win of the season.

"Loudon is a track I've always enjoyed," said Yates, who won the Superbike race there in 1998 and the 600 SuperSport race last year. "The track is a real challenge and you have to be pretty aggressive to go well there. Bike setup is important, but it takes a lot of skill and nerve to be fast at Loudon."

After losing last year's Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport championship on the final lap of the final race, Eric Bostrom seems to be a man on a mission this season. Bostrom leads the 600 SuperSport Series after earning three podium finishes in four starts. Bostrom, whose older brother Ben races in the World Superbike championships, is facing stiff competition from Anthony Gobert and Miguel Duhamel the all-time winningest rider in the series. The 600 SuperSport race always seems to provide the closest racing of the weekend. At Loudon that should be no different.

While Mladin and Gobert have been the stars in Superbike, the Aussie invasion is alive and well in the Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme Series as well. Countrymen and Gravesports Yamaha team-mates Damon Buckmaster and Aaron Gobert (Anthony's 20-year-old younger brother) run first and second in the Xtreme class, which features powerful 1000cc four-cylinder machines. Both Buckmaster and Gobert ride Yamaha's R1.

Aaron Gobert - "I am really looking forward to riding at Loudon this week-end. I have been getting more used to the bike each time I ride and am learning to work out a better set up and tyre combination. Loudon is more of a twisty track without the high speed straits of the last two circuits so it should suit the Yamaha very well. I am really happy to be second in the championship already and intend to work hard to improve that position."