American SuperBike 2001 - Round 8 - Laguna Seca

Mat Mladin continued his unbroken string of AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike poles this year by setting the fastest time in Thursday’s session aboard his Yoshimura Suzuki. Mladin, the series leader, clocked a time of one minute, 26.100-seconds (93.240 mph) on the 2.2-mile Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. While Mladin has won every AMA Superbike pole this year (and an AMA record 21-career poles), it marked the first time this season the 29-year-old Australian failed to set a new track record.

Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom qualified second with a time of 1:26.181 (93.153 mph). Bostrom, of Temecula, Calif., felt he had the pole in hand on his fastest qualifying lap, but said he was held up in lapped traffic.

Jamie Hacking of Suzuki (1:26.181) and Honda rider Nicky Hayden (1:27.013) round out the front-row starters for Saturday’s race.

“It’s a bit weird what's happening here,” said Mladin, who also won the pole at Laguna Seca in 1998. “Three or for years ago I did 25.6 here in qualifying. Since ’98 or ’99 it’s been impossible to get back to those times. I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know if the track is getting slower? This bike now is so much better than the one we had then we can’t figure it out. Given the development of the motorcycle a 26 (one minute, 26-second lap) should be the first flying lap when we pull it out of the truck.”

In disappointing news Anthony Gobert will not be racing either the AMA or World Superbike rounds this weekend. The Yamaha rider injured his should and wrist at Loudon and, after attempting a few laps in practice, decided to focus on Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport where he is second in the standings. It’s not certain that Gobert will even be able to ride the 600 race this weekend

1	MATHEW MLADIN	SUZ	1: 26.100
2	ERIC BOSTROM	KAW	1: 26.181
3	JAMIE A HACKING	SUZ	1: 26.877
4	NICKY HAYDEN	HON	1: 27.013
5	LARRY PEGRAM	DUC	1: 27.046
6	AARON W YATES	SUZ	1: 27.075
7	DOUG CHANDLER	KAW	1: 27.204
8	MIGUEL DUHAMEL	HON	1: 27.329
9	TOMMY HAYDEN	YAM	1: 27.339
10	ANDREAS MEKLAU	DUC	1: 27.787
11	STEVE RAPP	DUC	1: 27.818
12	PASCAL PICOTTE	HD	1: 28.613
13	MICHAEL A SMITH	HD	1: 29.223
14	JORDAN M SZOKE	HD	1: 30.080
15	JIMMY MOORE	SUZ	1: 30.612
16	RICHARD J ALEXANDER JR	SUZ	1: 31.734
17	CHRIS ULRICH	SUZ	1: 32.177
18	ANDREW J DEATHERAGE	SUZ	1: 32.384
19	JAMES B RANDOLPH	SUZ	1: 32.532
20	VINCENT HASKOVEC	SUZ	1: 32.618
21	MIKE SULLIVAN	HON	1: 32.848
22	DEAN MIZDAL	SUZ	1: 32.995
23	RICKY ORLANDO	SUZ	1: 33.266
24	ALAN SCHMIDT	SUZ	1: 33.410
25	ANTHONY LUPO	SUZ	1: 33.446
26	BEN SPIES	SUZ	1: 33.913
27	DOUG PITCOCK	SUZ	1: 33.971
28	KIM NAKASHIMA	UNK	1: 34.129
29	TONY MEIRING	SUZ	1: 34.457
30	JOHN DUGAN	SUZ	1: 34.484
31	ROBERT L MESA	SUZ	1: 34.556
32	RICH CONICELLI	SUZ	1: 34.863
33	SHAWN REILLY	SUZ	1: 34.908
34	EDWARD MILHAUSEN	SUZ	1: 35.420
35	JAMES J KING	SUZ	1: 35.560
36	MAURO CEREDA	SUZ	1: 35.592
37	PETER J MORAN	SUZ	1: 35.760
38	ERIC ERLING HAUGO	SUZ	1: 36.448
39	BRETT W RAY	SUZ	1: 37.068
40	KEN J KREBS	SUZ	1: 39.628
41	JAMES ROMERO III	SUZ	1: 42.333