Mladin has some bad luck with weather while trying to prepare for his title defence

Poor weather has caused Australia's Mat Mladin to only be able to take to the track for two and a half of the eight days that were scheduled.

In an effort to gain as much track time as possible before the first round of the 2001 AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship, the Yoshimura Suzuki squad visited three different circuits in two weeks. They were able to complete a full days dry testing at the 3.54km (2.2miles) Pahrump circuit in Nevada on Friday (Feb 2) and Saturday (Feb 3).

"Things haven't gone that well for us weather wise in the past two weeks, so it was great to get some time in on a dry track and make some progress in setting up the new 2001 model GSX-R," said Mladin. "We were at Laguna Seca last week for a four day test that left us with little quality track time and a lot of work to do. We then went to Sears Point for two days were we didn't even turn a wheel. It's been very frustrating to say the least and that is why we went out to Nevada to have a look at the track (Pahrump) and see what we could do. In the end we came away with a bike that I was a lot more comfortable on, which makes me a bit happier than what I was earlier in the week."

Mladin is hopeful that his team will be able to get in at least four days of testing prior to the all-important Daytona 200 on March 11, where he is the defending champion.

The 2001 season will once again align him with former mentor Peter Doyle. Doyle was instrumental in Mladin's Australian Championship win in 1992 and has been a close confidant ever since. Doyle has taken up the position of Mladin's crew chief where he will join fellow Australian Reg O'Rouke who has been Mladin's mechanic for the past five years.  

"Having Pete (Doyle) and Reg (O'Rouke) on the team will be fantastic," said Mladin. "Reg has been great over the past few years and Pete has been a close friend from when I joined Team Kawasaki Australia in 1992. I'm looking forward to this year as much as they are."