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Mat Mladin on the Daytona
Tests Dec 13th, 2001 |
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Mat Mladin on the Daytona
Tests Dec 13th, 2001 |
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The annual Dunlop tyre
test at Daytona Speedway heralds the start of preparations for the
upcoming AMA U.S. Superbike Championship with a number of the major teams
in attendance including three times and defending champion, Australian Mat
Mladin. The three-day test which was held from Monday, Dec 10 to Wednesday, Dec 12, was the first time that Mladin had been bike on his Suzuki GSX-R750 Superbike since the final round of this years championship at Virginia in September. Along with having to work through a vast quantity of tyres at the test, Mladin and his team sorted through a number of upgrades to their 2001 championship-winning machines such as front suspension, exhaust systems and engine components. Mladin turned in a number of lap times in the 1-min 50-sec mark, which was down on his pole position winning time of 1:48.424. American Nicky Hayden (American Honda) set the fastest time of the test with a 1:48.141. "The good thing for us is that the changes and updates made to the bike for the test worked well, so that is very satisfying," Mladin said. "It's always hard at a test like this. It was a typical test. With about half an hour to go they all stick soft tyres on and try and see who can be quickest so that they can head home for Christmas believing that they are the fastest, but for me they don't count as much right at this moment." "As is always the case my team works through our test program and then will go away and work through the data. The main area for concern is that we appear to be down on speed around here. That will be an area where Suzuki will have to work on if we are to be a definite contender not only for the Daytona 200, but also for the championship. A couple of the other teams have already shown this week that they are upping the tempo for next year, so we have to ensure that we keep going forward with our program." |
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