American Superbike Championship 2004 - Daytona

Suzuki rider Mat Mladin used a three pit-stop strategy to capture the 63rd Daytona 200 By Arai on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Fresh tyres proved to be the difference in the 57-lap, 200-mile race as Mladin pitted three different times for rubber while Honda riders Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke only pitted twice.

Mladin, who also won the Daytona 200 By Arai in 2000 and 2001, joins Kenny Roberts, Dick Klamforth, Brad Andres and Roger Reiman as three-time winners of the prestigious motorcycle classic. For Suzuki, they now have four Daytona 200 By Arai victories.

Mladin's margin of victory of second place Zemke was 7.081 seconds. Zemke nipped Duhamel at the start/finish line for second place. Duhamel was bidding for a record-tying fifth Daytona 200 By Arai victory.

“The three stop strategy that we incorporated for this race worked out perfect and gave us the result that we were after,” said Mladin, the defending American Superbike champion. “The plan helped us maintain a lot quicker lap pace and it was good not only to get through it, but to get the win.

“The win was a big bonus, that’s for sure. We went into the race with an open mind and our strategy, knowing what pace we could run for the entire distance and we came out on top.

“A lot of people were expecting our opposition to do well here, but it just goes to show that you don’t need all of the speed in the world to win.

“Our whole week here has been good. We’ve been building up to today’s race. Practice and qualifying went well and we just kept working at what we had to do and it all paid off for the team.”

Heartbreak found the Bostrom brothers. Ben Bostrom, who after pitting with the lead on Lap 21, experienced rear end problems on his No. 155 Honda. Eric Bostrom's Ducati Austin experienced mechanical woes midway through the Daytona 200 By Arai.

Eric's run at the front was ended at three-quarter's race distance with a damaged oil cooler caused by track debris. The initial part of the race saw a fierce three-way battle for the lead during which he set the race's fastest lap time of 1m49.227 aboard the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin 999.

The excitement was heightened during the second pit stop when both Bostrom and then second-place rider Mat Mladin pulled into the pits, with Bostrom leaving just seconds behind the eventual race winner. Eric had retaken the lead when his race was ended by misfortune.

"It's like a ballet because it was so slippery and the feel of the bike is so light when you're out there so you can't let your concentration drop," explained Bostrom. "On the straightaways I had to stretch my hands because they were going numb from pushing on the bars. You have to stay fresh because you know there's so many laps to go. You don't try to win the race in one lap. Of course I'm disappointed, but I know I've got a great bike and the entire season ahead of me."

"I hate to call it a 'curse,' but we really haven't had the best luck here," said Ducati Corse's Paolo Ciabatti. "A stone, or something, hit the oil cooler and that caused a small hole. The same thing happened back here in January. Maybe it's not the ending we wanted, but we still had great success with the new lap record and pole position."

In the Pro Honda Oils Supersport, Jason DiSalvo, riding the No. 40 Yamaha, pulled off a last lap pass to win the 18-lap event.

The 20-year-old DiSalvo, who started on the pole, drafted by Tommy Hayden's No. 22 Kawasaki on the final lap coming out of Turn 4 and then put the block on Roger Lee Hayden's No. 95 Kawasaki to earn his first career AMA Supersport victory

DiSalvo put himself in perfect position exiting the chicane.

"It feels great but it would have been hard not to win out there with the bike I was on", DiSalvo said. "On the straightaway it seemed like we had a little bit more than the Kawasakis. Not enough where I thought I could lead it out of the chicane so I just stuck behind Tommy that last lap. I could tell he was kind of wanting me to go by but I just couldn't bring myself to lead it."

Rounding out the podium was Roger Lee Hayden and Tommy Hayden. Michael Barnes put on an excellent showing for a privateer posting a sixth-place finish.

2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship - Race Result

Mat Mladin - Suzuki - 57 laps
Jake Zemke - Honda - 7 secs
Miguel Duhamel - Honda - 7 secs
Jack Pfeifer - Suzuki - 55 laps
Lee Acree - Suzuki - 55 laps
Ricky Orlando - Suzuki - 54 laps
Pascal Picotte - Yamaha - 54 laps
Opie Caylor - Suzuki - 54 laps
Scott Jensen - Suzuki - 54 laps
Eric Wood - Suzuki - 54 laps

2004 American Supersport Championship (600cc) - Race Result

Jason Disalvo - Yamaha - 18 laps
Roger Lee Hayden - Kawasaki - 0.033 secs
Tommy Hayden - Kawasaki - 0.092 secs
Aaron Gobert - Yamaha - 0.137 secs
Jamie Hacking - Yamaha - 0.183 secs
Michael Barnes - Yamaha - 0.254 secs
Aaron Yates - Suzuki - 6 secs
Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha - 8 secs
Steve Rapp - Suzuki - 23 secs
Tony Meiring - Kawasaki - 23 secs

2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship (Points after 1 of 18 rounds) - 1. Mat Mladin (37); 2. Jake Zemke (32); 3. Miguel DuHamel (29); 4. Jack Pfeifer (27); 5. Lee Acree (26); 6. Rick Orlando (25); 7. Pascal Picotte (24); 8. Chris Caylor (23); 9. Scott Jensen (22); 10. Eric Wood (21).

Aaron Gobert won the earlier Superstock race