Mat Mladin emerged from this weekend’s double-header AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship round at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with maximum points after scoring his second AMA Superbike national race win in two days at the Ohio circuit.

Mladin’s double victory was his eighth for the season with fourteen races now complete, but more importantly for the Australian, who hails from Camden on the south-east outskirts of Sydney, he has increased his points advantage at the top of the championship table to 33 over Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates, who finished fourth in today’s 26-lap national.

Starting from pole position, Mladin diced closely with Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts in the first half of the race with the pair swapping the race lead on a number of occasions before Mladin got down to business and eased away from his rival in the second half of the race.

The pair were been in close company in both of the weekends Superbike races with Roberts crashing out of yesterday’s opening race on the final lap while dicing with Mladin for the lead and today was forced out of the race with two laps remaining. Second place in today’s race went to Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki), finishing 6.668 seconds adrift of Mladin. Followed by Ben Bostrom (American Honda) who claimed thee final podium position.

“Everything went fine for us this weekend,” said a very satisfied Mladin. “It was a good weekend where we scored maximum points and that has given us a good points break in the championship before we head to the second last circuit of the year at Virginia.”

“Kurtis (Roberts) got into the lead early, but wasn’t setting a real fast pace, so I passed him and picked it up a little, before letting him by again to see what he was able top do out front. I could sense that he wasn’t able to get away from me so I got back past him once more and put some pressure on which worked out well in the end, as I was able to pull away fairly easily in the second half of the race.”

“It was quite a bit warmer out there today and it definitely took its toll, it was hard on both the riders and the tyres. It was very hot and humid which made the tyres feel very greasy early in the race, so all I did was spin them up and go for it. Even though we have had a few tyre problems this year, I didn’t worry about taking it easy on them out there and just gave it to them and hoped that they would hang on throughout the race and they did.”

“Two more double header rounds remain, so I hope we can repeat these efforts at Virginia before we go to the last round at Alabama.”

Mladin’s maximum points haul at Mid-Ohio included the championship point for pole position, along with points for both Superbike race wins and for leading the most number of laps in each race. The three-times American Superbike champion now has a total of 431 points, 33 clear of Yates (398), while Ben Bostrom (376) has passed brother Eric (350) for third after Eric was forced out of the weekend’s meeting due to injuries he received at the combined AMA / World Superbike round at Laguna Seca two weeks ago.

The AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship heads to Virginia International Raceway in five weeks time for the penultimate Double-Header round of the season on the weekend of August 30 – 31, before the final round of the championship takes place at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on September 20 - 21.

Rd 14, AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
RACE RESULT, 26 Laps - Top 10
1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 38:29.75 mins
2. Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki) +6.668 seconds
3. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) +10.071
4. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) +10.203
5. Jordan Szoke (Corona Extra Suzuki) +35.063
6. Giovanni Bussei (Ducati Austin) +35.280
7. Shawn Higbee (KWS Suzuki) +53.803
8. Geoff May (Suzuki) +72.562
9. Vincent Haskovec (Hooters Suzuki) +73.150
10. Mike Ciccotto (Hooters Suzuki) -1 lap

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship (points after 14 of 18 rounds)
1. M Mladin (431); 2. A Yates (398), 3. B Bostrom (376); 4. E Bostrom (350); 5. K Roberts (349), 6. M DuHamel (332); 7. J Pridmore (315); 8. S Higbee (299), 9. V Haskovec (221), 10. J Szoke (212).

Supersport

 FX and Superstock

Adam Fergusson netted two fourth places, one in the Suzuki Genuine Accessories SuperStock and the other in FX at a muggy Mid-Ohio AMA Superbike event. Jordan Szoke took fifth in the second Superbike event, his best finish this year.

In the first Superbike event of the weekend's doubleheader, Szoke, who qualified on the third row, got a good start and quickly started moving up, getting 7th by the second lap. He then settled down to a good race with the factory Ducati of Bussei, ultimately getting passed him. However, on lap 15 in Turn 8, Jordan was pushed wide as he passed a lapped rider and lost the front end putting him out of the race. Szoke said; "We were lapping riders after the fourth lap - I came past this guy on the outside and he went wide. It pushed me out in to the marble (debris off the racing line) and zip went the front end!"

In the Suzuki Genuine Accessories Superstock event, the lone Corona Extra Suzuki rider Adam Fergusson qualified in sixth position after having a few set up problems in qualifying. After the start, Adam quickly moved up to 5th before a red flag bought the field into the pits. At the restart Fergusson got an excellent start getting to sixth after lap 5 and 4th on lap 6. He started after the leaders but another red flag on lap 9 again bought the riders into the pits. On the third restart, Adam did not get the same good launch as before, finishing the first lap in 5th He got 4th after lap 12 and put his head down to go after the leaders. In the process he turned the fastest lap of the race almost a second under the old lap record. Adam did not have enough time to get up with he front three, settling for fourth. After the race Fergusson commented; "In the final restart I got a bad start and put myself behind some guys. By the time I got past I just did not have enough time to get and mix it up with the leaders. I went just as fast as I could - nearly a second faster than qualifying!" Current SuperStock Champion, Corona Extra Suzuki's Jimmy Moore remains absent, recovering from his spill at Brainerd. Fergusson is fourth in the SuperStock Championship.

In the second Superbike event, Jordan got a good start, holding seventh on lap 2. The next lap he passed the factory Ducati to take sixth. He held sixth through lap 23 when the Factory Honda of Curtis Roberts broke down handing him the fifth slot which he held to the finish. This is Jordan's best finish of the year. Afterwards a jubilant Szoke said; "The track is so bumpy I had a hard time holding on. I'm really glad to get onto the leader board and this fifth shows how hard the team has worked to give me a great bike!" Szoke is now 11th in the Superbike Championship.

In the Lockhart-Phillips Formula Extreme race, Fergusson qualified on the front row in third position. Adam was 4th on the first lap and quickly moved up into second by lap 3. He held second until lap 9 when he slowed and was passed and again on lap 10, leaving him in fourth. He held fourth at the finish. After the race a frustrated Fergusson said; "My hands cramped up - the track is really bumpy and with the FX bike really shaking around I found I could not brake or turn well because I was having trouble holding on!" Fergusson is currently 5th in the FX Championship.