Australian Mat Mladin became the first rider in the history of the AMA Superbike Championship to have won four national titles after a brilliant third place in today’s final race which was held in treacherous wet conditions at the new Barber Motorsports Park, near Birmingham, Alabama.

Thirty-one-year-old Mladin, who hails from Camden, south east of Sydney, wrote himself into the AMA history books after a sensational season of racing that saw him equal the most number of Superbike race wins in a season (10) and further extend his own All-time AMA Superbike pole position record to 31, after securing seven more poles on his way to clinching his fourth title.

In a season that saw Mladin’s Yoshimura Suzuki team debut an all-new GSX-R1000 Superbike at the start of the year, he and his dedicated crew have worked tirelessly in making it the best possible machine on the track.

Today’s eighteenth and final race of the season almost became an anti-climax as rain struck the 3.70km (2.3 miles) circuit. Race officials were forced to red flag the race on two separate occasions before it was finally run.

Heading into today’s final, Mladin held a 29-point advantage over teammate and championship challenger Aaron Yates and needed only to finish in the top 23 if Yates was to take the win. Mladin finished fourth in yesterday’s opening race of the double-header weekend, after claiming his seventh pole position of the season earlier in the day.

Using his wealth of experience, Mladin rode wisely in the wet conditions and slipped comfortably to the rear of the lead group, allowing others to race for the lead and make their own mistakes in the wet conditions. This worked in favour of Mladin as the American Honda pair of Ben Bostrom and Miguel DuHamel found them selves out of the race after battling with eventual race winner Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) with four laps of the 28-lap journey remaining. Their demise saw Italian Giovanni Bussei (Ducati Austin) elevated to second, with Mladin claiming the final podium position and finishing one place ahead of Yates.

Mladin claimed his fourth title, with a 31-point break over Yates (550 to 519), with today’s race winner Roberts moving up to third overall in the series with a total of 474 points.

"Everything panned out well for us today and we did what we came here to do and that was to win a championship,” said a very satisfied Mladin afterwards. “That’s all that has mattered for us this year, so it’s great to have achieved another win for the team and for Suzuki.”

“My strategy for the final race was to just keep out of Aaron’s way and let him concentrate on winning the race for Suzuki. In the end he had a problem and that didn’t happen. After I saw him have the initial problem I felt that I was a chance of picking up the leaders and go for the win. When I realised that Aaron was not out of the race and that he was closing in again, I changed my focus on the race and decided then that it would be best to finish and do things properly. In the end we grabbed another podium and the title.”

“It has been a good year for us for sure,” said Mladin in reflection of his season. “We had a few tyre problems and other things that handed a couple of wins away for us and then towards the end of the season we had to consolidate our position and that meant not going for the win each time, but it all worked out well for us.”

“Ten wins were good this year, but next year I hope not to have the tyre problems that we have had and win a few more than that next year. Suzuki and Yoshimura have worked very hard for all of their championships and I am disappointed in the fact that the AMA are trying to take away from Suzuki (with proposed rule changes for 2004) because of how hard they work to win. They appear to be trying to punish teams for working so hard in the way that they are setting up the rules for next year. That just seems to be the way that the AMA deals with things, rather than the other teams getting better. So for those reasons the win has been extra satisfying for us.”

“As I always say, if it wasn’t for my team, I wouldn’t be in a position to win these races. Pete, Reg, John and Henry are the guys who have put in such a huge amount of work this year.”

“I have to thank the fans over here for the support they have shown for me this year, it’s been awesome. They give me a great cheer each time that I’ve been on the podium, so I look forward to coming back next year and doing it again.”

Mladin will now head back home to Australia where he will reunite with his wife Janine, who missed the final round of the championship, as they await the arrival of their first child in October.

Mat Mladin - Racing Achievements

• 1990 - Began racing in the Australian 250cc Production championship (Suzuki RGV 250)

• 1991 - Australian 250cc Production Champion (Suzuki RGV 250)

• 1992 - Australian Superbike Champion (Kawasaki ZX-R750)

• 1993 - World 500cc Grand Prix Championship (Cagiva 500)

• 1994 - 3rd Australian Superbike Championship (Kawasaki ZX-R750)

• 1995 - 2nd, Australian Superbike Championship (Kawasaki ZX-R750)

• 1996 - 4th, AMA US Superbike Championship (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)

• 1997 - 3rd, AMA US Superbike Championship (Fast By Ferracci Ducati 955)

• 1998 - 3rd, AMA US Superbike Championship (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)

• 1999 - AMA US Superbike Champion (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)

• 2000 - AMA US Superbike Champion (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)
  Won Daytona 200 by Arai (First Australian to do so)
  Voted 2000 AMA Pro Racing Athlete of the Year, by his peers

• 2001 - AMA US Superbike Champion (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)
  Won four races (Daytona 200 by Arai, Road Atlanta, Road America, Mid-Ohio)
  Set new pole position records; 8 consecutive and a total of 9 for the season

• 2002 7th AMA US Superbike Championship (Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)

• 2003 AMA US Superbike Champion (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000)
  First rider to win four AMA Superbike Championships
  Equalled All-time AMA Superbike race wins for a season with 10 wins (24 career victories)
  Extended his All-time AMA Superbike pole positions to 31, with 7 this season
   

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