Australia’s Mat Mladin miraculously survived a dramatic high speed rear tyre failure while leading the sixth round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia.

The incident happened on the eleventh of the intended 25-lap race distance with the three-times American Superbike champion holding a four second lead over his rivals before his rear tyre exploded without warning at over 280kph (170)mph) as he commenced his run down the fast back straight.

Mladin fought to keep his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 upright and had managed to reduce his speed significantly before he entered the trackside gravel trap where the front end of his machine dug in and he was thrown from the bike which has suffered extensive damage to the rear as a result of the flying chunks of rubber.

“There was no warning it was going to happen as the tyre had felt good and I was comfortable with the lap times I was doing,” said Mladin, who escaped any injury in the incident. “We’re not sure why it has happened as we ran the same tyre a number of times during qualifying and practice and it was fine.”

“What I can say is that I feel very lucky that it exploded where it did, because if it would have happened 100 metres (110 yards) earlier, the walls are a lot closer to the circuit and anything could have happened. I did the best I could to save it and given that it was running on the rim at over 160kph (100mph) I think we did very well to get it off the track and into the gravel trap.”

“We’ve obviously got a bit of work to do now overnight, before tomorrow’s race, so we’ll put this one behind us and get back on with what we need to do with the championship.”

With Mladin forced out of the race lead, victory today went to his Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates, who also has taken the points lead in the championship with 187, compared to Mladin’s second placed tally of 175. After taking the race lead from Mladin, Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom dropped back to second, followed by Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) and Anthony Gobert (Ducati Austin) fourth.

The second race of this weekend’s 25-lap Superbike nationals takes place tomorrow morning, with Mladin confident that he can make a return to the winners circle.

Earlier in the day, Mladin had secured pole position for the weekend’s races, with a record setting time of 1-min 23.520-secs, finishing ahead of Eric Bostrom ( 1:23.944) and Gobert (1:24.304).

Results - Race 1 - Round 6

1. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) 25 laps

2. Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki +2.857 seconds

3. Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) +20.449

4. Anthony Gobert (Ducati Austin) +26.454

5. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) +44.789

6. Larry Pegram (Dream Team Ducati) +56.206

7. Jordan Szoke (Corona Extra Suzuki) +68.781

8. Michael Barnes (Hooters Suzuki) +79.779

9. Geoff May (Team Embry Suzuki) -1 lap

10. Shawn Higbee (KWS Suzuki) -1 lap

Qualifying, Combined. (Top 10)

1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 1:23.520 mins

2. Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki) 1:23.944

3. Anthony Gobert (Ducati Austin) 1:24.304

4. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) 1:24.321

5. Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) 1:24.442

6. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) 1:24.474

7. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) 1:24.645

8. Josh Hayes (Attack Suzuki) 1:25.569

9. Larry Pegram (Dream Team Ducati) 1:25.905

10. Steve Rapp (Valvoline EMGO Suzuki) 1:25.543

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship (points after 6 of 18 rounds) - 1. A Yates, 187; 2. M Mladin, 175; 3. E Bostrom, 170; 4. B Bostrom, 168; 5. Roberts, 160; 6. DuHamel, 141; 7. L Pegram, 124; 8. S Higbee, 120; 9. V Haskovec, 111; 10. Pridmore, 100.

AMA Supersport Grid

1. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, 1:26.250

2. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 1:26.442

3. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:27.045

4. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, 1:27.093

5. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:27.203

6. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:27.227

7. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 1:27.248

8. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:27.643

9. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, 1:27.967

10. Alex Gobert, Honda, 1:27.993

11. Matt Wait, Yamaha, 1:28.115

12. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:28.524

13. Marty Craggill, Honda, 1:28.609

14. Jamie Stauffer, Suzuki, 1:28.683

15. Ty Howard, Honda, 1:29.512

AMA FX Grid

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:23.333

2. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, 1:24.363

3. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 1:24.432

4. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 1:24.835

5. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:25.131

6. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:25.648

7. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:25.723

8. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki, 1:25.870

9. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:25.955

10. Marty Craggill, Honda, 1:26.237