Mladin Report

A day after surviving a high speed tyre failure, Mat Mladin has responded in the best possible way by taking victory in today’s seventh round of the 2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship being held at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia.

The win was Mladin’s 19th career AMA Superbike race win, his fifth for the season and has now closed to within two points of current championship points leader, Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates, who after winning yesterday’s excitement filled race, came home fourth today.

After the drama’s of yesterday’s race when his rear tyre exploded at over 280kph (170mph) while in the race lead, Mladin, along with a number of other riders, was forced to use a different rear tyre on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 after Dunlop recalled the particular type of tyre that failed on Mladin’s bike yesterday, while they investigate the reasons for it occurring.

Starting from pole position for today’s race, Mladin made a steady start as he reacquainted himself with the circuit and a different rear set up. He worked his way up to the race lead by passing Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts on lap seven. From that point, he went about steadily building a comfortable margin over his rivals before the race was cut short on lap 21 of the scheduled 25 after two separate incidents forced officials to bring out the red flag. The race was calculated back to the positions held on lap 20 and with 60% of the race run, it was declared completed and the victory awarded to Mladin.

“After the problem we had yesterday, Dunlop essentially gave us tyre to use today that was a bit slower, but one they felt was a lot safer,” said Mladin. “It was the same rubber compound, but just made from a different construction, but everyone had to use it. In the race today, I just did what I had to do. I wasn’t pushing the rear tyre around that fast kink as much as I was yesterday.”

“What else can you say about the weekend? We arrived here with a 24-point lead and dominated, but left with a two-point deficit, so that’s not a good feeling. We should have had a full race points lead by now, but instead we’ve got a bit of work to do over the next few weeks.”

Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom moved his way past Roberts to claim second, with Roberts holding on for the final podium position just ahead of Yates and Ben Bostrom (American Honda).

The American Superbike Championship reaches its mid point over the next few weeks, with round eight held at the Pikes Peak circuit in Colorado on June 1, followed a week later by another double header round at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

HRC Report

Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts, almost fully recovered from injuries suffered in a motocross accident less than a month ago, scored a pair of podium placings in the AMA Superbike double-header held in humid and threatening conditions at Road Atlanta, just north of Atlanta, Georgia. Roberts rode his Honda RC-51 to a third place finish on Saturday, his best finish since finishing third in the Daytona 200, and third again on Sunday, this time less than a second behind the second placed rider, Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, who’d also finished second on Saturday.

Eric’s brother Ben, of American Honda, had a frustrating weekend, finishing fifth both days, but for different reasons. On Saturday he gambled on a rear tire choice that ultimately proved unproductive. Sunday Bostrom suffered from vision problems. High heat and humidity fogged up his faceshield, a common frustration throughout the field, and he was riding blind. Just as he was making a move toward the podium, the race was brought to a halt by a red flag, and he was given fifth, less than a tenth of a second out of fourth.

Teammate Miguel DuHamel, despite having a different helmet brand, suffered the same fate. For DuHamel it was particularly hurtful since he was riding with a collarbone that he’d broken less than two weeks earlier in the previous AMA race. Saturday he was slowed by a tire vibration and Sunday his vision was obscured. Tire problems forced DuHamel, and a number of others, to search for a different construction, which made him tentative in the early going on Sunday.

The three Honda riders were just off the podium in the Saturday’s Superbike race when disaster struck the race leader, Suzuki’s Mat Mladin. Speeding down the back straight at around 290 kph, Mladin suffered a rear tire blow-out on the 11th of 25 laps. Mladin wrestled the machine to a stop, slowing to a near stop 125 meters before tipping over at low speed. The fallout would affect the Honda trio.

Firstly, it put Kurtis Roberts into third, earning him his second podium of the season. Secondly it ended the charge of Miguel DuHamel. DuHamel’s crew chief, Al Ludington, radioed the veteran French-Canadian to let him know about the tire problem, and that he was on the same compound tire. DuHamel immediately backed it down to finish a cautious 11th. Ben Bostrom had a tire problem of a different sort. The former World Superbike campaigner tried a different rear tire, and gambled on set-up, but knew he was doomed from the start.

The race was won by Aaron Yates (Suzuki), a local rider from Georgia with extensive experience at the track. It was his first AMA professional win at his home track. Ben Bostrom’s brother Eric was second with Roberts third.

Sunday the air was thick with humidity, with the threat of thunderstorms, and almost everyone in the field, including the eventual winner, Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, complained of visor fogging.

Kurtis Roberts took the lead on the third of 25 laps, holding off Mladin until the seventh when Roberts dropped to second, a spot he held until the 15th lap when he fell to third, where he’d finish.

Bostrom was with the leading quintet, despite his vision troubles. In the final laps he was making a run toward the podium when the race was stopped.

DuHamel had less success. From the start he was nearly sightless and riding with one arm. His left collarbone was so sore that he opted out of the early Pro Honda Oils Supersport race, won by Suzuki’s Ben Spies. Erion Honda’s Alex Gobert was fourth in a race that had been led by his teammate Roger Lee Hayden.

Kurtis Roberts, Third Place, Saturday
If we run like today, we're going to get our ass kicked again. I'm with Eric [Bostrom] on the new section. I hate it. I'm losing so much time through there it's sick. It's hurting my arm with my shoulder that I hurt a few weeks ago and it just wrecks the racetrack. It had a nice flow and everything before. If we can just figure out how to get through there without losing a second, I think we'll be right there with the guys. I'm really struggling with whatever it may be. May arm is not as strong as it was, so it gets tired out there. I'd say I'm about 80 or 90 percent right now. I'm fine on the rest of the racetrack, it's just a struggle throwing that thing around on the new section.

Kurtis Roberts, Third Place, Sunday
It’s still a bit tough for me – the new section. I just can’t get through there as well as these guys can and I have to make up the rest of the lap for all the ground I lose there. It’s the same thing. We all had to change tires because I was on the same one that Mat [Mladin] used yesterday. We switched today and my bike wasn’t hooked up as well as it was all weekend. Maybe the track temperature was a little too cold or something, but it went as well as it could have today. Mat was riding well, as was Eric [Bostrom]. I close up on Eric there and then we got the yellow and red flags, so that was kind of disappointing, but I did as well as I could have today.

Ben Bostrom, Fifth Place, Saturday
I just picked the wrong tire. I picked a strange Japanese tire. That was the end. On the first lap I knew it. I couldn’t flick it into the corner.
Unbelievable. I’m totally out of this race. I took a couple of laps on it in practice and that tire was fine. I put this one on and it was crap. I gambled on the bike a little bit too. I made it a little bit too nervous. Usually we’ll gamble to make it steer better, but I couldn’t hang on to the thing. Plus that rear tire was exceptionally bad. I messed up. I knew we were out of the race. It’s heartbreaking. And the race is 100 lapper. I didn’t want to start the race in the first place like that. It just wouldn’t end. I swear to God, when he threw the crossed flags, I thought, “Is that the checkers? because I’ve been out here a long time.

Ben Bostrom, Fifth Place, Sunday
We had a good bike, good tire, it was my own fault. I went to open vents on my helmet and I had a bunch of water inside. The first half of the race I couldn’t see real well. So I was pretty tentative racing with those guys. So I thought I better flip this thing open. So I opened it and the second half of the race I just had the wind and it kind of distorts your vision and it’s hard to get in there. I had a few clean passes and I couldn’t even stick them. It was my own fault. I’ll talk to the guys about it. Tell them to put a vent on top of the helmet.

Miguel DuHamel, 11th Place, Saturday
I was entertaining the thought of giving Kurtis (Roberts) a run for his money.
Then over the radio, Al (Ludington) told me what happened to Mat (Mladin), told me I was on the same tire. Asked me if I had a vibration. I said, ‘Yes, I do have a vibration.’ I just shut her down and just tried to ride around. I was trying to the best I could. The place I was losing the most time was down the back straight. I was only 9000 in sixth gear. The thing goes up to 12000 almost. And that’s a big difference. That’s where those guys were making time. They’d pass me and I’d follow them all the way back to that turn and I’d think, there’s no way I’m going wide open here. Even on the last lap they were not that far away from me.

Miguel DuHamel, Ninth Place, Sunday
I just couldn’t see out of one eye. But we had a new tire on the rear, even when the track was pretty dry and I was sliding quite a bit. I didn’t know if we went too soft. So I took it easy until half-race and then I tried to step it up a little bit. And I saw Anthony (Gobert) coming back to me. And I’m pretty sure I would have got him. Any problem he had was quite a bit bigger than what I had. I would’ve gotten eighth maybe. My pinkie is still numb, the left side of my hand is numb from this morning. I don’t know why. The race was OK. Our goal was just to make this weekend and get out of here safe and sound and points on top of it.
 

Superbike Race 2 Results

1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 20 laps

2. Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki) +5.685 seconds

3. Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) +6.579

4. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) +7.584

5. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) +7.673

6. Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki) +41.646

7. Larry Pegram (Dream Team Ducati) +43.069

8. Anthony Gobert (Ducati Austin) +51.934

9. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) +57.056

10. Shawn Higbee (KWS Suzuki) +62.513

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship (points after 7 of 18 rounds) - 1. A Yates 214; 2. M Mladin 212; 3. E Bostrom 202; 4. B Bostrom 194; 5. K Roberts 189; 6. M DuHamel 163; 7. L Pegram 148; 8. S Higbee 141; 9. V Haskovec 127; 10. J Pridmore 125.

FX Race Results

1. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha

2. Jake Zemke, Honda

3. Marty Craggill, Honda

4. Josh Hayes, Suzuki

5. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha

6. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki

7. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki

8. Steve Rapp, Suzuki

9. Geoff May, Suzuki

10. Ty Howard, Suzuki

Supersport Race Results

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki

2. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha

3. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha

4. Alex Gobert, Honda

5. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha

6. Jake Zemke, Honda

7. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki

8. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki

9. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda

10. Doug Chandler, Honda

• Pictorial - Images from Road Atlanta