Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin came away from round eight of the AMA Superbike Championship Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, with his 40th career victory and his points lead in tact. Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki rider Marty Craggill ended the weekend as top privateer with seventh overall in the points chase.

Mat Mladin, Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 - Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mladin had a mixed weekend at Mid-Ohio. Although the five-time AMA Superbike Champion took the win in Saturday’s race, a fellow team member’s get-off resulted in Mladin running off the track and eventually finishing 30th in Sunday’s event.

In Friday’s first qualifying session, Mladin set provisional pole with a best time of 1:26.670. Then, in Saturday afternoon’s warm and very sunny qualifying, Mladin and crew found a few more seconds in the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and he captured his eighth pole position of the season (his 45th career pole position) and also broke the track record with a ridiculously fast lap time of 1:26.058

“It was a good session for us,” said Mladin afterward. “I didn’t make any changes last night (after taking provisional pole on Friday). We just got into a groove and the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 feels awesome. This is the best that bike has ever felt on this track. And Dunlop did a good job with the race tires they brought out.”

In the weekend’s first AMA Superbike race, Mladin got the holeshot and led all the laps to victory. “I’m just really comfortable with the new Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000,” said Mladin. “I went for a few years, struggling on other bikes. Even though we won championships, it wasn’t easy. But on this new bike, every time I start it up I just gel with the bike and that makes things a lot easier.”

In the second race, Mladin got out in fifth position and was moving toward taking the lead when his teammate went down in front of him. Taking evasive maneuvers, Mladin ran off the track. “I just tried to miss him,” he said. “I could have stayed leaned over, but I was afraid I’d run right into him. So I got upright to miss him. Now, I just have to win races.”

Mat Mladin, Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #1
1st Place - AMA Superbike Race 1
30th Place - AMA Superbike Race 2
1st Place - Overall

Marty Craggill, Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000 - Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki rider Craggill was positive at the weekend’s end. He qualified well and carded a top-10 finish in the first race and an 11th in the second race. When the final results were tallied, Craggill was seventh overall and was not only the first privateer but also ahead of some factory riders.

Craggill enjoyed a good qualifying session, posting a best lap time of 1:28.748 and snagging a spot on the third row of the grid. “I’m happy with that,” said Craggill. “We’re getting closer and closer to the second row.”

In Saturday’s race, Craggill got a great start but then faded back toward the end of the 26-lap race. Even so he still secured a top-10 finish. “I got a rippin’ start,” said Craggill. “But we didn’t test here so we haven’t gotten the bike to a place where I’m completely comfortable on it. But we’re going to make some changes tonight and be ready for tomorrow.”

In Sunday’s race, Craggill got a mid-pack start and moved his way up through his competitors. At the end of the 26-lap race, he was in 11th. “We learned a lot this weekend,” said Craggill. “We have some time off before VIR and I think we’ll be able to get the bike more like we want it and be competitive at the next meeting.”

Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki will next campaign the AMA Superbike race at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, the weekend of August 26-28.

Marty Craggill, Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki, #16
10th Place - AMA Superbike Race 1
11th Place - AMA Superbike Race 2
7th Place - Overall

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In the second of the weekend’s two AMA Superbike races at Mid-Ohio, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies snagged his 10th podium of the season with a third-place finish on Sunday afternoon. His teammates Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates both went down mid-way through the race, with Yates finishing in ninth and Mladin in 30th.

“This is my first year running Superbike and we’re juggling two bikes so it’s tough,” said Spies. “But this was a good race for us and we’re putting things together with the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. And I just want to thank my team for doing such a great job.”

In Saturday afternoon’s extremely warm qualifying session, Mladin, Yates and Spies qualified first, second and third on the Superbike grid. In the 26-lap Superbike race, Yates got a great start and was firmly in second place. Mladin was also with the front-runners, as was Spies. For much of the race, the Yoshimura Suzuki run-down was Yates in second, Mladin in third and Spies in fourth. Unfortunately, Yates went down and Mladin went off the track after him. Spies went on to take a podium spot.

“The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 is an awesome bike,” maintained Spies. “But I pretty much got the podium handed to me. I mean it’s great to be so close to the championship in points, but we still have some work to do.”

Yates, meanwhile, had been having a great race and was trying to make a pass for the lead when he went down. “I saw an opportunity and I thought I could get through,” said Yates. “Then the rear stepped out without any kind of warning. It just really sucks that Mat got caught up in it.”

Mladin, meanwhile, was fairly matter-of-fact about the incident. “I just tried to miss him,” he said of running off the track to avoid his teammate. “I could have stayed leaned over, but I was afraid I’d run right into him. So I got upright to miss him. Now, I just have to win races.”

Currently, Mladin is nine points ahead of second-place Spies in the points chase, while Yates is just 18 points behind third place.

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Mat Mladin’s steady march to an unprecedented sixth AMA Superbike title with Yoshimura Suzuki was slowed considerably at round eight of the 2005 AMA Superbike series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, July 22-24.

Mladin was convincing in his win of the first race of the Superbike doubleheader but a fall in the second race and an equally-impressive performance by Austin Ducati’s Eric Bostrom put the championship in question with four races to go. Victories by Honda Racing’s Jake Zemke in Formula Xtreme, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates in Superstock, and Kawasaki Road Racing’s Roger Lee Hayden in Supersport highlighted dominant performances by Dunlop-shod riders, who amassed 37 of the 50 top-ten winning positions.

In a weekend marked by hot, humid and stormy weather, the track surface at Mid-Ohio presented the riders with many challenges. Mid-Ohio is noted for its bumps and concrete patches in the corners, which greatly affect traction in the transitions between the asphalt and the concrete. The concrete patches have been ground down to smooth the abrupt transitions to and from the asphalt, but this has created grooves in the concrete, which greatly affect steering control. Wet conditions elevate the risk, as water pumps through the seams and the riders struggle to predict and manage the available traction.

Dunlop brought nearly 1800 tires to Mid-Ohio to support the factory teams and support riders in the Superbike, Superstock, Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes, including rain tires. The factory Superbike teams had five front and four rear tire options, including many multi-compound rear tires utilizing Dunlop’s NT (New Technology) construction that improves tire compound performance across a broad range of racing conditions. The factory Superstock riders had six front and six rear tire compound choices.

In Saturday’s Superbike qualifying, Mladin rode his Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a new track record of 1:26.058.The veteran rider then collected his eighth victory of the season and the 40th AMA Superbike win of his career with a decisive wire-to-wire performance that saw him finish nearly 12-seconds ahead of teammate Ben Spies. Bostrom finished third. “The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 felt amazing,” said Mladin. “I knew we had a good bike and, as I said earlier, this is the best this bike has ever felt on this track.”

Superbike race two on Sunday provided much more drama. Bostrom took the lead from the start aboard his Ducati 999R; he never trailed as he collected his third win of the season, and it’s a good thing. Pursuing Bostrom were Suzuki’s Yates and Mladin, in second and third respectively, when they both fell on lap 11 as Yates low-sided and Mladin ran off the track avoiding him. Though they later returned to the race, the finishing order behind Bostrom was Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel in second and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies in third. “It’s so good to be up here, that was a long race,” said Bostrom. “I couldn’t be more happy to get the Ducati Austin Parts Unlimited bike up here. Obviously, a huge thanks to Dunlop Tires for getting us back up here.” With four races remaining in the series, Spies’ third-place finish earned him 29 points and closed him to within nine points of Mladin in the championship hunt (397 to 388). Bostrom is in third with 334 points.

The first support race of the weekend took place on Saturday as Honda teammates Jake Zemke and Duhamel wage a fierce battle on their CBR600RRs in the Formula Xtreme event. Zemke—who grabbed the pole with a 1:28.628—took his fifth win of the season by just .373 seconds over Duhamel, while Erion Racing’s Kurtis Roberts took third to make it a Honda podium sweep. “It was a really tough race,” said Zemke. “Anytime you’re racing with Miguel its tough. I knew it was going to come down to the last lap and I made the pass going into turn one. We were riding about as hard as we could.” With two rounds to go, Zemke leads Duhamel by nine points (249 vs 238) in the championship, followed by MPT Racing’s Danny Eslick with 171.

Sunday’s first support race featured the highly-competitive 1000cc Superstock machines. Yates led briefly at the start and then took his GSX-R1000 to the lead for good on lap four, holding off a charge by Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Jason Disalvo to take his fourth Superstock victory of the season. Jordon Motorsports’ Steve Rapp was third. “My GSXR was going good, I had a really good pace, steady, consistent,” said Yates. “We made a real good choice on our rear tire selection and it really worked out.” In the points chase, Yates leads Disalvo 265-250, with Rapp in third with 206.

Following a rain delay and the second Superbike race, Kawasaki secured the second manufacturer’s podium sweep of the weekend as Kawasaki Road Racing’s Roger Lee Hayden and Tommy Hayden and Attack Kawasaki’s Ben Attard finished 1-2-3, respectively, on their ZX-6RRs. It was a stellar performance for Roger Lee, who led all but the first lap and won his second race of the year. “It was a tough race, my pit board said plus-zero the whole time,” said Hayden. “It feels good to win, everybody’s done a good job, Dunlop tires made my job easier.” Tommy Hayden’s finish was impressive, considering he is riding with an injured hand that was operated on two weeks ago. He remains on top of the championship board with 269 points and two rounds to go, followed by Roger Lee with 233 and Disalvo with 210.

The next stop for Dunlop and the AMA road racing tour will be Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, August 26-28, featuring a doubleheader round of Superbike action.

 

Superbike Race 1

1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
2. Ben Spies (Suzuki)
3. Eric Bostrom (Ducati)
4. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
6. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki)
7. Kurtis Roberts (Honda)
8. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki)
9. Jacob Holden (Suzuki)
10. Marty Craggill (Suzuki).

Superbike Race 2

1. Bostrom
2. Duhamel
3. Spies
4. Hodgson
5. Roberts
6. Rapp
7. Pridmore
8. Holden
9. Yates
10. Pegram

Superbike Points

1. Mladin 397
2. Spies 388
3. Bostrom 334
4. Yates 316
5. Hodgson 302
6. Duhamel 288
7. Craggill 247
8. Rapp 226
9. Acree 226
10. Pegram 219