AMA Superbike at Road Atlanta

[gaijin]

September 05, 2004

Chris Martin

UPDATED!
After a bit of ragged beginning, Mat Mladin transformed the Sunday final at Road Atlanta into yet another one of his trademark demoralizing victories. And with a maximum points haul on the weekend (pole, the double, and most laps led x 2) it may be time to start fitting the Yoshimura Suzuki star for the 2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike crown, although that shouldn’t be to difficult since he already owns four.


The near-four second win (despite coasting down the hill and acknowledging the massive crowd on the final lap) was a record-extending career #32 and his eighth of the season.

However, at the green light the Aussie found himself shuffled down from his pole position starting slot to fourth, left behind all three works CBR1000RRs -- their clutches seemingly improved since their nightmarish early-season starts.

A motivated Miguel DuHamel stole the holesot, but was overhauled by American Honda teammate entering the chicane while still on lap 1. By the time they had completed the first circuit, Mladin was already through title rival Jake Zemke and looking to take DuHamel at the end of the front straight.

At that point, Mladin’s teammate, Aaron Yates, was essentially out of the race. Suffering from an undetermined mechanical problem on the warm-up lap, the Georgian’s GSX-R rolled on the start line, bringing out a meatball flag. Already planning on entering the pits, Yates elected to accept the penalty, make one additional trip around the 12-turn track and then pull in for good.

Battling full-on at the front to work past the American Honda runners, Mladin took a few uncharacteristic missteps, including running wide in 1 and later taking a brief ride through the grass. Routinely sending the dirt flying in Turn 5 was part of the plan, however, as Mladin’s radical line on (and past) the edge of the tarmac allowed him to go sailing by Bostrom for the lead on lap 6.

Over the next several laps, Bostrom and DuHamel did an admirable job of clinging onto the Suzuki pilot. But once they reached traffic, Mladin went to work. Slicing past the backmarkers with calculated aggression, the Aussie parlayed sub-second advantages over the two Honda men on lap 13 into two-and-a-half seconds worth of padding by lap 15.

And with that, the race for the win was effectively over. During those crucial pair of trips around the 2.54-mile course DuHamel took control of second after Bostrom was nearly pushed off the track in a run-in with a backmarker. The leading trio then held their positions to the flag to assemble a repeat of Saturday’s podium.

“The weekend was good for us,” Mladin remarked. “I wanted to get to the traffic first because I know what it’s like if you don’t. I pushed hard to get to the lead and I made a few mistakes. They weren’t major, but I don’t think I’ll make those mistakes in Virginia.

“It was a good race -- these guys pushed hard and we had to work hard all weekend. We did a good job.”

DuHamel said, “It was a little bit tougher race today. It was hotter and seemed a little trickier on the tires. But everybody was in the same boat so we just tried to do our best. Traffic was pretty bad for everybody, but that how it goes, you know?

“Mat was definitely riding really good today, rode good yesterday. There was not much we could do. To be honest, I was hoping he might get caught up in the lapped riders or make a little mistake and give me a bit more room to latch back on, but he didn’t do that. He did a great race, and that’s why he won.”

Bostrom, whose four podiums on the year have all come in the last five races, enthused, “It was a fantastic race. These guys rode better than I did and they won. Mat was fantastic all weekend -- the man to beat. He deserved to win, and Miguel was right there pushing hard every day, he’s a great rider. And we’re third again, so here we are.”

Zemke didn’t have any better luck on Sunday with his ill handling ‘Blade than he did on Saturday. Again, he spent too much time sideways, and once the tires started to go, his hopes of fighting at the front evaporated. Still, he carried on to a very lonely fourth.

Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes was equally on his own for the 100K event, picking up the squad’s third top-five of the year.

Hooters Suzuki’s John Haner and Triangle Cycle’s Larry Pegram took sixth and seventh.

A huge five-man scrap for eighth raged the entire race, running just quick enough to keep Mladin from putting them a lap down.

Corona Suzuki’s Marty Craggill finished at the front of that pack, followed by Hooters Suzuki’s Eric Wood, Prieto Racing’s Geoff May, Millennium Technologies’ Shawn Higbee, and Nasti Racing’s Lee Acree.

With just one weekend left on the season calendar, Mladin now carries an imposing 42-point advantage over Zemke (532 vs. 490) into VIR. DuHamel is third at 477.