From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

2004 American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship
Rounds 17 & 18 – Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia, USA
Event Preview

FIFTH AMERICAN SUPERBIKE CROWN ON THE LINE FOR MLADIN THIS WEEKEND AT VIRGINIA

Australia’s Mat Mladin is within striking distance of securing a fifth American Superbike Championship as he arrives at this weekend’s final double-header round of the series at Virginia International Raceway.

With an unprecedented four AMA Superbike titles (1999, 2000, 2001 & 2003) to his credit, 32-year-old Mladin heads to the final two races of the year holding a 42-point lead over nearest rival Jake Zemke and would only require to finish close behind his rival in the opening race to secure the championship.

Mladin has had a stellar year in 2004, having led the championship from the opening round after winning his third Daytona 200 in March. He then added a further seven race wins during the course of the season, stretching his AMA record for all-time Superbike race wins to 32.

Being in this position on four other occasions during his AMA career, Mladin and his crew will draw on that experience to plan their strategy for the weekend’s two 100km races.

“We’ve never had such a large points lead going into the final races as we have this year, but we won’t let that distract us from what we need to do in the opening race,” said Mladin. “In the first race, we’ll just try to see what happens, take it as it comes, keep a close eye on Jake (Zemke) and see what he does, but of course I’d like to try and win it in that first race, but if it takes two races, then it takes two races.”

In preparation for the final round, Mladin and his Yoshimura team tested at the VIR circuit two months ago, with the defending series champion posting the fastest lap of the test and setting himself a solid foundation from which to commence his weekend’s work.

“The test that we had here a while back went very well, but the delay with the race means that the track will be a little different as the weather is a lot cooler than when we tested. I still don’t think it will be too big of an issue anyway. We had things pretty well sorted after the test, so it will just take a few minor adjustments to get us back in the grove again.”

The series arrives at Virginia three weeks after its initial race date in September came under threat from Hurricane Ivan, forcing the championships controlling body, the AMA, to reschedule the meeting.

In rescheduling the final round, the AMA also took time to make changes to the running order of the weekend, leaving it as a two-day event, with the Superbikes taking to the track on Saturday for two practice sessions, prior to a single qualifying session later that afternoon, before culminating in the final two races of the season on Sunday afternoon.

VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY – FAST FACTS

Circuit length: 3.58km / 2.225 miles
2002 Pole position: Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) 1:25.071 mins
2003 Results:
Race 1
1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda)
3. Ben Bostrom (American Honda)

Race 2
1, Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda)
2. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki)
3. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda)
Lap Record: Nicky Hayden (American Honda) 1: 24.7618 mins (2002)

2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship (Points after 16 of 18 rounds)
1. Mat Mladin (532, 8 wins); 2. Jake Zemke (490, 2 win): 3. Miguel DuHamel (477, 4 wins): 4. Ben Bostrom (364, 1 win): 5. Geoff May (344): 6. Eric Bostrom (336, 1 win): 7. John Haner (312): 8. Aaron Yates (298): 9. Eric Wood (284): 10. Josh Hayes (267).