From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

Rd 12 – 2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, California, USA
Qualifying session Report

AMERICAN SUPERBIKE POLE POSITION FOR MLADIN AT LAGUNA SECA

Monterey, California, USA – Three-times American Superbike champion Mat Mladin was quick to get into stride today, taking pole position for this weekend’s twelfth round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship being held at Laguna Seca, Monterey, this weekend.

In a revised format for the weekend, where the local American AMA Championship runs in conjunction with their round of the Superbike World Championship, qualifying for the AMA Superbike competitors was conducted today, with their 28-lap championship round scheduled to run on Saturday afternoon.

Mladin was fastest in the morning’s opening practice session heading his nearest rival by over a second before confirming his place at the top of the time sheets during the one-hour afternoon qualifying session. On his way to securing his fifth pole position in this year’s championship, Mladin pushed his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a best time of 1:25.549 around the 3.610km (2.2miles) Californian circuit.

“Things went pretty well for us out there today,” said Mladin. “We didn’t get a whole lot of time out there, but we have put the bike on pole and that’s what counts. We still have a bit of work to do before Saturday’s race, with two more practice sessions still remaining.”

“It’s always nice to come away from qualifying with a handy buffer over the rest,” added Mladin. “All that we need to do now is convert that to maximum points in the race.”

Buoyed by the presence of Dunlop’s European contingent of personnel and equipment at Laguna, Mladin is hoping that this may be a turning point in a season that has been fraught with tyre problems.

“One good thing about having the World Superbike people here this weekend is they bring all of the right people. As a result, we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to have tried a few new tyres and see how they work with the Suzuki. It’s always good to be in a position to try something new, but we will still have to work through the whole package to see what the actual benefits and results are.”

Joining Mladin on the front row of the grid for the AMA Superbike national will be Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts (1:26.228), Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom (1:26.314) and Mladin’s Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates (1:26.591).

Taking pole for the AMA event is the first step of a very busy weekend for the Australian as he is also competing in the World Superbike Championship round as a ‘wild card’ entrant. The one off appearance in this years championship makes for a busy time for Mladin and his team, but still does not detract from his desire to perform at his best all of the time.

“I think we might be in a strong position to challenge for pole in the SWC which would be a great result for us.”

Mladin takes to the track tomorrow for the opening qualifying session for the SWC, as well as a 50-minute AMA Superbike practice session.