From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN POSITIVE FOR AMERICAN SUPERBIKE DOUBLE-HEADER AT MID-OHIO

Just three Double-Header rounds of the 2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Champion remain, with Australian Mat Mladin heading to next weekend’s round at Ohio holding a six-point lead in the title chase.

The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course hosts rounds 13 & 14 next weekend (July 26 & 27) and is a circuit that Mladin has tasted success on, winning there in 2001 and where he is also the existing lap record holder for the 3.86km (2.40 miles) circuit claiming the record with a time of 1-min 26.498-seconds on his way to taking pole position for the same race in 2001.

Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki team arrive at Mid-Ohio leading the championship after a mixed bag of results of late. Tyre problems at Brainerd saw the three-times American Superbike champion finish seventh, before he responded by taking a resounding race victory at Laguna Seca last weekend.

Last weekend’s victory has put Mladin in a very positive frame of mind as he prepares for the trip to Ohio and then onto the final two circuits of this years championship at Virginia International Raceway (August 29 – 31) and the all-new Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama (September 19 – 21).

“Can’t wait to get to Mid-Ohio,” said Mladin. “We got the points lead back which was good and we’re now looking forward to the double-header weekend there. We need to try and win a couple more races and work on increasing that points gap.

“After winning the AMA race at Laguna Seca last weekend, I feel that if I can win there, then I can win anywhere,” added Mladin. “It was my most disliked circuit in the world. I don’t enjoy racing there, I don’t really like the layout, but we did manage to win the AMA race by about 10 seconds. That has given me a great confidence boost for the remainder of the season and I now look forward to Mid-Ohio.”

Mladin arrives at Mid-Ohio with a total of 356 championship points, courtesy of seven race wins and five pole positions this year and leads Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom by six-points. Teammate Aaron Yates currently lies third with 345 after finishing second to Mladin at Laguna Seca last weekend.

After Mid-Ohio the championship contenders head to the final two circuits of the season, VIR and Barber Motorsports Park. Mladin has sat on pole on VIR and was narrowly beaten there last year, while the Alabama circuit is new to the series in 2003 and will present itself with a whole new range of challenges for the title contenders.

“I was fast at Virginia, but got pipped on the line. I like the place, it’s a nice little racetrack. Alabama on the other hand, we haven’t been to yet, but will be there testing in a few weeks. From what I’ve heard it will be hard on the tyres because you spend so much time on the side of them. It is a brand new race track, still very green, but we’ll see how it is when we get there.”