From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN’S CHASE FOR FIFTH AMERICAN SUPERBIKE TITLE COMMENCES THIS WEEKEND AT DAYTONA

Daytona Beach, Florida, USA (Tuesday, 2 March) – The famed high speed banks of the Daytona International Speedway will this Saturday (March 6) play host to the opening round of the 2004 American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship and will become the starting point for Mat Mladin’s quest of winning an unprecedented fifth AMA Superbike crown.

Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki team arrive in Florida as the defending series champion but the 63rd running of the Daytona 200 by Arai will bring with it a different focus to that of years gone past.

A winner at Daytona in 2000 and 2001, Mladin acknowledges the importance of the race, but knows it is just one race on the championship calendar.

“Daytona is the first race of eighteen in this championship and that’s the way my planning for this event has been,” said a relaxed, yet confident Mladin. “It is a very unique racetrack and one that is completely different in requirements to all of the other tracks that make up the championship. A lot of people will put a lot of importance on this one race, but our team is focused on the result we want at the end of the year and that’s the championship.”

“We need to leave here with the most amount of points that we can and if a win comes our way, great. That will then give us a basis to work from not only the second round at Fontana, but for the rest of the season.”

The off-season has proven to be very productive for Mladin’s team. Rule changes for this year’s championship have seen them working overtime to ensure their championship winning Suzuki GSX-R1000 remains competitive throughout the season. Changes to fuel injection throttle bodies and air boxes will witness a drop in horsepower and to counter that loss, the team will ensure they have the best possible chassis set up that will allow Mladin to put together consistent fast laps in any conditions.

“Yes we head into the weekend with a bike that has a season’s worth of development done to it and proved it was a championship winner, but the rule changes which have been applied for the year will see it perform differently, especially here at Daytona. We have worked hard in the pre-season getting our chassis set up as best we can and we feel we have some very good suspension settings that will get us around the racetrack in the best possible time.”

For the first time, the 57-lap Daytona 200 mile classic will be conducted on a Saturday. Rain delays in recent years have forced race organisers to bring the race forward as a precaution, and to allow the rescheduling of television and spectator ticketing.

Qualifying for the Daytona 200 begins on Wednesday with the opening sessions determining pole position and the front row of the grid, while Thursday’s qualifying will determine the starting grid for the remainder of the field.