From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

Rounds 15 & 16 –
2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia, USA
Event Preview

CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER MLADIN FOCUSES ON PENULTIMATE AMERICAN SUPERBIKE ROUND AT VIRGINIA

The AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship heads to Virginia International Raceway this weekend (August 30 – 31) with Australian Mat Mladin holding a 33-point lead in the title chase with two rounds (four races) remaining in this year’s championship.

As is always the case for Mladin when he is preparing for any race meeting, he will calculate what needs to be achieved at the meeting to satisfy his and his team’s goals for the weekend as well as the overall championship placing.

VIR is a venue that the three times American Superbike champion has never won at, but while he will be looking to break his win drought there, he will also be riding with a championship win in mind.

“It does present a bit of a challenge for us not having won a race there before,” said Mladin “it’s at the time of the season where I still want to win races, but it’s getting to the point where we are starting to think about the championship a little bit. We have to take things how they come and see what happens when it’s race time. For sure I would still like to win there, but on the other hand, I will not be putting myself into any unnecessary situations either.”

Two weeks ago, Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 were the fastest combination in a three-day test conducted at VIR leaving the championship point’s leader in a positive frame of mind for this weekend’s upcoming double-header round.

“The five-week break in the championship before Virginia gave us a little bit of time to get some things sorted and also allowed us time to do a bit of testing which has proven to be very valuable for us. We had a three-day test at VIR, along with other tests at Barber Motorsports Park and Daytona, each of which, were good. Not only have we learned more about the bike for the remaining races, we are already planning for next year. It’s a fairly important time for us.”

Following on from the VIR test in early August, Mladin headed to Daytona last week to take part in a Dunlop tyre test. The timing of the test proved valuable, with favourable weather conditions allowing Mladin to turn a number of laps in the low 1:48 bracket.

“We went there to test tyres for Dunlop and now they’ve gone away to get something better for the December test. It was a good test definitely. If we didn’t make that trip last week, I think we would have been in a lot of trouble come the December test. If the tyres can last in the hotter conditions that we had, then they should last a bit longer in what are normally cooler conditions come race time at Daytona in March, whereas the December test is generally cooler than the conditions that we would expect in March. So this is probably the best test for them.”

With this year’s championship winding down with just Virginia and Barber Motorsports Park, Alabama (September 21) remaining, Mladin finds himself in a position where he can further add to his record-breaking career in the AMA Superbike Championship. Already the all-time AMA Superbike pole position record holder with 30 (with six poles in 2003), he has an opportunity to surpass a number of other win records, such as the all-time career win record which stands at 26 (he currently has 23), the most number of race wins in one season which stands at 10 (he currently has 9) and most importantly he is aiming to become the first rider to have won four AMA Superbike Championships.

“A lot of people have asked me about the records that are able to be broken this year, but for me personally and for Suzuki, our most important goal is to win the Superbike Championship. That is what I am here to do and that is by far the most important. If we are in a position to take another race win or so in the remaining rounds that will be great as well, but we have to achieve our main goal first.”

VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY – FAST FACTS

Circuit length: 3.58km / 2.225 miles
2002 Pole position: Nicky Hayden (American Honda) 1:24.7618

2002 Results:
Race 1
1. Nicky Hayden (American Honda RC51)
2. Doug Chandler (HMC Ducati 998RS)
3. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda RC51)

Race 2
1. Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki ZX-7RR)
2. Mat Mladin (Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)
3. Aaron Yates (Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)

Lap Record: Nicky Hayden (American Honda) 1:24.7618 (2002)

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship (points after 14 of 18 rounds)
1. M Mladin (431)
2. A Yates (398)
3. B Bostrom (376)
4. E Bostrom (350)
5. K Roberts (349)
6. M DuHamel (332)
7. J Pridmore (315)
8. S Higbee (299)
9. V Haskovec (221)
10. J Szoke (212)