From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

Yoshimura Suzuki team test
California Speedway, Fontana, California, USA

CONFIDENCE HIGH FOR MLADIN AFTER SUCCESSUL SUPERBIKE TEST AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY

Fontana, California, USA – Defending American Superbike champion Mat Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki team took full advantage of near perfect weather conditions to record some of the fastest lap times the team have recorded at California Speedway.

The team completed the two-day test (held over Monday and Tuesday, Feb 16 & 17) feeling very upbeat with what was achieved and given that the season opening race at Daytona is only a matter of weeks away Mladin and his crew are full of enthusiasm for the season ahead where he will be aiming at an unprecedented fifth AMA Superbike crown.

“The test went very well for us as we had a combination of great weather plus a bunch of new stuff to try on the bike which all worked out at the end of the second day,” said Mladin.

“It’s always good to have some things to check and evaluate with the bike and that’s what we did here. Showa, our team’s suspension supplier, also had a bunch of new things to try that at the end of the second day saw us tun a flat 1:25 lap, the fastest we’ve been around here on a race tyre on the GSX-R1000.

“Our lap times started coming together after lunch on the second day. Prior to that we were just doing our normal routine of checking through the new stuff, see what worked and then put it all together. I’m happy with where we ended up.

“This year with the new rule changes we will be down a bit on speed, it’s something that we knew would happen, so to counter that, the team is working hard at getting the chassis package as best we can. We know we can get around at a quicker pace while not having the best top speed, as that’s what we had to do when we ran the old 750. The rules may have changed slightly from last year, but that has not taken our focus away from winning the championship again.”

Tyres have been a controversial topic in America in recent months, with all of the tyre manufacturers working overtime to ensure that their products can cope with the demands placed on them by the current batch of high performance 1000cc motorcycles that compete in both the Superbike and Superstock classes in the AMA Championship.

“Tyres have been a problem lately, but I know that Dunlop have been working hard to get their product right for us to use. We have worked very closely with them in developing the new tyres and I know there is still a way to go with this and I’m confident that they are heading in the right direction.”

The tyre controversy came to a head at the annual tyre test sessions at Daytona in December 2003. A number of failures occurred which then led to a number of riders including Mladin (a two time winner at the famed banked circuit), voice their concerns as to whether Daytona had outgrown the current crop of race motorcycles.

“I still feel the same way about Daytona as I did when we were there in December last year, the only thing is that I may have said a few things in the heat of the moment that I shouldn’t have had. What I can say is that I will be racing a Superbike there this year in the 200, but will be planning our race according to the conditions. The title of ‘Mr Daytona’ doesn’t do anything for me, what I’m here for is to win championships. There are eighteen races in this year’s championship and that is only one of them.”

Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki team have completed their pre-season testing schedule and will now make final preparation to their machines before making the trip cross country to Daytona for the opening round of the championship, the Daytona 200, which for the first time will be held on a Saturday (March 6).