From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

2004 American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship
Round 13 & 14 – Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, USA
Event Preview

CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER MLADIN CHASING DOUBLE VICTORY AT MID-OHIO

Just six races remain in this year’s American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship and with those races coming in the form of three double-header rounds, Australian Mat Mladin will be aiming to take victory in a number of those remaining races starting this weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington Ohio.

Mladin arrives at Mid-Ohio holding a 10-point lead in the championship, a position he has held since the opening round of this year’s 18-race series after he took victory in the prestigious Daytona 200 and has added a further four race wins.

The 3.86km (2.40 miles) Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course may not rate as one of Mladin’s favourite circuits on the series calendar, but it has brought success to the four-times AMA Superbike champion. At the corresponding round last year, Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 were unstoppable, taking pole position before stamping his authority on the meeting by claiming a winning double.

Leading into the weekend, Mladin will arrive with the confidence of setting the fastest time during a recent two-day test at the circuit which was attended by the leading teams in the championship. He is also fresh from a strong second place finish at Laguna Seca less than two weeks ago, a race that Mladin had led prior to the race being red flagged.

With six races remaining, Mladin’s focus is definitely on the championship and what it will take to achieve his team’s goal.

“Still a little disappointed in missing out on the win last week at Laguna Seca, so we really need to get a couple of wins under our belt to get things moving in the right direction once more,” said Mladin. “The championship’s tight and there’s six races to go.”

“I’m feeling confident coming into this weekend. Mid Ohio certainly isn’t one of my most favourite tracks of the series when it comes to safety and stuff like that, but my results there have been pretty good. It’s one of those things where we just have to get the job done when it needs to be done.”

“Mid Ohio is reasonably fast, maybe not in the league of Brainerd or Road America, but it’s more a riders track in its layout. There is another element there with the track surface. They have shaved the concrete sections of the track so that they are flush with the remaining sections of asphalt, but the concrete has a lot of grooves in it, which isn’t the best of surface conditions for us. I’m sure it will play a part this weekend, especially if you aren’t concentrating.”

Practice and qualifying for this weekend’s double-header round commences on Friday with the first of the two 26-lap AMA Superbike Nationals scheduled to run Saturday afternoon.


MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE – FAST FACTS

Circuit length: 3.86km / 2.40 miles
2003 AMA Pole position: Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 1:26.654 mins

2003 AMA Results:
Race 1
1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2. Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki)
3. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda)

Race 2
1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2. Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki)
3. Ben Bostrom (American Honda)
Lap Record: Mat Mladin (Team Yoshimura Suzuki) 1:26.498 (2001)

2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship (Points after 12 of 18 rounds) 1. Mat Mladin (391, 5 wins); 2. Miguel DuHamel (381, 4 wins), 3. Jake Zemke (372, 1 win), 4. Eric Bostrom (268, 1 win), 5. Geoff May (262); 6. Ben Bostrom (247, 1 win), 7. John Haner (219), 8. Aaron Yates (216), 9. Eric Wood (199), 10. Josh Hayes (186).