From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MAT MLADIN – 2003 AMERICAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPION


Birmingham, Alabama, USA – Australian Mat Mladin
became the first rider in the history of the AMA Superbike Championship to have won four national titles after a brilliant third place in today’s final race which was held in treacherous wet conditions at the new Barber Motorsports Park, near Birmingham, Alabama.

Thirty-one-year-old Mladin, who hails from Camden, south east of Sydney, wrote himself into the AMA history books after a sensational season of racing that saw him equal the most number of Superbike race wins in a season (10) and further extend his own All-time AMA Superbike pole position record to 31, after securing seven more poles on his way to clinching his fourth title.

In a season that saw Mladin’s Yoshimura Suzuki team debut an all-new GSX-R1000 Superbike at the start of the year, he and his dedicated crew have worked tirelessly in making it the best possible machine on the track.

Today’s eighteenth and final race of the season almost became an anti-climax as rain struck the 3.70km (2.3 miles) circuit. Race officials were forced to red flag the race on two separate occasions before it was finally run.

Heading into today’s final, Mladin held a 29-point advantage over teammate and championship challenger Aaron Yates and needed only to finish in the top 23 if Yates was to take the win. Mladin finished fourth in yesterday’s opening race of the double-header weekend, after claiming his seventh pole position of the season earlier in the day.

Using his wealth of experience, Mladin rode wisely in the wet conditions and slipped comfortably to the rear of the lead group, allowing others to race for the lead and make their own mistakes in the wet conditions. This worked in favour of Mladin as the American Honda pair of Ben Bostrom and Miguel DuHamel found them selves out of the race after battling with eventual race winner Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) with four laps of the 28-lap journey remaining. Their demise saw Italian Giovanni Bussei (Ducati Austin) elevated to second, with Mladin claiming the final podium position and finishing one place ahead of Yates.

Mladin claimed his fourth title, with a 31-point break over Yates (550 to 519), with today’s race winner Roberts moving up to third overall in the series with a total of 474 points.

“Everything panned out well for us today and we did what we came here to do and that was to win a championship,” said a very satisfied Mladin afterwards. “That’s all that has mattered for us this year, so it’s great to have achieved another win for the team and for Suzuki.”

“My strategy for the final race was to just keep out of Aaron’s way and let him concentrate on winning the race for Suzuki. In the end he had a problem and that didn’t happen. After I saw him have the initial problem I felt that I was a chance of picking up the leaders and go for the win. When I realised that Aaron was not out of the race and that he was closing in again, I changed my focus on the race and decided then that it would be best to finish and do things properly. In the end we grabbed another podium and the title.”

“It has been a good year for us for sure,” said Mladin in reflection of his season. “We had a few tyre problems and other things that handed a couple of wins away for us and then towards the end of the season we had to consolidate our position and that meant not going for the win each time, but it all worked out well for us.”

“Ten wins were good this year, but next year I hope not to have the tyre problems that we have had and win a few more than that next year. Suzuki and Yoshimura have worked very hard for all of their championships and I am disappointed in the fact that the AMA are trying to take away from Suzuki (with proposed rule changes for 2004) because of how hard they work to win. They appear to be trying to punish teams for working so hard in the way that they are setting up the rules for next year. That just seems to be the way that the AMA deals with things, rather than the other teams getting better. So for those reasons the win has been extra satisfying for us.”

“As I always say, if it wasn’t for my team, I wouldn’t be in a position to win these races. Pete, Reg, John and Henry are the guys who have put in such a huge amount of work this year.”

“I have to thank the fans over here for the support they have shown for me this year, it’s been awesome. They give me a great cheer each time that I’ve been on the podium, so I look forward to coming back next year and doing it again.”

Mladin will now head back home to Australia where he will reunite with his wife Janine, who missed the final round of the championship, as they await the arrival of their first child in October.

RESULTS

Rd 18, AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship

RACE RESULT, 28 Laps – Top 10 (Wet race)
1. Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) 28 Laps
2. Giovanni Bussei (Ducati Austin) +5.237 seconds
3. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) +18.829
4. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) +20.420
5. Steve Rapp (Valvoline EMGO Suzuki) +42.227
6. Shawn Higbee (KWS Suzuki) +46.339
7. Tom Kipp (Kawasaki Canada) +1:02.150 mins
8. Vincent Haskovec (Hooters Suzuki) +1:04.951
9. Eric Wood (Suzuki) +1:10.299
10. Michael Barnes (Prieto Racing Suzuki) +1:20.931

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship (points after 18 of 18 rounds)
1. M Mladin (550); 2. A Yates (519), 3. K Roberts (474), 4. B Bostrom (462); 5. M DuHamel (417); 6. S Higbee (396), 7. E Bostrom (350), 8. J Pridmore (339), 9. V Haskovec (285), 10. J Szoke (283).


Racing Achievements
1990 – Began racing in the Australian 250cc Production championship (Suzuki RGV 250)
1991 – Australian 250cc Production Champion (Suzuki RGV 250)
1992 – Australian Superbike Champion (Kawasaki ZX-R750)
1993 – World 500cc Grand Prix Championship (Cagiva 500)
1994 – 3rd Australian Superbike Championship (Kawasaki ZX-R750)
1995 – 2nd, Australian Superbike Championship (Kawasaki ZX-R750)
1996 – 4th, AMA US Superbike Championship (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)
1997 – 3rd, AMA US Superbike Championship (Fast By Ferracci Ducati 955)
1998 – 3rd, AMA US Superbike Championship (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)
1999 – AMA US Superbike Champion (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)
2000 – AMA US Superbike Champion (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)
Won Daytona 200 by Arai (First Australian to do so)
Voted 2000 AMA Pro Racing Athlete of the Year, by his peers
2001 – AMA US Superbike Champion (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)
Won four races (Daytona 200 by Arai, Road Atlanta, Road America, Mid-Ohio)
Set new pole position records; 8 consecutive and a total of 9 for the season
2002 – 7th AMA US Superbike Championship (Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750)
2003 – AMA US Superbike Champion (Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000)
First rider to win four AMA Superbike Championships
Equalled All-time AMA Superbike race wins for a season with 10 wins (24 career victories)
Extended his All-time AMA Superbike pole positions to 31, with 7 this season


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

SUZUKI CELEBRATE AMA 1 – 2

Team Suzuki Press Office – September 22 2003.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin won an unprecedented and historic fourth American Superbike championship, over teammate and title chase runner-up Aaron Yates, on a championship-winning weekend for Suzuki in the final round of the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies, Mladin’s teen-age teammate, won the Formula Xtreme Championship, Suzuki’s third in a row, with Attack Suzuki’s Josh Hayes winning the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Championship, making it eight in a row for Suzuki and 12 of 16 since the class began.

“Of course it is nice,” Mladin said. “It’s something we work towards all year and it’s been a long season. I was hoping that it wasn’t going to come down to the last race, but that’s the way it worked out. I’m happy to get it and I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. It’s exciting, but I certainly didn’t expect anything different this weekend. We’re happy.”

That the 31-year-old would win the 2003 title, his fourth in five years, was evident from the second race weekend in Fontana, California where he won both legs of a Superbike double-header. It was a feat he accomplished four times en route to a record-tying 10 wins in a season. It also meant he arrived for the final weekend with a 37 point cushion over teammate Aaron Yates, the only other potential class champion.

Mladin padded his championship position by taking the pole position, and earning the championship point that goes with it, for the seventh time. In Saturday’s race, held under blue skies in baking heat, Mladin rode to a conservative fourth place after briefly taking the lead near mid-race. With the leaders battling and banging, Mladin sensibly backed off as teammate Yates sped to the victory, his third of the year.

Needing only a 24th or better finish on Sunday, Mladin had to endure two red flag stoppages, and a light shower on his way to a third place finish and fourth title for Suzuki. Teammate Yates had fuel pump problems, but still finished fourth, and came second to Mladin in the championship, his best ever year end result.

Mladin ended the season with 521 points, a new record for AMA Superbike racing.

Ben Spies came to Alabama with a strong hand, his 30 point lead meaning he need only finish 23rd or better if Damon Buckmaster (Yamaha) scored maximum points. The situation changed when Spies took his ninth pole in a row, giving him a perfect qualifying record, and he added the point to his total. That meant he needed only a 26th place finish or better to take his first professional title.

The 19-year-old Texan had to fight back the urge to race during the final, riding to a sensible third place finish, and his first professional title. His point cushion was 33 points over Buckmaster, fourth today. It wasn’t long before he was looking to the future.

“The championship was awesome and it’s definitely going to always be there, but I’m ready to get into the superbike class,” Spies said. “We don’t have too much off time. We begin testing next month and I’m ready to go. ”

Hayes strengthened his position by earning the pole position for Saturday’s Superstock race. The extra point meant he had to finish third or better to take his first professional title.

Saturday’s Superstock race was red-flagged on the 13th of 17 laps, with title rival Tommy Hayden (Kaw) in the lead and Hayes in third. It meant the race, and the championship, would be decided by a five lap sprint. On the re-start, Hayes tucked in behind Hayden with an eye toward winning. He pressured the Kawasaki rider to the end, finishing second, 1.5 seconds behind, happy to earn the number one plate.

“This is a pretty big deal,” Hayes, who lives in nearby Gulfport, Mississippi and was racing in front of a large contingent of friends and family, said. “We’ve been fighting for this for quite a while.”


Mat Mladin: I told (Aaron Yates) I wouldn’t hold him up and if he was in the race, I didn’t want to go for a race win because I didn’t want to mix it up with these guys and end up laying on the track in that left hander where all the crazy people come up the inside of you. A lap later I realized he still had the (fuel pump) problem and I went back past him. Miguel (Duhamel) was already gone so I let Giovanni (Bussei) go by because I really didn’t want him behind me going through the lappers and stuff – you just never know what the lappers are going to do. I didn’t want to get run over in the middle of a corner. Luckily, we ended up with a podium. But, yeah, I fully intended after Aaron had a problem to try and win the race. That’s why I put my head down and started catching back up.”

Don Sakakura, Team Manager: The motorcycle this year, we had really not intended on running it until he last minute, get a head start not he competition for the ’04. Obviously, it turned out well for us. The bike was very receptive to rider input, it was very balanced, and mat was very comfortable not he motorcycle. With the torque delivery that limited some problems with the 570 we had in the chassis area.

Kevin Schwantz, Team Advisor: The Superbike, Formula Xtreme and 750 Superstock championships are extremely important for us. That final seemed to take forever, with all the red flags. For some reason it didn’t seem to bother me even though I could how antsy everyone was getting. There were so many things figuring into it, but it all worked out in the end. For Josh Hayes to beat that brand new Kawasaki in Superstock, a bike that’s lighter, more nimble, and smaller, on all these tracks we race on here in America is quite an accomplishment.


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

HAS-SHOGUN RACING’S HANER FINISHES TWELFTH IN SUPERBIKE RACE #2 AT BARBER

HAS/Shogun Racing rider John Haner finished twelfth today at Barber Motorsports Park in the final Chevy Trucks Superbike race of the season. John battled riders on a variety of 750s and 1000s throughout the race on his Pirelli DOT tire shod Superstock-spec Suzuki GSX-R750 for his best Superbike class finish of the year.

“Made a little money, I’ve got my rent paid for the next three months!” joked John. “No really, it was good fun, a good way to end the year. I went back and forth a couple of times with (John) Jacobi on his 1000, I got him, and then I reeled (Marco) Martinez in on his Superbike.”

John’s teammate Heath Small elected to not run the Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport race today to concentrate on upcoming tests in preparation for the 2004 AMA season.


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

LEE ACREE FINISHES AMA SEASON WITH GOOD RESULTS AT BARBER

Lee Acree chalked up two more strong finishes in two of the toughest classes in the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship this weekend, coming away with an 11th place finish in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport class and a 13th place finish in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock class on his Triad Powersport Yamaha R6 at Barber Motorsports Park.

In the Superstock event on Saturday, Lee qualified 15th against a field of more powerful 750cc machines, but he used the race more as an extended test session to test changes made to the front of the R6. “We’ve been chasing the front end all weekend, and we’re definitely making progress in the right direction,” said Lee. “The race was beneficial to us from a testing standpoint.” The race was red-flagged and re-started with a five lap race to the finish. Lee continued his testing while passing riders on 750s and finishing 13th. “I actually went faster, my fastest lap was two laps from the end, on the same tires that I had originally started on,” said Lee. “We actually discovered something in this race that’s gonna help a lot for tomorrow.”

Lee qualified in tenth position for the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race on Sunday, giving him a third row start ahead of several factory and satellite team riders. However, a poor start didn’t help Lee’s efforts to get with the lead pack, but he made up positions, running as high as ninth. A red flag was thrown on the 13th lap, setting up a five lap dash to the finish. On the re-start, Lee got another poor start, but again fought his way through the pack to finish in 11th place. “I got boxed in at the start, and Chris Peris came sailing down inside of me into (turn) five out of shape, and that didn’t help me get away with the guys,” said Lee. “I just started working my way around riders, I was killing everyone on the brakes. It’s a shame, I think we could have been in the top ten today.”


More, from a press release issued by Marietta Motorsports:

1-888-FASTLAP’S CAYLOR AND STOKES FINISH 8TH AND 11TH IN 750 SUPERSTOCK AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- 1-888-FASTLAP riders Opie Caylor and Brian Stokes finished eighth and 11th in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock race at Barber Motorsports Park, held on Saturday, September 20, after each rider had to overcome problems with their bikes.

Caylor had problems with his primary bike, the 1-888-FASTLAP/Team EMGO Taiwan Suzuki GSX-R750, during the morning of the race, and he was forced to switch to his backup bike for the race. Caylor and his crew chief Grant Matsushimo only had enough time to swap suspension components between the bikes before the start of the race.

At the start of the race, Stokes moved up to seventh on the FREEWEBTOWN.com/Team Embry Suzuki GSX-R750 with Caylor behind him in eighth. Caylor got past Stokes but both of them remained in the top ten. As the race neared completion, however, a red flag came out.

The race was restarted with only five laps remaining. Caylor settled into seventh and stayed in that position until the finish. Stokes ran in ninth until the final turns of the last lap, when his bike overheated and water from the radiator spilled out onto his rear tire.

“The backup bike was okay, but it didn’t have quite the feel that my other bike did,” said Caylor. “I started from the second row on the restart. Things got kind of tight on the second lap when someone leaned in on my front wheel. As the race unfolded, I closed the gap on (John) Haner in seventh and was going to try and make a last-lap pass but I had a big slide coming up over the tunnel turn, which is where I fell yesterday. I lost some of my momentum and couldn’t make the move. I just came up short at the line.”

“I came in at the red flag and put on a new front and rear,” said Stokes. “I was eighth off the line at the restart. Opie and I battled for a couple laps and then he got by. For the last lap and a half, I felt the rear sliding around a little bit. The bike was overheating, but I didn’t know that water was spilling out of the radiator. On the last lap I came into a turn and lost the rear end completely because it got wet. Two guys slipped by me and I had to settle for 11th.”

Barber marked the season finale for the Superstock series, and both Caylor and Stokes will be busily preparing for the 2004 season during the coming months.

“We’ll take what we got today and start getting ready for next year,” said Caylor. “I’m looking forward to my upcoming trip to France for the Suzuki World Cup, so I’m looking forward to getting on the track over there.”

“I ended the season on a decent note,” reflected Stokes. “I know I can run with the top guys. Next year I’ll come out with guns blazing.”


More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Crowd: 40,000
Weather: Overcast
Temperature: 26

Roberts Wins Again in Alabama

Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts ended the 2003 AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike in style, winning the final of 17 rounds at the all-new Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Only an unfortunate run-in with a lapped rider kept Honda from sweeping the podium, as both Ben Bostrom and Miguel Duhamel were the victims of a slower rider on the 25th of 28 laps. Still, Hondas finished three-four-five in the championship, with Roberts third in front of Bostrom and Duhamel.

“I’ve got to take my hat off to the crew,” Roberts said. They did an awesome job and never gave up all year. They wanted to win their first one and I’m glad we gave them more than one.”

Sunday’s race was red-flagged twice due to accidents, but each time Hondas were in the lead, as they’d be once it was run to term. The trio of Honda Superbike riders formed up at the front on the eighth lap and stayed there, with Bostrom and Roberts swapping the lead, until the mishap with the lapper. Then it was Roberts alone, sailing to his second win of the year, this time by 5.237 seconds. Second went to Giovanni Bussei (Ducati), a career AMA best, with Suzuki’s Mat Mladin clinching the Superbike championship with a cautious third.

In Saturday’s race, Roberts had less luck. He started feeling a vibration in his rear tire early in the race, slowing the pace after leading across the stripe for the most of the first 13 of 28 laps. Then he was passed by Aaron Yates, the two swapping the lead until the 19th lap when he settled into the lead. Roberts was second with Ben Bostrom third. Duhamel, who’d led the first lap, crashed out of fourth place on the 10th lap, re-mounting to finish seventh.

In Sunday’s first race, Duhamel had raced to third in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race, won by Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) over Damon Buckmaster (Yamaha). Buckmaster’s teammate, Jamie Hacking, won the Supersport title.

In Sunday’s final race, Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke rode to a strong second in the Formula Xtreme title. Yamaha’s Hacking won, with Suzuki’s Ben Spies finishing third, and earning the Xtreme title.

Kurtis Roberts, First Place Sunday
The race was pretty tough with my teammates pushing quite hard. We all knew it was the last race of the year. Ben (Bostrom) was riding really hard and you could tell he wanted to stay in the front and pace. He was leading a pretty fast pace so I didn’t mind following him. I got by him a little earlier than I wanted to and he went back by me in some lappers. I came back by again and it was plus eight so I looked over my shoulder and there was no one there. I saw Miguel’s bike being picked up, but I thought maybe he just tucked the front. There wasn’t any marks from any big havoc. I think it was just Miguel lying there. For two laps, I couldn’t kind of believe it. It was like, ‘why didn’t I get one of these earlier in the year?’

Ben Bostrom, DNF Sunday
This was the funnest race by far. Everyone rode really well. The track’s got all kinds of great passing. Even though there’s no straightaways, there’s all kind of passing. That was a fantastic race ruined by some lappers. They’ve got a wonderful racetrack here. It was so exciting to see the Hondas one-two-three, kind of like Daytona all over again. All three of us were ecstatic being up there again.

Miguel Duhamel, DNF Sunday
It’s really disappointing for myself and Honda because we would have had 1-2-3 easy. I believe we would have won, but I didn’t and Kurtis did. I went in that corner there a little bit slower than usual, just in case that would happen. When that guy fell, I picked it up and kind of clipped his arm, but his momentum got underneath my bike and wedged me up and I hit the grass. I felt bad because I rode over him a bit and I fell on him and the bike fell on him. I got up real quick to look at the bike, then i realized I couldn’t breathe. My elbow came into my ribs, so I just lay back down trying to catch my breath.

Ben Bostrom, Third Place Saturday
That was really fun. That was the funnest race I’ve had all year. It was definitely a privilege to be out there racing with the guys again. It felt good. You can hang it out on this track. That’s what’s so exceptional about this racetrack. It’s great. You go out there and change two-tenths in the rear spring and you feel it. So it’s pretty cool. The whole track’s like a pool table. You can hang it out really far. I don’t think we’ve slid the front end or the rear end this much all year. Except for Daytona. But this is one of the better racetracks we have, and that’s why, I think, everyone’s hanging it out.

Kurtis Roberts, Second Place Saturday
Yeah, that race was definitely too exciting, I think for me. I’d rather have had it easy. The first fifteen laps, like Ben (Bostrom) said, were fun, man. Except for when me and him about took each other out. He went to the inside of me and I’d already committed on the last corner and I couldn’t just slam the door on the guy. But it was fun. I think we had a good race setup. My tire started vibrating just a little bit, so I had to ease off it a little bit, just that half a second, probably. Aaron was getting through traffic good. He’s really good out of that hairpin and the fast chicane, compared to me. Just kind of settled for second there, once he got that second on us. I’m a bit sore today, so I’m happy to take what we got, really.

Miguel Duhamel, Seventh Place Saturday
I just lost the front. Going in I started pushing it and I hit one of those tar patches. With the heat being the way it is, they weren’t an issue, but with the track being at its hottest it didn’t help. It was so smooth I was leaned over and it just tipped. It was unfortunate for sure. It was my fault. The bike was feeling a little bit off. We changed it a little bit before the race. I think tomorrow will be better. That was my fault going in there the way I did.



More, from a press release issued by Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki:

TOP FIVE FOR RAPP IN ALABAMA

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp ended the 2003 season on a high note on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park. Rapp claimed a season best top-five result in the Superbike class, finishing the challenging race in which two red flags flew and rain threatened to shake things up at the 16 turn, 2.3 mile circuit.

Fighting through two restarts, the 30-year-old gradually guided his fire-breathing GSX-R1000 from just inside of the top 10 to an eventual stellar fifth. Although the Californian says he generally prefers the high-speed tracks to tighter, more technical circuits like Barber Motorsports Park, Rapp continued the form he showed on Saturday when he nearly won the Superstock race. On Sunday, Steve’s versatility and desire allowed him to take advantage of a rare opportunity to finish in the top five in Superbike.

“That was a great race,” said Rapp. “All of the starts went fine and the bike and Michelin tires were working really well today. It’s just a fantastic way to finish off the year. We worked past a few of the fast non-factory racers and finished the race next behind the factory riders.”

It was a fine way to close out a season that also included sixth and eighth place overall championship standings in the Superstock and Formula Xtreme classes, respectively. Rapp had nine top-5 race results, three podiums, and two wins in 2003.

Chris Ulrich had a difficult race on his GSX-R750. A rear shock problem caused him to miss one of the restarts and a pit stop kept Ulrich from a better result. A fuel light came on erroneously despite the machine having enough fuel to finish and Ulrich pitted rather than risk running out on the circuit.



More, from a press release issued by Frank Angel:

BARNES FINISHES THE YEAR WITH TWO GOOD SUPERBIKE RESULTS

Leeds, AL – Michael Barnes rode the Prieto Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 to two good finishes in the final weekend of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship at Barber Motorsports Park. With a thirteenth place finish in race one, and a tenth place finish in race two, Michael ends the season in twelfth place overall for the championship despite missing both races at Mid-Ohio due to injury.

Working with a short supply of qualifying tires, Michael was able to qualify twelfth on the grid with his best effort coming in the Friday afternoon qualifying session.

In race one on Saturday, Barnes got a great start and immediately moved up to tenth position. After Jordan Szoke passed on lap three, Michael held his position through lap nine. Through the middle of the race Michael was able to maintain tenth place until Miguel Duhamel passed on his charge back to the front after his crash. With a front tire that was going off, Michael lost a few positions during the last few laps and finished thirteenth. “We picked too soft a compound front for the race, and with the heat and the track surface it just didn’t last. I had to slow down a bit and nurse it home.”

On Sunday in race two, intermittent rain showers before the race made the tire choice difficult. Michael once again got a great start, moving up to eighth spot on the first lap. Running within the top ten positions for most of the race, a mechanical issue intervened. For the second time this season the quick shift lever failed, first bending and eventually breaking completely. With a broken shift lever, Michael ran the last laps of the race in second gear and came home in tenth. “My Pirellis were holding up very well in the second race and I thought I had a good chance to stay ahead of Vincent for the finish. We had some good back-and-forth racing, but when the shifter broke I could do nothing more than hold on till the end.”