From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN COMPLETES AMERICAN SUPERBIKE RACE WIN DOUBLE AT FONTANA..…SETS NEW ALL-TIME AMA RACE WIN RECORD

Fontana, California, USA – Australia’s four times American Superbike champion Mat Mladin has added his name to the record books once again after victory in today’s third round of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at California Speedway in Fontana earned him his twenty-seventh AMA Superbike race win, the most by any rider in the history of the series.

Mladin has been a revelation since joining the American AMA Championship in 1996. In this time he has written his way to the top of the three most important records in the sport, most Superbike championships won – four (1999, 2000, 2001 & 2003), most Superbike race wins – 27 and has been the all time record holder for the rider scoring the most pole positions for the class with 32, to which he added another earlier this weekend.

To add to those new benchmarks, Mladin has won the prestigious Daytona 200-mile classic on three occasions (2000, 2001 & 2004) and was voted by his peers as the AMA Athlete of the Year in 2000.

His efforts in attaining many of these records have been remarkable as many were achieved on machinery that many may have rated as not being the best of that time, while there have been many notable victories along the way that have very much been a team effort, with Mladin himself being the first to applaud the efforts of his Yoshimura Suzuki crew.

This weekend 32-year-old Mladin has been the rider to beat having set a blistering pace to secure pole position for the double header round on Saturday morning, before taking the first Superbike race later that afternoon.

As he did yesterday, Mladin launched his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 off the start line and into the immediate lead, working hard in the opening laps of the 28-lap race to build a gap over his rivals and set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:25.926 on lap three. After five laps he had built a gap of 2.5 seconds over his nearest pursuer Eric Bostrom (Ducati). The middle stages of the race proved crucial as lapped riders began to play a role. Mladin was able to scythe his way through the field efficiently building on his lead which in the closing laps was out over ten seconds. At the conclusion Mladin took his record-breaking win by 9.917 seconds from Bostrom. A trio of Honda’s followed with Jake Zemke taking third ahead of Miguel DuHamel, who pushed Ben Bostrom back to fifth on the final lap.

“For sure it’s good to have broken the race win record, but like with all of my wins, credit not only goes to me but my whole team, as without them I wouldn’t have got near any of those records,” said Mladin. “More importantly for us though there are still fifteen more races to run before the championship is decided and that’s the one that we really want.”

“Today’s race went pretty much as it did yesterday where I was able to get the start, build a small lead and then we had to work our way through the traffic. From half race distance I just worked on stretching the lead, stringing together consistent lap times and came away with the win.”

“The Suzuki GSX-R1000 is performing very well at the moment and given that the next round of the championship is at Infineon Raceway where it is a little tighter than here I’m looking forward to getting there and keeping the pressure on everyone else.”

Having taken victory in the opening three races of this year’s 18-round AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship complete, Mladin leads the title chase with a total of 112 points from Zemke (88) and DuHamel (85).

The championship moves to Infineon Raceway (formerly Sears Point) outside of San Francesco for another Superbike double header that will take in rounds four and five on the weekend of May 1 – 2.

RESULTS

Round 3, 2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship (28 laps), Top 10
1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 40:29.31
2. Eric Bostrom (Ducati Austin) +9.917 secs
3. Jake Zemke (Erion Honda) +24.699
4. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) +27.346
5. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) +27.728
6. Steve Crevier (DXS Diablo Suzuki) +1:14.390 mins
7. Geoff May (Prieto Suzuki) +1:17.192
8. Larry Pegram (Yamaha) – 1 lap
9. Lee Acree (Empire Racing Suzuki) – 1 lap
10. Eric Wood (Hooters Suzuki) – 1 lap

2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship (Points after 3 of 18 rounds)
1. Mat Mladin (112); 2. Jake Zemke (88); 3. Miguel DuHamel (85); 4. Eric Bostrom (70), 5. Lee Acree (67); 6. Geoff May (64); 7. Scott Jenson / Eric Wood (57), 9. John Haner (53), 10. Cory West (52).

More, from a press release issued by Dunlop:

Dunlop congratulates Fontana finishers; Mat Mladin becomes the all-time AMA Superbike winner

Fontana, CA-The California Speedway in Fontana, California delivered motorcycle racing fans their money’s worth this weekend and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin was the star among the parade of Dunlop-shod finishers.

Mladin took up where he left off after his victory in the Daytona 200, winning his 26th career AMA Superbike race on Saturday aboard his GSX-R1000. The win tied him with Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel for most career victories, who finished third in the contest. Erion Racing’s Jake Zemke took fourth on his Honda CBR1000RR. Rain late in the program nearly halted the race, and led to the postponement of the Formula Xtreme race until Sunday.

After setting a new track lap record of 1:24:759 in the last Superbike qualifying session, Mladin chose medium-hard compounds for both tires in the race and set a pace the rest of the field could not match, finishing over nine seconds ahead of the field. “Our race went to plan, even though it wasn’t as fast as last year. The weather cooled off a lot today and the slight rain drops that were falling near the end of the race meant that we just shut the pace down a little to ensure the win.”

Mladin took the all-time lead in AMA Superbike wins, 27, with an equally-impressive victory in Sunday’s second race, finishing nearly 10 seconds ahead of the pack. Track temperatures were significantly higher in the sun’s warmth and Mladin selected harder compounds to go the twenty-eight lap distance. “It was a good race, I had my focus on today and everything went really well,” he said. “I don’t want to take anything for granted but we are where we want to be in the season right now.” Zemke took third in a battle with Team Honda’s Ben Bostrom, who finished fifth as Honda’s Miguel Duhamel slipped ahead of Bostrom on the last lap to take fourth.

The AMA’s newly-revised Superstock class showcased an exciting contest, with Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies taking the checkered flag on his GSX-R1000 just 1.847 seconds ahead of the Graves Motorsports Yamaha R1 of Damon Buckmaster. Yamaha riders Jamie Hacking, Jason Disalvo and Aaron Gobert, finished third through fifth, respectively while Kawasaki Road Racing’s Roger Lee Hayden and Tommy Hayden took sixth and seventh, respectively. Overall, Dunlop-supported riders took eight of the top ten positions.

The AMA Supersport race was another thriller that saw Tommy Hayden motor his ZX-6RR across the line a scant .437 seconds ahead of Spies on a GSX-R600. Kawasaki teammate and brother Roger Lee Hayden took third ahead of Hacking on an R6. The gap between the top four riders was 2.4 seconds as Dunlop-supported riders once again took eight of the top ten positions.

The racing concluded with the running of the Formula Xtreme class, delayed by Saturday’s rains. In the closest racing duel of the weekend, Honda CBR600RR-mounted Duhamel and Zemke swapped the lead many times throughout the race, with Duhamel taking the checked flag .102 seconds ahead of Zemke. Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore took third on a GSX-R600 and Erion Racing’s Alex Gobert was fourth on his CBR600RR.

Next stop for Dunlop and the AMA road racing tour is Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, April 30-May 2. Round three features a doubleheader for the Superbike series.


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

BOSTROM MAKES IT A PAIR OF PODIUMS ON THE DUCATI 999 AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY

Fontana (California): Eric Bostrom clinched another second place finish at California Speedway in just his third race aboard the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin 999. The 27-year-old from Las Vegas quickly jumped into third spot from his fifth place starting position, hounding Jake Zemke (Honda) until he could make a decisive outside pass on lap 2 to give chase to Mat Mladin (Suzuki).

In warmer and sunnier conditions than Saturday’s race 1, Bostrom maintained a tighter race with Mladin until lap traffic came into play. With tall gearing that favored momentum, Bostrom lost precious seconds and was unable to close the gap on Mladin in the 28 lap, 100 km race.

“I had a pretty good race out there, especially when you consider where we were at on Friday,” declared Bostrom. “Our pace was better than yesterday and we had more consistency, which is really encouraging. With every test session and race, we get more and more knowledge. We keep making progress about learning how to set up the bike, and I’m looking forward to what we can do in the next race.”

“We were closer today,” commented Ducati Corse’s Paolo Ciabatti. “Except on the laps where we had troubles with traffic, we were running about the same lap times as the Suzuki and we were in front of the Hondas so we’re coming off a very positive weekend.”

Team owner Terry Gregoricka was enthusiastic about Bostrom’s performance. “Eric did a great job. We’re effectively a new team with a new bike and considering how much we’ve had to learn, I think it’s great that we got two podiums this weekend.”

Round 3 of the AMA series will be held April 30 to May 2 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.


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

Triple Podium for Honda in California

American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke swapped podium spots in the two AMA Chevrolet Superbike races at California Speedway in Fontana, California, then fought each other to the top spot in the Formula Xtreme race, Duhamel coming out on top by a scant 0.102 seconds.

In Saturday’s Superbike race, held in a light drizzle on an atypically cold, dark afternoon in normally sunny southern California, Duhamel raced Zemke throughout, getting the better of him three laps from the end of the 28-lap race. Ben Bostrom was beginning to close on his brother Eric (Ducati) for second when his aggression caught him out. Bostrom ground the cases of his Honda CBR-1000RR on an inside curb, lifting the wheels and putting him out of the race.

Saturday’s Superbike race was won by Mat Mladin (Suzuki), the Australian repeating his success on Sunday. Eric Bostrom was second in both races.

The Honda trio fought over the final podium spot on Sunday, Zemke coming out on top this time with Duhamel a close fourth after passing Ben Bostrom on the final lap of a race that was held on a sunny, warm afternoon. But the day wasn’t over for Zemke and Duhamel.

Rain had forced the postponement of the Formula Xtreme race from Saturday afternoon to Sunday, just after the Superbike race. It meant that the two Honda riders would go from their Honda CBR-1000RR’s to Honda CBR-600RR’s and continue the battle.

This time it was Duhamel in front for most of the race, Zemke passing on course, but never in front at the stripe. It would be no difference at the end, Duhamel winning his second Formula Xtreme race of the year, Zemke second. Erion Honda’s Alex Gobert finished fourth.

Jake Zemke, 3rd, Sunday Race
It just seemed like we were searching for grip all weekend long and we never seemed to find it. The guys worked their tails off. They went upside down basically to try and find me some grip and I just couldn’t come to terms with finding it. Obviously, we had grip with the qualifying tire and things were fine then, but we just couldn’t get that grip to be consistent throughout a run. The bike today was a whole lot better than yesterday and conditions were quite a bit different and the tire we chose was different as well. It was good. Ben (Bostrom) came by me in the middle of the race and as soon as he did our pace dropped. I could see that Miguel (Duhamel) was catching us at that point and then we started to come up on traffic and I passed him [Ben] right before we got up on traffic. Luckily, I could put a little gap on him.

Miguel Duhamel, 4th, Sunday Race
I messed up the start and the whole race for me was the start. My lap times for about five or six laps, mid-race, I was the fastest guy on the racetrack. It’s just that in the span of the start and the first two, three laps, I lost like four or five seconds. I was gone. I was back there fighting with guys and trying to get past them and be safe. The Dunlop tires today were terrific. Yesterday, there was a little question with them, but today they were terrific. We made some adjustments to the bike and it was working really good, really predictable, but it can be better and it will be better. I think Ben got a little bit snookered through the chicane and I did the same move to him that I did to Jake yesterday. I went by Ben and got fourth right at the end of the race.

Ben Bostrom, 5th Sunday Race
We had a completely different bike. We were looking for something. It seemed pretty good this morning. I was out there riding mostly over my head to run 26’s for that first part of the race with no grip. So that’s kind of strange. The grip’s been pretty good all weekend. I haven’t had a problem until today. This morning the sun was on it and it was a lot hotter and I thought the track might be slightly better or the same. Everyone’s lap times stayed the same, but we were slower.

Miguel Duhamel, 3rd, Saturday Race One
For a split second I was a hero on the start, but I messed it up and went from first to like ninth. I never recuperated from that. I was in panic mode in the beginning trying to do to much and riding like an idiot. It showed. So finally when I settled down, calmed down, and got my racing lines together I came back up. I caught up to Jake [Zemke] at the end. We were fighting a good little battle, considering the rain was there, it was like who was going to beat who for this third position, knowing that what could be at stake is a championship. You can’t win the championship this weekend, but you can definitely lose it. It was tense and I’m happy it’s over and I’m happy to get third.

Jake Zemke, 4th, Saturday Race
We had a harder tire on there. It was the only thing I could get to work earlier, yesterday and stuff. The softer tires I just couldn’t get to work and with the temperatures dropping the one that I had it wouldn’t work as well. We encountered a lot of lapped traffic and I got the bad end of that deal. I actually got run off the track one time and Miguel (Duhamel) got by me. Then I got by him. That was the same spot at the end of the signal straight. Came out of the chicane and a guy was all the way on the right hand side of the race track, I mean way over on the right side of the race track, way down the straightaway so I figured he was pulling over for us. Started getting towards the corner and I’m already going for the corner and he came from all the way from the right side of the track to the left side of the track and I had nowhere to go. I had to go straight and bring it back over the curb after Miguel had gone by.

Ben Bostrom, DNF, Saturday Race
I was paying attention to what was in front of me and not watching my own line. It’s called looking ahead, not looking where you were going. We just started figuring something out. I realized something that they’d done to me down there that was costing half a second a lap. I was thinking what the hell, am I that strong on the brakes and I realized, no. they put a couple of extra banners there and I’m braking way early. And as soon as I figured that out we were like two laps right up on Eric and I was like, oh, we’re going fast now.


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

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki ended round two of the 2004 AMA series at California Speedway on a high note Sunday, scoring top ten results in each of their classes — Formula Xtreme, Superstock, and Supersport.

Vincent Haskovec piloted his Michelin-shod Suzuki GSX-R600 ‘mini-Superbike’ to an impressive fifth place in Formula Xtreme. The Czech Republic-born racer living in California bounced back from a painful Friday crash to score the strong placing in the 17-lap event.

Haskovec, who now sits fourth in the FX points race, said, “That wasn’t too bad. My thumb was still hurting and I couldn’t push as hard as wanted to. I had a big problem on the second lap; I want to thank all those guys that missed me when I had a full tank slap!” Vincent said. “I feel we should be on the podium at the next round.”

In Superstock action, the team’s strategic decision to run GSX-R750s up against a deep field of 1000s showed plenty of promise in its debut. As the team had hoped, the bikes came into their own during the race. This allowed Steve Rapp to improve five places from his grid position to claim eighth in what is perhaps the most competitive class in the series.

“Superstock went well, I think.” Rapp said. “It was the first time we raced the bike. Basically the first time we’ve ridden it, too, and we finished eighth, so I’m pretty happy. The race was shortened by a red flag, too. I think if it would have went full distance without a stop we could have moved up even further. With the GSX-R750, the grip from our Michelin tires would have been favorable at the end of a long race when compared to the other guys on 1000cc bikes. As it was, our tires worked well, and I think there’s potential in using the GSX-R750s.”

Haskovec also performed much more effectively in the race than he had in qualifying, crossing the finish line in 13th — six spots above his starting position.

Immediately following the Superstock event, Rapp headed back out on track for the Supersport final. He put forth another fine effort, taking seventh in the 60k final.

“In the Supersport race we did pretty well too,” Rapp said. “I think I might have been able to run with the guys out front, but I got slowed up moving up through the field.”

Young Canadian Chris Peris joined Rapp in the Supersport contest, finishing 13th.

Rapp’s day saw him improve his championship standing in both classes. The Californian now sits seventh in Supersport and eighth in Superstock.

Next up for Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki is testing at Road America followed by the third round of the ’04 AMA championships at Infineon Raceway, in Sonoma, CA on April 30-May 2.


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

HOOTERS SUZUKI’S JOHN HANER PERSEVERES IN FONTANA

John Haner rode his Hooters Suzuki GSX-R1000s to solid but personally disappointing finishes after a frustrating weekend at round two of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

Saturday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 9th Place
“I didn’t have that great of a start, until turn two,” said Haner. “I got into fourth and kind of settled in, did what the motorcycle would allow me to do. I found the limits of the bike about the second lap, it was moving around quite a bit in the rear and we’re still having a lot of issues with the front end. I got into a little thing with Clint McBain and Opie (Caylor), we just kind of rode around, not really battled. We’ve been struggling all weekend, it hasn’t been the best weekend for us.”

Sunday’s Repsol Superstock Final – 11th Place
“I got a bitchin’ start,” said John. “I went from 15th to fourth by turn two, and just kind of let the race happen. I knew we weren’t going to have the motorcycle this particular weekend to run with the front guys. In the second leg of that race, I was running eighth, then the last lap (Steve) Rapp, (Jason) Pridmore and Geoff May got by me. I had no sidegrip and was riding to the absolute limit of the motorcycle, but I know I can’t finish in the points if I don’t finish. I just did the best I could with what we had this weekend.” John lies ninth in the Repsol Superstock point standings after two rounds.

Sunday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 16th Place
“We changed the rear spring between Superstock and Superbike,” said Haner. “We tried to use it as a 28-lap test session, because we needed to know if we were going in the right direction. We needed to know something, we were just kind of stagnant. Everything we’d done, the bike was horrible. Well, that didn’t work either, so it made for a long race.” Haner is currently 10th in Chevrolet Superbike points after three rounds.


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

HAS/SHOGUN RIDER HEATH SMALL FINISHES 11th IN FORMULA XTREME AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY

HAS/Shogun Racing rider Heath Small finished 11th in today’s AMA Lockart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme event at California Speedway, after qualifying 14th on Saturday. Heath separated his right shoulder a month ago at Daytona, and a crash in Sunday morning warm-up changed his strategy for the day. “I had a small crash this morning in Formula Xtreme practice, which re-injured my shoulder a little bit,” said Heath. “I went to the care center, and we skipped the Supersport race to concentrate on the Xtreme race at the end of the day.” A major moment in the opening laps of the Formula Xtreme race put Small off-course, leaving him in last place with a lot of ground to make up in the 17-lap race. “I think I got up into fifth or so on the start, we came out of the double nineties, me and this other guy in front of me, he faded out and I was trying to go around him. He went off the track and I went off the track, then it took me about two laps to get settled in, and I just started trying to make up more positions. I got back to 11th, so I salvaged a decent finish out of it.”


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

UP AND DOWN WEEKEND FOR MILLENNIUM TECHNOLOGIES SUZUKI AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY

Millennium Technologies Suzuki teammates Shawn Higbee and Danny Eslick had two very different weekends during round two of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike championship at California Speedway in Fontana, California this weekend. Shawn had two race crashes, one on Saturday and one on Sunday, which is very uncharacteristic for the Wisconsin rider. Danny had two solid race finishes as he continued to make progress learning his 2004 GSX-R600.

Danny finished 17th in today’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport final after qualifying 22nd on Saturday. The race was red-flagged after 8 of the scheduled 17 laps. “Both of my starts were pretty good,” said Eslick. “I raced with a few guys early on, but pretty much was by myself for most of the race.” Eslick is currently 12th in Pro Honda Oils Supersport points. In the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme class, Danny didn’t get such a good start, but settled into tenth place after a moment early on. “It was a few laps into it, I caught a false neutral, overshot the corner, jumped the curbs, about hit some haybales, then about highsided it getting back on track! A couple of guys came past me, then I just put my head down, got past them and tried to gap them as much as possible. The suspension and gearing finally felt pretty good, me and Charlie (Ramirez, mechanic) struggled all weekend.”

Shawn’s first crash came on the first lap of Saturday’s Superbike event, low-siding but damaging the bike enough that he couldn’t continue. He also got tangled up with the bike in the fall, leaving him sore but able to ride on Sunday. In the Repsol Superstock final on Sunday, Shawn battled to a 12th place finish. “It went alright, we ran pretty consistent throughout the race,” said Shawn. “I left the door open down the back straight, three guys got past me. I closed back up to them, but I couldn’t do anything about getting by them.” Shawn’s second crash happened in Sunday’s Superbike race with a highside. “We were having a good race,” said Higbee, who ran as high as ninth before being shuffled back. “The rear tire started sliding a little bit, which was okay. But the rear shcok seemed like it started losing dampening, started kicking me out of the seat quite a bit. I got by (Larry) Pegram, then thought I could get the guys ahead of him. I started reeling them in and the rear end just caught me off-guard, pitched me over the highside.” Shawn received stitches in his right elbow at the infield medical center following the accident.


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

EMPIRE RACING SUZUKI RIDERS ACREE AND CAYLOR SURVIVE LONG WEEKEND AT FONTANA

Empire Racing Suzuki rider Lee Acree earned the ironman award today with a back-to-back three-race schedule, carding solid finishes in all three classes. Lee’s teammate Opie Caylor competed in today’s Repsol Superstock race, only to discover afterward that he had broken a bone in his hand in a crash on the last lap of Saturday’s Chevrolet Superbike race.

“I got a pretty good start the first time,” said Opie, who had qualified seventh for the Repsol Superstock final, but faded during the race to a 17th place finish. “My hand started hurting me pretty bad, I knew something was wrong there.” The race was stopped on the seventh of 17 laps, and the team replaced the rear tire. “The first tire was actually better than the second one,” said Opie. “When it doesn’t get to optimum temperature, it spins a lot. We came in and Grant threw another tire at it that we knew should work good in these conditions, but it didn’t. The brakes started fading, the lever started coming back to the bar, and I was losing grip on the bar. I had my hand checked out after the race, and it’s definitely broken.”

Lee’s long day started with the 17-lap Repsol Superstock event, where he finished 15th on his GSX-R1000. “It was a pretty lonely race, about the only good thing was catching and passing Anthony Gobert. All in all, we’ve struggled on the 1000 this weekend, so we just tried to score as many points as we could,” said Acree. “This isn’t my best racetrack, plus we were a little short on some parts this weekend for the 1000.”

Lee then jumped straight on his GSX-R600 for the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race, where he battled for 17 laps to an 11th place finish in the highly competitive class. “It went good,” said Lee. “The bike seemed to work really well. The brakes were great, no drama with the tires. It was nice to be in the same ballpark, powerwise, compared to the way it was at Daytona with the bone-stock one. Grant built a really good motor, but there were a lot of fast bikes here.” Lee is ninth in Pro Honda Oils Supersport points after this event.

Lee’s third and final race was the longest, the 28-lap Chevrolet Superbike final, where he finished ninth after a race-long battle with fellow Suzuki rider Eric Wood. “I was a little tired, but not as bad as I thought I’d be starting it,” said Lee. “Off the start, this place gets so bunched up, I just tried to position myself where I wasn’t going to get punted by somebody. The group I ended up with, knowing that I needed to conserve energy, I was content to let them drag me around and make sure I worked out where I was gonna go by them later. Eric (Wood) came up, and I followed Eric and looked for his strengths and weaknesses. I went underneath him in the double nineties and there were a couple of lappers that I was able to use to my advantage.” Lee is currently in sixth place in Chevrolet Superbike points after three rounds.


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

MLADIN STORMS FONTANA.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin stormed to his 26th American Superbike win in Saturday’s second round at Fontana, California, after leading from start to finish.
“We brought it to the finish and that’s all that matters, although it was getting a bit slick at the end” said Mladin after tying with third-placed Miguel Duhamel for the career Superbike wins record.

Mladin and his GSX-R1000 set a pace that was unmatchable and pulled away early, holding his lead at around the three-second mark before steadily forging ahead by as much as 10 seconds at one stage, before backing off in the final laps, concerned more about getting to the finish than margin of victory.

“We got the win, but it wasn’t tidy and it wasn’t the way I like to do it. I made a couple of little mistakes towards the end when it started to rain, but apart from that, it was okay,” said the four-time AMA Superbike Champion. In a race that saw six Suzukis in the top 10, Eric Bostrom took second well clear of Duhamel and Jake Zemke.

Former Australian and British Superbike star Marty Craggill, making his debut for the Corona Suzuki team, finished eighth ahead of Hooters Suzuki’s John Haner and Empire Suzuki’s Opie Caylor.

Mladin aims to become the most successful rider in AMA Superbikes with his 27th win at today’s third-round race at the Fontana double header.


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

MLADIN AND SUZUKI MARK HISTORY!

Team Suzuki’s Mat Mladin is the most successful American Superbike rider in the history of the series after winning his 27th AMA Superbike race today at the Fontana double-header in California!
The Yoshimura Suzuki rider – who stormed yesterday’s race and equalled the all-time record of 26 wins set by French-Canadian Miguel DuHamel – dominated Sunday’s 100km race, topping Ducati’s Eric Bostrom by 9.9 seconds.

For a while, the battle was close as Bostrom closed to within two seconds of local hero Mladin – who lives down the road in Rancho Cucamonga – on the 14th of 28 laps. But just as quickly, Mladin stretched the gap again, pulling away at times by a second per lap.

Mladin said: “Today was a good race and of course it’s nice to get win number 27. But you know, Eric kept it tough for half the race, but I managed to stretch it out there through traffic.

“I was really aggressive for the first four or five laps up until about lap 21 when I then had a couple of clear laps and opened up the gap. We got it up to about 10 seconds and just held on there until the end.

“It was a good race, a good start to the season, and hopefully we’ll keep going.”

Canadian Superbike regular Steve Crevier took sixth aboard the very rapid Diablo Suzuki GSX-R1000, Prieto Suzuki’s Geoff May was again impressive in seventh, while Empire Suzuki’s Lee Acree and Hooters Suzuki’s Eric Wood rounded out the top 10.


More, from a press release issued by Jason DiSalvo’s publicist:

More Points for DiSalvo

Yamaha Factory Racer Jason DiSalvo of Stafford, NY competed this past weekend at California Speedway in Fontana, CA in the AMA 1000 Superstock and 600 Supersport National Motorcycle series.

In the 1000 Superstock class having qualified 5th on Saturday gave Jason a second row starting position for Sunday’s final event. With less than a favorable start Jason worked his way from 10th to 5th prior to a red flag which required a restart after 6 laps. Again not getting a stellar start saw Jason 8th after the first lap, with time