From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN RETURNS TO WINNERS CIRCLE AT ROAD ATLANTA

Braselton, Georgia, USA – A day after surviving a high speed tyre failure, Mat Mladin has responded in the best possible way by taking victory in today’s seventh round of the 2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship being held at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia.

The win was Mladin’s 19th career AMA Superbike race win, his fifth for the season and has now closed to within two points of current championship points leader, Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates, who after winning yesterday’s excitement filled race, came home fourth today.

After the drama’s of yesterday’s race when his rear tyre exploded at over 280kph (170mph) while in the race lead, Mladin, along with a number of other riders, was forced to use a different rear tyre on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 after Dunlop recalled the particular type of tyre that failed on Mladin’s bike yesterday, while they investigate the reasons for it occurring.

Starting from pole position for today’s race, Mladin made a steady start as he reacquainted himself with the circuit and a different rear set up. He worked his way up to the race lead by passing Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts on lap seven. From that point, he went about steadily building a comfortable margin over his rivals before the race was cut short on lap 21 of the scheduled 25 after two separate incidents forced officials to bring out the red flag. The race was calculated back to the positions held on lap 20 and with 60% of the race run, it was declared completed and the victory awarded to Mladin.

“After the problem we had yesterday, Dunlop essentially gave us a tyre to use today that was a bit slower, but one they felt was a lot safer,” said Mladin. “It was the same rubber compound, but just made from a different construction, but everyone had to use it. In the race today, I just did what I had to do. I wasn’t pushing the rear tyre around that fast kink as much as I was yesterday.

“What else can you say about the weekend? We arrived here with a 24-point lead and dominated, but left with a two-point deficit, so that’s not a good feeling. We should have had a full race points lead by now, but instead we’ve got a bit of work to do over the next few weeks.”

Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom moved his way past Roberts to claim second, with Roberts holding on for the final podium position just ahead of Yates and Ben Bostrom (American Honda).

The American Superbike Championship reaches its mid point over the next few weeks, with round eight held at the Pikes Peak circuit in Colorado on June 1, followed a week later by another double-header round at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.


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

Double Podium for American Honda at Road Atlanta

Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts, almost fully recovered from injuries suffered in a motocross accident less than a month ago, scored a pair of podium placings in the AMA Superbike double-header held in humid and threatening conditions at Road Atlanta, just north of Atlanta, Georgia. Roberts rode his Honda RC-51 to a third place finish on Saturday, his best finish since finishing third in the Daytona 200, and third again on Sunday, this time less than a second behind the second placed rider, Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, who’d also finished second on Saturday.

Eric’s brother Ben, of American Honda, had a frustrating weekend, finishing fifth both days, but for different reasons. On Saturday he gambled on a rear tire choice that ultimately proved unproductive. Sunday Bostrom suffered from vision problems. High heat and humidity fogged up his faceshield, a common frustration throughout the field, and he was riding blind. Just as he was making a move toward the podium, the race was brought to a halt by a red flag, and he was given fifth, less than a tenth of a second out of fourth.

Teammate Miguel DuHamel, despite having a different helmet brand, suffered the same fate. For DuHamel it was particularly hurtful since he was riding with a collarbone that he’d broken less than two weeks earlier in the previous AMA race. Saturday he was slowed by a tire vibration and Sunday his vision was obscured. Tire problems forced DuHamel, and a number of others, to search for a different construction, which made him tentative in the early going on Sunday.

The three Honda riders were just off the podium in the Saturday’s Superbike race when disaster struck the race leader, Suzuki’s Mat Mladin. Speeding down the back straight at around 290 kph, Mladin suffered a rear tire blow-out on the 11th of 25 laps. Mladin wrestled the machine to a stop, slowing to a near stop 125 meters before tipping over at low speed. The fallout would affect the Honda trio.

Firstly, it put Kurtis Roberts into third, earning him his second podium of the season. Secondly it ended the charge of Miguel DuHamel. DuHamel’s crew chief, Al Ludington, radioed the veteran French-Canadian to let him know about the tire problem, and that he was on the same compound tire. DuHamel immediately backed it down to finish a cautious 11th. Ben Bostrom had a tire problem of a different sort. The former World Superbike campaigner tried a different rear tire, and gambled on set-up, but knew he was doomed from the start.

The race was won by Aaron Yates (Suzuki), a local rider from Georgia with extensive experience at the track. It was his first AMA professional win at his home track. Ben Bostrom’s brother Eric was second with Roberts third.

Sunday the air was thick with humidity, with the threat of thunderstorms, and almost everyone in the field, including the eventual winner, Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, complained of visor fogging.

Kurtis Roberts took the lead on the third of 25 laps, holding off Mladin until the seventh when Roberts dropped to second, a spot he held until the 15th lap when he fell to third, where he’d finish.

Bostrom was with the leading quintet, despite his vision troubles. In the final laps he was making a run toward the podium when the race was stopped.

DuHamel had less success. From the start he was nearly sightless and riding with one arm. His left collarbone was so sore that he opted out of the early Pro Honda Oils Supersport race, won by Suzuki’s Ben Spies. Erion Honda’s Alex Gobert was fourth in a race that had been led by his teammate Roger Lee Hayden.

Kurtis Roberts, Third Place, Saturday
If we run like today, we’re going to get our ass kicked again. I’m with Eric [Bostrom] on the new section. I hate it. I’m losing so much time through there it’s sick. It’s hurting my arm with my shoulder that I hurt a few weeks ago and it just wrecks the racetrack. It had a nice flow and everything before. If we can just figure out how to get through there without losing a second, I think we’ll be right there with the guys. I’m really struggling with whatever it may be. My arm is not as strong as it was, so it gets tired out there. I’d say I’m about 80 or 90 percent right now. I’m fine on the rest of the racetrack, it’s just a struggle throwing that thing around on the new section.

Kurtis Roberts, Third Place, Sunday
It’s still a bit tough for me – the new section. I just can’t get through there as well as these guys can and I have to make up the rest of the lap for all the ground I lose there. It’s the same thing. We all had to change tires because I was on the same one that Mat [Mladin] used yesterday. We switched today and my bike wasn’t hooked up as well as it was all weekend. Maybe the track temperature was a little too cold or something, but it went as well as it could have today. Mat was riding well, as was Eric [Bostrom]. I close up on Eric there and then we got the yellow and red flags, so that was kind of disappointing, but I did as well as I could have today.

Ben Bostrom, Fifth Place, Saturday
I just picked the wrong tire. I picked a strange Japanese tire. That was the end. On the first lap I knew it. I couldn’t flick it into the corner. Unbelievable. I’m totally out of this race. I took a couple of laps on it in practice and that tire was fine. I put this one on and it was crap. I gambled on the bike a little bit too. I made it a little bit too nervous. Usually we’ll gamble to make it steer better, but I couldn’t hang on to the thing. Plus that rear tire was exceptionally bad. I messed up. I knew we were out of the race. It’s heartbreaking. And the race is a 100 lapper. I didn’t want to start the race in the first place like that. It just wouldn’t end. I swear to God, when he threw the crossed flags, I thought, “Is that the checkers? Because I’ve been out here a long time.”

Ben Bostrom, Fifth Place, Sunday
We had a good bike, good tire, it was my own fault. I went to open vents on my helmet and I had a bunch of water inside. The first half of the race I couldn’t see real well. So I was pretty tentative racing with those guys. So I thought I better flip this thing open. So I opened it and the second half of the race I just had the wind and it kind of distorts your vision and it’s hard to get in there. I had a few clean passes and I couldn’t even stick them. It was my own fault. I’ll talk to the guys about it. Tell them to put a vent on top of the helmet.

Miguel DuHamel, 11th Place, Saturday
I was entertaining the thought of giving Kurtis (Roberts) a run for his money. Then over the radio, Al (Ludington) told me what happened to Mat (Mladin), told me I was on the same tire. Asked me if I had a vibration. I said, ‘Yes, I do have a vibration.’ I just shut her down and just tried to ride around. I was trying to the best I could. The place I was losing the most time was down the back straight. I was only 9000 in sixth gear. The thing goes up to 12000 almost. And that’s a big difference. That’s where those guys were making time. They’d pass me and I’d follow them all the way back to that turn and I’d think, there’s no way I’m going wide open here. Even on the last lap they were not that far away from me.

Miguel DuHamel, Ninth Place, Sunday
I just couldn’t see out of one eye. But we had a new tire on the rear, even when the track was pretty dry and I was sliding quite a bit. I didn’t know if we went too soft. So I took it easy until half-race and then I tried to step it up a little bit. And I saw Anthony (Gobert) coming back to me. And I’m pretty sure I would have got him. Any problem he had was quite a bit bigger than what I had. I would’ve gotten eighth maybe. My pinkie is still numb, the left side of my hand is numb from this morning. I don’t know why. The race was OK. Our goal was just to make this weekend and get out of here safe and sound and points on top of it.


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

HAS/SHOGUN RACING HAS GOOD WEEKEND AT ROAD ATLANTA

HAS/Shogun Racing riders John Haner and Heath Small both had good results in their respective events at Road Atlanta, Round Four of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship. Haner finished ninth in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock final on Saturday after qualifying seventh, and finished 18th in the Chevy Trucks Suprbike race on Sunday, using the event for more testing. Small finished 19th in the super-competitive Pro Honda Oils Supersport event on Sunday, his best finish of the year in the class.

“I had a big moment at the start, I lost the rear up here (turn three), Mike Smith got by me,” said Haner of the Superstock event. “Then I just started to work the draft and I felt good, other than a rear traction issue. I think, because of the stunt guys oiling the track just before the race, the tire warmers got left on too long. They’d already made third call. On the second lap I could feel the bike moving around a lot more than it should have been after two laps. Jordan Szoke blew a motor right in front of me and it oiled my windscreen and Jimmy Moore got by me. I couldn’t get my dad-gum tear-off off. It took me the whole back straightaway and he got a gap on me. That’s how the race ended.” Haner is now 10th in points in AMA Superstock, scoring points at every round.

Heath Small had his best result of the season in the AMA Supersport class with 19th place. The class is populated by over twenty factory and factory supported riders on any given weekend. Small was fortunate to get a break with the red flag after a tire choice gamble didn’t pay off. “We started out with rains, we were watching the weather and it was supposed to rain in the middle of it (the race), and five laps into it we got a red flag. We changed to DOTs, we left a little taller gear on it and it worked.” Small is currently 24th in points in the AMA Supersport class.

HAS/Shogun Racing is proud to be sponsored by Shogun Motorsports, Motion CycleSports, Pirelli Tires, Yoshimura R&D, Sharkskinz Racing Bodies, Vesrah Brakes, Vortex, Dynojet, Woodcraft, Lockhart Phillips, Helimot Leathers and HJC Helmets.


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

JIMMY MOORE HAS BAD LUCK AT ROAD ATLANTA

Defending two-time AMA Superstock champion Jimmy Moore had a case of bad luck at Round Four of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship at Road Atlanta this weekend. Moore finished eighth in Saturday’s Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock event after rear traction problems and finished 13th in the Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme final on Sunday after mechanical problems slowed his forward progress.

Moore struggled from the beginning of the Superstock event with a lack of rear traction. “We ran the same tire that other guys ran, but it just didn’t want to drive forward,” said Moore, who is currently eighth in points in the class. “I tried to make time on those guys in front of me, but I couldn’t do it.”

In the Formula Xtreme event, Moore’s chain on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 started skipping over the teeth on the rear sprocket, causing him to have to feather the throttle and lose valuable time on acceleration. “Then there was an issue with my rear tire being out of round, and then my right knee puck came off, it was a miserable race,” said Moore. Jimmy’s teammate Adam Fergusson was lucky to escape serious injury when he crashed to avoid hitting the downed bike of Roger Lee Hayden, but the incident brought out the red flag and ended the race. Jimmy stopped at the incident to check on Adam, who got up and walked away slowly, then Jimmy gave Roger Lee a ride back to the pits. Moore drops to tenth in points in the Formula Xtreme class.

Look for Jimmy Moore and the rest of the Corona Extra Suzuki team at Pikes Peak Raceway, May 30-June 1.


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

LEE ACREE HAS STRONG FINISH IN SUPERSTOCK RIDE FOR CORONA EXTRA SUZUKI

Lee Acree finished in 11th place in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock final at Road Atlanta after being drafted into the Corona Extra Suzuki team for the weekend. Acree, winner of AMA Superstock events in both 2001 and 2002, had to find a set-up quickly on his Suzuki GSX-R750 on Dunlop tires, a brand that he had not ridden on in five years.

“We worked so hard on the front end, we just ran out of time on the rear end,” said Acree of his set-up after the event. “We’ve just got some set-up work to do on rear grip. I got a good start and railed around the outside of a bunch of people. During the race, the front end was pretty good, but late in the race the rear end started backing around entering the corners, but Tommy (Lancaster, Lee’s mechanic) and I have some things to try to fix that. Again, we just ran out of time.”

Look for Lee Acree at the next round of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship at Pikes Peak Raceway, May 30-June 1.


More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Suzuki:

RAINY DAY PARADE CONTINUES AT ROAD ATLANTA, AMA NATIONAL

The dismal weather that has dogged all the AMA Superbike races this year continued in full force at Road Atlanta this weekend. A grey, damp overcast endured for the whole weekend interspaced with torrential rain and severe storm warnings! The weather gods also proved adept in damping down spirits and performance for the Corona Extra Suzuki Team riders and machines.

In the first Superbike event of the weekend’s doubleheader, Szoke put in a solid performance, starting form 12th on the grid to finish seventh, his best finish this year. He said; ” I didn’t get a great start but put my head down and kept picking guys off. We put a bunch of new parts on the bike which really helped!” In race two, a clutch problem finished Jordan’s ride. He was having an exciting dice with the factory Honda of fellow Canadian Miguel DuHamel, leading him for seven laps until dropping out on lap 10. Szoke is currently 12th in the Superbike Championship.

In the Suzuki Genuine Accessories Superstock event, Corona Extra Suzuki fielded four riders, with Lee Acree joining the squad for a special appearance on a Team GSXR 750. Fergusson qualified third, Moore 9th, Szoke 13th and Acree, adjusting to his first ride on Dunlop tires 19th. Adam and Jimmy finished 7th and 8th with Lee coming through the field to finish 11th. Jordan had a mechanical problem, which put him out on lap 12. Fergusson is now third, Moore 8th and Szoke 13th in the Superstock Championship.

In the Lockhart-Phillips Formula Extreme race, Fergusson qualified on row two with Moore on row four. Both got fair starts and set about trying to make up spots. Positions stayed much the same up until lap 13 when an incident brought out the red flag and brought down Fergusson. Roger Lee Haydon crashed on his factory Honda and Adam crashed in debris, both rider and bike hitting the fallen Honda. Fergusson was able to get up, though obviously bruised and battered. The red flag meant the race was scored to the previous lap, giving Adam 7th and Jimmy 13th. Fergusson is now 6th with Moore 9th in the Formula Extreme Championship.

Corona Extra Suzuki is proud to be partnering with Corona Extra, Suzuki, EBSCO Media, MTS, Parts Unlimited, Dunlop, Yoshimura R&D, Joe Rocket, Sidi Boots, MotionPro, Braking, Silkolene Lubricants, Suzuki Genuine Accessories, STR Motorsports, Lindeman Engineering, Bickle, FastDates.com, Ohlins, SBS, Yoyodyne, Hotbodies Racing, Zero Gravity, Regina Chain, Race Girl, GP Tech, RB Components, Spiegler, Box R, Hype Energy.

Next race: Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs CO., May 29-June 1, 2003


More, from a press release issued by Dream Team Ducati:

7th Place for Larry Pegram in Race 2 at Road Atlanta

Dream Team Racing (DTR) Ducati’s, Larry Pegram, suffered from rear suspension trouble today in Race 2 of the AMA Superbike DoubleHeader at Road Atlanta. The oil had leaked out of his rear shock causing it not to function properly, although he was able to fight on to finish 7th. Under earlier rain and a continuing light mist, Pegram started the race in 9th and was able to move up to 7th. He maintained that position through lap 10, when he dropped to 8th, due to his suspension failure. By lap 14, the DTR Ducati rider was able to overtake fellow Ducati pilot, Anthony Gobert, and reclaim 7th, which is the position he finished in when the race was red flagged with 4 laps to go.

Larry Pegram: “I got caught behind, Miguel Duhamel, who had a bad start and the leaders gapped us almost immediately. I then settled into 7th, although the rear end felt out of control. By lap 5, I realized the rear shock had lost it’s dampening. Fortunately my Michelin tires gave me enough confidence to stay out and make the best of it. It was pretty frightening in some sections, but I really wanted to finish in the points. Jason Pridmore, got by me because of my suspension problems although I was fighting him all the way. Around lap 14, I passed Gobert for 7th and stayed there until the red flag came out to end the race.