Copyright 2004, Roadracing world Publishing, Inc.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin won his fourth consecutive AMA Superbike race Saturday at Infineon Raceway. Riding a Dunlop-sponsored GSX-R1000, Mladin won by over six seconds and extended his Championship lead by collecting the maximum points possible.

Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates led early, but Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke took the point on lap two and held it through lap five, when Mladin took control of the race.

Zemke fought back, re-passing Mladin once and hanging tough for several laps, but the Superbike rookie lost touch partly due to lapped traffic, partly due to his tires going away and partly due to Mladin’s relentless race pace.

As they approached the bulk of the lapped riders, American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel charged forward to pass Ben Bostrom for third and continued past Zemke to take second on lap 19 of 28.

His third podium finish of the season, Zemke held on for a lonely third, well ahead of Ben Bostrom, fourth.

Parts Unlimited Ducati Austins’ Eric Bostrom never challenged for the lead and ran a solitary race to fifth on his Michelin-fitted 999F04.

Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes rode through pain to take sixth on his factory-supported ZX-10R. Local hero Dave Stanton ran a strong race to place seventh on his Dunlop-shod Arclight Suzuki GSX-R1000. Triangle Cycles Yamaha’s Larry Pegram finished eighth overall and first Yamaha on a Pirelli-equipped YZF-R1. Prieto Racing’s Geoff May, also on Pirellis, came home ninth on a Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Yates ran off track early in the race, pitted for a new rear tire but came back to score tenth.

Provisional AMA Superbike Qualifying Results:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 28 laps
2. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, -6.749 seconds
3. Jake Zemke, Honda, -17.391 seconds
4. Ben Bostrom, Honda, -26.824 seconds
5. Eric Bostrom, Ducati, -29.736 seconds
6. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki, -50.377 seconds
7. Dave Stanton, Suzuki, -61.126 seconds
8. Larry Pegram, Yamaha, -80.043 seconds
9. Geoff May, Suzuki, -80.043 seconds
10. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, -86.954 seconds
11. Ken Hill, Suzuki, -88.339 seconds
12. Clint McBain, Suzuki, -90.457 seconds
13. Lee Acree, Suzuki, -108.071 seconds
14. Chris Caylor, Suzuki, -1 lap
15. John Haner, Suzuki, -1 lap
16. Robert Christman, Suzuki, -1 lap
17. Mark Foster, Suzuki, -1 lap
18. Brien Whitlock, Suzuki, -1 lap
19. Cory West, Suzuki, -1 lap
20. Jim Randolph, Yamaha, -1 lap
21. Jack Pfeifer, Honda, – 1 lap
22. Garry Combs, Suzuki, -1 lap
23. Rob Mesa, Suzuki, -1 lap
24. Jeff Williams, Suzuki, -1 lap
25. David Bell, Suzuki, -1 lap
26. Andrew Nelson, Honda, -1 lap
27. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, -1 lap
28. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, -1 lap
29. John Scott Wilson, Suzuki, -1 lap
30. Jeremiah Johnson, Suzuki, -1 lap
31. Steve Crevier, Suzuki, -1 lap, crash
32. James King, Yamaha, -1 lap
33. Kim Nakashima, Suzuki, -2 laps
34. Chris Siglin, Yamaha, -2 laps
35. Craig Connell, Suzuki, -8 laps
36. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, -10 laps, DNF, crash
37. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, -11 laps, DNF, mechanical
38. Tom Montano, Ducati, -11 laps, DNF, retired
39. Jason Curtis, Suzuki, -19 laps, DNF
40. Kenyon Kluge, Suzuki, -19 laps, DNF
41. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki, -20 laps, DNF
42. Eric Wood, Suzuki, -22 laps, DNF, retired
43. Jeremy Toye, Yamaha, -24 laps, DNF, mechanical
44. Mike Krynock, Ducati, DNS

Provisional AMA Superbike Championship Standings (after 4 of 18 races):

1. Mladin, 150 points
2. TIE, Duhamel/Zemke, 117 points
4. Eric Bostrom, 96 points
5. May, 86 points
6. Acree, 85 points
7. Pegram, 74 points
8. Haner, 69 points
9. West, 64 points
10. Caylor, 61 points
11. TIE, Eric Wood/Scott Jensen/McBain, 57 points
14. Ben Bostrom, 53 points
15. Crevier, 50 points
16. Pfeifer, 47 points
17. Bell, 39 points
18. Toye, 38 points
19. Hayes, 37 points
20. Roetlin, 36 points

More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN TAKES OPENING AMERICAN SUPERBIKE RACE WIN AT INFINEON RACEWAY

Sonoma, California, USA (Saturday, May 1) – Defending American Superbike Champion Mat Mladin has kept his unbeaten race record for this season intact after winning today’s fourth round of the American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at Infineon Raceway, California.

In taking out his 28th career AMA Superbike race win, Mladin extends his points lead in the championship to 33-points from Honda’s Miguel DuHamel and Jake Zemke (150 to 117) who finished second and third in the first of the weekend’s two 28-lap Superbike nationals and are tied on points.

As has been the case for the season so far, Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 were in dominating form all day. Prior to the commencement of today’s Superbike race, Mladin wrapped up yet another Superbike pole position after his record breaking lap time recorded in yesterday’s opening session was good enough to keep him at the top of the time sheets and the number one starting position for each of the weekend’s races.

A steady start to the race saw Mladin sitting comfortably in third place on the opening lap, before moving up a spot as he closed in onto the rear of early race leader Zemke. The pair pulled a small gap over the remainder of the field in the opening laps before Mladin made his move to the front on lap six. The pace of the four times American Superbike Champion showed as he became the only rider in the race to drop his times into the 1:37 bracket, reeling off a blistering 1:37.946 on lap seven as he worked at building a gap over Zemke.

Zemke tried to stay with Mladin, but as the race approached mid-distance, the more experienced Mladin was able to put together a number of fast consistent laps as they began to work through the first groups of lapped riders. By race end Mladin crossed the line with a 6.749 second advantage over DuHamel, who worked his up to second on lap 19, leaving Zemke in third which he held to the flag.

“The race panned out pretty well for us, coming away with the win was what we were after and that’s given us that little bit extra buffer on the points table,” said Mladin.

“Dunlop have been very good this weekend, arriving here with a whole new batch of tyres for us to try and today’s race was another where we were able to put them to good use and they worked well.”

“After getting a break on Jake (Zemke) in the first half of the race, the backmarkers became a bit of an issue in the second half, but having that small lead, I was able to get through them as best I could while keeping my lap times as consistent as possible.”

“Looking at tomorrow’s race, it will start a couple of hours earlier than today’s and they are forecasting much higher temperatures, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on the weather and track temperatures.”

The second of the weekend’s Superbike Nationals is scheduled to run Sunday afternoon, 2:00pm U.S. west coast time.

More, from a press release issued by Infineon Raceway:

Suzuki’s Mladin Captures 98 Rock Superbike Challenge Victory

SONOMA, Calif. (IMMEDIATE RELEASE) – Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin continued his winning ways on Saturday at Infineon Raceway by capturing the 98 Rock Superbike Challenge.

It was Mladin’s fourth consecutive victory to begin the 2004 Chevrolet Superbike Championship season. Mladin posted earlier victories at Daytona Beach (Fla.) and Fontana (Calif.). Mladin will hope to make it a sweep of the doubleheader on Sunday in the Supercuts Superbike Challenge (2 p.m.) at the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown weekend. The weekend is presented by Cycle Gear.

“Overall, it was a solid race and everything went pretty well,” Mladin said. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure what we would have with the tires, but I got off the bike at the end and the tires looked brand new so that was good.”

Honda’s Miguel Duhamel took second place, with teammate Jake Zemke third. It was Mladin’s fourth career Superbike victory at Infineon Raceway, tying him for the track record with Duhamel. It was also Mladin’s 28th career AMA Superbike victory, an ongoing record.

Mladin began the 28-lap feature on the pole, but was passed quickly by Suzuki’s Aaron Yates entering Turn 1 on the opening lap. Yates, the 1996 Superbike winner at Infineon Raceway, lost the lead to Zemke, who appeared strong in the early going on his Honda.

Mladin made his first move for the lead exiting Turn 6 on lap 6, but Zemke stormed right back, claiming the top spot entering Turn 7. Mladin forged ahead for good on the back half of the circuit, passing Zemke for the lead at Turn 9. The native of Australia built a 4.573-second lead by lap 17 and never looked back.

“For a couple of laps I was able to hang with Mat but I could feel (the tires) going away in the corners and the apexes,” Zemke said. “From there on I knew it would be a battle just to stay on the podium.”

Earlier in the day, Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki) grabbed the pole for Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport feature, while Jamie Hacking (Yamaha) took the pole for Sunday’s Repsol Superstock Series feature.

There will be feature events on Sunday in the following classes: Chevrolet Superbike, Pro Honda Oils Supersport, Repsol Superstock and Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme. Gates open at 7 a.m. For more information visit www.infineonraceway.com

More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin:

BOSTROM FINISHES 5TH IN RACE 1 AT INFINEON RACEWAY, COLLECTING VALUABLE POINTS AND DATA

Sonoma (California) – May 1, 2004: Despite never having tested at Infineon Raceway until this week, Eric Bostrom brought the Ducati 999 across the line in a solid fifth position in race 1 of the AMA Superbike double-header. The Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin team faced immense pressure from the very first practice session on Friday to get the bike ideally set up for a track characterized by relentless turns and elevation changes.

“Everything was working fine on the throttle, but I just wasn’t comfortable getting the bike turned and that’s holding me back right now,” commented Eric. When you’re talking about a couple-tenths in each turn, it adds up and essentially takes you out of the hunt.”

Bostrom ran almost the entire race in a lonely fifth position, doing his best in the closing laps to gain ground on his brother Ben, the eventual fourth-place finisher. Explained Eric, “We thought we had a good direction, but we didn’t totally achieve what we wanted to. We’ve got some ideas, though. If we can get the front end happy then I know we’ll be there. We’ve got half the puzzle solved and now we just need the other half.”

“Having so little knowledge on the 999 on such a technical track made it a tough race,” said Technical Engineer Ernesto Marinelli. “We didn’t have enough time to do race-distance testing so we had to find things out during the race. Tomorrow morning we’re going to try some alternative Michelin front tires along with some other minor changes. We need to make the front more confident so Eric can push it harder into the turns. We’ve got the right Michelin for the rear and we’re going to stay with it for tomorrow.”

Race 2 of the third round of the AMA Superbike series at the Northern California circuit will be contested tomorrow afternoon.