From a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

MLADIN SHATTERS LAP RECORD
Team Suzuki Press Office – September 4, 2004.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin shattered his own lap record in first qualifying for the Suzuki Superbike Showdown round of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship with the fastest ever lap by a motorcycle at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.

The four-time and defending Superbike champion threw down the gauntlet from his very first lap on the 2.52 mile road course. The time was 1:23.897, less than 0.4 seconds off his 1:23.520 pole position in 2003. On his third lap, he was under his lap record and even lower on the next lap and with just under 10 minutes to run, he clocked a final best of 1:22.917.

“The bike’s working awesome. It’s really working well. Best it’s been all year. Everyone’s been working hard,” said Mladin.

His first shot at a fast lap was scuttled by a slower rider: “I sat up and cruised around for a lap and had another go and the tyre was past its best by then, but it was good enough for the pole today.”

Mladin suffered a catastrophic rear tyre failure here last year and both he and Dunlop have worked hard to make sure there isn’t a repeat. There was a test here a month ago where new tyres developed for this track were tested. He turned a number of laps in the 2:03’s on a race tyre to start the session and then put the same tyre back on at the end.

“We’re on the safest tyre that Dunlop has brought here so we’re happy about that,” he said.

American Honda’s Ben Bostrom moved to second in the final third of the 30-minute session. There was a one-second gap until the final handful of minutes when he cut the margin to less than half a second before the final stop for qualifying tyres.

Provisional AMA Superbike Combined Qualifying Results:

1. Mat Mladin, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:22.065
2. Miguel Duhamel, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:22.647
3. Ben Bostrom, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:22.982
4. Aaron Yates, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:23.273
5. Jake Zemke, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:23.483
6. Josh Hayes, Kaw ZX-10R, 1:23.973
7. Eric Bostrom, Duc 999F04, 1:24.162
8. Larry Pegram, Yam YZF-R1, 1:25.303
9. Geoff May, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:25.559
10. John Haner, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:25.822
11. Shawn Higbee, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:26.210
12. Marty Craggill, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:26.280
13. Chris Caylor, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:26.577
14. Lee Acree, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:26.688
15. Jason Pridmore, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:26.715
16. Brian Stokes, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:26.828
17. Eric Wood, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:27.030
18. Jake Holden, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:27.189
19. Chuck Sorensen, Yam YZF-R1, 1:27.398
20. Mike Smith, Yam YZF-R1, 1:27.649
21. David Weber, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:28.319
22. Jesse Janisch, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:28.429
23. Chris Ulrich, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:28.431
24. Jeff Tigert, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:28.514
25. Jeremy Toye, Yam YZF-R1, 1:28.537
26. Andrew Deatherage, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:28.556
27. Byron Barbour, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:28.608
28. Scott Greenwood, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:28.658
29. Heath Small, Yam YZF-R1, 1:28.703
30. Mark Ledesma, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:29.138
31. J.J. Roetlin, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:29.229
32. Jason Curtis, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:29.407
33. Roger Bell, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:29.435
34. Dean Mizdal, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:29.447
35. Cory West, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:29.590, crash
36. Reuben Frankenfield, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:29.911
37. C.R. Gittere, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:30.021
38. Matt Lynn, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:30.234

110 percent of fast time: 1:30.272

39. Scott Jensen, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:30.278
40. David Bell, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:30.431
41. James Kerker, Hon CBR1000RR, 1:30.491
42. Kevin Pate, Yam YZF-R1, 1:30.763
43. Anthony Fania, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:30.974
44. Roland Williams, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:32.649
45. Lenny Beckman, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:32.946
46. Jeremiah Johnson, Suz GSX-R1000, 1:33.448
47. James Bonner, Yam YZF-R1, 1:37.582