Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Kurtis Roberts won the second AMA Superbike race of his career Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama

Mat Mladin, however, was the bigger winner, taking home a record fourth AMA Superbike Championship with third in the twice-red-flagged final race of the season.

After rain interrupted the race, it was finished in basically dry conditions.

Erion Honda’s Roberts had a terrific battle with American Honda’s Ben Bostrom and Miguel Duhamel until lap 25 of 28. Bostrom hit John Jacobi and crashed going into tight turn four and, in a domino effect, Jacobi hit Dean Mizdal, who hit Miguel Duhamel.

Duhamel was lapping Jacobi and Mizdal on the outside of the corner.

All four riders crashed but appeared to be relatively uninjured in the pile-up.

From there, Roberts was free to collect his second win of the season and his career.

Ducati Austin’s Giovanni Bussei spent the majority of the race in fourth and was elevated to second by the Bostrom/Duhamel incident.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mladin finished a conservative third, and Aaron Yates, who was the only other rider that could have won the 2003 AMA Superbike Championship, appeared to suffer intermittent problems with his machine and finished fourth.

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp finished fifth on a Michelin-shod GSX-R1000.

AMA Superbike Race Results:

1. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 28 laps
2. Giovanni Bussei, Ductai, -5.237 seconds
3. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, -18.829 seconds
4. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, -20.420 seconds
5. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, -42.227 seconds
6. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, -46.339 seconds
7. Tom Kipp, Kawasaki, -62.150 seconds
8. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, -64.951 seconds
9. Eric Wood, Suzuki, -70.299 seconds
10. Michael Barnes, Suzuki, -80.931 seconds
11. Jake Holden, Suzuki, -82.581 seconds
12. John Haner, Suzuki, -1 lap
13. Marco Martinez, Suzuki, -1 lap
14. Brian Stokes, Suzuki, -1 lap
15. Jeremy Toye, Suzuki, -1 lap
16. Andrew Deatherage, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
17. Byron Barbour, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
18. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
19. Robert Christman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
20. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
21. Michael Sanchez, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
22. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
23. Reuben Frankenfield, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
24. Tom Wertman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
25. Scott Carpenter, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
26. Chris Voelker, Ducati 996, -1 lap
27. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
28. Monte Nichols, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
29. Chuck Ivey, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
30. James Kerker, Honda CBR929RR, -1 lap
31. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap, crash
32. John Jacobi, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -2 laps, crash
33. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSX-R750, -2 laps
34. Ben Bostrom, Honda RC51, -4 laps, DNF, crash
35. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, -4 laps, DNF, crash
36. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -6 laps, DNF, crash
37. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -9 laps, DNF
38. Chris Greer, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -25 laps, DNF

Final AMA Superbike Point Standings:

1. Mladin, 550 points, 10 wins
2. Yates, 519 points, 3 wins
3. Roberts, 474 points, 2 wins
4. Ben Bostrom, 462 points
5. Duhamel, 417 points, 1 win
6. Higbee, 396 points
7. Eric Bostrom, 350 points, 2 wins
8. Jason Pridmore, 339 points
9. Haskovec, 285 points
10. Jordan Szoke, 283 points
11. May, 249 points
12. Barnes, 238 points
13. Ciccotto, 229 points
14. Larry Pegram, 211 points
15. Scott Jensen, 210 points
16. Bussei, 186 points
17. Holden, 179 points
18. Toye, 175 points
19. Mizdal, 168 points
20. Anthony Gobert, 131 points