BIRMINGHAM,
Ala. (May 2, 2009) - Mat Mladin
continued his dominance of AMA Pro National
Guard American Superbike presented by Parts
Unlimited in Saturday's Honda Superbike
Classic race at Barber Motorsports Park.
Racing the 2009 Suzuki GSX-R1000 model for the
first time today, Mladin dropped back to
fourth on the opening lap after starting from
pole on the No. 7 Makita/Rockstar Yoshimura
Suzuki GSX-R1000. However, he quickly began
working his way back toward the front, and
claimed the lead from Ben Bostrom's No. 2
Yamaha R1 on Lap 6 of the 21-lap race.
Mladin wouldn't be challenged from that point
on as he claimed his sixth AMA Pro American
Superbike victory in six 2009 starts, this
time by 1.928 seconds ahead of teammate Blake
Young. It was also Mladin's fifth consecutive
victory at Barber Motorsports Park and the
eighth of his career at the 2.38-mile Alabama
road circuit.
"At the start of the race, the boys were
having a bit of a go," Mladin said.
"Ben came by and I just sort of sat there
to see what was going on, just to get a feel
for the bike with a full tank of gas and a few
laps in. I had a bit of a look at what they
were doing and made our way through. I just
tried to keep it solid, but try not to wear
too much stuff out, because we really didn't
know what the bike was capable of doing or
what it was going to do to the tires. This
motorcycle, as far as a GSX-R1000 goes, is
very, very different to any other one we've
ever had. It's a very different motorbike. We
have some work to do to try and figure out a
few things. We didn't want to go too crazy
today. We were riding hard, but we needed to
keep it within a certain envelope."
Young and Bostrom played central roles in a
thrilling race-long battle for second place,
although both riders also spent time at the
head of the field. Young led Lap 2 on his No.
79 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000
before surrendering the spot to Bostrom, and
the two riders resumed their battle -- this
time for second -- throughout the remainder of
the race. Young took advantage of several
lappers on the second-to-last lap to claim
second place for the second-straight race
behind his teammate.
"It started off pretty good there,"
Young said. "After getting out front, I
really wanted to see what the track was like.
It was obviously really green and not very
much grip, but I just tried to get comfortable
and put in a pace that I was comfortable
doing. Ben came by and he was running a bit
quicker, so I definitely just jumped in and
tried to learn where he was a little bit
better. All of a sudden, Mat came by and he
was running even more of a quicker pace, so I
knew he was going to go. I was just trying to
stay on his rear wheel and wait until he went
by Ben and try to go with him. It didn't end
up like that. We had to wait another lap, but
I just kept my head down and worked really
hard. We've got another race tomorrow.
Hopefully, we can get up there and race with
Mat a little bit longer."
Bostrom also had his hands full keeping the
No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki of
Tommy Hayden at bay, but the 2009 Daytona 200
winner managed to take his first AMA Pro
American Superbike podium result of the season
with a third-place run on the No. 2 Yamaha
Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1. Bostrom's Daytona
200 victory came aboard an AMA Pro Daytona
SportBike.
"It's a lot better than where I've been
sitting, so I'm not going to be bummed,"
said Bostrom of his third-place showing.
"I'm going to sleep well tonight. I think
it was a fantastic ride and the Yamaha worked
amazing. The boys here (Mladin and Young) are
out-riding us a little bit and made a couple
of amazing passes on me. Mat about scared the
(crap) out of me, honestly. It was good
racing. It got my heart rate up, and I'm ready
to attack again. I'm looking forward to
another good day tomorrow. Hopefully, that's
how it goes. I want to maintain this spot up
here and keep racing. I really enjoyed racing
with these guys. It just seems like a long way
'til today. It's a big race tomorrow. It's
going to be exciting. Hopefully, we find
something, but honestly, these guys are riding
amazing, so it's going to be hard to chip away
at it."
Hayden finished fourth on the No. 22 Rockstar/Makita
Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, and Josh Hayes --
who led the opening lap of the race --
completed the top five aboard the No. 4 Yamaha
Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1.
The second race of the American Superbike
doubleheader closes out the Honda Superbike
Classic festivities at 4:00 p.m. local time on
Sunday.