Mladin
aiming for 60th AMA SuperBike win
(AMA Pro Racing Release)
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin could reach a major milestone this weekend
when the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited comes to
Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, Va., on Aug. 17-19 for the
AMA Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals. Mladin, the six-time AMA Superbike
Champion from Australia, has the opportunity to score his 60th-career AMA
Superbike victory.
Legendary Motorcycle Hall of Famer Fred Merkel set the standard in the
mid-1980s when he tallied 20 AMA Superbike victories. In 1998 Miguel
Duhamel eclipsed Merkel’s mark to become the all-time wins leader. In
2004 Mladin passed Duhamel to take over the title of all-time AMA
Superbike wins leader and in the last three years Mladin has racked up an
amazing 59 wins and now sits on the verge of cracking the 60-win barrier.
Mladin closed to within 17 points of series leader and defending champ
Ben Spies with a double victory in the most recent rounds at Mid-Ohio
Sports Car. Even though the championship is very much up for grabs as the
series moves to VIR, Mladin says he’s focused simply on winning races.
“Honestly I'm not thinking about the points,” Mladin said. “If I win this
championship, then we've done a really good job. We've given a lot of
points away this year. At Daytona, and Utah, I made a silly mistake and
crashed out of the lead. So we've given up a few this year. So to be in
the position we're in is very good, anyway. To win the next five races
would honestly mean a lot more to me than winning the championship. To
win 13 races in a year, that'd be pretty cool. It'd be one of my better
years, that's for sure, that I've ever had, and being 35 and over the
hill, not too bad.”
If history is any indication the championship could draw even tighter at
VIR. Mladin has swept VIR’s Big Kahuna Doubleheader the last two years
and calls the Virginia circuit one of his favorites.
Spies is still the series leader, but he realizes that his Yoshimura
Suzuki teammate is on a roll and he needs to step it up at VIR.
“It's going to be tough,” Spies said. “At Virginia last year before I
smashed my hand up, we had some pretty good speed there. It's going to
come down to crash or win. That's got to happen. I obviously don't want
to crash, but it's got to be put on the line. If we're going to win this
title, I've got to win a couple races. We've still got the points lead.
It's not as big as we would like, but it's good for right now.”
Honda’s Miguel Duhamel, who swept the VIR doubleheader in 2004, will
likely miss this year’s race after suffering injuries in a crash while
testing at Road Atlanta on Aug. 8. Duhamel is ranked third in the
standings. With Duhamel out, the only former VIR Superbike winner in the
field other than Mladin is Yamaha’s Eric Bostrom. Bostrom is ranked ninth
coming into VIR, but he has scored a couple of podium finishes in
Yamaha’s first season back in Superbike after a five year absence.
Bostrom and teammate Jason DiSalvo will try to give Yamaha its first
Superbike win at VIR.
North Carolinian Jamie Hacking hopes to break through with another strong
Superbike race this weekend on the Monster Energy Kawasaki. Hacking
scored his second AMA Superbike podium of the season at Mid-Ohio.
“Going to VIR, we had a very good test there, the guys are pumped up,”
Hacking said. “I'm pumped up now. We know we can run up front. I've just
got to be more patient.”
This will be the seventh time the AMA Superbike Championship has visited
VIR. The 50-year-old track was revamped in 2000 and began hosting the
series in 2001. In that time the scenic track has quickly become one of
the favorites of fans and racers alike. Fans will witness a full weekend
of racing, stunt shows, fan parties, kids area, jumbo screen viewing, a
new expanded vendor area, and much more. There’s something for everyone
at the Big Kahuna. The Superbikes will do battle on VIR’s challenging
2.25-mile North Course.
Tickets are available by visiting
www.m1event.com or
call 770-965-4565 or 770-965-4566.
Both races of the VIR doubleheader will air on SPEED on Sunday, Aug. 19.
Saturday’s race will be shown starting at 3:00 pm and Sunday’s race will
have same-day coverage starting at 5:00 pm Eastern.
