Mladin out to win again at Road America

Mladin out to win again at Road America

(AMA Pro Racing Release) Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin eclipsed his pole-claiming qualifying mark of a year ago today at Road America, circulating at 2:11.541 around the four-mile circuit, nearly a half-second better than the old AMA Superbike track record of 2:11.970.

While the former GP man was quick to point out that today’s lap didn’t quite match the blistering 2:11.208 lap he logged en route to his Sunday ’06 race victory, it proved that the six-time Elkhart Lake winner is once again the man to beat at Road America. And if it rains tomorrow, today’s effort could very well earn him the pole and the point that comes along with it.

Afterwards Mladin said, “For sure it was important to get something done today, but to be honest with you, there are no tires for qualifying. There are two races tires and it just so happens that we did a pretty decent lap. We went out there late with a new race tire.”

Even if it does rain, however, Mladin claims he won’t change up his oft-stated ‘07 strategy of winning every single race possible. Asked how his approach might change in the wet in regards to protecting his championship position, Mladin laughed, “Don’t care. I told you guys; you can’t figure it out, can you? Don’t care about the championship; just want to race hard in the rain, dry, or whatever.”

Mladin reflected on his numerous past successes at the forest-adjacent circuit over the years and commented, “It’s a fast racetrack and I enjoy riding on the front tire in the fast tires. There’s a fine line between pushing the front too far and finding the limit. If you can get close to that limit, your lap times are going to be very fast. The second race last year showed that. All I did was decide the front tire a bit more and there it was.”

It was here last year that Mladin first explained that he was actively working to incorporate some new techniques and slightly alter his riding style in order to rise to rival Ben Spies’ challenge, a difficult task for a racer with his vast experience. 19 races later, Mladin has added 12 more victories to his career tally.

So have the changes become a natural part of his style by this point? “Not really,” he admitted. “I think I’ve done a pretty decent job of getting something out of what I needed to do last year. It’s never going to happen fully as much as maybe I’d like it. Everybody has their own style and mine has worked pretty decent for me over the last 15 years. I just needed to clean a few things up to improve in a couple areas; take away in some areas to make up more in others. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that and think I’m probably riding better as an overall racer now than I did last year.”