Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·.INTERVIEW Mat Mladin By Paul'Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams ustralian Mat Mladin had just finished trying to ca lm his friend and former teammate Doug Chandler prior to the start of the final AMA Superbike National of the season in the scorching-hot desert on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Mission accomplished, he heads back to the air-conditioned and friendly confines of the Yoshimura Suzuki truck to divulge some fairly substantial news about his future. "I'll be on a Ducati next year," the former Australian Superbike ational Champion said. "Here and in some rounds of the World Championship when they feel we're ready to go over. Then the following year (1998), if we win the championship here, I can go over there." Ho-hum. Just another day at the office, an hour or so before he goes ou t and finishes second for the third time in 1996, following Olandler across the finish line to end his highly successful rookie season of AMA racing. So just like that, Yoshimura lost one of its three riders for the 1997 season. And they didn't even know it yet: '1'11 let these guys know straight after the race," Mladin said. It would be difficult to argue with Mladin's decision to move to the Eraldo Ferracci's factory-backed effort. All you have to do is look at the success ratio of the riders who have been there - riders like Doug Polen, Troy Corser, both of whom won AMA titles prior to their success in World Superbike racing. Still, Mladin didn't make any hasty choices. "It was a difficult decision," Mladin explains. '1'm the sort of rider who gets attached to a team. I was with Kawasaki for many years and the only time I wasn't with them was when I went to Cagiva. So, yeah, it was difficult. Yoshimura tried really hard this year. We've had our differences of opinion on what I think should go on the bike and what they think ... but these guys worked very hard and it was a new bike. But 1had to think about my future. "I think if we came back here (Yoshimura) next year we could really give the championship a shake on this motorcycle. I really believe so. The last couple of race we've been right there and with this championship point structure consistency really means a lot. But Suzuki never really could give me any plans for the future or offer me anything World Championship-wise. '1 know how good the Ducati, is and long-term they've got plans for me. Troy (Cor er) came over and done it and 1 raced Troy for a couple of years in Australia. Troy's a very good rider and we had some races. 1 believe in my ability and I believe I can do it. 1 believe if I put in what 1 put in with the Suzuki on the Ducati, then we'll be a real strong force to be reckoned with." Although Mladin has yet to throw a leg over a Ducati, at least he won't have the concerns of learning the intricacies of the Michelin tires, the choiCe of Ferracci's team. "I've used Michelins before," he said. "Actually, last year was my first year with Dunlops. So using Michelins isn't a problem - I like Michelins, they're good. They take a little bit different riding style and obviously you don't slide them around quite as much. Although, you can. People ay Michelins don't slide as mum as Dunlops, but 1 believe you can set a motorcycle up so that the Michelins will slide. I've never had any problems u ing Michelins. I think it's a hard combination to beat. I thin"k the A o \0 0\ 0\ ...... C'f'J ~ C'-l l-< OJ .g ... u o 34 guys that have been riding them this year (Ferracci's Ducatis - Larry Pegram and Shawn Higbee) have had some problems this year, but 1 just don't think they've gotten used to it. Obviously, you look at the last six or seven years and Ducati have been dominant in the World Championship. With that in mind, I think I'm making the right decision." Mladin also feels his decision to race in the AMA series rather than spend another year in Australia has paid off. "Yeah, I'm really happy that I decided to come here," Mladin said. "Last year in Australia, and people will argue this, but I'm stating a fact - whenever I was on the motorcycle, 1 won every race. Barring a couple of races after my accident (Mladin broke his ankle in an ultralight plane crash), when I took some time to get back into it after not being on a bike, I won the races. "The competition in Australia is good, bu t here there are just more good riders. At the moment, Australia is a little bit down in that there are really no young guys there who are really coming through at the moment. I mean, I'm not there this year, so I'm not sure if there's anyone coming through now, but these things happen all the time. "For a few years you get a lot of good riders and then it's a while before you get some more. No, I'm really happy I came here. 1knew we'd have a new bike and I knew it'd be a challenge to come here and try to get the thing working." Mladin's input with the Yoshimura Suzuki crew was obviously important. While his two teammates, Aaron Yates and Pascal Picotte, won a race apiece, Mladin was the most consistent of the trio and he was the one who finished fourth in the final series point standings. "I know it's easy to say now, but if I wasn't so stupid at Mid-Ghio I'd be leading the championship right now," Mladin said of his season. '1 was trying to win a race in the rain on a race track I should have been cruising on. I think we've done a really good job. People don't see behind the scenes. It's like Daytona. Okay, we got 11 th, but we shredded three tires on the way, two rears and a front. I was racing with Colin (Edwards) and Pascal (Picotte) until I done that, so we probably would have been right there at the end as well. "We finished fifth at Pomona and a lucky second at Laguna that still would have been a third if Miguel (DuHamel) didn't crash. From then on we were right there. We still had our little problems, mostly chassis stuff. I never got anything I asked for until a couple of months ago and things started to get better. I'm happy to have raced here and I'm glad they (Suzuki) gave me the opportunity." Any conversation with Mladin usually has some reference to his aborted 500cc Grand Prix career. His 1993 season aboard a factory Cagiva always seems fresh in his mind. He made mistakes he vows not to repeat. "I went to Europe in '93 and I got kicked out of Europe at the end of the year, basically. I had no experience and with the Cagiva team at the time and it was tough. 1 signed a contract with Cagiva after I'd been road racing for less than two years. When you get that big paycheck waved in front of you after you've been wearing shoes with holes in 'em, it looks pretty good. I jumped in and it was well and truly the deep end. '1t was probably nobody else's fault but my own. I didn't know how to handle it and I went back home for a couple of years and kinda worked my way back into it a little bit. Unfortunately, I had a few injuries. I broke my back in '94 and in '95 I did my ankle in. So it was good to get over here and work hard and show what I can do. I've worked real hard on my fitness - every day. I think that's helped me keep going in some of the e races to the very end. I've read in a couple of magazines that I've started really good in races but then faded back.·What they don't understand is that if 1 faded back 1 was still going quicker than my teammates. I'm riding my butt off to try and be there." "Riding his butt off" didn't include taking mances where he felt it too precarious to do so. Mladin was often critical of race tracks on the AMA series that he didn't feel were up to par, safetywise. He really had a problem with Sears Point and it was that problem that possibly prevented him from winning his first AMA National. Although he raced throughout with his teammate Yates, Mladin wasn't prepared to step it up at a race track where crashes aren't had without injury. "There are some iffy tracks in Australia, but our ational series is run over six rounds and we have two races at each round," Mladin explained. "The race tracks we go to there are very good. Some of the race tracks we go to, the race tracks themselves aren't much different from here, but that's not what 1 have a problem with. "I don't mind racing at Pomona. At least at Pomona if you run off the track you've got asphalt to pull up on. You turn around and come back on. The track itself is a shit fight, but it's not dangerous. ow Sears Point, I love the layout, but what about what's on the outside of the race track? When one of us humans makes a mistake and takes out a couple of others, or when an engine blows and oil goes everywhere, you hit a wall. "Look what happened to Michael Barnes here (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) yesterday. He crashed and hit a wall. That was an unfortunate accident because this is a safe race track, but you can see what walls can do. If that wall wasn't there he would have got up and brushed himself off. If that was at Sears Point he'd be in the hospital for a lot longer than what he's going to be. "I'm not going to sit on my arse and say da, da, da, and expect me to go yeall, yeah, it's fine. I won't do that. I just

• Cover