ROAD RACE
AMAIUBNA SUPERBIKE
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
By Paul Carruthers
Photos by Henny Ray Abrams
PHOENIX, AZ, FEB. 16
he rest of the AMA Superbike field is certain
to be praying that Mat Mladin doesn't follow
directly in the footprints left in the Arizona
sand by fellow Australian Troy Corser. After
all, it was Corser who came to the United States in
1994, hopped on the Fast By Ferracci Ducati, sat on
pole position and won the second round of the
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(Above) The Australian flag may ..
be upside down, but there was no denying
that Australian Mat Mladln was the star of the AMA Superbike series
opener at Phoenix International Raceway.
(Left) Miguel DuHamel finished second after a charge that saw him catch
Doug Chandler on the final lap.
(Below) Chandler (1) holds off Tom Kipp (16) and Pascal Picotte (21) early
In the rllce. Kipp ended up crashing, with Chandler and Picotte finishing
third and fourth, respectively.
(Below left) Harley-Davidson's Thomas Wilson leads Picotte midway
through the superbike final. Wilson ended up fifth on the VR1000.
4
AMA Superbike Series at Phoenix International Raceway. And he never looked
back, racing his way to the AMA.Superbike National Championship.
So far, the resemblance is eerily similar.
Mladin qualified on pole position for
his first race on the Ducati (and the first
race for the AMA at Phoenix International Raceway since 1994), then he
went out and blitzed the field in the
National, topping the likes of Smokin'
Joe's Honda's Miguel DuHamel and
defending AMA Superbike Champion
Doug Chandler by over nine seconds. .
On thing is certain - if Mladin can
continue his Corser impression, it won't
bode well for his American rivals.
Mladin was impressive from the time
ha first turned a wheel in open practice
on Thursday. He was fast from the getgo and he only got faster, ending up as
the only rider to eclipse the 1:01 mark in
qualifying. Come race time, Mladin was
