Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128367
AMA SUPERBIKE Daytona Preview this year's test, Mladin had his worst crash in years on the new segment of track. He was lucky to escape mostly uninjured, only chipping a bone in his left ankle. "It's one of those places that has very limited tire grip, and it can catch you out easily if you're not 100 percent there," he said. "We'll be I00 percent there. We'll race the race smart, and Daytona's not a place where you can win the championship, but it's certainly a place where you can give yourself a big hole to crawl back out of if you try to do something silly." At 15 laps, just under 4S miles, it's the shortest ever race since Superbike became the premier class in AMA racing. (Left) Although the Daytona 200 will no longer feature Superbikes, the AMA Superbike National Championship gets started at Daytona with defending champion Mot Mladin the obvious favarite. By HENNY RAy ABRAMS PHOTOS BY ABRAMS AND BRIAN J. NELSON aytona is no longer Daytona. Not really. Yes, there's a banking and an infield and tires as hard as 10th grade algebra, and the run from the chicane to the stripe remains the same, but the tight new infield section, where passing will happen as often as leap year, means the race deserves a rethink. Ducati Austin's Eric Bostrom thinks the infield is going to change the way the race D is run. "The last track was not as technical and there was always kind of a chance to come and play catch-up from behind, whereas the new track is a little more of a road course," he said. "When you give time, you're going to lose it. It's going to be a bad thing. There's definitely going to be more potential for a breakaway than ever. It's a bummer for us because the Ducatis are always so good on the tires. It's a bummer to have a race short of lOOk, but it is what it is." As to who he sees getting away, Bostrom says, "I'd say straightaway that [Mat) Mladin will try to do his deal, try to go real quick from the beginning and then look back and see who's there. Right now 28 MARCH 2, 2005 • [Ben) Spies is going to be there." Adds AI Ludington, Miguel Duhamel's crew chief, "Obviously, the Suzukis are the guys we've got to beat right now, and Neil's [Hodgson) going to be tough." The favorites in the two premier races are Yoshimura Suzuki's Mladin in Superbike and American Honda's Duhamel in Formula Xtreme. Neither, however, feels like the favorite, or, if they do, neither is willing to admit it. ''I'm confident," Mladin said coming off a successful test at California Speedway. ''As everybody knows, I've never been one to overrate Daytona as far as championship aspirations. Some people do and, certainly, I've won three Daytonas. And don't get me wrong: I understand the importance of Daytona. But it's not our race this year. We're just simply a support race, and to be honest with you, by the time the main race is on, I'll be in Orlando airport on a plane ready to go home. That's just how it is this year. Whether or not the fans are going to get their money's worth watching a couple of factory bikes race around Daytona in 600 trim ... I don't know. We'll wait and see." Mladin believes the championship can't be won at Daytona, but it can be lost. The evidence comes from 2002. when he highsided in practice, suffering an elbow injury that knocked him out of the race, and eventually, the championship. During CYCLE NEWS MIguel Duhamel willtak. part In .... Day'ona 200 on his Formula XIntme Honda. Duhamel cauld win hi. fifth 200.