Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(I :47.139); 35. Brian Boyd (I :47.576); 36. c.R. GiUere (1,47.775). SUPERBIKE NATIONAL: I. Mat Mladin (5uz); 2. Neil Hodgson (Due): 3. Ben Spies (Suz); 4. Aaron Yates (Suz); 5. Jake Zemke (Han): 6. Miguel Duhamel (Han); 7. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 8. Geoff May (Suz): 9. Kurtis Roberts (Han): to. Steve Rapp (5uz): II. Eric Bostrom (Due); 12. Jacob Holden (Suz): 13. Larry Pegram (Hon); 14. Marty Craggill (Suz); 15. Eric Wood (Suz); 16. Lee Acree (Suz); 17. Tony Meiring (Suz): 18. Jimmy Moore (Suz); 19. Brent George (Suz); 20. Steve Crevier (Suz); 21. John Haner (Suz); 22. Jeremy Toye (Han); 23. Cory West (Suz); 24. J.J. Roetlin (Suz); 25. Francis Martin (Suz): 26. Roger Bell (Suz): 27. Dean Mizdal (Suz): 28. Sc:ott Carpenter (Suz): 29. Brian Boyd (Suz): 30. C.R. Gittere (Suz). Time: 25 min., 12.220 sec. Distance: 15 laps, 44.25 miles Average speed: 105.3 mph Margin of victory: 3.475 sec. AMA SUPERBIKE C'SHIP SERIES POINTS STANO· INGS (After I of 17 rounds): I. Mat Mladin (38); 2. Neil Hodgson (32): 3. Ben Spies (29); 4. Aaron Yates (27); 5. Jake Zemke (26): 6. Miguel Duhamel (25); 7. Jason Pridmore (24); 8. Geoff May (23); 9. Kurtis Roberts (22); 10. Steve Rapp (21); II. Eric Bostrom (20); 12. Jacob Holden (19): 13. Larry Pegram (18); 14. Marty Craggill (17); 15. Eric Wood (16); 16. Lee Acree (15); 17. Tony Meiring (14); 18. Jimmy Moore (13); 19. Brent George (I 2); 20. Steve Crevier (I I); 21 . John Haner (10): 22. Jeremy Toye (9); 23. Cory West (8): 24. J.J. Roetlin (7); 25. Francis Martin (6); 26. Roger Ben (5); 27. Dean Mizdal (4): 28. Scott Carpenter (3); 29. Brian Boyd (2): 30. C.R. Gittere (I). UPCOMING ROUNDS: Rounds 2·3: Birmingham, Alabama, April 23·24 Rounds 4·5: Fanlana, California, April 3D-May I Briefly... Continued from page 19 bit better. It's definitely working well, but we have some work to do before we get to some of the other racetracks, to make it better. I think we're all looking forward to the season. I think all of the riders are very happy with what we have." Mladin's teammate Ben Spies was nothing but impressive in his first Superbike qualifying session in his rookie season of superbike racing. Spies was the only rider to truly chal- lenge Mladin throughout practice and qualifying, the young Texan lapping at 1:38.963 .731 of a second off Mladin's best. "Just to be sitting up here the first time out is awe- some," Spies said. "We definitely wanted pole. But I came in and saw he [Mladin] did a 38.2, and I didn't think we had anything for that. We went out and were going to give it a go, and he went out behind me to sit behind there and just kind of watch. He was protecting the pole, and that's all fair game. I went out, and I saw [Steve] Rapp kind of make a bobble - he was just about six seconds ahead of me. And saw I was going to catch him on my last lap, and I've already crashed once today. I didn't want to do it again trying to go faster than that lap time, so we just got second." _~~ ~ ~ ,:~ -('''it \ ~ - -' "Jl.. I. ifi .., )&) ; "'/W" __ " ' . ' " ''*It 1'-. \ '", Mat Mladin, team owner: Mladin now owns an AHA Superbike team - Mat Mladin Motorsports - fielding fellow Australian Marty Craggill, putting Mladin the role of multitasking. Mladin, however, says he needs a bit more in his life than just training and racing. "I was prepared for it if it was [a distraction]," Mladin said. "If it was a distraction, I'd know I'd got in over my head, maybe. But at the moment it's going okay. To have that there really takes my mind off everything else that's going on during the day. I guess it's like racing another class, almost. As a motorcycle racer, it's a pretty boring life. Yeah, the weekends are a big adrenaline rush, but other than that, you do a couple hours of training a day - but what else do you do, you know? I'm used to working in my business back home every day, and that sort of stuff. Sitting on the couch at lOin the morning - after I've been out doing some training - for the rest of the '- , I, • , , ; ,_ \

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