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/128394
AMA Superblke National Championship By PAUL CARRUTHERS PHOTOS BY HENNY RAy ABRAMS omparing any of Mat Mladin's impressive races to another is a lot like comparing the finalists in a bikini contest. Oftentimes there's just too much to look at to come up with a clear-cut winner. That said, Mladin's two-race performance at Virginia International Raceway might just be one of his best. On Saturday, it was a come-from-behind effort that saw him repeat the back-to-front performance three times, due to multiple red flags and restarts. And he did so with an undisclosed bike problem in the back of his mind for the duration. No matter. He did the business anyway. On Sunday, it was vintage Mladin. He got off the line in decent fashion, the bike didn't hiccup, and he sliced and diced his C I¥'''''U- MLADIN IS THE "BIG KAHUNA" AFTER IMPRESSIVE WEEKEND AT VIR way to the front in five laps. End of story. Hasta la vista. Ciao, mama. G'day, mate. By the end of a rather dull race, Mladin was a Virginia country mile ahead of his Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates and well on his way to a sixth Superbike crown, a title that will surely be in his back pocket by next Sunday night at Road Atlanta. "It was a good race for us," Mladin said on Sunday afternoon. "I got a little bit better start. We still had a bit of a problem, but after looking at all the data last night, it's probably mostly my fault with the way I'm starting the bike. So I need to figure out how to start again, but hopefully by Atlanta next week we'll sort a couple of things out. Definitely today was better. It just bogged a little bit and pushed us back to maybe fifth or sixth or something, and 16 SEPTEMBER 7, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS we made our way through. It was a good race, and it was nice to get the win. I look forward to next weekend, because we had a good test at Road Atlanta." If Sunday's win was impressive, then Saturday's may have been even more so. When all was said and done after the three starts it took to the get the race in the books, Mladin was forced to make 2S passes en route to his ninth victory of the season. That's not an easy day at the office - even for Mladin. For the fifth time this season, it was a Yoshimura Suzuki sweep on Sunday, the team replicating its effort from Saturday, though the order behind Mladin was switched. On Saturday it was Mladin, Spies, Yates. On Sunday, Yates got the better of his young teammate to earn second. Either way, it further showed the On Saturday it took Mat Mladin (1) three tries to beat teammate Ben Spies (11), but he was finally able to close the deal after two red flags. team's dominance this season. Behind the Suzukis came the Hondas. On Saturday, it was Jake Zemke beating his teammate Miguel Duhamel for fourth place. On Sunday, it was Duhamel coming home the first non-Suzuki, with Zemke forced out of the race with a mechanical problem. Then came a Ducati. On Saturday, it belonged to Eric Bostrom. On Sunday, it was Neil Hodgson's. Both were frustrated, however, by their performances. Sixth and seventh didn't thrill Bostrom; and fifth and a crash did little to make Hodgson feel warm and fuzzy, either.