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/128617
AMA,/ChevyTrucks U. S. S u p e r bik e Cha m pio n s h ip Rou n d s 2 & 3 : Road Atla nta B y HEN NY R A Y A BRAM S PH OT OS BY B RIA N J . N ELSO N BRASElTON, GA, JUNE 4 in ute s aft er winning the Satu rday leg of t h e Big Ka h u na Natio nals s up erbike double -he ader at Road Atla nta Mat Mladin was asked , "Ca n yo u do this tomorrow?" "Uh- huh." "Do you ex pect mo re comp e ti - M tion? " "Nope." S h ort a n d to t he point , an d Yos him ura Su zu ki's Mladin was nearly right. T h e 2 8- y e ar -old Australian wa s abl e t o w in S unda y ' s ra ce on th e 2.52 -mil e cou rse , bu t only by rid ing his tena ci o us best under the relentless pre s s ur e of Ameri c an Honda ' s Nick y Hayden , th e sam e firs t year full-time superbik e ride r who finished sec o n d in Satu rda y 's ra ce and th e same rider who nea rly stole the Da y tona 200 from him . The pai r have owned the season to th is poi nt, with no one e lse able to 6 JUNE 14, 2000' cue I e c ons iste ntly step up to the ir level. On h is way to winning th e 19 99 AMA S uperb ike t itle , Mlad in was cons is ten t; this year he's dange rou s , a nd if his rivals don't soon figure o ut a way to c hall enge hi m it's going to b e a ver y long shortened season . Mlad in's tw in wins on a most ly ho t and muggy weekend in th e Am er ican South gave him a clean sweep of the first thr e e S uperb ike ra c es th is seas o n . The races pla yed t o his strengths, his physica l co nd ition ing, his abil ity to c onc e ntra te in a dverse cond itio ns , th e pow e r of h is team to p ut a well-bal a nce d a nd im maculate ly pr epared motorc ycl e und e r h im. Su ch wa s his dom inati on on Sat urd a y that he had more tha n a 7.5 -se cond lead b efore s lo win g to t a k e th e checkered flag . On Sunday, Hayd en hounded him to the end , finally conced ing o n th e fina l lap and settling for a frustra ting th ird second on the year. "I said o n TV, as mu ch as I ha te to say it, I think Mat [Mlad in ] was just a little bit bette r than m e to da y," Ha yn e vv s den s a id in th e po st-race p ress con ference. "T ho s e last 10 la ps when the tire kind of got greasy, I ke pt trying to kee p go ing a nd keep go ing , ab out thr ew it away a c o u p le of times , a nd then the last la p I ha d a big s lide and hit the rain and a little b it of drizzle . I cou ldn 't ev er get close e no ug h th ere a t the e nd to m a ke a cha rge ." Of th e tw o rac es, Sunday 's was fas te r, Mladi n s ett ing a n ew rac e record of 10 7. 74 3 mph , bettering the mark of 10 6 .828 s et b y An t hony Gobert last ye ar. On Sunda y h e won by 2.7 18 secon d s , th ough Hayd en wa s with in a seco n d w h e n th e fin a l lap sta rt ed. S aturda y ' s offic ia l ma rg in o f victo ry was 3 .6 38 , but it wa sn 't th a t close . By th e fourth of 25 laps h e h ad o ve r fou r seconds , ga ined a fe w more , th en re g u la t e d it a ro und s ev en s econds , topping out a t 7 .564 with e ig h t la ps t o go. The wins , h is eighth an d ninth career AMA Superbik e wins , put him in a tie with Ke vin S c hwantz fo r 10th (Above) John Koc insk i (4 6) , Jamie Hacking (9 2 ), Mat Mladin (1), Jason Pridmore (4 3 ), Steve Rapp (8 2 ), Doug Chandler (10 ), and Nicky Hayden (69) get the first of the twin AMAlChevy Trucks Superblke races un derway during the Road At lanta w e ekend. (Above ri ght) Yoshimura Suzuki 's Mla di n - perfect so far after three rounds - celebrates on t he pod ium while Hayden contemplates finish ing se con d - ag ain. p la c e o n the all -tim e Superbik e win list. What he cares more about is the affe c t it has on the c h a m p io n s h ip . After th ree of 12 ra ce s, 'Mladin le a ds Hayden III to 97 . Kawasaki's Doug Ch andler is thi rd with 80 points . Ch andler strugg le d to a fifth on Saturda y and sixth on S un d a y , Sund ay ' s result partl y attribut ab le to a bad c lutc h. His teamm at e Eric Bostrom fared b etter , running sec o nd for most of Saturday's ra c e before getting passed ne a r the end by Nicky Ha yde n a nd ta king th ird . Changes to th e Kawa s a k i t ha t t he t e a m ma de o n Sund a y