Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

nly a fool would bet against Hat Hladin winninS the Day- tona Superbike race for the third year in a row. The six- time AMA Superbike Cham- pion clocked the fastest time at the recent Calilornia Speedway test iust weeks after doing the same at a World Superbike test at Phillip lsland. And in neither case did he have full use of the weapon he'll take into battle in his quest for a seventh title. ln Fontana, Mladin clocked his best time with a 2005 engine in a newer chassis, while trying various suspension combinations- The gap to second place was over half a second. The complete 2@6 package won't be run until practice beSins in Daytona, a Place Hladin believes is more dependent on motor than chassis. "Daytona - | say it all the time - you can go there with whatever you like and the lap times will be pretty similar," he said at Fontana. "As long as you have a bike that runs prety quick, the lap times are going to be pretty similar. The stuff that we learned today is nice to know and we'll have that stuff at Daytona, but it's not going to really make any difference at Daytona- Ve,7 little an;,way, compared to what we had last year. Really, the motor will make the big differ- ence there, When we get to the real race- tracks, that's when we'll see everything put together Pretty good." Mladin won the Daytona 200 SuPerbike race in 2004 and the shorter. ls-lap race, in 2005. Mladin's teammate Ben Spies finished second in the championship and third at Daytona, a position he'd like to improve on in Daytona. ln Fontana he concentrated on his Supersport bike, but at the December Daytona test, which Mladin missed due to an iniury Spies was the fastest rider. The young Texan openly admitted it meant less without l''l ladin present. Aaron Yates. the third member of the Yosh team, comes to Daytona to begin the defense of his Superstock Championship, as well as vying for the Superbike crown. Both quests hit a snag when he broke his right shoulder blade early in the test at California Speedway. The Georgian was told he would- n't need surgery and is hopeful the break can heal naturally in the month between Fontana and Daytona. "Yeah, that's what we're hoping {or," he said. Ducati Austin's Neil Hod8son finished second to lYladin in last year's Daytona Superbike race, his first in a decade and his first as an AHA title aspirant. With more than a year's worth of experience in both racing and testing on American tracks, Hodgson will arrive in Daytona far more relaxed than last year. "l'm hoping for much of the same, iust a really strong event," said the lsle of Man res- ident who's based in Laguna Beach, California, durinS the season. 'lt is a funny old event really, I'm excited about it. lt'll be nice to go back to it and not feel like you felt fast - it felt nothing like the lirst time I went there. lt felt quite easy. "Certainly, on Saturday night, hopefully with a good result under the belt, it's nice to leave the place. lt is a hair), place. You don't want to make a mistake there be

• Cover