Mladin remains unbeaten in AMA Superbike
And 50th win in a row for all-conquering SuzukiAustralian Matthew Mladin (Suzuki) remains undefeated in 2009 AMA Pro American Superbike title after five races, with his performance at Road Atlanta last weekend by far his most impressive of the year.
After winning pole, Mladin led every lap in Saturday's 20-lap race and did the same thing again yesterday to score a perfect clean sweep. His Sunday ride was even more impressive considering his team, managed by former Team Kawasaki Australia guru Peter Doyle, repaired his GSX-R1000 after a lowside in the Sunday morning warm-up
It was Suzuki's 50th consecutive AMA Superbike victory, and the 76th career win for Mladin.
"What do you say about 50 wins in a row? The Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki team is just unbelievable," said Mladin. "For the last few years, we've been at the front of all the races, and I have to thank all our guys because we have an amazing team.
"I had a bit of a tumble on Sunday morning and the guys got the bike back together. I just pushed too hard. It was at the end of the back straight. Everything felt as usual and normal for the race. It was a good race for us. We had a bit of a crack for 10 or 12 laps. I was trying to figure out around lap 10 or 11 whether I should keep pushing and the boys get a bit nervous when I do that. I pushed my luck one too many times today already, so I decided to have a bit of fun at the end."
While Mladin was cruising up front near the end, some of the best racing of the weekend took place for second place between Mladin's teammate Blake Young and fellow Suzuki rider Geoff May. The pair swapped second several times before Young took the spot for good on the last lap.
Josh Hayes (Yamaha) finished fourth after placing fifth Saturday to cap his best weekend so far this season. May's teammate Aaron Yates finished fifth for his best result of the year.
Australian David Anthony (Suzuki) went 9-11 across the two races, with Aaron Gobert (Honda) finishing 16th and 13th.
Mladin leads the championship standings on 157pts ahead of his teammate Tommy Hayden (112) and May (92).
The next round will be held at Barber Motorsports Park from May 1-3.
For full results, click here.
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