Team Suzuki Superbike interviews race 1 Mid-Ohio

Mat Mladin picked up another podium finish in Saturday afternoon’s AMA Superbike race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The six-time AMA Superbike Champion charged hard through the field on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and brought home a third-place finish. Currently, Mladin still leads the overall championship points in AMA Superbike. Joining Mladin on the podium was Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates. Yates battled for the lead for much of the race before finishing an impressive second place. Meanwhile, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden and Blake Young both had a bittersweet race. Hayden got a good start but struggled on the back straight and finished sixth, while Young led the first several laps before finishing up in seventh.

2nd – Aaron Yates Speaks…

"It was a pretty good race, though we didn’t get off the line like we hoped to. Some guys came by and we were a little slow getting into turn one but we set in and had a good race. I knew it was going to be a pretty good-size pack up front and everybody was running pretty close. It was going to be interesting to see who was there at the end and I felt pretty good about the end of the race. It was tough getting by a few guys… I got to the front pretty quick but we couldn’t really make a move on the leader. But it was fun at the end… I was able to ride like I thought I could, we just ran out of laps."

3rd – Mat Mladin Speaks…

"I was at the back of that five- or six-bike train up at the front. So we went along and picked our way through to third and that was about as far as I could go. These guys were running a good pace out there today, and it’s one thing to get up there and it’s another thing to get past. That was it, we just didn’t have it today."

6th – Tommy Hayden Speaks…

"The start went all right, the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working pretty good on most of the track but I was struggling a little on the back straight-away – getting on it and braking at the end of it, I was giving a lot away. I’m disappointed because I thought we had a lot better than that today. On the rest of the track, I feel really good so if we can fix that one area for tomorrow we’ll be pretty competitive. So we’ll work on that and be back tomorrow."

8th – Blake Young Speaks…

"We got off to a really good start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000. I didn’t lead it into one, but I led it into two. And then I just put my head down and the bike was feeling really good and I put some laps together that were good. But around lap five, the bike started feeling different and I think we just missed the set-up today but we learned a lot for tomorrow’s race and we’ll be back tomorrow."

AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers

1. Josh Hayes, Yamaha
2. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki
3. Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
4. Ben Bostrom, Yamaha
5. Larry Pegram, Ducati
6. Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
7. Blake Young, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
8. Geoff May, National Guard Jordan Suzuki
9. Jake Holden, Honda
10. Michael Laverty, Suzuki

AMA Superbike Points Standings

1. Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
2. Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
3. Ben Bostrom, Yamaha
4. Josh Hayes, Yamaha
5. Larry Pegram, Ducati
6. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki
7. Geoff May, National Guard Jordan Suzuki
8. Blake Young, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
9. David Anthony, Suzuki
10. Taylor Knapp, Buell


LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.