Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mat Mladin won the 25-lap AMA Superbike race Saturday at Road Atlanta. Mladin took the lead from his teammate Tommy Hayden on the first lap and controlled the race from that point until he crossed the finish line over five seconds clear of his nearest competitor. Ben Spies, Mladin’s teammate and chief rival, encountered a problem at the start, completed the first lap in eighth place, served a ride-through penalty for a start line infraction and still worked his way up to finish second. Hayden made it a Rockstar Makita Suzuki sweep of the podium by placing third. Depending on the outcome of Mladin’s appeal of his disqualification from his race wins at VIR, the race at Road Atlanta was either Mladin’s seventh consecutive win, tying an all-time record, or the clincher for Spies’ third consecutive AMA Superbike Championship. AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia August 30, 2008 Provisional Race Results: 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 25 laps 2. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -5.483 seconds, jump start/Ride-through penalty 3. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -10.362 4. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -11.513 5. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -14.314 6. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -25.467 7. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -38.981 8. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -64.700 * 9. Ben Thompson (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -77.172 10. Matt Lynn (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -1 lap 11. Ryan Elleby (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap * 12. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap * 13. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, -1 lap, crash 14. Josh Day (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -1 lap * 15. Keith Marshall (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap 16. James Stroud (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap 17. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap, ran off track 18. Hawk Mazzotta (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -18 laps, DNF * 19. Scott Carpenter (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -19 laps, DNF * 20. Kurtis Roberts (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -23 laps, DNF * 21. Neil Hodgson (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -24 laps, DNF, mechanical 22. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, DNS 23. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, DNS * * = known to be riding a Superstock-spec motorcycle Provisional Championship Point Standings (after 17 of 19 races, depending on the outcome of Mat Mladin’s disqualification appeal): 1. Spies, 584 points 2. Mladin, 486 3. Hacking, 421 4. DiSalvo, 414 5. Bostrom, 395 6. Hodgson, 369 7. Duhamel, 361 8. May, 336 9. Yates, 315 10. Tommy Hayden, 314 More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: Rockstar Makita Suzuki Sweeps Superbike Showdown Podium at Road Atlanta Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mladin, Spies, Hayden 1st, 2nd & 3rd Round 17 AMA Superbike Series Braselton, Georgia Road Atlanta August 29 – 31, 2008 Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing continues to dominate AMA Superbike racing as the series winds down, picking up another podium sweep at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, on Saturday afternoon. Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin led all 25 laps of the race and took his eighth win of the season and his 71st career AMA Superbike victory. Two-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies followed his teammate home in second place after starting from pole position. Spies, who picked up his eighth pole position of the season, had issues on the start line and overcame a stop-and-go penalty from the AMA by working his way up through the field to take the second podium spot. Third teammate Tommy Hayden rounded out the all-Rockstar Makita Suzuki podium with a great start and an impressive third-place finish. Currently, Spies leads the AMA Superbike title chase, Mladin is in second place and Hayden is in 10th. Mat Mladin: “I’d like to thank my Rockstar Makita Suzuki crew for working so hard and giving me a good bike in the GSXR1000. Today, it was a good race for us, though it was fairly uneventful. Ben got the meatball flag (because of the AMA penalty) and I just put it on cruise control and brought it home. Hopefully, we’ll have a better race for the fans tomorrow.” Ben Spies: “That’s the hardest I’ve ever had to ride to get second place. I did everything I could do. We just had a little problem at the start, and I couldn’t get it together. Then, I knew I had to come through the field because I knew I needed to get on the podium. I’d like to thank my Rockstar Makita Suzuki crew for putting a great bike together for me.” Tommy Hayden: “It definitely was a good race, I tried to put my head down and stay focused. I’m really happy to be on the podium with my Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammates, for another one-two-three finish. I had another good start; my starts have been pretty good lately. Then Mat came by and I tried to latch onto him, and then hang on for a bit. I just tried to keep my head down and keep the pressure on and bring home a podium finish.”