Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Aaron Yates won the AMA Superbike race at Brainerd International Raceway by 2.714 seconds, his lead shrinking from more than 6 seconds after he slowed the pace.

Yates had good reason to ease the pace, since Mat Mladin and Ben Bostrom both pitted for new rear Dunlop tires during the race, their tires visibly losing large sections of tread rubber but continuing to hold air.

Mladin’s rear tire came apart on lap 12 of 21 while he raced Yates for the lead. Bostrom’s came apart a few laps later, while he ran in fourth.

Yates slowed his pace to 1:38s while Kurtis Roberts and Miguel Duhamel closed in, continuing to run 1:37s.

Duhamel passed Roberts on the last lap to finish second.

On the podium, Yates reported that his rear wheel started to vibrate during the race; he attributed it to a lost wheel weight, but he may have just been being diplomatic, since vibration is typically the first sign that a tire is starting to come apart.

Mladin, Bostrom and Yates ran a Dunlop 902 rear tire.

Jordan Szoke also had a tire problem, with a Dunlop 732 rear tire, but stayed on the track and finished with the center section of the tread chunked out.

Results
AMA Superbike
Brainerd International Raceway
Brainerd, Minnesota
June 29
21 laps

1. Aaron Yates, Suzuki
2. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, -2.714 seconds
3. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, -2.840
4. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, -8.661
5. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati, -21.247
6. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, -32.958
7. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, -49.270
8. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki, -54.419
9. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, -54.700
10. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, -64.375
11. Michael Barnes, Suzuki, -74.470
12. Ben Bostrom, Honda, -88.892
13. Brian Stokes, Suzuki, -1 lap
14. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, -1 lap
15. Rob Christman, Suzuki, -1 lap
16. Wes Good, Suzuki, – 1 lap
17. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, -1 lap
18. Tom Wertman, Suzuki, -1 lap
19. JJ Roetlin, Suzuki, -1 lap
20. Chris Voelker, Ducati, -1 lap
21. Jake Holden, Suzuki, -1 lap
22. Jeff Bostrom, Suzuki, -1 lap
23. Monte Nichols, Suzuki, -1 lap
24. Paul Heinen, Yamaha, -1 lap
25. Kevin Lehman, Yamaha, -1 lap
26. Roger Hendricks, Suzuki, -1 lap
27. Jason Knupp, Suzuki, -1 lap
28. David Duprey, Suzuki, -1 lap
29. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki, -1 lap
30. Dr. Jeff Purk, Suzuki, -1 lap
31. Brian Boyd, Suzuki, -1 lap
32. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki, -2 laps
33. Eric Dooyema, Suzuki, -3 laps
34. John Dugan, Suzuki, -10 laps


AMA Superbike Point Standings
After 11 of 18 races
1. Eric Bostrom, 321
2. Mat Mladin, 318
3. Aaron Yates, 313
4. Kurtis Roberts, 301
5. Ben Bostrom, 293
6. Miguel Duhamel, 278
7. Shawn Higbee, 229
8. Jason Pridmore, 225
9. Larry Pegram, 211
10. Vincent Haskovec, 180
11. Jordan Szoke, 162
12. Michael Barnes, 161
13. Geoff May, 133
14. Anthony Gobert, 131
15. Scott Jensen, 124


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin’s publicist:

TYRE WOES CONTINUE TO HAMPER MLADIN

Brainerd, Minnesota, USA (Sunday, 29 June) – On numerous occasions this year Mat Mladin has proven to be the fastest rider in the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship, but his ability to convert that speed into consistent championship point scoring positions continues to be hampered by untimely tyre problems.

This weekend’s eleventh round of the championship held at the fast Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota, proved to be another one of those instances, where after leading the opening half of the race, he was forced to pit for a new rear tyre, before fighting his way back into seventh place at race end.

Having led ten of the opening twelve laps, Mladin’s rear Dunlop tyre began to deteriorate rapidly and a lap later was forced to enter the pits to have it replaced. He rejoined the race in twelfth place before putting on yet another determined ride back up through the field to take seventh, but more importantly, he kept himself within striking distance of championship points leader Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki) who after finishing fourth today, holds a three point lead over the Australian.

“What can I honestly say about it,” said Mladin. “I felt that the tyres would not be a problem this weekend because Dunlop have been busy trying to remedy the situation and had brought a new batch of tyres to the round for us to use. But that’s how it goes. I’m obviously not happy. We tried really hard to get the bike suited to the track and felt that we had come up with a pretty good package. Early in the race I felt comfortable while dicing with Aaron (Yates) and was starting to sneak a break on him, but then the tyre went and that was that. It’s been so frustrating this year knowing that you have been in a strong position on the track and then losing a whole bunch of points because I’ve had to pit for a tyre.”

The race win in today’s race went to Mladin teammate Yates, who took victory by 2.714 seconds from American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel, who got the better of Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts on the final lap.

Mladin, the three-times AMA Superbike champion, had been the fastest rider leading into the race, topping the time sheets in each of the practice and qualifying sessions where he earned his 29th career AMA pole position. The point he scored for grabbing pole elevated him to a tie for the championship lead with Bostrom leading into today’s race.

With seven races remaining in this years championship, Bostrom leads with 321 points, three clear of Mladin, with Yates moving to third with a total of 313.

The AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship heads to California for the combined AMA / World Superbike Championship round at Laguna Seca Raceway on July 12 – 13, with the AMA competitors taking part in their twelfth round of the championship on Saturday, before the pair of international races takes place on Sunday.