Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Mat Mladin’s Yoshimura Crew Chief Peter Doyle described the injuries suffered by Mat Mladin in the International Horseshoe during Friday morning Superbike open practice as follows: “He injured his foot, but there’s no broke bones. The (elbow) shield in his leathers moved up, and his elbow was ground down all the way to the bone. I’m not a doctor, but I understand there’s a sack in the elbow that helps it move smoothly, and that’s burst. They did some X-rays here (at the Daytona International Speedway Infield Care Center), but they couldn’t tell if there were bone fragments in the elbow or rocks from the track, so they took him to the hospital (Halifax Medical Center) for more X-rays. The bottom line is, if the elbow’s broken, he’s not racing. If the elbow’s not broken, he’s racing.”