Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown Teleconference Mat Mladin (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) Note: Six-time AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin, who holds the record for most Superbike wins at Infineon Raceway with eight victories, took part in a teleconference with media members from Northern California in advance of the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown, presented by Supercuts, at Infineon Raceway, May 16-18. Below is a transcript of the teleconference: Mat, you’re a six-time AMA Superbike Champion and you set the single-season record last year with 12 Superbike wins, and you have an AMA record 66 for your career. What keeps you motivated at 36 years old to perform? MM: You know, the last couple of years, I have to admit, to have a teammate like Ben (Spies) who’s obviously been very fast and a two-time Superbike Champion, and current Superbike champion, has certainly helped me re-motivate myself toward the sport and toward racing, which is my first passion and something I love to do so much. After many years of winning and sometimes winning quite handily, the motivation had gone away a little bit. But then Ben came along and certainly helped re-motivate me. It’s not in my nature to get beaten and decide to go away or say “I’ve got six championships or so many wins” and go away and say I had a good run, it’s not really how I work. It motivated me to get back and be strong and do the best that I can do. Ben has helped bring out the best in Mat Mladin. Can you explain the differences between the first three races, where you won, and last two that Ben edged you in? MM: No real difference. One thing that certainly we’re seeing a lot of these days is the difference between Ben and myself is minimal as far as racetrack lap times go and how things happen in the race. If one of us seems to hit on a little better set-up or something we’re a bit more comfortable with, it seems to transform into a win. I wouldn’t say there was a lot of difference. On Saturday in Fontana we missed on the set-up, it wasn’t great, along with a couple of other things. I don’t go into talking about problems or things that happened during race weekend because I’ve always been a believer in just saying that we didn’t get the job done, and we didn’t. So, for whatever reason it’s not something that I’ve ever gone into that much depth with. The bottom line is that the set up wasn’t quite there and the motorcycle wasn’t performing at the level I needed it to perform at for the whole race and we couldn’t get it done. In no way am I blaming the GSX-R1000 for that because we’ve seen how dominant it is and we’ve seen how dominant Ben was on the bike, so the Suzuki was capable of winning the race, it was just the way I had things sorted out it just wasn’t going to happen on that day for me. On Sunday we came back with a good set-up and a different set-up and a few things different. And we were solid and we went away from the front. On Sunday’s race, I rode as hard as I possibly could and edged away and got it out to over three seconds and made a couple mistakes and let Ben get back in and he had a bit of a sniff and with five laps to go, I just didn’t have anything left to be able to push any harder. The harder I pushed, the slower I went. I literally wore everything out just trying to get away. From the start of the race to forty minutes later, the difference between Ben and I were eleven-one thousandths of a second, and he got it right that day and I didn’t. It was a close race, and he drafted down the line. So, was there anything different? No, not really. Of course the end result was different. You’re going to see that between us, there’s not a lot in it. As evidenced last year, the championship was decided by a point. Ben got seven wins and 12 seconds, and I got 12 wins and a few seconds and a couple of crashes. In the end it was decided by one point. Sunday’s race was decided by eleven-one-thousandths of a second. There are going to be races where one of us has a bit of a problem and the other one’s going to go away and win by a large margin, but things are pretty close up in front between me and Ben. How are you feeling heading into the double-header at Infineon Raceway? MM: I always look forward to Infineon. Obviously I’ve had great success there. I’m not too sure the exact number of wins, maybe nine wins or eight or something. It’s been a very successful racetrack for me. (Mladin has eight Superbike wins at Infineon Raceway). It always gives you great pleasure to go up there. When I first came to America, Infineon was one of the places that blew me away when it came to how far behind the times they were with safety and all the rest of it. Those guys have worked so hard and improved that racetrack so much. To the point of even now promoting the testing when we test up there and we get a bit of a crowd there to watch the testing. It gives you joy and pleasure to go there and race there and try to put on a good show because these guys have worked very hard and done a great job and been very proactive in a lot of ways to try and improve motorcycle racing in the area. I always look forward to going there. Obviously the success I’ve had there makes it all the more enjoyable. On your eight wins at Infineon Raceway, what is it about that track that you are so comfortable with that makes you so successful? MM: You know, one thing we know about Infineon is that it’s a very technical racetrack. There’s up hills and downhills, and most of the corners are blind. There are no straights and there is no time where you actually get tucked in under the faring and can make up time in the draft. For the complete race distance you’re going flat out and you don’t get a chance to rest. It’s one of those tracks where if you put in and really, really push hard and on the start line you’re prepared and knowing that it’s going to hurt by the end of the race, you can build a good lead. I think last year I won by 19 seconds and the other one maybe by 10 or 12 or something like that. It’s a technical racetrack. It’s a racer’s racetrack. It’s a racetrack where there’s not cheap time that you can make up. Like at Daytona, you can do the absolute best job in the infield and be a half-second quicker than anybody, but by the time you get onto the first banking, as soon as they pick up a little of that air off your bike, at 200 mph, they’re straight back up on your back wheel. It just doesn’t happen at Infineon, if you lose time in one corner, you’re not going to make that time up unless the guy in front of you makes a mistake. If that guy doesn’t make a mistake, he’s going to keep going away. For me, what I’m looking for, you try to keep it clean and keep pushing and pushing and pushing. If you’re willing to understand that it’s going to be a bit painful by the end and that your head is ready to blow apart and your legs are ready to blow apart, because they’re burning so bad, you’re going to be in a good position. You’ve earned a win at Infineon Raceway, if you’ve won it, there’s no doubt about that. It’s a difficult track, it’s a very physical racetrack and it’s a very technical racetrack, and I enjoy it up there. It’s pretty much always stretches the field out at that racetrack. You very rarely will see a gaggle of six bikes. You might see one or two or three bikes together, but it stretches the field out and it certainly seems to bring the cream to the front. How has the rivalry between you and Spies been over the past few years? Do you think it’s good or bad to have two riders dominating the series? MM: The rivalry between Ben and I, I mean, we’re obviously two people separated by a bit of a gap in age. Ben is 23 and I’m 36, there’s quite a bit of age between us. He’s a kid looking up to where he’s going to go with his racing career. I’m an old fellow looking to stay there and trying to beat up on the young guys. Of course, we’re strong rivals on the racetrack, there’s no doubt about that. He knows I’m not going to give him an inch, and I wouldn’t expect anything other from him. If we ever got into a good dog fight and there was a bit of pushing and shoving, and I didn’t get push and shove back, after the race I would probably say something to him, expecting it to be a little tougher than it was. That’s what I expect from him and he knows he’s going to get that from me. That’s why the rivalry is so strong and that’s why the racing is so close and so good, and there’s not a lot between us. As far as the sport goes, and is it good for the sport to have two guys on top regularly cleaning up, and the rest of it that I’ve heard way too much of for quite a while now. In a way it’s a hard one to answer because motorcycle racing is not NASCAR racing. In NASCAR you have all the cars are very similar going around in a circle and able to draft, and it comes back to that Daytona thing that I spoke about before where the motorcycle racing typically is a little closer than a normal racetrack because they can get in the draft. That doesn’t happen on a normal road circuit in motorcycle racing. Whether or not you’ve got the bikes the exact same or not, there’s always going to be two or three guys who will rise to the top and be way in front of anybody else. That happens in every form of motorcycle racing all around the world, America’s no different. That’s how I see that. Are they ever going to be able to overcome it? No, never. Last year you mentioned that you were more concerned with individual race wins, rather than winning a season championship. Considering you came so close last year, is your attitude any different this year? MM: Not at all. As much as a championship would be nice and it would be nice to inflate the ego slightly with that number one plate, that I’ve had on the bike a number of times before in my time. As I said before, I’m 36 years old and I’ve been at this a long time. A lot of people don’t know, but I won my first national championship in 1981 as a kid on a dirt bike 27 years ago. I’ve been at this a long time. I don’t get as much thrill anymore out of racing and thinking about September or October as I do getting out there every weekend and just going as hard as I can, and sometimes that means I’m going to be picking it up out of the hay bales. In this day and age, and having a bit of maturity on my side and probably having a bunch of wins under my belt and championships and stuff, I just can’t get excited thinking about October when it’s March. I get excited every day that I get out of bed and go and do what I need to do. I get excited by each race that I’m in. If it happens that we can win championship number seven, then that’s terrific. Suzuki have always been, especially the last 10 years, have been pretty smart about the way they’ve hired their riders and the people they’ve brought along and thought could do well. Unless something catastrophic happens, we’re already seeing a pretty handy lead in the championship for Suzuki, so if something happened to me, I’d be pretty confident to say that Ben would be there to win a championship anyway. As far as looking after Suzuki’s best interests, I think they’re pretty well taken care of for now. So, I need to do what makes me happy and what will keep me in the racing game longer. If at the start of the year, someone said to me, “you need to think about winning a championship in October,” I’d pack up my bags and go home right now. Do you have any idea when you might want to step away, or do you think your body will tell you when it’s time? MM: I imagine so. The old body doesn’t take what it used to take, there’s no doubt about that. I find out about that with my daily training regime and when I wake up after pounding the pavement for a couple of hours or doing whatever part of training I do on that particular day, and the brain is saying get out of bed, but the body doesn’t want to react. It doesn’t work the way it used to 15 years ago, but I’m in the best condition I’ve ever been in and looking after myself and doing the right things and the right type of training. I think it will allow me to race for a number of years yet. There’s not doubt that kids with the type of speed that Ben Spies has will shorten my career, that’s for sure. What impressions can you give us about your chats with the new DMG group, which recently purchased the AMA? Do you have any thoughts on that? MM: I really don’t. I’ve really made no comments about it. Do I like what I see when it comes to their class structure and the way they want to completely change everything as far as the type of bikes they’ll be racing? No, I don’t really like what I see there. I’m contracted with Suzuki and Suzuki will keep me up to date with what’s going on. Whatever Suzuki wants to do, then I’m contracted with those guys through the end of 2009, and we will put our best foot forward with whatever Suzuki wants to do and try and win whatever we’re doing.