Mark Miller and Steve Rapp have backed up Mat Maldin’s version of what happened at Loudon, as described in Mladin’s statement posted on RoadracingWorld.com on 7/11/01 and headlined “Mladin Responds To Wood Charges Regarding Loudon.”

Miller said he was the rider who asked AMA Superbike Operations Manager Ron Barrick point-blank if the races would be held in the event of rain.

As Miller told it to RoadracingWorld.com in a phone interview on July 13, “I read what Mladin wrote and it was exactly accurate, it was 100 percent accurate.”

Miller explained, “I saw that the usual suspects were together, Chandler, Mladin, Oliver and Steve Rapp, in the tech area, which was close to the Erion Honda pit. So I walked over there to see what was gonna happen if it rained again.

“I said to Barrick, ‘So Ron, what’s the verdict, what’s the bottom line on running in the rain here, are we gonna ride in the rain?’

“Barrick said, ‘I don’t think so.’

“So I asked him, ‘Is that a yes or a no?’

“And he emphatically said, ‘No. We will not race in the rain under any circumstances.'”

Steve Rapp also backed up Mladin’s version of what happened at Loudon, telling Roadracing World, “That’s exactly what happened.” Rapp added that even before Miller arrived on the scene, “When we were walking around the track together (with Barrick), Ron said we’re not riding in the rain. So I came back and told my team, don’t even worry about getting the rain tires out.”

See related post dated 7/11/01, Loudon Video Delayed Until Tomorrow; Wood Comments On Situation.