Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin took a step toward winning his seventh title Saturday by taking pole position and winning race one of the Suzuki Big Kahuna National at Virginia International Raceway, near Danville, Virginia. The win was Mladin’s third in a row, his ninth of the season and the 60th of his career, the most all-time by quite a margin. By taking pole position and leading the most laps, Mladin earned the maximum 38 points, closing his deficit to his Yoshimura Suzuki teammate and Championship rival Ben Spies from 17 to only 11 points, with four races remaining. Spies was running just behind Mladin for most of Saturday’s race but ran off the track and finished a distant second, over 10 seconds behind Mladin. Jamie Hacking took his second consecutive podium finish and his third podium of the year on his Monster Energy Kawasaki ZX-10R after a race-long battle with Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates. Yates crossed the line just 0.098 second behind Hacking at the line. Hacking’s teammate Roger Hayden finished a lonely fifth. Yamaha’s Eric Bostrom pulled clear of his teammate Jason DiSalvo in the late-going to secure sixth. American Honda’s sole rider in the event Jake Zemke placed eight by holding off Yoshimura Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden and Corona Extra Honda’s James Ellison. Only 0.177 second separated Zemke, Tommy Hayden and Ellison at the finish. Just 17 riders competed in Saturday’s AMA Superbike race. AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited VIRginia International Raceway Alton, Virginia August 18, 2007 Provisional Race One Results: 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 28 laps 2. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -10.359 seconds 3. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, -18.495 seconds 4. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -18.593 seconds 5. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, -29.669 seconds 6. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -33.750 seconds 7. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -37.841 seconds 8. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -44.602 seconds 9. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -44.686 seconds 10. James Ellison (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -44.779 seconds 11. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -57.646 seconds 12. Luca Scassa (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, -69.577 seconds 13. Matt Lynn (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, -1 lap 14. Ben Thompson (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -1 lap, 25.889 seconds 15. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap, 30.244 seconds 16. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -1 lap, 55.696 seconds 17. Scott Carpenter (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -2 laps Provisional AMA Superbike Championship Point Standings (after 15 of 19 races): 1. Spies, 518 points 2. Mladin, 507 3. Zemke, 365 4. Miguel Duhamel, 360 5. Tommy Hayden, 358 6. Aaron Yates, 353 7. DiSalvo, 324 8. Hacking, 318 9. Eric Bostrom, 299 10. Ellison, 277 11. Roger Hayden, 272 12. Jensen, 216 13. David Weber, 199 14. Scassa 196 15. Dominic Jones, 191 16. Holden, 179 17. Lynn, 174 18. Mizdal, 171 19. John Haner, 149 20. Doug Chandler, 93 More, from a press release issued by VIR: Mladin Turns Sixty DANVILLE, VA. – No, Mat Mladin didn’t have another birthday Saturday at VIRginia International Raceway, but he did set another mark for his fellow AMA Superbike riders to strive for with his sixtieth career win. In the opening day of racing in the 2007 AMA Suzuki Big Kahuna Superbike Nationals, presented by Dunlop and ROCKSTAR Energy Drink, Mladin, starting from the pole position after qualifying fastest in Friday’s afternoon session, had Aaron Yates, starting from the third position on the front row, pass him on the start. It took only one lap however, before Mladin reinforced his reputation as still one of the toughest Superbike riders, retaking the lead and never relinquishing the lead. By the finish of the 28-lap, 100 kilometer race, Mladin had stretched his lead to over ten seconds, with Spies over eight seconds up on Jamie Hacking’s Kawasaki ZX-10R. Mladin’s average speed over the twists and hills of VIR was 94.9 mph. Mladin’s teammate Ben Spies, started second on the grid and finished there, with Mladin’s victory closing the point gap between the two Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 riders to only eleven markers, where it had been 17 at the start of the weekend. Jamie Hacking held second on the first lap but fell to fourth for three laps before dropping to sixth at the finish of the 28-lap race. The race ran green from the start, with no riders dropping out, though Scott Carpenter finished a pair of laps down and Matt Lynn, Ben Thompson, Scott Jensen and Dean Mizdal all were one lap down at the checkered flag. Mladin will start on pole in Sunday’s feature race for the AMA Superbikes, aiming to extend his string of victories, while the younger rider on the team, Spies, intends to build his point lead. In the second race of the afternoon, Joshua Hayes rode his Honda CBR600RR to a 3.8 second victory over Larry Pegram. In a thrilling finish to the afternoon, Martin Craggill pushed his Ducati 749R to within a few inches of fellow Ducati rider Pegram. The margin between the two riders was reported as only five thousandths of a second by AMA scoring. More racing excitement follows on Sunday, with AMA Superstock bikes taking to the track at 1:00 for a 17 lap race, followed by another 17 lap race for the Pro Honda Oils Supersport presented by Shoei Helmets race. The feature race of the day is slated to start at 3:00, when the Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited takes to the track in the week’s finale. VIR’s next major event is the GT Live/Koni Challenge event, the weekend of October 5-7. With the widest variety of motorsports available, the headliner event will be the Koni Challenge races for high-performance production sports cars, coupes and sedans. With limited modifications, these are the same cars seen on the highways every day. The VIR races will be the finales for the two classes, both featuring a six-hour enduro format. The big engined Grand Sport (GS) racers will take the track in the weekend’s capstone, while the smaller Street Tuner (ST) class attracts the import and hot compact crowd. GS races feature Porsche, Nissan, BMW, Mustang and Pontiac, while the ST cars attract entries such as Mazda RX-8, Chevrolet Cobalt SS, Dodge SRT-4, MINI Cooper S, Acuras and a variety of BMWs. The entire field races on Hoosier tires, further equalizing the competition. Other attractions of the GT Live weekend include such diverse programs as: . GT Sim Race: Ride in some of the world’s hottest cars in cars on VIR’s 3.27-mile Full Course. . Tarzan’s Lap Battle: Drive your own car in on the 1.1-mile Patriot Course in a Time Attack, competing for lap times . Rally-X: drive your car on VIR’s gravel rally stage roads in. . Karting Zone: race karts in the on VIR’s Plantation Valley Kart Track. . Car and bike shows and fan festivals for Mazda, Nissan/Infiniti, Subaru and Mitsubishi EVO. . GT Track Attack pitting American tuners against Japanese tuners for cash prizes. . US Drift Shootout: the best amateur and professional drifters competing on the Patriot Course for cash. . The best motorcycle stunt riders in the business compete for cash prizes in the invitation-only XDL U.S. Stunt Riding Championship. VIRginia International Raceway is a multi-purpose road racing facility, located on the Dan River between Danville and South Boston, Virginia. Reopened in 2000, VIR hosts a wide range professional and amateur auto and motorcycle racing and track events, and is well established as “America’s Motorsport Resort.” In addition to its historic 3.27 mile natural-terrain road racing circuit, VIR is the cornerstone of VIR Club, America’s first motorsports country club; the VIR Raceplex Industrial Park and Motorsports Technology Park, which includes the Virginia Institute for Performance Engineering and Research (“VIPER”); the Plantation Valley Kart Track, a 5/8 mile paved natural terrain karting circuit; an expanding variety of on-site lodging (including 45 hotel rooms and the trackside Villas which are for sale); Camp Motorsport for enthusiasts of all ages; and the Oak Tree Tavern, a full-service restaurant located within the circa-1840 Plantation Clubhouse. For information on the track and other event schedules, call 434-822-7700 or check our web site at www.virclub.com. More, from a press release issued by Suzuki: MLADIN TAKES 60TH VICTORY Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin celebrated a record 60th career AMA Superbike win after taking the victory in Saturday’s AMA Superbike race at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia. Additionally, this is six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin’s ninth win of the 2007 season and his sixth victory at the circuit. Yoshimura Suzuki team mate and defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies followed Mladin home in second place and this impressive result leaves him in command of the AMA Superbike championship points chase. Rounding out the Yoshimura Suzuki team roster, former AMA Supersport Champion Tommy Hayden finished up in ninth position in the afternoon’s race. Saturday’s 28-lap race is the first of two AMA Superbike races in this weekend’s double-header event. Mat Mladin: “It was a good race for us today. We tried to put the pressure on right up front and then tried to eke out a tenth of a second per lap. There was definitely some slippery going out there today but the lap times weren’t too bad… Hopefully we can come out and do it again tomorrow. It was only three years ago or so that I had about 30 wins and we’ve had a lot of wins in the last few years on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R and boosted that number up. No way do I think that 60 is going to be my lat win. I’m certainly working as hard as I can to extend my career and continue to be a force in Superbike racing.” Ben Spies: “We did make a really big change to the bike before the race today. But even so, we were keeping Mat in sight; but then I made a mistake and ran off the track. At that point, I knew I was going for second so I just put my head down and tried to put in some good laps to get my guys some data that we can use for tomorrow. Hopefully we can come back strong, though when you’re riding at the limit it’s hard to find much more. Maybe we can make the bike better and the rider better, and improve for tomorrow.” Tommy Hayden: “I got a decent start on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and then I got in behind Jake Zemke and I kind of got stuck. This is a hard track to pass on for me and I just couldn’t get around him. I felt pretty good and I think that if I could’ve gotten around Jake that I could have run the pace of some of the guys who were up in front of me. I know I need to work on improving my starts and I have a couple ideas for the bike that might help step it up.” The Yoshimura Suzuki team will return for the second AMA Superbike race of the weekend on Sunday. AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers: 1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki) 3. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 4. Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki) 5. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki) 6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 7. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha) 8. Jake Zemke (Honda) 9. Tommy Hayden (Yoshimura Suzuki) 10. James Ellison (Honda)