Mladin Makes it Eight in a Row With Big Kahuna Victory Victory Provisional Until Final Tech Inspection DANVILLE, VA Mat Mladin added another notch in his near-perfect record at VIRginia International Raceway with his eighth consecutive victory at VIRginia International Raceway’s Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals presented by Dunlop, RockStar and Makita AMA Superbike races. However, the win will not be official until AMA headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio completes an inspection of the crankshaft out of Mladin’s Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000. Results of the inspection will be released as soon as possible by the AMA. The parts from Mladin’s bike will be compared with the same parts from production bikes. If the win stands, it will move Mladin to within only 18 points of his teammate Ben Spies, current points leader, but a healthy 121 points ahead of Denver, NC’s Jamie Hacking. Sunday’s win is Mladin’s sixth in a row for the 2008 Superbike season, and carries his momentum in to the next race, where he is touted to tie Ben Spies’ record of seven consecutive victories. Mladin commented on the possibility of repeating his win at Road Atlanta and posting a new consecutive win streak record: “Obviously that would be great,” the Australian said. “Right now winning races is my priority and my goal in my racing career, to stack up as many as I can. If we go eight in a row, obviously that would be fantastic. Following Mladin and Spies home was their teammate Tommy Hayden, making a clean sweep of the top three positions in both races for their team of Suzukis. Fourth went to Eric Bostrom, mounted on a Yamaha YZF-R1, followed in fifth by Miguel DuHamel on his Honda CBR1000RR. The Supersport race went to Josh Hayes, mounted on his Erion Honda, ahead of the pair of Yamahas ridden by Ben Bostrom and Josh Herrin, with Blake Young and Jake Zemke finishing the top five. In the AMA Superstock Series presented by Dynojet, Aaron Yates took the victory by nearly ten seconds over Jake Holden, while Chris Perris, a privateer from Calgary was so stoked after his podium finish that the team almost drove off from the paddock without one of their awards. “Broke guys do good,” was Chris’ comment when stopped to deliver the items. “This is the way racing should be. This place blows San Diego away.” The Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup race started as scheduled in the morning, but a first lap crash that sent two riders to the hospital caused it to be delayed until the final event of the day. Toriano Wilson, Luciano Ribodino and Garet Tomlinson were all involved in a crash that saw Ribodino taken to Duke Medical Center in Durham, NC and Ribodino taken to UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, NC, while Tomlinson escaped relatively uninjured. Hayden Gillim, took his second straight win, riding just a few days after mid-week surgery to repair a broken collarbone. “I’m just really happy to get my second win. I didn’t think I’d do well here with my broken collarbone but when we showed up and I went out and qualified third, I knew I had a chance.” 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. The next big event at VIR occurs on the weekend of October 3-5, when GT Live and the KONI Challenge bring a thrilling combination of motorcycle stunts, drifting, ‘track attack’ events and endurance sports car races. The KONI Challenge sports cars run their six-hour season finale endurance races on Saturday and Sunday. There is no real break in the action however, as September has back-to-back weekends of action with the Championship Cup Series motorcycle races on the 20th and 21st, while the next weekend VIR welcomes the vintage sports car of Sportscar Vintage Racing Association, joined by a reunion of the IMSA Radial Sedan series. The weekend of November 1 closes out VIR’s spectator season with the Sports Car Club of America’s ‘Charge of the Headlight Brigade,’ a 13-hour enduro. These events are all combined with a wide variety of motorcycle and sports car amateur and vintage road racing and schools throughout the year. Season passes to VIR’s major events include preferred parking and access to the major spectator events. 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 Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki: MICHAEL JORDAN MOTOR SPORTS WINS IN VIRGINIA Aaron Yates Podiums in 8th Straight AMA Superstock Race Alton, VA (August 17, 2008) Michael Jordan Motor Sports Suzuki’s Aaron Yates won today’s AMA Superstock race at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). This is Yates fourth win for the Jordan Suzuki team and his eighth consecutive Superstock podium finish in the class. Yates, who qualified for the pole position with a time of 1:24.874, was the only rider to get into the 24s, narrowly missing (by .064 seconds) a new track record on the 2.25 mile VIR North course. His strong qualifying time earned Yates an additional point toward the overall championship, increasing his lead to 32 points before race time. “I was amped up about the session and I wanted to go out there and get that extra point,” said Yates. “I had to settle down and cool out a little bit. I ended up getting it done.” On the green flag of the 17-lap event, Yates got off to a good start, quickly grabbing the hole-shot on his Suzuki GSX-R1000. Heading into turn one, teammate Geoff May was able to catch the tow behind Yates for second place, bettering his starting position by two. The Jordan Suzuki duo shadowed each other for three laps before May snuck past Yates, taking the lead on lap four. A trackside incident caused officials to stop the race. With 11 laps remaining on the restart, it was May who captured the hole-shot ahead of Yates, who followed closely in second position. Yates stalked his teammate for eight laps before retaking the lead, where he remained through the waving checkered flag. “It’s good to get the win,” said Yates. “I’m trying to get the championship for the Jordan Suzuki team!” Yates is currently leading the AMA Superstock championship by 36 points. On lap 12, May ran wide on the course, and remaining upright, he quickly returned to the track in fourth place. While charging hard toward the finish line, May mistook Yates’ pit board as his and rolled off the throttle. “I thought it was my board,” said May. “His is written differently than mine, so I thought I had a three second gap.” Understanding his error, he rapidly returned to speed and captured fifth place in the event. A rookie with Jordan Suzuki, May has earned three Superstock podium finishes, including his first AMA National win, in eight outings with his new team. In today’s event, May was awarded an additional point for leading the most laps, in addition to 27 points for his top five finish. He remains third in overall points in the AMA Superstock championship. Jordan Suzuki’s riders and crew have two more race weekends in the AMA Superbike Championship: a Superbike doubleheader at Road Atlanta August 29-31 in Braselton, Georgia and the season finale September 27-28 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. More, from a press release issued by Ben Spies’ publicist: POLE AND PAIR OF SECONDS IN VIRGINIA PUTS SPIES IN GOOD POSITION Inching ever closer to third AMA Superbike title ALTON, Va. (Aug. 17, 2008) Ben Spies came away from Virginia International Raceway this weekend missing one goal, yet moving closer to another of greater importance. After finishing second to Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Mat Mladin in both legs of the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals, presented by Dunlop and Rockstar, Spies missed out on winning his first AMA Superbike race at VIR in what could be his final appearance at the scenic track. In spite of missing that goal, his pole position and points gained over the weekend moved Spies ever closer to a third consecutive AMA Superbike Championship. Earning the pole at VIR proved a major step towards this year’s title. Spies clocked a record-breaking lap of 1:23.403 on the 2.25-mile road course Saturday to add an important championship point to his advantage. That point meant that Spies could finish second in the remaining races and still clinch the 2008 championship. “It was an important pole,” said Spies, who has won more poles than any other rider during the time he’s been in the Superbike series. “Not that I necessarily want to finish second in the rest of the races, but it’s good to have that option if I need it.” On Saturday Spies led the early laps before being passed by Mladin. Spies then had a near crash on lap six and lost touch with the leader. “No one can say I wasn’t trying to win,” Spies said after Saturday’s near get off. “That was a pretty big moment and I knew right then I didn’t have the set up to run with Mat.” The team tried different settings on Spies’ GSX-R1000 Superbike for Sunday’s race in hopes of finding additional speed, and while they succeeded, it made little difference. Spies still found himself unable to match Mladin’s pace. “I rode as hard as I could the whole race and didn’t make any mistakes and had a quicker pace than yesterday, but so did he,” Spies explained. “So it was kind of the same story. “Mat just happens to go really good at VIR and for some reason I still haven’t got it figured out the way I’d like to. It’s a bit frustrating, especially since I proved I could get around the place fast in qualifying. We searched for a good race set up all weekend and we never found anything I was totally comfortable with. We move on to Road Atlanta to see if we can stop Mat’s streak.” In spite of his desire to win more races this year, Spies said he’s not going to let his emotions override his dedication to winning a third consecutive AMA Superbike Championship. “If we go to Atlanta and find a good set up and I have a shot at winning then I’m going to go for the win,” he said. “My main goal is the championship though and if that means I have to cruise around in second at Road Atlanta it won’t bother me. This series runs from March to September and Mat and I have both had our problems this season. Fortunately when I crashed early this year it didn’t cost me as much as his crash did. I’m doing what I need to do to win the title. Ten years down the road people are going to remember who won the championship and I want to be the one they remember.” Spies will next race at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., on Aug. 29-31 at the Suzuki Superbike Showdown. More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: FOURTH PLACE FROM PIT LANE START FOR BLAKE YOUNG IN VIRGINIA Blake Young beat the odds to deliver Team M4 EMGO Suzuki a pair of fourth-place finishes on Sunday at Virginia International Raceway. After qualifying in the fifth spot for both the Superstock and Supersport finals, Young’s race day hopes for a pair of strong finishes seemed all but ruined when he was forced to start the Superstock final from pit lane. Discovering a problem with his machine on the warm-up lap, the Wisconsinite came in and jumped on his backup bike and started the race from dead last. Frantically trying to make up positions, he put himself in a deeper hole by running of course. However, he regrouped and starting working forward again. A red flag helped reduce the gap to the frontrunners, and Blake stormed into the top five. Adding a last bit of drama to the race, Young grabbed an additional position on the race’s final lap when Geoff May slowed momentarily, allowing Blake to steal away fourth on his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000. Young immediately jumped on his GSX-R600 and ran near the front of the pack in the 17-lap Supersport contest, ultimately out-dueling title contender Jake Zemke for fourth at the checkered flag. Cory West also finished in the top 10, claiming ninth place at the conclusion of the race. Unfortunately Martin Cardenas crashed out of 6th on the lap six. Young talked about the hectic Superstock final, saying, “When we rolled out for the parade lap the bike seemed pretty good but I never really got on it too hard. But on the warm-up lap, we came rolling around and had some problems. We didn’t 100% power. I came in and had to get on my backup bike, which wasn’t quite set-up 100% like the ‘A’ bike but at least it did have 100% power. “I started from pit lane and started making progress but I ran off the track. I had to calm myself down and the red flag helped. I restarted from the fourth row, got a good start, and put my head down. On the white flag ’99’ decided his race was over and we ended up going by him for a position. Fourth place from pit lane? We’ve got to be happy with that. He added, talking about his Supersport ride, “I knew we had a pretty good bike. We got up there and were running third for a little bit and then Ben Bostrom and Jake Zemke came by. We got in a pretty good race with Jake and ended up getting him in the end. We finished the weekend off strong and I’m happy for my guys following some frustration early in the Superstock race.” Young is currently ranked fourth in both classes with two races remaining, boasting 203 points in Superstock and 230 in Supersport. West is seventh in the Supersport title chase at 185 while Cardenas is 15th with 107 despite missing a large chunk of the season due to his Auto Club Speedway crash and subsequent injuries. The next race on the AMA calendar for Team M4 EMGO Suzuki will take place at Road Atlanta in two weeks on August 29-31. More, from a press release issued by Honda: American Honda teammates had mixed fortunes at Virginia International Raceway, with Miguel Duhamel carding a sixth and a fifth, while teammate Neil Hodgson recovered from a vicious Saturday high-side to finish seventh on Sunday. The nature of the 18-turn, 2.25-mile road course doesn’t suit the strengths of the Honda CBR1000RR. Rather than flowing, sweeping corners where the Honda excels, the track has a number of hard braking corners and rapid transitions. From the beginning of the weekend, the teams struggled to find a workable set-up. Duhamel had one of his most consistent weekends of the year. He would have been fifth both days, if not for being passed by Yamaha rider Jason DiSalvo on the final lap of Saturday’s race in turn one. There was some irony in the pass, since Duhamel was strong on the brakes in the slippery corner than bends right. Hodgson was in front of the Duhamel/DiSalvo battle until he high-sided in the first turn on the ninth lap while running sixth. Though the crash was spectacular, Hodgson didn’t suffer serious injuries. The Honda teammates ran together for much of Sunday’s race. Hodgson was making a run at Duhamel for fifth when he ran off the track in the first turn on the 27th of 28 laps. That dropped him from sixth to seventh, with Duhamel finishing fifth. Both races were won by Mat Mladin (Suzuki) from teammates Ben Spies and Tommy Hayden. Miguel Duhamel 6th, 5th Well, you know the set-up today was quite a bit better and had a really good race today. We ran out of a little bit of rubber on the right side there at the end, because I think my bike was really good there. I was trying to catch Eric (Bostrom) and on the right side we just ran out of rubber. I just used it up a little too much. But it was a great race and happy there was no red flag and the team did a great job and looking forward to Road Atlanta. Yesterday, I had a little bit of bad strategy on my part going into turn one. I was kind of in the middle of the racetrack, trying to block the angles and (Jason) DiSalvo got inside me on the brakes. And then I just tried to stay close to him. And he really put a good lap in at the end. And I was hoping for him to do a little mistake so I’d have a shot. But his last lap was a 26.7 and my fastest before that was 27.3, and I matched him my last lap. So it was alright. I think I could have probably still stole fifth, which would have been better. Neil Hodgson DNF, 7th Nothing really worked to be honest. I were way off the pace and then I ran off the track, just at the end, just the second to last lap in turn one. I was just trying to outbrake Miguel. When I got in there, I couldn’t risk tipping it in so I had to go straight, like everybody else did. We did the same lap times as yesterday, so not very good really. But better than yesterday. Yesterday it were a weird, weird crash, because obviously I’ve got traction control and everything. I’m not the sort of guy who trusts traction control all the time, so I’m never going to just twist the throttle open. I was just squeezing it on, 30% throttle, then touched it a little bit further and just went and said, oh no. It’s a shame, because I landed pretty hard; it winded me, which is always the worst. Instantly knocked the wind out so I couldn’t breathe. Sort of banged every other corner of my body. My shoulder’ was killing me. At first I wasn’t too sure what was the worst. I banged both of my hips, which is random, then I realized I’d done something in there. American Honda Road Race Manager Ron Heben We came here to VIR and for some reason the Honda team can’t have very good luck, it seems like. We struggled yesterday, we struggled all weekend, honestly. Miguel (Duhamel) put in some consistent rides and certainly showed that he’s the man for showing the guys how to into turn one on the brakes. No one seemed to be able to keep up with him on that. other parts of the track we weren’t able to keep up with the competition. And where we’re finishing we’re not satisfied. We have a week off to go back and look at what we need to do. Try to learn from this weekend and learn from the tests that we had at Atlanta and go out there and see if we can’t put this CBR1000 back up on the box. Sunday Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 4. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 5. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 6. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 7. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 8. Geoff May (Suzuki) 9. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 10. Matt Lynn (Honda) Saturday Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 4. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 5. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 6. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 7. Geoff May (Suzuki) 8. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki) 9. Chris Peris (Suzuki) 10. Kenny Noyes (Suzuki) Championship Standings: 1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 541 2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 523 3. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 402 4. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 387 5. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 386 6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 365 7. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 335 8. Geoff May (Suzuki) 311 9. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 288 10. Chris Peris (Suzuki) 279 More, from a press release issued by Team Stargel: Team Stargel Scores Formula Xtreme Top Ten At VIR Working with rider Taylor Knapp for only the second weekend, Team Stargel recorded a ninth place finish at VIR this past weekend in the AMA Superbike series Formula Xtreme race. Knapp made his debut appearance with the team at the previous round at Mid-Ohio, but suffered a crash on the second lap of the Formula Xtreme race. At VIR, the team’s Yamaha R6 showed excellent power and speed, but did not seem to have its typical handling finesse. With all of its practice opportunities exhausted, the team uncovered a previously undetected chassis problem from the Mid-Ohio crash only shortly before race time. Luckily, Team Stargel was able to repair the problem but not fully address the setup issues surrounding it. Nonetheless, Knapp showed persistence and tenacity bringing the R6 home for a finish inside the top ten. Team Stargel looks forward to building on its success with Knapp at the next AMA Superbike round at Road Atlanta.