Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin took provisional pole position for the AMA Superbike double-header event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California during qualifying Friday.

Riding with a Dunlop qualifying tire on his GSX-R1000, Mladin set a new lap record time for the 2.2-mile, 11-turn course at 1:36.917, which was only marginally quicker than the four-time Champion’s best race-tire lap time from Friday afternoon practice (1:36.997).

“We put our qualifying tire on there at the end, but I got held up by some guys in a few corners,” a relaxed-looking Mladin told reporters. “Things on the race tire are going good. At this stage the bike feels really good.”

American Honda’s Ben Bostrom jumped from fifth-fastest in Friday afternoon’s practice session to second in timed qualifying with a time of 1:37.498 on his factory CBR1000RR, better than the 1:38.274 he turned in practice.

Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke held the top qualifying spot momentarily with his best lap, a 1:37.511, but was quickly demoted to the third spot on the provisional grid by Mladin and Bostrom late in the 30-minute session.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates, second-fastest through most of Friday practice, qualified fourth with a 1:38.012. “We put the qualifying tire on, and we had a good lap going but got trapped behind a rider in turn seven and through the esses,” Yates told reporters.

Complaining of a very bad chatter problem, Miguel Duhamel qualified fifth with a 1:38.495, which was slower than Duhamel’s Formula Xtreme (600cc) pole position time of 1:38.133.

Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom improved his Superbike’s set-up from practice to qualifying but not enough. He qualified sixth with a 1:38.516, his best time of the day, on his Michelin-equipped 999F04.

Riding in pain from a highside crash earlier Friday, Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes was seventh-fastest with a 1:39.316 on his factory-supported ZX-10R.

Triangle Cycle’s Yamaha’s Larry Pegram spent most of Friday dialing in a new set of Ohlins forks on his Pirelli-shod YZF-R1 and came away with the eighth-fastest qualifying time, 1:40.003.

Suzuki Superbike privateers Chris Caylor (1:40.213) and Geoff May (1:40.252) rounded out Friday’s top 10 qualifiers.

AMA Superbike final qualifying takes place Saturday morning at Infineon Raceway.



Friday’s Provisional AMA Superbike Qualifying Results:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:36.917
2. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:37.498
3. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:37.511
4. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.012
5. Miguel Duhamel, honda CBR1000RR, 1:38.495
6. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 999F04, 1:38.516
7. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:39.310
8. Larry Pegram, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:40.003
9. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.213
10. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.252
11. Steve Crevier, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.444
12. Dave Stanton, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.492
13. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.898
14. Ken Hill, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:41.242
15. Clint McBain, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:41.382
16. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:41.740
17. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.045
18. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.108
19. Jeff Williams, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.286
20. Mark Foster, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.357
21. Robert Christman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.438
22. James Randolph, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:42.558
23. Andrew Nelson, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:42.696
24. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.906
25. Robert Mesa, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:43.007
26. Jeremy Toye, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:43.081
27. Brien Whitlock, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:43.169
28. Jack Pfeifer, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:43.353
29. David Bell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:43.444
30. Craig Connell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:43.539
31. Garry Combs, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:43.562
32. Cory West, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:43.722
33. Tom Montano, Ducati 998S, 1:43.790
34. Kim Nakashima, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:43.835
35. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:44.028
36. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:44.455
37. John Wilson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:44.650
38. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:44.816
39. Jeremiah Johnson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:44.902
40. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:44.970
41. James King, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:45.328
42. Kenyon Kluge, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:46.029
43. Mike Krynock, Ducati 999R, 1:46.286
44. Chris Siglin, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:48.992


More, from a press release issued by Infineon Raceway:

Mladin Takes Provisional Pole for Kawasaki Superbike Showdown

SONOMA, Calif. (IMMEDIATE RELEASE) — Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin continued his recent dominance of Infineon Raceway on Friday by capturing the provisional pole for the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown weekend.

Mladin, a four-time AMA Chevrolet Superbike champion, turned the 12-turn, 2.2-mile road course in 1:36.916. The time was a new track record on the reconfigured road course. Ben Bostrom (Honda) was second at 1:37.498, with Jake Zemke (Honda) third at 1:37.511.

Mladin is a three-time Superbike winner at Infineon Raceway, including a sweep of last year’s doubleheader in the Sonoma Valley. This weekend will also feature a doubleheader, with Saturday’s 98 Rock Superbike Challenge (3:40 p.m.) and Sunday’s Supercuts Superbike Challenge (2 p.m.). Both main events will span 28 laps.

“Some of the guys may do better in the race than they did in practice and qualifying,” Mladin said. “Hopefully none of them will do better but we’ll see. It would be nice to get another couple of wins. Everything is feeling good for us right now and I can’t control what they do.”

Bostrom, a Petaluma native, made a late charge, moving to second in provisional qualifying but it wasn’t enough to catch the high-flying Mladin.

“All day long we were testing a new compound for the tires,” Bostrom said. “Just when I thought I had a hot lap I’d run into traffic. But the last lap I turned (1:37.498) it was a combination of free lap and a softer time.”

Honda’s Miguel Duhamel, meanwhile, captured the pole in the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme class with a run of 1:38.132. Duhamel won the first two Formula Xtreme events of the year in Daytona and Fontana (Calif.), but this marks his first pole position of the season. He is seeking his first Formula Xtreme championship at Infineon Raceway. The 17-lap Formula Xtreme feature will take place on Sunday.

Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown

SONOMA, Calif. (April 30, 2004) – Following are the top 10 provisional qualifiers for the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown doubleheader at Infineon Raceway, May 1-2.

Saturday’s 98 Rock Superbike Challenge race is set for 3:40 p.m. PST and will be followed by the Supercuts Superbike Challenge on Sunday at 2 p.m. PST. Final starting positions will be determined during qualifying on Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m.:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:36.916
2. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR1000R, 1:37.498
3. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR1000R, 1:37.511
4. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.012
5. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR1000R, 1:38.495
6. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 999R, 1:39.046
7. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:39.490
8. Larry Pegram, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:40.003
9. Opie Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.213
10. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.252


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN LEADS THE WAY WITH FASTEST TIME DURING AMERICAN SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING AT INFINEON RACEWAY

Sonoma, California, USA – Friday, April 30: Four times American Superbike champion Mat Mladin smashed the Infineon Raceway Superbike lap record on his way to grabbing provisional pole position for this weekend’s double-header American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship round after today’s opening qualifying session.

Mladin blasted his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 around the 2.2 miles (3.54km) 11-turn circuit, stopping the clocks with a time of 1:36.917, over half a second quicker that his nearest rival, Honda’s Ben Bostrom (1:37.498). Fellow Honda rider Jake Zemke was fractionally slower, setting the third fastest time of 1:37.511, ahead of Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates (1:38.012).

Mladin led both of the morning’s free practice sessions, before topping the leader board in the first of the two official qualifying sessions for this weekend’s round.

“The first session we were a little bit stale and things weren’t going how I would have liked, but the second session saw us start to get into the groove and it felt good,” said Mladin.

“We worked on race set up and tyre selection for much of the day, but when we did put a softer qualifying tyre at the end of the session we didn’t do such a good job with it. I got baulked once while I was out there on my fast lap but we still did a good job with it and came away with the fast time.”

“Things are looking alright at the moment. We have another 40-minute session tomorrow morning before the first of the two races and we should be able to confirm a few more things in that session.”

The competitive nature of this year’s manufacturers has seen the intense rivalry between the riders and teams being matched by that of the tyre manufacturers. Yoshimura Suzuki’s tyre supplier Dunlop, have been working extremely hard over the past 12 months, developing tyres to suit the needs of the modern day crop of Superbikes and arrived at Infineon Raceway this weekend with yet another transporter full of new race rubber for their supported teams to evaluate.

A firm believer of continued development with both the motorcycle and tyres, Mladin relishes the opportunity to test new parts, including tyres.

“Dunlop have a whole bunch of new stuff for us to look at and we’re running through them now. There’s a lot of new stuff for both the front and rear for everyone to choose from. They (Dunlop) have obviously been under a bit of pressure in the past few months both with their own tyres and from the added tyre competition this year, so it’s great to see them respond in such a positive manner. It seems that every race this year Dunlop have some new tyres for us to test, which is great to see and how it really should be.”

The Australian rider arrived at Sonoma, north of San Francisco being undefeated in the three Superbike nationals held this year and holds a 24-point lead over Zemke on the championship points table.

Having won both corresponding races last year, Mladin will be aiming to emulate that feat and further build to his points tally as he chases an unprecedented fifth national title.


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

BOSTROM ON PROVISIONAL 2ND ROW AS DUCATI 999 MAKES INFINEON RACEWAY DEBUT

Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom piloted the Ducati 999 to a creditable sixth position on its first-ever practice and qualifying sessions at a sunny Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. The 27-year-old Las Vegas rider spent much of the half-hour session on the provisional front row in fourth position before finishing up in sixth.

“We were slow this morning and even though that can be discouraging, it’s really more encouraging how far we’ve come,” said Bostrom. “At first we had the bike set up too soft and I couldn’t get any feel. In the afternoon we made big gains on the set-up to where it now wants to stay pointing through the turns. These changes gave me a lot more feel with the Michelins and I made up a second and half on the race tires from this morning’s practice time – I’m pretty sure we can make up that much more time again tomorrow.

“This is a new experience for me on the Ducati because it’s a track where it’s just corner after corner after corner. The new surface is also something I’m getting used to. I feel pretty good about tomorrow, though. There’s a lot going on but we’re really getting it sorted out.”

“It’s the first time we’ve been here and our goal is to find a good race set-up and also to pick out the right tire,” explained Technical Engineer Ernesto Marinelli. “Qualifying isn’t a concern for us; we didn’t use a qualifying tire since our complete focus is on the race. This is a challenging race track for a set-up because of the dips so you need a very particular set-up here. Something that works here won’t work anywhere else. We’re just going to go step by step and make improvements every time we go out.”

Final qualifying concludes tomorrow morning with race 1 (100km – 28 laps) of the weekend doubleheader taking place in the afternoon.