For the second straight day, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mat Mladin dominated the AMA Pro American Superbike race at Road Atlanta. Mladin grabbed the holeshot, led every lap and cruised home with a comfortable margin of victory. It was Mladin’s fifth consecutive win of the season and the 77th of his career. Behind Mladin several riders fought for second place, but in the end Mladin’s junior teammate Blake Young took the spot and the first American Superbike podium finish of his brief career. Young just held off National Guard Suzuki’s Geoff May, who collected third place and his third American Superbike podium finish in the last four races. AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike Presented by Parts Unlimited Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia April 5, 2009 Provisional Race Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 20 laps 2. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000), -4.199 seconds 3. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), -4.376 4. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), -6.894 5. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), -7.338 6. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), -7.748 7. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), -16.459 8. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), -19.974 9. Jake Holden (Hon CBR1000RR), -23.784 10. Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R), -31.370 11. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), -39.030 12. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), -43.906 13. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR), -58.380 14. Hawk Mazzotta (Suz GSX-R1000), -67.804 15. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), -67.911 16. Ryan Elleby (Suz GSX-R1000), -68.368 17. Mark Crozier (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap 18. Barrett Long (Duc 1098R), -1 lap, 13.929 seconds 19. Skip Salenius (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 20.187 20. Shane Narbonne (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 26.224 21. Josh Graham (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 28.825 22. Eric Haugo (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 29.073 Rider Championship Point Standings (after 5 of 21 races): 1. Mladin, 157 points 2. Tommy Hayden, 112 3. May, 92 4. Young, 89 5. Hayes, 77 6. Bostrom, 71 7. Pegram, 64 8. Yates, 62 9. Anthony, 48 10. Knapp, 44 11. Gobert, 43 12. Holden, 39 13. Mazzotta, 37 14. Ulrich, 36 15. Jensen, 31 16. Neil Hodgson, 25 17. Long, 16 18. Jeff Tigert, 14 19. Elleby, 13 20. Michael Laverty, 12 More, from a press release issued by Ducati North America: PEGRAM FIGHTS OFF INJURY TO KEEP DUCATI IN THE TOP TEN A consistent weekend sees the veteran rider retain his position in the championship Braselton, GA (5 April 2009) Team Foremost Pegram Racing is leaving Road Atlanta after a difficult but productive weekend, finishing the third round of the series seventh overall in the championship. The weekend started out slowly for Pegram and the Foremost Insurance Ducati 1098 R. Friday’s first qualifying went smoothly; and in an effort not to agitate injuries from the last race Pegram did only what he needed for advancement to Superpole. The Superpole session saw Pegram ride a smooth and steady lap on the Ducati, and despite the pain finished up sixth for a second row start. Saturday’s race proved a struggle for the team as six bikes battled for second position throughout the race. The Ducati 1098 R had the speed needed to make the podium, but Pegram’s Fontana injuries made it difficult for him to move around on the bike. The veteran rider fought to the end, and stayed with the lead pack to retain seventh position at the checkered flag. With the forecast predicting rain, the team entered Sunday’s race with a goal of scoring points and retaining their championship position. Pegram pushed from the get-go to secure third place on the first lap; holding it until lap six when a cramp from the injury forced him back to sixth position in the track’s third sector. As the race progressed, the rain never came but the injury continued to agitate Pegram. He fought the pain to finish the race a credible tenth position. “I wasn’t feeling well at all this weekend, with pain in my ankle and hip,” commented Pegram. “Despite a hard time in race one I felt good going into race two. Early in the race I got a huge cramp around turn 9, and lost a few positions straight away. The cramp persisted, so from then on I was racing for points not the win. All things considered it was an ok finish, but not where I wanted to be today.” Team Foremost Pegram Racing now heads back to its Ohio shop, where they will rebuild the Ducati 1098 R Superbikes for a test at Infineon Raceway, and the next race at Barber Motorsports Park May 1-3. For a race report, photos and team information please visit www.pegramracing.com; for more information on Ducati and the revolutionary 1098 R Superbike please visit www.ducatiusa.com. More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Mladin and Rockstar/Makita Cap Dominant Weekend Sweep of Suzuki Superbike Showdown Team Rallies After Morning Practice Spill to Keep Mladin in Dominant Form in Sunday Final BRASELTON, Georgia (April 5, 2009) – Mat Mladin and Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki capped a dominant weekend at the AMA Pro Suzuki Superbike Showdown with another flag-to-flag AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited race win Sunday at Road Atlanta. Mladin is undefeated in 2009 AMA Pro American Superbike competition after the year’s first five races but his performance at Road Atlanta this weekend was by far his most impressive of the year. After winning the pole in Friday’s single-bike Superpole qualifying, Mladin led every lap in Saturday’s 20-lap race and did the same thing again today to score a perfect clean sweep of the Road Atlanta weekend. His Sunday ride was even more impressive considering the championship Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura team repaired Mladin’s No. 7 Suzuki GSX-R1000 after a lowside incident in Sunday morning practice. “I had a bit of a tumble this morning and the guys got the bike back together,” Mladin said. “I just pushed too hard. It was at the end of the back straight. Everything felt as usual and normal for the race. It was a good race for us. We had a bit of a crack for 10 or 12 laps. I was trying to figure out around Lap 10 or 11 whether I should keep pushing and the boys get a bit nervous when I do that. I pushed my luck one too many times today already, so I decided to have a bit of fun at the end.” While Mladin was cruising up front near the end, some of the best racing of the weekend took place for second place between Mladin’s teammate Blake Young (No. 79 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) and local rider Geoff May (No. 54 National Guard/Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000). The pair swapped second several times before Young took the spot for good on the last lap. “Geoff came on strong,” Young said. “It seemed like I was being held up in a couple spots by some of the riders in the beginning of the field there. Once I got clear and got sorted out, Geoff came by with some pace and I definitely jumped in and learned where he was a little bit better than me. It was good, a good last lap, and I just kind of set it up for a last-lap pass. I was coming out of (Turn) 7 and actually going over (Turn) 8, over the hill. I just got into his draft and broke off and tried to get away from him so he couldn’t get back in behind me.” May joined Mladin in hitting the podium in both weekend races and recovered from a poor start to finish third for the second-straight day. “I was afraid I was going to get run over there at the start,” said May, who was 10th at the end of Lap 1 after starting on the front row. “I just put my head down again and we really had the bike set up good for the end of the race. I’ve been trying to really work hard on the end of the race, on the last half, on worn-out tires. We usually do that, set the thing up for when it’s sliding. It just seems like the other guys, they start sliding around and stuff, and they have a hard time with it. I start getting faster and faster and faster and put in my fastest laps, usually, in the last couple laps.” Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) finished fourth after placing fifth Saturday to cap his best weekend so far in the 2009 American Superbike season. May’s teammate Aaron Yates (No. 23 Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) finished fifth for his best result of the year. Mladin, who scored the 51st consecutive American Superbike win today for Suzuki and the Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura team, now leads the championship standings with 157 points. His other teammate Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) is second with 112 points while May is third with 92 points. Next up for AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited is the Honda Superbike Classic at Barber Motorsports Park, May 1 – 3. All of the races from the Road Atlanta AMA Pro Suzuki Superbike Showdown will be featured on AMA Pro Prime Time on SPEED over the course of the next four episodes. AMA Pro Prime Time airs every Saturday night at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. ET) with the next scheduled show set for next Saturday, April 11.