RacingNation.com

Mladin Snaps Spies’ Streak At Seven

Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin ended teammate Ben Spies’ AMA Superbike win streak at seven with a brilliant performance on Sunday afternoon at Road America. The win is the 67th of Mladin’s illustrious career and his fourth of the season after opening the year three-for-three.

Sunday’s race was one of the more stirring of the season as Mladin, Spies, and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking settled into a three-way scrap for the lead over the racing’s opening several laps. Mladin and Spies traded the top spot repeatedly while Hacking used every last mph of his ZX-10R to cling onto the fight for first.

The British pilot lost the draft after hitting a damp spot following lap five and slowly fell into another lonely ride to his sixth straight podium result while Mladin took command of the race as Spies formation flew his works GSX-R1000 right behind.

The Australian slowly worked up a small advantage with five to go, gradually opening the gap up to just over a half-second as they took the white flag. Spies gave up the pursuit when he ran with in Turn 5 and it became obvious Mladin wouldn’t be beaten on this day and fell close to three seconds off the win at the checkered flag.

Hacking finished third some 21 seconds back while American Honda’s Neil Hodgson was once again the fourth fastest man on track, finishing another eight plus seconds behind his countryman.

Yamaha USA’s Eric Bostrom took advantage of a problem with Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates’ GSX-R to escape from their fight for fifth, while American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel overcame a stiff challenge from Yates’ teammate, Geoff May, on his Superstock-spec machine for sixth.

Yates got the chain back on his bike to claim eighth, while Celtic Racing’s Alastair Seeley and Team ESP’s Chris Peris rounded out the top ten.

Spies will carry a 40-point advantage (378 vs. 338) into the combined MotoGP/AMA Superbike round at Laguna Seca on July 16-18 following the summer break.

Young scores first-ever win in spectacular fashion

Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Blake Young made up for last week’s double disappointment in Utah with a thrilling Superstock victory this afternoon at Road America.

The fast-rising star scored the first victory of his AMA career at his home track in most dramatic fashion, tracking down race-long leader Aaron Yates from more than five seconds back on a wet track to close right in on the Jordan Suzuki ace in the race’s final corners.

The Madison, WI native tucked into Yates’ draft as they charged up the hill to the checkered flag and he somehow found a path between Yates and the wall in time to score his maiden win by 0.219 seconds.

Rapp DQ’d, Bostrom takes Supersport win

Upon inspection during today’s AMA Supersport Championship race, it was confirmed by AMA Pro Racing that the rear tire on the #15 Attack Kawasaki ridden by Steve Rapp was illegally modified.

As per page 42 of the 2008 AMA Superbike Championship rulebook, section 4, equipment standard 4.16, section d1 regarding Supersport tires, it is stated that any modification of tires is not permitted.

Considering this rule violation, Rapp has been disqualified from the race. All other finishers move up one position.

Mercado wins Red Bull Rookies race in photo finish

The Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup ended the Road America weekend with a thrilling race that was too close to call until officials checked the photo finish.

After a furious final lap, Argentinean Leandro Mercado and Californian Jake Gagne raced to the checkered flag bumping elbows down the front straight. Ultimately, 16-year-old Mercado, who has been one of the series’ fastest riders all year long, won his first Red Bull Rookies race by a scant 0.0019 seconds.

Share Button