Mat Mladin rode his Suzuki GSX-R1000 to... a second place finish?! Yeah, it's happened twice this year. Will Laguna make three?
Mat Mladin and the rest of the AMA Pro Road Racing paddock roll into Laguna Seca for the July 4th weekend. The undercard for the first USGP of the year, the AMA series will run a pair of races after the MotoGP contest on Sunday, one race apiece in the American Superbike and Daytona SportBike classes. The SuperSport class will also compete, the West coast riders taking to the track on Saturday.
AMERICAN SUPERBIKE
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin looked capable of a possible perfect season without nemesis Ben Spies stealing wins away for 2009 - particularly after starting the year with seven straight victories. A stumble at Infineon saw Yamaha’s Josh Hayes break a two-year winning streak for
Suzuki. Then at Road America Ducati 1098R rider Larry Pegram stole the win. Mladin hasn’t had the best of luck at Laguna in recent years, usually seeing Spies take the win, but the six-time AMA champ figures to extend his 110 point advantage on Sunday.
If the heavy favorite doesn’t find the top step, two of the leading upset candidates come from his own team – Tommy Hayden and Blake Young. Hayden has plenty of 2009 podiums, but will be looking for his first career American Superbike win. Young may be the darker horse, but the Suzuki pilot will be keen on returning to his Yoshimura ride after competing as a wild-card replacement for the World Superbike Alstare Suzuki squad, scoring a 25-17 byline this past weekend at Donington.
Bostrom (2) and Pegram (72) are just two of the riders looking to beat Mladin on Sunday.
The factory
Yamaha duo of Josh Hayes and Ben Bostrom will also be prime podium contenders. Hayes proved his mettle casting down the Yoshimura hegemony at Infineon. California native Bostrom can never be counted out competing on his home circuits and will look to close the 28 points separating himself from Hayden, who is second in the championship.
Campaigning Honda’s hopes is the now-healed Neil Hodgson. The British rider’s season crumbled with his training motocross accident, but now with no title to worry about Hodgson can race solely for the checkered flag. Other Honda riders include privateers Aaron Gobert and Hodgson’s former sub, Jake Holden.
Larry Pegram, whose unexpected victory last round was his first in a decade, sits fourth in the American Superbike points and within easy grasp of Bostrom at seven points down. The Ohio native has had an eventful year, which has included racing flat track at the Springfield mile. He also beat a guy by the name of Mat Mladin the last time out! So the momentum can’t get any better for the long-time Ducati rider.
Other riders shooting for the front include Jordan Suzuki riders Geoff May and Aaron Yates. Both the
GSX-R1000 pilots have podium finishes to their credit and will be looking for more of the same of Sunday.
Martin Cardenas is on his way to taking the first Daytona SportBike title crown.
The opening rounds of the Daytona SportBike series saw Danny Eslick ride the controversial Buell 1125R to impressive victories, but now it’s M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas that dominates the SportBike class. The GSX-R600 rider has six wins to his credit and owns a 51-point lead over Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking in the title chase. Cardenas is joined on the track with teammate Jason DiSalvo, who is fourth in the championship and looking for a Laguna win.
As for Hacking, the
ZX-6R pilot is returning after wild card rides for
Kawasaki in the World Superbike championship. Hacker, surprisingly, is yet to win in 2009, but consistency has him still in the title hunt second-place overall. Teammate Roger Hayden is also back in podium form after previous injury, the younger Hayden brother scoring a pair of runner-up finishes. The two Monster Energy racers will be joined by Leandro Mercado for a three-rider effort at Laguna.
Not to be outdone by the three-man squad, Yamaha is supporting four factory riders in the Laguna round. Josh Hayes and Ben Bostrom will return for one-race appearances alongside Graves Yamaha regulars, Josh Herrin and Tommy Aquino. Also on the
Yamaha R6 is Steve Rapp, riding for the Bazzaz Pat Clark Motorsports squad.
Chris Peris scored a win at Road America in the wet, but the Erion Honda pilot will be looking to repeat the result in what promises to be a much drier Laguna Seca round.
Eslick may not be the dominator of earlier rounds, but the Oklahoman is still vying for top fives. His title hopes hinge on more podiums, however, and some outright wins. Fellow Buell rider Mike Barnes is also working his way into the top five on the results sheet.
Former Formula Xtreme champ, Jake Zemke, will push the Erion Honda CBR600 off the Laguna line. Teammate Chris Peris actually has a 2009 win to his credit, securing the checkered flag in a rainy Road America contest.
The other manufacturer in the top-10 SportBike mix is Aprilia. The Italian marque relies on the skills of British rider Chaz Davies, who is steadily improving the RSV1000R’s finishes and looking to crack the podium at Laguna.
SUPERSPORT
Showcasing the up-and-coming talents in American road racing, the SuperSport race will run on Saturday. The win figures to come down to the top three riders: Tyler Odom, Clint Shobert and Ricky Parker. Odom owns first place in the points, with Shobert and Parker a respective 18 and 19 points behind.
