Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Mat Mladin led the way for Suzuki's 50th consecutive AMA Superbike victory when the six-time champion won his own 76th career AMA Superbike win at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, on Saturday.
Mladin started from pole position - his 58th such feat in his career - and led all 20 laps of the race. Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Tommy Hayden followed hisTeam mate home in second place, while National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Geoff May rounded out the all-Suzuki podium with a third-place finish.
Rockstar Makita Suzuki's rookie Blake Young got a good start in the premier event and ran in second position for the first several laps before finishing animpressive fourth.
Mat Mladin:
"What do you say about 50 wins in a row? The Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki team is just unbelievable. For the last few years, we've been at the front of all the races, and I have to thank all our guys because we have an amazing team. Today at Road Atlanta was a good race for us. I got a good start and we've gotten the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a point where I feel good about pushing it. We had a small problem yesterday and we fixed it but actually it didn't work as well today, so maybe we need to go back to having that small problem again. Hopefully we can take care of that and I can get through the turns a bit quicker and get another win tomorrow."
Tommy Hayden:
"I knew today's race was going to be tough because I was starting from the second row, but fortunately I got a good start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000. But everybody was riding pretty decent and I had a little trouble getting through the field but I finally made it and I just tried to keep my head down and keep the pressure on. But it feels good to be up on the podium again with these other Suzukis. Hopefully we can go back and learn something tonight and get a win tomorrow."
Geoff May:
"I realised at Fontana that some of the guys toward the back of the pack aren't as fit and they tend to fall off the pace toward the end of the race. So I just tried to stay patient and when I saw somebody make a mistake, I just picked them off and worked through the field. I just kept pushing hard and then I saw Tommy getting away, so I tried to run him down. I wasn't sure if I'd get him at the line but I just tried to go as hard as I could."
Blake Young:
"It was my first time starting from the front row and I almost pulled off the holeshot but Mat went a little deeper into the turn. So I ran second for a few laps and tried to set my own pace on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000, but Tommy was going a little faster than I was. But we learned alot today and I think that tomorrow we'll come back with a better set-up bike."
AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:
1. Mat Mladin (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)2. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)3. Geoff May (National Guard Jordan Suzuki)4. Blake Young (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)5. Josh Hayes (Yamaha)6. Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki)7. Larry Pegram (Ducati)8. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha)9. David Anthony (Suzuki)10. Jake Holden (Honda)
