Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Mat Mladin continues to lead the AMA Superbike championship after finishing second in Sunday afternoon's race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Sunday's race was the second of two in the AMA Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader weekend, which saw six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin winning the first race of the event on Saturday.
So far this year, Mladin has won nine AMA Superbike races and finished on the podium a total of 10 out of 11 times. Jordan Suzuki's Aaron Yates joined Mladin on the podium in third place after passing Mladin's Rockstar Makita Suzuki team mate Blake Young, who ran in third for most of the 13-lap event.
After Yates' pass, Young fell and wound up finishing eighth. Finally, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Tommy Hayden finished up the weekend with a seventh-place result.
Mat Mladin:
"Obviously, it was a race with a lot of back and forth for the lead and in the end, we couldn't get it done. We rode hard on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and that's all we could do today."
Tommy Hayden:
"I got a better start today and it was good to have a dry race. We've been struggling a bit all weekend, though it was definitely a better race today than yesterday. I did my fastest times all weekend in that race. But I've had a tough time this weekend and I feel like I've really had to work hard for every little bit of progress we made on the track. But we've got to keep on working on the bike and get back to where we need to be."
Blake Young:
"I got off to a really good start on my Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and was running fourth for a little while. And I just kind sorted out the field and ended up in third for a little bit. I tried to keep my head down and watch the guys in front of me battling it out, and hoping they would make a mistake and I could get a little closer. But we ended up eighth and now we'll go to our next test and work on the bike from there."
Aaron Yates:
"We had a pretty decent race there. The start didn't go as good as I'd have wanted... it looked like it was going to be a tough one. But I managed to get by some folks on the Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 and put in some good laps. We made some changes to the bike last night and this morning, and I was able to go out there and ride like I needed to go fast so thanks to the Jordan Suzuki crew for that. I was pushing as hard as I could and was able to ride hard to the end. It feels good to get up on the podium for the Jordan Suzuki team."
AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:
1. Larry Pegram (Ducati)2. Mat Mladin (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)3. Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki)4. Geoff May (National Guard Jordan Suzuki)5. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha)6. Neil Hodgson (Honda)7. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)8. Blake Young (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)9. Jake Holden (Honda)10. David Anthony (Suzuki)
M4 SUZUKI PRO DAYTONA SPORTBIKE REPORT:
Martin Cardenas' incredible season continued on Sunday at Road America as the Team M4 Suzuki star scored perhaps the most exciting of his six 2009 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike victories.
The Colombian broke free of the pack early in the 13-lap affair but was soon joined by the reigning Formula Xtreme champion, Jake Zemke, in the battle for the win. Zemke moved into the lead on lap 7 of 13 at which point Martin chose to sit in his tow and stalk his opponent from behind as the laps wound down.
The title leader finally struck on the final lap, diving underneath in the opening turn with hopes of making a break to the chequered flag. Cardenas' rival came back, however, and the two traded the position a couple more times leading up to a dramatic sequence in which the two chased each other through the final few corners practically alongside each other.
Cardenas entered the race's final corner in second position but he set up his launch off the exit perfectly, positioning his Suzuki GSX-R600 to motor into the lead as he stormed up the hill and to the flag for his sixth win in the last eight races.
Speaking about the thrilling final lap, Cardenas said, "My first plan was to pass him early and make a very good lap and get away but he came back by in turn five. I tried to pass him again in the chicane and we went past me in the next turn. We went side-by-side for the last half of the track and it came down to the last corner. He was protecting the inside and I got a great run out of the turn and it worked out for the win. The last lap I just went for it and gave everything to try to win it.
"My bike was very fast today and it helped me a lot. Thanks to M4 Suzuki and all the team."Team mate Jason DiSalvo gave Team M4 Suzuki further reason to celebrate, contesting Cardenas for the lead early before settling into third for his fifth podium ride of the season.DiSalvo and Cardenas have now finished together on the podium three times this season, including their two earlier 1-2 results.
"We had a good start and the first opening laps were pretty exciting racing with Martin," DiSalvo said. "We were dicing around, but after the opening few laps I had trouble holding onto the draft down the straights. It was kind of a lonely race but I had a great view of the battle up front.
"It was good to get back on the podium and I'm thankful to the whole team. They did a great job this weekend."
Cardenas now leads the Daytona SportBike championship race by a mammoth 51 points at 255 points while DiSalvo is fourth at 179.
