Rockstar Makita Suzuki Sweeps Road Atlanta
- From: TRS Media | Published: April 7th, 2009 - 10:37 am
Suzuki Celebrates 50th Consecutive Superbike Win at Road Atlanta with Triple Podium. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mladin, Hayden take first & second, with National Guard Jordan Suzuki’s May in third in Round 3 of the AMA Superbike Series.
Race I – Road Atlanta – April 3 -5, 2009
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 afternoon. 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 his teammate home in second place, while National Guard Jordan Suzuki’s Geoff May rounded out the all-Suzuki podium with a third-place finish. Finally, 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 an impressive 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 Suzuki’s. Hopefully we can go back and learn something tonight and get a win tomorrow.”
Geoff May:
“I realized 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 a
lot today and I think that tomorrow we’ll come back with a better set-up bike.”
AMA Superbike Series, Race II – Road Atlanta – April 3 -5, 2009
Suzuki followed up Saturday’s all-Suzuki podium sweep with another such feat on Sunday afternoon in the second of two AMA Superbike races at the Suzuki Superbike Showdown at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mat Mladin again got a great start on his GSX-R1000 and
led all the laps to take the win, which means the six-time AMA Superbike Champion celebrated his 77th career AMA Superbike victory. Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Blake Young followed Mladin home for a second-place result. This is Superbike rookie Young’s best result so far in the premier class.
Rounding out the second all-Suzuki podium of the weekend was National Guard Jordan Suzuki’s Geoff May, thanks to an impressive third-place finish. Finally, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden followed his fellow Suzuki teammates home in sixth position.
Mat Mladin:
“I had a bit of a tumble in practice this morning and, as usual, my Rockstar Makita Suzuki team got the bike together for me and ready for the race. It was a good race for us, we had a bit of a crack at it and put in some good laps. Around lap 10 or 11, I was trying to figure out whether I should keep pushing it, but my boys get a bit nervous when I do that. I figured I’d pushed my luck today enough already so I just decided to have a bit of fun at the end of the race.”
Blake Young:
“I got a good start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and after a few laps, Geoff (May) came by with some good pace. I definitely jumped in and tried to see where he was a little bit better than me. I’ve got to give a ‘heads up’ to my guys for giving me the best motorcycle I’ve had all weekend long. We never took a step back at all this weekend, everything was going forward.”
Geoff May:
“Today my start was a little worse than yesterday. I was worried I was going to get run over and just end my day right there. I just put my head down again and we really had the National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 set up for the end of the race and we really worked hard on giving it a little extra at the end of the race.”
Tommy Hayden:
“I didn’t get the best of starts and I was a little far back and started working my way through the field. But I had an issue where I ran off the track and I lost a couple of positions and a little time. I was able to run the pack back down, but I just struggled passing today. I could run the pace pretty easy but I was having trouble being aggressive and passing. It’s a bummer because the results weren’t great but it could’ve been worse. We’re still second in points and we’re going to Barber next, and that’s one of my
favorite tracks.”
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race next at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on the weekend of May 2-4, 2009.
