Mladin Loves a Parade, as Long as He’s in Front

Things were back to normal in AMA superbike country Sunday at California Speedway.

Too normal, in fact.

Mat Mladin, who experienced a blip in his march toward a sixth championship in America’s premier road racing class when his Suzuki quit on him Saturday, took no chances Sunday. He came off the start with a vengeance and led every one of the 28 laps around the 21-turn, 2.3-mile course to win the Suzuki Challenge, victory No. 36 in his superbike career.

Mladin not only led every lap, from the third lap on there was not a single change among the top five riders. From the moment Miguel Duhamel fell on the third lap while running in fifth place, Ben Spies, Aaron Yates, Eric Bostrom and Neil Hodgson paraded around as if they were in a parade -- albeit it a high-speed one.

“Yesterday is yesterday, today is today,” said the taciturn Mladin. “We’re living and breathing fresh air, and it’s an old saying, racing is racing. The race today was really good.”

The 33-year-old winner averaged 97 mph for the 65-mile race, leaning one way and then the other as his kneepads scraped the pavement in one sweeping turn after another, while hitting in the 180-mph neighborhood on the long straightaway. The parade didn’t seem to bother the estimated 30,000 fans who cheered lustily each time Mladin flashed past the stands, on his way to his fifth AMA superbike win at Fontana in six tries.

Suzukis took the first three places, followed by Bostrom and Hodgson on Ducatis, then a Honda ridden by Jake Zemke of Paso Robles, Calif., winner of Saturday’s Formula Xtreme race.

Mladin, a transplanted Australian who lives part time in nearby Rancho Cucamonga, lapped all but nine of the 38 starters and led Spies, a superbike rookie from Longview, Texas, by more than six seconds before slowing on the final lap.

“When you’re at the front you have to set the pace, so I tried to run it pretty consistently,” Mladin said. “I just stretched it out a little bit and had enough and then stretched it out a little more and made it comfortable for the last five laps.”

There was no competition behind him either, as Spies had nine seconds on Yates, who had seven over Bostrom, with Hodgson more than 20 seconds behind him.

Spies, however, retained the season points lead, 155-152 over Mladin, despite the fact that Mladin has won every pole and four of five races.

“I just felt good that I was on the same motorcycle as Mat and just tried to keep him honest,” said Spies, Saturday’s winner after Mladin’s Suzuki quit. “I tried not to make too many mistakes, but he just ran away with it.”

Duhamel, a former superbike champion from Quebec, Canada, remounted his Honda after a third-lap spill and cruised around to an 18th-place finish. He also fell Saturday in the Formula Xtreme race.

Jason Disalvo, 20, of Stafford, N.Y., won the day’s most exciting event, the 17-lap Repsol Lubricants Superstock race, after the favorite, Yates, fell while leading with two laps to go. Jamie Hacking of Denver, N.C., finished second with Steve Rapp of Valencia, a member of Michael Jordan’s team, third.

“It took me half a lap before I realized what happened,” Disalvo said. “I have always heard about racing luck, and this time it turned out to be good for me. I can’t say if I would have had enough to challenge Aaron if he hadn’t fallen. I think it would have been a good battle.”

Rapp credited a visit with Jordan on Saturday for his podium finish.

“I was feeling a little tired yesterday when MJ came into the truck to talk to us,” he said. “As soon as he came in I just felt energized. Today [after the race] he called and said he’s excited and pumped.”

Hacking came back to win the 17-lap supersport race over the Hayden brothers, Tommy and Roger Lee, from Owensboro, Ky.

In a sideshow attraction, motocross and Indy-car veteran Jeff Ward of San Juan Capistrano won the supermoto. Ward, a former AMA supercross champion, was picked to drive one of Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George’s cars in the May 19 Indy 500.

“Supermoto lets me keep racing and having fun,” Ward said. “I’m not competitive in the AMA motocross, but this is not time-consuming or real taxing. It’s really just a lot of fun. I have four kids. One is racing today and one raced yesterday, so this was a place for me to ride.”

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Points of Order

Australian Mat Mladin has won four of five AMA superbike races this year. But failing to finish Saturday’s first race at Fontana dropped him to second place in the overall standings. Current AMA point leaders:

1. Ben Spies...155

2. Mat Mladin...152

3. Neil Hodgson...146

4. Aaron Yates...143

5. Eric Bostrom...122

* Next race: May 13-15, Sears Point, Sonoma, Calif.