WEEKEND SPORTS REPORTS
07 June 2005 - Suzuki Racing

MLADIN TAKES START-TO-FINISH WIN - SMETS CLOSES IN ON SECOND PLACE -SUZUKI TAKES AUSSIE SUPERBIKE LEAD

MLADIN TAKES START-TO-FINISH WIN

Team Yoshimura Suzuki''s Mat Mladin claimed his seventh AMA Superbike victory of the year with a start-to-finish win in today''s Elkhart Lake 10th round at Road America in Wisconsin.

The five-time AMA Superbike Champion and current series leader crossed the line on his GSX-R1000 almost 6.5 second clear of team mate and current series number two Ben Spies with Aaron Yates fifth on his Yoshimura Suzuki.

''It was a good race for us,'' said Mladin from the podium. ''I''m glad it stayed dry for everyone and I hope we put on a good show. This year the new Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 is working really well for us and it''s a shame that we had a wet race yesterday, though we still got on the podium. I''d like to thank my crew because we''ve had some issues this weekend and they got the GSX-R sorted for us so we could get the win today.''

In Friday afternoon''s initial qualifying session, Mladin took his 43rd career pole position and his sixth one of the year by setting a track record-breaking best lap of 2.12:553 seconds. Team mates Spies and Yates were gridded second and third respectively with Spies posting a best time of 2.13:345 and Yates a 2.14:235 in Saturday''s session.

Sunday''s 16-lap Superbike race got started and then was almost immediately red flagged from a downed rider. A complete restart resulted in Mladin out front and he gradually created a gap and led the whole race to take the win. ''I got the holeshot on the second start, but I was in the lead anyway so it doesn''t matter,'' said Mladin of the red flag.

SMETS CLOSES IN ON SECOND PLACE

Team Suzuki''s Joel Smets was fourth overall after racing to seventh and third places at a rainy Matchams Park British Grand Prix, round seven of 17 in the 2005 FIM Motocross World Championship today.

The 36-year-old Belgian missed the podium by two points and has slipped to fourth in the series but has gained ground and lies just 23 points behind second-placed Frenchman Mickael Pichon, who finished a lowly 10th overall.

The excellently-prepared circuit on England''s south coast drew in 27,000 noisy and appreciative fans who braved chilly conditions and persistent showers.

Smets was involved in a first-corner tangle with KTM''s Ben Townley and Honda''s Pichon and was virtually last by the time he remounted. He was able to trawl through the pack and while moto winner Everts lapped everybody up to 10th, Smets passed a fading Antti Pyrhonen for a well-earned seventh position.

In the second moto, he started brightly and was holding a lone fourth until a slip by Townley promoted him to third.

Motovision Suzuki racing''s Yoshitaka Atsuta accumulated 13 points from 16th and 13th in both motos at his team''s home Grand Prix despite struggling with a leg injury sustained last week in Japan.

A special mention must also MTM Suzuki rider Danny Theybers who collected two strong top 10 results in one of his best GPs in recent seasons.

The Grand Prix was won by World Champion Stefan Everts from Josh Coppins and Ben Townley.

SUZUKI TAKES AUSSIE SUPERBIKE LEAD

Team Suzuki has snatched the series lead in the Australian Superbike Championship after Shawn Giles raced his GSX-R1000 to victory at Sunday''s fourth round at Mallala Motorsport Park.

Heading into the round only two points shy of the series lead, Giles laid down a 1:06.784s lap around the 2.6km circuit to snare yet another front-row start for the weekend''s two races, qualifying ahead of his main series rival Josh Brookes.

Race one saw Giles blast off the start line to grab the holeshot and lead the field through turn one before being shuffled back to third place in the opening laps behind Jamie Stauffer and Adam Fergusson.

Close dicing in the ultra-competitive Superbike class saw Giles quickly forge his way back into second place and begin to hunt down the race lead.

Demonstrating his vast experience, the Suzuki champion maintained his cool, delivering a consistent, blistering pace while Stauffer threw away his advantage in the closing stages; running wide at the first turn and taking a tour through pit lane to make amends.

Giles controlled the remaining five laps to collect his third successive race win and assume the series lead with a three point advantage.

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