DUNLOP RACE EVENT REPORT - MLADIN CAPTURES FIFTH SUPERBIKE TITLE
11 October 2004 - Dunlop

Mladin captures fifth Superbike title; Gobert and Hayden win first championships; Duhamel wins record three races in one day

The scenic countryside of the Virginia International Raceway
(VIR) in Alton, Virginia welcomed the final stop of the AMA''s (American Motorcyclist Association) 11-venue 2004 Superbike road racing series on October 9-10. It was an exciting climax to the season that determined the last three of the AMA''s four 2004 road racing championships. Making Superbike history was Yoshimura Suzuki''s Mat Mladin, who captured his fifth AMA Superbike title, an unprecedented feat. Up-and-coming riders also took away championship honors as Graves Motorsports Yamaha''s Aaron Gobert won the Superstock championship, his first, and Kawasaki Road Racing''s Tommy Hayden took home his first championship, the 600cc Supersport crown. With the Formula Xtreme championship title sewn up by Honda Racing''s Miguel Duhamel at Road Atlanta, the AMA season concluded with each Dunlop-supported manufacturer earning a road racing crown.

VIR greeted the teams and race fans with seasonably cool and dry weather that was perfectly suited for racing. This last round was originally scheduled for mid-September but wind, rain and floods produced by Tropical Storm Ivan hammered the region and forced a postponement. For several of the competitors in the hunt for championships, the unexpected break was an opportunity to nurse injuries back to health.

VIR is known as a fast ''right-hand'' track that generates significant heat in the right side of the rear tyre, particularly along the front straight which curves to the right after the start-finish line. For Superbike competition, Dunlop brought four front and six rear tyre compound selections, ranging from medium to hard compounds, including multi-compounds and a new-generation rear tyre designed to maximize turning and straight-line traction and stability. To support the factory teams and support riders in Superbike, Superstock, Supersport and Formula Xtreme, Dunlop brought more than 1800 tyres, including two types of rain tyres for the unexpected.

The first race of the two-day season finale was the ever-so-close Superstock competition, held on Saturday. Coming into the last race, Aaron Gobert led the series by a slim five-point margin over his teammate Jamie Hacking and Kawasaki''s Tommy Hayden. Yamaha''s Jason Disalvo grabbed the pole position on his Yamaha YZF-R1 with a record time of 1:25.328; when the race flag dropped, he sped off into the lead and he was never challenged. Yoshimura Suzuki''s Ben Spies, riding a GSX-R1000, looked to be the only rider capable of staying with Disalvo in the early laps, but Disalvo stretched his advantage to more than nine seconds late in the race and Spies could manage no better than second on the day. The championship fight came down to Hacking and Gobert, who finished third and fourth, respectively. If Hacking-who valiantly battled back from mid-season injuries-had overtaken Spies for second, the championship would have been his. But it was not to be and Gobert''s finish was good enough for his first AMA roadracing championship.

''This was the kind of race I''d been looking for all year, a race win like this, and I''m glad that I got it,'' said Disalvo. ''And again, (I''m) really happy for Aaron winning the championship. It''s great for Yamaha. This R1 is fantastic. And the team worked great. The AMA, too.''

For the middle brother of the talented Gobert family, the championship came after an uphill battle following two seasons plagued by injuries. ''I think I broke something like 19 bones in that crash at Daytona,'' he recalled from his 2002 Supersport accident. ''For three months straight, laying on the couch, not being able to walk. To come back now and I''ve only just been able to start running for training this year. Things are good, and it feels like it''s paying off. I told Chuck Graves when I first came over here in 2001, I said to him, ''I''ll win your first championship for you.'' And here I am, four years later, I''ve finally done it for him.''

On the day, Tommy Hayden finished sixth on his ZX-10R, followed by Yamaha''s Buckmaster in seventh, Attack Kawasaki''s Josh Hayes in eighth, and Suzuki''s Jason Pridmore in tenth as Dunlop-supported riders took eight of the top ten positions. The season tally for the Superstock series gave Yamaha a 1-2-4 finish with Gobert at 320 points, Hacking with 317, Tommy Hayden with 313, and Disalvo with 312.

This year''s Superbike competition produced an exciting battle between four-time Superbike champ Mat Mladin, Honda Racing''s Miguel Duhamel (also a Superbike champion) and Erion Racing''s rookie Superbike pilot Jake Zemke. With stellar performances from Hondas'' Ben Bostrom and Suzuki''s Aaron Yates sprinkled throughout the season, the season-long skirmish highlighted the best efforts of the two factory teams. Suzuki''s venerable GSX-R1000 faced stiff competition as Honda''s new CBR1000RR hit its stride mid-season and seemed to enjoy a horsepower advantage until Suzuki''s engineers found enough power to level the playing field. Veterans Mladin and Duhamel regularly leap-frogged one another in their quest for the most AMA Superbike victories (Mladin led Duhamel 32-30 coming into the final round) while Zemke earned his keep, notching two victories of his own. Mladin led the series from the season opener at Daytona; as few as 10 points separated him from Duhamel after round eight at Laguna Seca, but consistent finishes built his lead to 42 points entering the last two races at the final VIR round.

On Saturday, Mladin set his customary front-of-the-pack pace throughout practice and qualifying but Duhamel snared the pole position in the final minutes and set a new lap record of 1:24.404 in the process. Sunday''s first Superbike race was a thriller. Early in the race Mladin took the lead and by lap eight, Mladin, teammate Aaron Yates and Duhamel were dicing for the lead. On lap 18, Mladin went off the track briefly, slipping back to sixth. With Mladin''s nearest rival in the championship, Zemke, suffering from the effects of his practice crash on Saturday, it was unclear where Mladin needed to finish to secure the championship. On the final lap, Duhamel passed Yates entering turn one and held him off as the pair worked through lapped riders, winning the race by a scant .126 seconds. Finishing third was Duhamel''s teammate Ben Bostrom and in sixth position was Mladin, who secured the championship after Zemke withdrew late in the race,

''When I was out there behind Aaron, I was just (thinking), ''Man, all right. This is pretty tough,'' said Duhamel. ''I might have to go for it, you know, try to do the best I can, but I don''t want to be stupid, either. But I thought a bit about Shawn Hose (the breast cancer victim to whom Duhamel dedicated his pole position), and I was going, ''it would be great if I could put the pole and the win. That''s what I did on that last lap, and it came home good.''

Mladin was understated in acknowledging his fifth title in six years, a remarkable accomplishment. ''''It was good to get the championship done. I want to thank the whole Yoshimura Suzuki crew, those guys really stepped up and put us on a motorcycle here and put us in a position where we could cruise around and take the championship. I thank all my crew for making five championships possible. And everyone else, Dunlop Tyres, those guys stepped up this year and gave us tyres that we were confident in and were very good.''

In Supersport competition, Jason Disalvo rode his Yamaha YZF-R6 to a new lap record of 1:26.781-his second record-setting pole performance of the weekend-to capture the top starting position for the season finale on Sunday. The race was a spectacular show as teammates Disalvo, Damon Buckmaster and Jamie Hacking all vied for the lead. Meanwhile, brothers Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden rode their Kawasaki ZX-6RRs more conservatively in their bid to win the championship. Older brother Tommy held the upper hand on Roger Lee by 11 points coming into the race and needed only to keep him in sight to win the series. In the end, Disalvo took his second win of the weekend, holding of Hacking by just .242 seconds. Buckmaster crashed out and teammate Aaron Gobert slipped across the line in third, assuring a Yamaha podium sweep. In the championship hunt, Roger Lee Hayden took fourth place, two positions ahead of brother Tommy, but it was not enough and the elder Hayden snared his first AMA championship by nine points, 352 to Roger Lee''s 343.

''This weekend, how special it was, is right up there with Daytona, if not better than Daytona,'' said Disalvo. Of the last-lap drama with Hacking, he noted, ''It was such a fun race. I can''t wait to watch the race on TV, I''ll probably just fast forward through the whole race to the last lap.''

For Hayden, the championship was sweet. ''It was a long year, for sure. Starting way back to Daytona seems a long way from right now. But the whole year went really good. I felt like I rode every race hard, and was on the podium a lot, that was my goal. It''s been close a lot of times, and this year, to finally get over that hump and go ahead, I''ve been second a number of times, but to win, it''s definitely a special day for me.''

Gobert''s Supersport result brought his season total to 284 points, enough for third place in the series behind Kawasaki''s one-two finish. On the day, Dunlop-shod riders took seven of the top ten positions.

The second Superbike race on Sunday showcased another strong performance by Duhamel and Yates. Yates started well and he held the lead, building a solid margin in the early going. A charging Duhamel, who worked his way forward from a sixth-place start, took control of the race when he passed Yates on lap 10 and built a sizable lead of more than seven seconds. At the checkered flag, it was Duhamel winning his second race of the day, bringing his career Superbike total to 32 victories, tied with Mladin.

''The second race was really good,'' said Duhamel, ''quite a bit easier than the first race. My bike was so much better in the second race, We changed it, we made one (suspension) click difference on the bike. The bike felt really solid. I''m really jazzed about my team, the guys did a great job.''

Mladin rode an inspired race after taking a stop-and-go-penalty for jumping the start. The season''s champ clawed his way back into contention in a race that held no significance and finished fourth behind Ben Bostrom and Yates, who carded third and second, respectively. On the day, Dunlop-equipped riders took seven of the top 10 spots. Mladin closed out the series with 584 points to Duhamel''s 551. Zemke, who wisely sat out the second race, clinched third with 490 points and Ben Bostrom was fourth with 422.

 If it was possible to bring drama to a race with seemingly no significance, Duhamel was the man to do it. After winning the Formula Xtreme championship one round earlier at Road Atlanta, Duhamel could have sat out the race. But showing the same spirit as Mladin in Superbike race two, Duhamel wasted no time charging to the lead on his Honda CBR600RR and he was never headed, winning the race by over four seconds. By winning his second three-peat of the season, Duhamel became the first man to win three AMA races in one day. His record-tying eighth Formula Xtreme victory in one season was also the 82nd AMA victory of his career. For the year, Duhamel collected 395 points, followed by Zemke in second with 308. Zemke''s teammate Alex Gobert was fourth in the series with 254 points.

Dunlop congratulates all the competitors in the 2004 AMA Superbike series and is especially proud of the season''s champions-Yoshimura Suzuki''s Mat Mladin, Graves Motorsports Yamaha''s Aaron Gobert, Kawasaki Road Racing''s Tommy Hayden and Honda Racing''s Miguel Duhamel-each of whom rode to victory on Dunlop tyres.

About Dunlop

Dunlop is one of the world''s leading manufacturers of high performance tyres with an impressive track record of motorsport successes. Dunlop''s extensive racing experience has always led to innovative technologies for road tyres.

In the USA, Dunlop Tyres is the largest supplier of original equipment and replacement motorcycle tyres.and the only manufacturer of motorcycle tyres in North America.

Many of the world''s leading motorcycle manufacturers fit Dunlop as standard, including Aprilia, Benelli, BMW, Buell, Derbi, Ducati, Harley Davidson, Honda, HRD, Husaberg, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM, MV Agusta, Peugeot, Piaggio, Suzuki, Vertemati, and Yamaha

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