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AMA SBK: Mladin Keeps ‘09 Qualifying Record Perfect (Updated)
Written by: Chris Martin   
07/04/2009
Monterey, CA
 
Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin (Photo: Brian J Nelson) ยป More Photos

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The AMA Pro Road Racing action from Laguna Seca can be seen Sunday, July 5 at 9:00pm PT (late Sunday/early Monday, July 6 at Midnight ET).

Runaway AMA Pro American Superbike title leader Mat Mladin kept his perfect 2009 qualifying record intact this afternoon at Laguna Seca with a 1:24.592 lap to claim the pole position. The Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki legend jumped up from fifth on the charts to claim the top spot with just 30 seconds remaining in the session while creating a bit of separation in what was previously an extremely tightly-nit leaderboard.

"We’ve just been frantically working on the bike trying to make some improvement," Mladin explained. "Throughout each session, we’ve made some. We’re just trying to get it to consistently do good lap times and it feels pretty good. We made a couple of changes there before the last time we went out and they certainly helped out a little bit. Hopefully, we can make some more in the morning."

Mladin's last-gasp flier spoiled teammate Blake Young's hopes for a first-career Superbike pole position. Fresh off his deep-end
plunge into World Superbike substitute duty, the Wisconsin native improved greatly overnight, leading the way in the Saturday morning session and standing as the only man other than the Aussie to break into the '24s at 1:24.936.

"Every time we get on the bike, we improve the bike a little bit more," the Superbike rookie said. "I got some laps out there and I think we’re going to be good for the race. I think we’ve got a pretty decent race setup and qualifying went good. We got a good lap in there and we’re up on the front row, so I’ve got to really thank my Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki guys for doing good for me this weekend and getting us up here."

After having their long-held domination of the series challenged somewhat since their midseason introduction of the radically revised '09 GSX-R1000 to competition, the Yoshimura Suzuki juggernaut rolled right along in qualifying on Saturday. Tommy Hayden made it a Yosh 1-2-3 with a fast time of 1:25.075 to edge Road America winner Larry Pegram, who rounds out the front row on the Foremost Insurance Ducati 1098R with a lap of 1:25.199.


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