News - March 09 Fontana Superbike
March 20 -22 2009 - Race TwoRockstar Makita Suzuki's Hayden Finishes Second
Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Mladin Adds to his Impressive Victory Tally at Fontana Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Hayden Finishes Second
As in Saturday's race of this doubleheader weekend, Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammates Mat Mladin and Tommy Hayden pulled to the front of the field for the afternoon competition. A Red Flag stopped the race early on, and in the restart Tommy Hayden was able to take the holeshot ahead of Mladin. The teammates exchanged the lead once more during the race, before Mladin capitalized on a nearly flawless race to the checkered flag. Hayden was not able to keep pace with Mladin in the final laps, but he succeeded in holding off the rest of the field and earning another second-place finish for the Suzuki Superbike Challenge weekend. Newly signed Blake Young had a rough day, jumping the start and then working his way up from last place. The young rider made the best of a bad situation, however, and brought home a top-10 finish.
Tommy Hayden
"It was shaping up to be a pretty good race, battling with Mat. I got on the front straightaway and missed a couple gears. Overall, the Suzuki GSX-R1000 was very good. I had some issues with grip today, so it was a little harder for me to run with Mat. He had his head down today. It was a good weekend with two secondplace finishes. I got a little momentum going into Road Atlanta, and we'll try to keep up what we've been doing."
Mat Mladin
"I had a good race today. We learned a little bit from Tommy (Hayden) yesterday, and we changed a couple things today. We made some improvements, and it allowed me to stay close to him and make the move when I needed to. We ran a little bit hotter pace today and it was a very good race overall for Rockstar Makita Suzuki. It's great to have Suzuki up here on top again with first- and second-place finishes. The Rockstar Makita Suzuki crew can take most of the credit for that. I show up for the weekend and have a great motorbike to race in the Suzuki GSX-R1000."
Blake Young
"My race started out good. I got a good start and then we had the red flag and had to re-grid. I just jumped the start, so I had to come into the pits and do a ride-through and that's basically where my race ended. But I did my best and worked my way through to ninth place. I think as far as looking at the positives from today, we learned a lot from race one on Saturday and applied it to race two on Sunday. And because of that, I think we have a better bike going into Road Atlanta because of it."
March 20 -22 2009 Race 1Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Mladin Wins Fontana Superbike Race after Epic Battle with Teammate Hayden.
Suzuki GSX-R1000s sweeped top 4 Superbike spots after Makita Suzuki's Mladin fought an epic battle with teammate Tommy Hayden.
Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin won his 74th AMA Superbike race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, on Saturday afternoon, following an intense battle with Rockstar Makita teammate Tommy Hayden. Hayden rode an impressive race, taking the holeshot after a red flag incident, and battling with Mladin until late in the race when the Australian's gutsy pass gave him the lead and the win. Hayden finished a close second and National Guard Jordan Suzuki rider Geoff May completed the Suzuki sweep of the podium at Auto Club Speedway, with a best-ever third-place finish. Newly signed Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Blake Young continues to impress with a fourth-place finish for his best result of the new 2009 season.
Tommy Hayden
"The Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 was a great motorcycle today and the bike is definitely capable of winning. The last lap didn't work out for me, but hats off to Mat, he's a tough guy to beat but we'll keep trying and it's good to have a guy like that to chase. We'll come back tomorrow and try and do a little better and hopefully close it out and finally get a win."
Mat Mladin
"If there's anybody up here in this field that I'd like to see win one, it's Tommy, but I'm not going to give him one. I'm going to push him hard and he's had a rough time the last couple of years and he's starting to show how good he can ride a motorbike and I'm sure we're going to see more of him in the future. We'll go out tomorrow and have another good race. I've got to thank my Rockstar Makita Suzuki crew, and it's great to see the two Rockstar Makita Suzuki's up here and Geoff on another Suzuki - we've swept the podium again."
Blake Young
"I got a good start on the re-start and was working my way through the field. The Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 ran great and we'll try and improve on today and hopefully put it on the box tomorrow."
