Mladin in seventh heaven

From AMA Pro Racing

MONTEREY, CA - Mat Mladin kept his 2009 pole-winning record intact in AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike qualifying at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday.

Mladin led a top-three sweep for the Yoshimura Suzuki team in qualifying, riding his No. 7 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a best lap of 1:24.592 (95.243 mph) to earn the pole position. The Aussie has now qualified on the pole seven times in seven qualifying sessions this season and owns 62 career American Superbike poles. He heads into Sunday's race looking for his 10th victory of the season and the 82nd of his career.

"It was a good lap for us," Mladin said. "We've just been frantically working on the bike trying to make some improvement. 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."

Starting second will be Blake Young on the No. 79 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 with a lap at 1:24.936 (94.858 mph). For a time in the session, Young seemed poised to take his first American Superbike pole, but a late flyer by Mladin relegated him to second on the grid. He is looking for his first American Superbike victory.

"It went really good for us today," said Young. "I mean, every time we get on the bike, we improve the bike a little bit better. 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/Suzuki/Yoshimura guys for doing good for me this weekend and getting us up here."

Tommy Hayden made it three Yoshimura Suzukis in the top-three starting spots with a lap at 1:25.075 (94.702 mph). It is Hayden's fourth front-row starting position of the season and he heads into Sunday's race second in the American Superbike championship standings trailing Mladin by 110 points, 325-215. He has finished on the podium in six of 11 races this season, but is still looking for his first win on an American Superbike as well.

"It feels good," Hayden said. "Obviously, the bike is working pretty good with all three of us up here. I feel like we've made a few improvements since the last race. The team's been working hard, so I'd like to thank those guys. They've made things a little easier, basically, since I've been here. From the time I rolled out, things were coming a little easier this weekend, and things are going pretty smooth. I thought I could have gone a little bit quicker than that, but I'm glad to be on the front row. That was really what I wanted more than anything, to make sure I didn't get stuck back a little bit."

Larry Pegram, who picked up his first American Superbike victory in 10 years in the most recent race last month at Road America, completed the front row with a lap at 1:25.199 (94.564 mph) on the No. 72 Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati 1098R. It was Pegram's second front-row qualifying performance of the season and his first since the season-opening round at Daytona in March.

Josh Hayes completed the top five with a lap at 1:25.276 (94.479 mph) on the No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1. It was Hayes' fifth consecutive top-five qualifying performance. The top seven riders in the session were covered by less than one second.

The American Superbike race wraps up the festivities at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend on Sunday afternoon. The 23-lap (50-mile) race is slated to roll off from a standing start at 4:15 p.m. local time. Same-day television coverage of the American Superbike race and all of the AMA Pro events at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca airs on SPEED beginning at 9:00 p.m. PT on Sunday night (late Sunday/early Monday at Midnight ET).

American Superbike Qualifying (Top 20)
1. Mat Mladin (Rockstar · Makita · Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:24.591
2. Blake Young (Rockstar · Makita · Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.344
3. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar · Makita · Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.483
4. Larry Pegram (Foremost Insurance · Pegram Racing Ducati) Ducati 1098R +0.607
5. Josh Hayes (Yamaha Motor Corp. USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.684
6. Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.746
7. Neil Hodgson (Corona Extra Honda) Honda CBR1000RR +0.937
8. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha Motor Corp. USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +1.303
9. Geoff May (National Guard Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1.357
10. Taylor Knapp (Taylor Knapp Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1.520
11. David Anthony (Aussie Dave Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1.875
12. Jake Holden (Holden Racing) Honda CBR1000RR +2.109
13. Chris Ulrich (Roadracingworld.com · Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +2.159
14. Aaron Gobert (AGR Inc.) Honda CBR1000RR +2.567
15. Jeremy Toye (Lee`s Cycle Racing) Honda CBR1000RR +2.948
16. Cory Call (MDK Motorsports) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +3.366
17. Hawk Mazzotta (Four Feathers Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +3.633
18. Dominic Jones (Moto Garage Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +4.535
19. Dean Mizdal (M Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +5.235
20. David Kunzelman (Esurance Racing Team) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +5.325