Need4Speed
10-21-2004, 03:11 PM
Its a rather long article, so if ur interested..check it out (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2004/Oct/041021a.htm)
MAT MLADIN - 2004 American Superbike Champion
Nine years is a long time for any sportsman to remain at the higher echelons of a particular championship or series of their chosen sport.
For Australian Mat Mladin, the nine seasons he has spent racing in the highly competitive American AMA Superbike Championship has brought with it considerable success.
Since making the move to the AMA series in 1996, Mladin has been associated with the factory Yoshimura Suzuki team for all bar one of those seasons, having raced for Eraldo Ferracci in his Fast By Ferracci Ducati team in 1997.
In this period he has emerged as one of the most decorated riders in the sport. Five AMA Superbike Championships, 32 career race wins (including three Daytona 200's) and 37 career pole positions, rates him as the best in the business.
Mladin and his tight knit crew have become the yardstick of the American Superbike Championship. His rivals see him as the man to beat rather than the motorcycle and team he rides for. He has many fans as well as detractors, but that does not distract him from the task at hand, winning championships.
Fresh from his most recent championship success at Virginia International Raceway, Mladin took time to answer a number of questions, relating to his season and his time spent racing in the grueling AMA series.