DaveInDaytona
08-19-2002, 12:48 AM
Mladin's Year Ends In Frustration
"This is factory racing. ... never have to put an iced towel on the shock"
by evan williams
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
Suzuki's Mat Mladin skipped the podium festivities and press conference at Sunday's VIR Superbike race. Mladin finished second behind Eric Bostrom after three red flags and a photo finish.
Mladin returned to the Suzuki garage after calming down a bit and was then available for comment. "I had nothing good to say and I didn't want to get up there and make a jerk of myself or my team," Mladin explained after his return. "Everyone thought I'm pissed off about second, but I'm not. When I went across the finish line, all I thought about was the amount of work we should have done, that should have been happening this year."
The three-time Superbike champion continued: "I don't care if I come second or fifth or if I won. It's not the point. I'd be happier if I won, yeah, because I'd have won a race and I didn't win a race all year. I'd still be annoyed as I've been all year for the amount of effort my guys and myself have put in to get the results that we've got. I'm annoyed."
The heat of the moment had Mladin especially incensed because he gave his all to hold off Bostrom and failed. "I'm a racer and I don't come here because I get paid good money or anything else. I try to win. I couldn't ride any harder. I ran a 1:25.5 in that race. My front tire was out of round and it was chattering everywhere. I was pushing as hard as I possibly could. I held my breath that whole race and I was chewing on my tongue on the brakes everywhere, making sure no one passed me. I had nothing else. Nothing left."
The 2002 season was marred by suspension problems for Mladin. Mat, nearly invincible for three previous years on GSX-R750s, could never get the bike working as he liked when the latest version of Showa hardware was bolted to the Suzuki frame. "This weekend was the best the bike has ever felt this year. But after eight or ten laps, even less that, only three or four laps on the restarts ... the thing doesn't do what it did on the first lap. It's a frustrating thing."
To his credit, Mladin was quick to credit entire Suzuki Superbike program in his championship run. He frequently said that he "was just doing his job" in previous years when he and Suzuki made other factory riders and teams look, frankly, foolish at times.
Mat believes it is Suzuki that needs to get the suspension and horsepower ills sorted before 2003. "They are going to have to step up and do whatever they have to do to help us out. I mean, five or six laps into that race, my bike was just out of control. Coming down the straight, I was half scared of going around the first corner here. It was bucking everywhere. During all the restarts, we had freezing, ice-cold towels on the shock trying to cool it down. This is factory racing. You should never have to put an iced towel on the rear shock."
Mladin said at VIR that he would ask Suzuki if he could ride a Formula Xtreme bike next season. Was he serious when he made those comments? "It sounds like sour grapes, but what's the point of coming back if you're two seconds off the pace at Daytona? What's the point in coming down the front straightaway here (at VIR) when you're nearly 16 kilometers an hour slower than the Ducati and about 12 slower than the Honda and about nine or ten slower than the Kawasaki? What's the point? We can't win anyway."
"This championship is full of good motorcycles, especially the Hondas. And the Kawasaki is pretty decent and some of the riders are pretty damn decent as well. You can't afford to give anything away," Mladin said.
Mladin said he didn't regret choosing to skip the podium celebrations. He does end the season with some remorse, though. "I regret the suspension debacle for the whole year. This year was a waste of time for Team Suzuki. We were never going to win this championship, unfortunately."
Mladin, under contract with Suzuki for one more season, is headed back to his home in Australia to regroup before off-season testing begins.
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"This is factory racing. ... never have to put an iced towel on the shock"
by evan williams
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
Suzuki's Mat Mladin skipped the podium festivities and press conference at Sunday's VIR Superbike race. Mladin finished second behind Eric Bostrom after three red flags and a photo finish.
Mladin returned to the Suzuki garage after calming down a bit and was then available for comment. "I had nothing good to say and I didn't want to get up there and make a jerk of myself or my team," Mladin explained after his return. "Everyone thought I'm pissed off about second, but I'm not. When I went across the finish line, all I thought about was the amount of work we should have done, that should have been happening this year."
The three-time Superbike champion continued: "I don't care if I come second or fifth or if I won. It's not the point. I'd be happier if I won, yeah, because I'd have won a race and I didn't win a race all year. I'd still be annoyed as I've been all year for the amount of effort my guys and myself have put in to get the results that we've got. I'm annoyed."
The heat of the moment had Mladin especially incensed because he gave his all to hold off Bostrom and failed. "I'm a racer and I don't come here because I get paid good money or anything else. I try to win. I couldn't ride any harder. I ran a 1:25.5 in that race. My front tire was out of round and it was chattering everywhere. I was pushing as hard as I possibly could. I held my breath that whole race and I was chewing on my tongue on the brakes everywhere, making sure no one passed me. I had nothing else. Nothing left."
The 2002 season was marred by suspension problems for Mladin. Mat, nearly invincible for three previous years on GSX-R750s, could never get the bike working as he liked when the latest version of Showa hardware was bolted to the Suzuki frame. "This weekend was the best the bike has ever felt this year. But after eight or ten laps, even less that, only three or four laps on the restarts ... the thing doesn't do what it did on the first lap. It's a frustrating thing."
To his credit, Mladin was quick to credit entire Suzuki Superbike program in his championship run. He frequently said that he "was just doing his job" in previous years when he and Suzuki made other factory riders and teams look, frankly, foolish at times.
Mat believes it is Suzuki that needs to get the suspension and horsepower ills sorted before 2003. "They are going to have to step up and do whatever they have to do to help us out. I mean, five or six laps into that race, my bike was just out of control. Coming down the straight, I was half scared of going around the first corner here. It was bucking everywhere. During all the restarts, we had freezing, ice-cold towels on the shock trying to cool it down. This is factory racing. You should never have to put an iced towel on the rear shock."
Mladin said at VIR that he would ask Suzuki if he could ride a Formula Xtreme bike next season. Was he serious when he made those comments? "It sounds like sour grapes, but what's the point of coming back if you're two seconds off the pace at Daytona? What's the point in coming down the front straightaway here (at VIR) when you're nearly 16 kilometers an hour slower than the Ducati and about 12 slower than the Honda and about nine or ten slower than the Kawasaki? What's the point? We can't win anyway."
"This championship is full of good motorcycles, especially the Hondas. And the Kawasaki is pretty decent and some of the riders are pretty damn decent as well. You can't afford to give anything away," Mladin said.
Mladin said he didn't regret choosing to skip the podium celebrations. He does end the season with some remorse, though. "I regret the suspension debacle for the whole year. This year was a waste of time for Team Suzuki. We were never going to win this championship, unfortunately."
Mladin, under contract with Suzuki for one more season, is headed back to his home in Australia to regroup before off-season testing begins.
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