Mat Mladin didn’t earn six AMA Superbike titles by operating on cruise control. He is a hard driven charger, and he didn’t like losing the title to young teammate Ben Spies last year. Mladin is on a mission this year to take the title back, but Spies is probably even faster than he was a year ago. This will get interesting.
Between them, these Suzuki teammates have won every AMA Superbike race this year. Although Mladin had problems at the opening round at Daytona (finishing tenth), he rebounded and won each race at the Barber Motorsports double header last weekend — although not by much over Spies.
Can a third rider enter the mix? Miguel Duhamel (Honda) is a crafty old veteran himself (like Mladin), as well as a former AMA Superbike champion. He sits third in the points, and has looked, at times, like he has the pace of the Suzukis. Honda will burn the midnight oil to make sure that he does before the series is over.
