mat mladin

[lurcher_boy]

ive been watchin ama for the last 2 years and im from england,
my question is how good is mat mladin, if u say very then why dosnt he go world superbikes? i know he has before and has he done moto gp a few years ago? now im not having a dig at him cus hes riding the suzuki fantasticly which is also helping world superbike leader troy corser.

[QuietMonkey]

yes, matt is VERY good. no one needs to SAY it.. it's something you watch and learn about... watching the guys he beats... how competitive he is week after week.. consistently. He had one bad year in AMA a couple years ago, when they made a wholesale suspension change to the bike. All of a sudden they had to rediscover the OPTIMUM suspension settings on the bike.. years of setup data did not apply to the new suspension. THAT's HOW COMPETITIVE this level is at... EVERY LITTLE THING COUNTS, and SUSPENSION and chassis setup is probably the most critical thing in riding hard. ya gotta have TONS of experience and confidence in HOW the bike will react when riding on the limits. THESE GUYS are on the limits corner after corner, consistently HARD ON IT!

With 5 championships in AMA against a number of awesome riders, there isn't much question in my mind that Matt is a wicked World Class rider... he was in GP a long time ago, (about 10 years ago now)... he has said he was too young back then, but learned alot... when he was in his late teens or early 20s with Cagiva... Kocinski and/or Chandler were his team-mates as I recall.. Matt was fast enough back then and developing fast while riding in the highest calibre series in THE WORLD!

There are many good articles on Matt, and *by* Matt at www.superbikeplanet.com

There are politics in racing as in everything... market positioning by manufacturers.. wanted certain nationality of riders, and a very select # os seats on GP bikes, and the marketing value of those series' vs World Super which was a very good series for quite some time... it all depends on being in the right place with the right people on your side... etc. etc... lots of things Matt has no control over. He has expressed interest in going back to GP, or possibly WSBK, BUT only with a first rate team.

World SBK may be making a comeback this year and next... etc... Corser doesn't appear to need any help with putting the Suzuki on top so Suzoook has another great guy there with lots of experience on the European tracks, the series organization, etc...

I think Matt could be competitive at world level on anything out there... he has only raced WorldSBK at the USA Laguna round in the past (as far as i remember). It's not a case of him not going to WSBK or GP as much as it is a case of someone giving him that opportunity. There are many excellent riders, and often marketing/politics plays a much larger part. i.e. Euro riders such asn Spaniards with less talent are valued higher often because the KEY SPONSORS are large Euro/Spanish companies AND the largest fan base in the world for bike racing is in Europe: Spain, Italy, etc..

Remember also that one of Matt's key antagonists over the years in AMA has been Miguel DuHamel who also spent a year in GP back in the 90s... also guys like Doug Chandler, Ben Bostrom, etc.. the riding level is very high in the AMA.. the politics/sponsorship plays a big part sadly... we need MORE manufacturers wanting to invest in AMA Superbike at present. But there are budget constraits and politics involved.

Unfortunately there is NEVER a totally level playing field in any walk of life... but at least we have several decent road racing series' in the world today...

The sanctioning body (AMA) needs to make rules that are seen as balanced for everyone. The current inline-4 liter bikes are phenomenally fast, and it's bloody amazing that Ducati with the extensive riding skills of Hodgson are able to get their V-twin anywhere near the Japanese bikes... 190MPH from a twin! wow!

//monkey

[High_Side]

In addition to what the monkey said, I think that Suzuki and Mladin are happy having-a / being-a big fish in a slightly smaller pond. Suzuki sells alot of Gixxers in the states and pays Mladin well. It's a good arrangement for both of them, however it's not really helping the series any when one rider is so dominant. I really don't believe that he would consider going to G.P.s at this point in his career either, but you never know....

[QuietMonkey]

yeah, he's getting older and is a well respected man where he is at... he only wants COMPETITION... so hopefully Honda and Ducati keep bringing it on... Kawi and Yam really need to get factory bikes into AMA Superbike... sucks without 'em...

[QuietMonkey]

i am just reading this at the moment... a great article by Matt at SuperbikePlanet... makes me laugh a lot...

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2005/may ... rb-fon.htm

[lurcher_boy]

i agree with wot mat says i most ways cus no 1 loves a loser in my mind so go on mat beat them up cus theres only 1 winner, mick doohan.. best bike, repsol, best team, not a bad rider either, rossi great talent repsol, great bike,........... until he went to yam, still great talent,,,, the best ever in my book..

[QuietMonkey]

Yep, Mick was definitely a master. great style and speed. very dominant!

I remember Mick saying things were much less fun without Schwantz and Rainey around. He learned a lot chasing guys like Gardner and Lawson I am sure too. It must've been hard to stay motivated without any serious competition. That's one reason I think maybe Rossi switched to Yam.. it certainly motivated Yamaha to build a better bike too.

My favorite guy is Wayne Rainey, who also showed unmatched skill, never had the huge horsepower for those easy front straight (top speed) "Honda Lane" passes, but made always made the Yamaha look better than it was...

In keeping with your original topic on Maldin, check this little blurb

"There have been rumors in Europe for months that Mat Mladin has been approached by a European team to race either MotoGP or World Superbike in 2006. Asked about the rumor at the Barber round several weeks ago, Mladin had no comment."

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2005/May/050512b.htm

If he gets a ride in Europe, Mat will bump up his energy level for another two or three year charge With the current World Superbike rules, it may be possible to field very competitive non-factory teams. If he has a GP offer... wowza.

Another interesting recent article written by Maladin mentions one little tidbit of why he's faster than his AMA Superbike counterparts, Yates, etc... the superbike telemetry data from a recent race showed him at "full "throttle 7.5% more often per lap" than his closest team-mate.

That isn't necessarily conclusive data as different riding styles will change the data somewhat, but 7.5% seems like a large difference for 100% throttle application. i wonder how much more often he is at 80 and 90% throttle food for thought.