Mladin leads Suzuki 1-2

Yoshimura Suzuki has taken first and second places in the AMA Superbike championship with Mat Mladin beating team-mate Aaron Yates to the top of the table at the final round in Birmingham, Alabama.

Mladin won his fourth title in five years despite taking it easy in the two races. He was on pole in the first race but Saturday’s racing got a bit lively at the front so Mladin settled for an easy fourth rather than risk a tumble. Yates went on to win the race followed home by Kurtis Roberts and Ben Bostrom.

Mladin entered the round with a 37-point lead over Yates so only needed to finish 24th in Sunday’s second race to secure the championship. He stuck it out through two red flags and a rain shower to finish in third behind Roberts and Giovanni Bussei, taking the championship with a record 550 points.

Suzuki’s success didn’t end with Mladin and Yates. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies won Suzuki’s third Formula Xtreme championship in a row, while Josh Hayes won the Superstock championship on the Attack Suzuki GSX-R1000.

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