PICKERINGTON, Ohio - After a thrilling weekend of racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. - sharing the spotlight with the stars of the MotoGP World Championship--the AMA Superbike Championship rolls into Lexington, Ohio, August 1-3.
America's premier national road race circuit has visited the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course circuit every year since the series inception in 1983. As in years past, the 2008 Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tires stands as one of the top draws on the track's calendar.
Here's a recap of the Laguna round, a look at the rivalries coming into Mid-Ohio and what to expect on the challenging 2.4-mile, 15-turn track.
AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY PARTS UNLIMITED
A New Win Streak in the Offing?
Coming off a decisive victory at Laguna Seca -- the 68th of his AMA Superbike career -- Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Mat Mladin enters Mid-Ohio with two straight victories to his name.
The six-time AMA Superbike champ is hoping to claw his way back into the title fight after teammate and chief rival Ben Spies, the defending title holder, built up an imposing series lead on the strength of a record-setting seven straight wins. Despite Mladin's recent triumphs, Spies currently leads him 411-375 in the overall standings with seven races remaining.
But Mladin and Spies' rivalry has been defined by alternating win streaks. If history is any indication, it may just be the Australian's turn to string together another bushel of wins.
Also in the experienced pilot's corner is the fact that Mladin has won the last three Superbike races at Mid-Ohio and eight over the course of his career, the first coming in 2001.
Spies on the Mend
Ben Spies felt feverish and suffered from nausea after competing in back-to-back MotoGP and AMA Superbike races at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix and was hospitalized two days later. Instead of simply trying to regroup after losing two races in succession to Mladin, now he's also recovering from minimally invasive laparoscopic appendix surgery performed on Tuesday, July 22.
Before his illness, the Texan performed impressively in wild card MotoGP duty at Laguna Seca, ripping off some of the fastest laps of any rider during the race and claiming an eventual eighth place result in his second-ever Grand Prix ride.
In spite of surgery, Spies is promising to compete at Mid-Ohio in a quest to claim his third-straight AMA Superbike crown.
"I've got a championship to win so I will be at Mid-Ohio," said Spies. "If the race was this weekend I'd be there, that's how important the championship is to me.
"Sometimes in this profession you've got to go out there even when you're not 100 percent," Spies added. "I'm a fast healer and my doctors know my situation and are helping me to get back to health as quickly as possible. We've got a long way to go in the championship and I want to get back to winning races as quick as possible."
Spies is no stranger to competing with injuries. He raced his first two seasons as a pro with a bad knee, before having surgery to correct the problem. In 2006 he won his first AMA Superbike title despite riding with a broken hand late in the season. Earlier this summer Spies won a Superbike race in Elkhart Lake, Wis., setting an all-time AMA Superbike winning streak record, just hours after receiving stitches in his chin.