Mladin Rides Away From Field at Fontana

Three-time U.S. Superbike champion Mat Mladin took a giant stride toward a fourth when he devastated a field of 44 riders Saturday in the second round of the Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike championships at California Speedway in Fontana.

Mladin, an Australian who lives part-time in nearby Rancho Cucamonga, had a 14.9-second margin over Aaron Yates, of Milledgeville, Ga., at the finish of the Yamaha Superbike Challenge, a 100-kilometer race around a 21-turn, 2.3-mile road racing circuit inside the speedway oval.

Both rode Suzuki R1000s, new this year under 2003 superbike regulations. The winner averaged 95.473 mph.

Eric Bostrom crossed the finish line third on a Kawasaki but was given a 10-second penalty for cutting the corner on the first turn of Lap 16. This moved his brother Ben, who rode a Honda, up to third with Eric placed fourth.

Miguel Duhamel, winner of last month’s Daytona 200, finished fifth on a Honda.

Mladin started from the pole after setting a track record of 97.271 mph during qualifying and led every lap but the first after defending champion Anthony Gobert led the first go-round.

Gobert ran only 13 laps on his Ducati before dropping out.

Before he had finished, Mladin had lapped all but the top eight riders.

“I like the new rules, they’re something I have lobbied for for several years,” Mladin said. “Riding the R1000 is a little different from the 750, which we rode until this year. It has a lot more horsepower and with my riding style, the more horsepower the better.

“I backed off a little at the end. This race was a big test because you are either really good, or you push too hard.”

Mladin was winless last year because of injuries and equipment problems.

The same 44 riders will race again here today in the third round of the 18-race U.S. Superbike season.

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-- Shav Glick

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. had just enough gas to wiggle across the finish line and win the Busch Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

A caution with two laps to go allowed Earnhardt to slow enough to conserve fuel by pulling down on the apron and moving his car back and forth to move the gas around. That let him make it across the finish line to go two for two in Busch Series events this year.

Earnhardt, who won the season opener at Daytona, ran out of gas right after he crossed the finish line.

Joe Nemechek finished second and Shane Hmiel, in a sponsor struggle and his team operating on a week-to-week basis, finished third.

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After spending most of the 38-lap race fending off Roush Racing teammate Mark Martin, Kurt Busch got the jump on a late restart and pulled away at Talladega to win his first International Race of Champions Series race.

Mike Bliss grabbed the runner-up spot, finishing 0.098 seconds -- about one car length -- behind Busch. Last year’s Busch Series champion Greg Biffle, now a Winston Cup rookie, was third.

Busch holds a five-point lead over Martin in the standings.

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Rubens Barrichello won the pole for today’s Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paulo, the first local driver to claim the top spot since Ayrton Senna in 1994.

The Ferrari driver turned the fast lap of 1 minute 13.807 seconds on the 2.671-mile Interlagos circuit, beating Australian Grand Prix champion David Coulthard by less than one-tenth of a second.

Five-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher finished seventh in 1:14.130, his worst qualifying performance since qualifying ninth in the German Grand Prix in 1998.

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Yamaha’s Chad Reed won his third straight 250cc THQ World Supercross GP/AMA Supercross Series race, edging Honda’s Ricky Carmichael at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich.