Safety fears trigger Mat Mladin's retirement

[Mad Maper 13]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/safety-fears-trigger-mat-mladins-retirement/story-e6frey5r-1225763316517

Safety fears trigger Mat Mladin's retirement

SAFETY concerns have prompted Australian Mat Mladin, the most successful rider in the history of American Superbike racing, to quit and return to Sydney at the end of this season.

Two days ago Mladin clinched his seventh AMA series with victory at Virginia International Raceway.

Mladin announced his decision to retire as he dramatically withdrew from the ninth round of the Pro Road Race series in Topeka, Kansas a fortnight ago.

After only a few laps of the circuit, Mladin decided the walls were too close and the conditions unsafe and he and his crew flew home.

The next day, fellow veteran Jamie Hacking also withdrew his entry.

Mladin said the state of safety in America was a key factor in his decision to retire, along with his desire to spend more time on his business and with his family.

"What really made up my mind was that Thursday morning going to the race track in Kansas," Mladin said.

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"I didn't look at the race track one time until I went out on that Thursday morning, just hoping it would be like New Jersey ... that it was maybe better than what I expected.

"Unfortunately, that just wasn't to be the case.

"I enjoy racing motorcycles and I'd like to be able to race motorcycles for a living.

"[But] in the end I just don't agree with the direction that things are going over here any more.

"To have to go to Kansas and see that race track and what is possibly in the future as to some of the places we may go to, if that was a sign of things to come, then it was time to move on."

Since moving to the US in 1996 Mladin has won the AMA championship in 1999-01, 2003-05 and 2009.

He is also a three-time winner of the Daytona 200 (2000, 2001, 2004) and made wildcard appearances in Superbike World Championship races, taking pole position in the class at Laguna Seca, California, in 2003.

[Eno the Wonderdog]

"I enjoy racing motorcycles and I'd like to be able to race motorcycles for a living."

I assume this place is a bit like a street circuit?

[Mad Maper 13]

I do not blame him this is turn 1/2

Just look at the walls for the drag strip 
I got it of the circuit's site
http://www.hpt.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=364&Itemid=92

[auto]

Bloody hell.

[the chad]

wow that is big news!!!

well id love to see him race back home where we are big on safety! we have had one tragic death as part of the ASBK tour this season, but we race on some of the safest tracks in the world

welcome home matty, one of the finest motorsport exports wev seen

[Mothers Worry]

Yeah definitely big news. Tributes to a great rider.

[Mad Maper 13]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/mat-mladin-ends-career-with-7th-title/story-e6frey5r-1225770141590

Mat Mladin ends career with 7th title

AUSTRALIAN Mat Mladin delivered a parting shot at organisers as he ended his glittering career in the American Superbike Championship.

Mladin, who clinched a record seventh championship crown last month, finished second behind American Josh Hayes in the final race in New Jersey after he he lost the lead on the 15th of the 26 laps.

The 37-year-old Mladin, who won 10 races this season for his Suzuki team, and 83 in his 13-year career on the US circuit, had announced he was quitting the sport in July after a row with race officials over driver safety at the Heartland Park circuit in Kansas.

And he made it clear his feelings hadn't changed in an interview with USA Today ahead of Sunday's race.

"The people running the show are doing things I don't agree with," Mladin said about his decision to leave Suzuki and return to Australia.

"We're heading backward. Leaving with the No.1 plate is nice, but the way things are going I don't want to be a part of it."

Hayes swept the weekend races on his Yamaha, giving him four straight victories and seven overall for season.

"We had a good race today," Mladin said.

"In the end, we just couldn't keep up. I'm looking forward to hanging them up and moving on.

"When it's all said and done, I've had a fantastic career. At 37 years of age, I'm happy to walk away pretty much in one piece. There's a whole life ahead for me and my family."

Hayes finished second in the standings.

"Mat was riding great," Hayes said.

"The Yamaha was great, it was a really great bike to ride this weekend. Congratulations to Mat on his career. I only hope that I can achieve half of what he has."