AMA Superbike Round 9: Foremost Insurance Ducati rider Larry Pegram takes both races at Topeka…but without the threat of points leader Mat Mladin, who continues to lead the championship even after not racing

Ron Lieback
AllAboutBikes.com Content Editor/Staff Writer

After saying Heartland Park Topeka didn’t meet safety standards, series leader Mat Mladin opted out of this weekend’s American Superbike race. But that was only the first of his media blitz. The Rockstar/Makita Suzuki rider with 14 years of AMA racing under his leathers also announced his retirement after the season’s commencement at New Jersey Motorsports Park. He didn’t give any concrete details about why he’s leaving, or what he plans to do, but had previously announced some frustrations with the Daytona Motorsports Group, who run AMA Pro Racing.

But Mladin’s actions didn’t compromise action at Round 9 of the American Superbike series; both wins went to pole-sitter Larry Pegram. The rider of the No. 72 Foremost Insurance Ducati 1098R dominated race 1 on Saturday, although he had a limit-pushing Tommy Hayden on the 22 Rockstar/Makita Suzuki GSX-R 1000 in tow for most of race 2.

But Pegram kept the throttle twisted, adding two more wins to his Road America win for a total of three this season; his Road America win in June was the first in 10 years. In 1999 he took his first ever American Superbike win at Willow Springs. And Friday’s pole at Topeka was Pegram’s first since 1996.

It was also a first American Superbike visit to the 2.5-mile, 18-corner Grand Prix Course at Topeka this century. The last time Superbike raced on the track in 1991, when Scott Russell took the win on a Kawasaki. The track was updated for this year’s race, and after a few complaints from racers (especially Mladin’s) before Saturday events, the staff at Topeka responded immediately, removing a dangerous wall out of the way.

Race 1

Pole-sitter Pegram got out front quickly, and had nothing but a clear racetrack up to the end, even setting a new lap record of 1:36.251. By the halfway mark, Pegram built up a 4.5 second lead over second place. Once he hit some lap traffic near the end, Pegram lost 1.4 seconds, but went on to win with a 2.184-second gap over second-place finisher Ben Bostrom on the No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. YZF-R1.

“For me, it’s just validation,” said Pegram. “Here we beat everybody again, and I proved to myself I can win at this level because I had lost a lot of confidence over the years riding bikes that weren’t capable of winning.  You start to wonder if it might be you, but I always knew at the bottom of my heart that I could win races, especially if I got on a great motorcycle like this Ducati 1098R.”

Bostrom grabbed second from No. 79 Rockstar/Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 rider Blake Young in Lap 2, and began chasing down Pegram. Even after Pegram encountered lap traffic, Bostrom still couldn’t catch him. Young remained in third, and on the final lap the Suzuki rider, who also did some club racing to get familiar with Topeka, finished in third a mere .272 seconds behind Bostrom. It was Young’s fourth podium of the season.

“I think we just ran out of time this weekend. We didn’t take advantage of the practice sessions on Thursday and I think we missed the set-up a little bit today. But I think today was a really good day because we got in behind second place and learned what he was doing, made some improvements and I switched up my riding style a bit,” Young said after race 1. “Overall I’m happy with the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and how the race went. I learned a lot about our set-up and what we want to try and do tomorrow. So I'll chalk this one up to that, and try to go after it (race 2).”

The No. 22 Rockstar/Makita GSX-R1000 Suzuki ridden by Tommy Hayden passed Young in turn six, but ran wide and Young recaptured his spot. Hayden went on to finish fourth, with Aaron Yates on the No. 23 Jordan Suzuki finishing fifth.

Race 1 Results:

1. Larry Pegram (Ducati)
2. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha)
3. Blake Young (Suzuki)
4. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki)
5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
6. Josh Hayes (Yamaha)
7. Jake Holden (Honda)
8. Geoff May (Suzuki)
9. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki)
10. Neil Hodgson (Honda)

Race 2

After winning race 2, leading every lap from the pole as he did in race 1, Pegram went on to have the first weekend sweep of his career. But this was a closer race, and Pegram won .333 of a second ahead of Tommy Hayden, with Josh Hayes on the No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. YZF-R1 finishing third.

“I was sweating, Tommy was all over me," Pegram said. “I could hear him back there, I could feel him.  My hats off to him, I rode as hard as I possibly could and he was there the whole race."

After Pegram took race 1 using a soft rear Dunlop, several other teams did the same for race 2, creating tighter competition. Hayden got into second in lap 2, and remained there for almost the whole race. He did pass Pegram in turn 6 on the 17th lap, but ran wide, allowing Pegram to regain first.

Hayden remained in second, and due to some lap traffic, wasn’t able to make any more attempts on Pegram. Hayes, who swept the Mid-Ohio race, finished third, 5.5 seconds behind Hayden, and was never threatened by Bostrom, who had a solid fourth until mechanical failure DNFed him on lap 19.

After Bostrom’s incident, the fourth-place finish went to Jake Holden on the No. 59 Jake Holden Racing Honda CBR1000RR, which was his best ever Superbike finish. Finishing fifth was Taylor Knapp on the No. 44 Latus Racing GSX-R1000 Suzuki, which was also his best Superbike finish.

Accidents were few, but Young ran off the track in the chicane while chasing down Pegram in the second lap; he dropped to tenth and finished eight. In the same corner, Yates lost the front behind Young. And again on that same corner, Geoff May, on the 54 national Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, crashed out during lap 12.

With his sweep at Topeka, Pegram has moved to third in the American Superbike point standings at 286 points with four races remaining.  Hayden is second with 307 points and Mat Mladin, who did not compete this weekend, leads with 390 points.

Race 2 Results:

1. Larry Pegram (Ducati)
2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki)
3. Josh Hayes (Yamaha)
4. Jake Holden (Honda)
5. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki)
6. Neil Hodgson (Honda)
7. Michael Laverty (Suzuki)
8. Blake Young (Suzuki)
9. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki)
10. Scott Charlton (Suzuki)