Mladin Disqualified From VIR Results

Mladin, who was named the provisional winner of both races at the Alton, Virginia circuit, will be stripped of the two victories and any championship points he would have earned.

With Mladins disqualification, all other racers moved up a spot in the results for both races. Mladins teammate and chief rival, Ben Spies, will be recognized as the official winner of both races while fellow Rockstar Makita Suzuki racer Tommy Hayden will be credited with a pair of second-place finishes. Factory Yamaha racer Eric Bostrom, who was fourth in the provisional results for both races, moves up to complete the two podiums.

A post-race technical inspection determined that the crankshaft from Mladins Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 did not comply with the AMA Superbike Championships homologation rules.

Section 2.4 of the 2008 AMA Superbike Championship Rulebook states:

Only the homologated crankshaft is permitted with the following modifications:

Bearing surfaces may be polished or surface treated.

Balancing is permitted only by the same method used by the OEM. For example, heavy metal (i.e. Mallory metal) inserts are not permitted unless they were originally specified by the OEM.

Attachment of aftermarket ignition components or sensors is permitted.

Primary gears can not be changed or modified.

Rockstar Makita Suzuki has announced that they will appeal the decision to disqualify Mladin.

Should the appeal be denied, Mladin will have little hope of overtaking Spies for the season championship. Spies holds a 102 point lead over Mladin with three races remaining. In the event of a tie in the final points race, the championship will go to the racer with the most race victories. With the two wins at VIR, Spies holds the advantage over Mladin by a 9-7 margin.

If Mladin were to win the remaining races and receive all the point bonuses for earning the pole position and leading the most laps in each race, Mladin will finish with 562 points. Spies has 551 points and can clinch the championship with a 20th-place finish in the series next race at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. on Aug. 30.