Once again, it's that time of year where we take a look at where we are at roughly the halfway point in the AMA Superbike Tour, which means the trucks are about to roll into New Hampshire for the 78th Annual Loudon Classic. If my numbers are right, and they may not be because I pride myself on using outdated, inaccurate and flawed information and then draw erroneous conclusions from same, we are about to see race seven of fourteen. So, if we want to, we can call this little literary moment together "half-time."

Or not.

Anyway, here we are, and things are shaking down as many folks predicted in that Mat Mladin has a comfortable lead in the Championship at the moment.

And, as people often do at this point in the proceedings, they are wondering out loud (sometimes with formidable fervor) as to whether or not anybody can stop Mad Mat from nailing his third AMA Championship (in a row, no less) on the wall.

It doesn't look good for the other guys right now because Mat is not only riding brilliantly, and I might add showing more grit and determination than ever, he has a motorcycle that is the class of the field. Also, we should note, the reigning Champ has Karmic momentum in his corner for he got a break when he really needed one when a red flag saved him from a DNF at Road Atlanta. Yes, he did have some bad luck earlier when he was injured in a weird-ass mishap on his dirt bike, but he put the pain behind him and stayed in points lead. Now that it looks like the injury is no longer troubling him he just gets faster and faster, and to say he has the Big Mo on his side is almost a crass understatement (the kind of which we try to avoid 'round here).

Loudon a place where things happen that can steer the outcome of the rest of the season. I'm not just talking about the almost career-ending injuries some riders have suffered at this track, either, so those that might imply I meant that can please leave the room. What I mean is that after the Classic is run at this track, which is the tightest, gnarliest, bumpiest venue these motorcycles have seen this year, then the teams will have experienced both the long, fast smooth tracks, a really tight gnarly one, and several that are sort of in-between these two extremes. And all the stuff they've learned at all these tracks so far this year will help them determine where the motorcycles will work well down the road, and where they won't. This will do great things for the confidence of the riders, and that is like horsepower in your pocket.

I focus more on the bikes than the riders here for this reason: there is a veritable plethora of Superbike pilots that could win at Loudon because quite a few have in the last few years. Mladin, Chandler, Yates, Duhamel, all these guys have stood on the top of the box recently in New Hampshire. Gobert, while he hasn't won here, blew off Friday practice for other concerns in '99 and got the pole anyway. He gets around the place well, although he's not fond of the whole "wall" thing.

The bikes that seem to tackle Loudon best (lately) are the Suzukis, and when you consider Mladin's won here twice (almost three times but the machine broke in '99 while he had a substantial lead), and Yates has won here as well, this doesn't look good for the competition. Hacking, by the way, was on the podium last year, too, but on a different brand. But that was then and this is now. Uh-oh. A trio of Suzuki Danger!

Next, we have the Kawasakis. Chandler won on one in 99, and Eric Bostrom finished second last year. Hmmmm. Eric is also second in points right now. Again, hmmmmm. Keep an eye on the green.

Now, for the Yamahas. As mentioned before, Jamie Hacking finished on the podium last year on an R7, and this year we have a fast, focused and determined Anthony Gobert on board. His big problem this year has been some mechanical woes and a lack of power, but NHIS is not a horsepower track. If the bike stays together, and Anthony feels like pushing it (walls be damned), he could mess with the Suzuki party that's been going on in a formidable way. Hmmmm.

OK, now I'm going to do something weird, that may piss off the same people who thought I was talking only about riders getting injured earlier: I'm going to lump all the Twins together. Am I Crazy? Could be. But here's the deal: with the exception of Gobert's pole on the Ducati back in '99, Twins have not been really happy here lately. Granted, there were two Ducks on the podium in the same year as Gobie's fast lap, but there were attrition issues and overall the Fours have been the bikes to beat here of late. The RC51 last year didn't work well on the tight course for either Hayden or Duhamel, and the reasons why are several and I won't get into them here because they are deep, involved, and I've forgotten most of them. Other factors: Ducati is going through a pretty rough patch right now, and while Harleys have had a glimmer of hope here in the past things are tough on Picotte, Smith and Szoke these days, too.

So it would seem that, at least for the purposes of this purely speculative preview, the Fours of Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha looked poised to grab some podiage (feel free to share this new word in daily conversation. Tell your friends. I want to hear it on Speedvision). Unless some great things happen and the Twins start working better, it will be a long Classic for all the fine riders on two-cylinder bikes. I could be wrong. I hope I am. It's more fun when you have parity.

And. . .it could rain Sunday. If they wrap the facility with air, I think we could actually see a wet race this year. NHIS Motorcycle Safety Director Jerry Wood told me the track has a new surface that is considerably improved in the wet, too.

We shall see, won't we?

Yes we will. And this seeing, combined with what will no doubt be formidable podiage for three racers, will tell us the bikes that are working best on the tight bumpiness that is NHIS, and give us a peek at what may happen the rest of the year in terms of the bikes that are working best on the broadest range of track types, and the men who may ride them to the Championship.

Got that? I hope so. It will be a wild weekend, methinks.

So, stay, like, real tuned-in, man.