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Birmingham '07 Super Seven
mladin, hayes, yates top our list
by evan williams
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Six-time champ Mladin was back on top at Barber.
1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki -- After finishing eighth at Daytona, Mladin needed a big weekend to make up some ground on Ben Spies in the points battle. Mladin did not disappoint, one of the few to make the best tire choice in race one, then putting together a superb race (after a controversial start) to hold off the relentless pressure of Spies for 28 laps. Sunday was a repeat win by Mladin but this time he was able to get away. He was alone and dominating for most of the race on Sunday.

Mladin has said he has upped his game for 2007 and it is undoubtedly true. The race pace for Barber was over 30 seconds faster this year.

2. Josh Hayes, Erion Honda -- Hayes won both of his races in Alabama, running away in both Supersport and Formula Xtreme. Some might say Hayes had an easier time of it in Supersport with contenders Hacking and May crashing out on lap one of the first start and Roger Hayden struggling with a concussion. But Hayes was the guy leading the race and avoiding troubles others found.

Duhamel finished on the box in both Superbike races in Alabama and has done so in all three contests this year.
In FX, Hayes and Erion look to be the favorites the rest of the season and righted their problems after the Daytona fuel troubles.

3. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki -- Not only did Yates win the first-ever pole and race for Michael Jordan's team in Superstock last weekend, he fought for the podium in Superbike on Saturday. Worthy of note is that he raced all weekend with painful broken ribs that forced him to use a special pad under his leathers.

4. Josh Herrin, Graves Yamaha -- Herrin found his groove again at Barber, running through the field to earn second place in Supersport. The teenager ran well at a high-speed Utah circuit last year and now has podiumed at a tight, twisty track like Birmingham. As the aggressive youngster improves his consistency and continues to develop, he looks to be one of the next big names on the American roadracing scene.

5. Miguel Duhamel, Honda -- Duhamel finished on the box in both Superbike races in Alabama and has done so in all three contests this year. Perhaps more importantly, he picked up the pace considerably on Sunday and is the closest man to the two dominating Suzukis right now. For Honda fans, there is hope for even more from Mig as the team is nowhere near the point they want to be with their electronics package.

6. Aaron Gobert, Erion Honda -- The Australian was second in FX and fought with (and beat) the Haydens to take fourth in Supersport, but the important factor with Gobert was he was able to race hard after a couple of injury-plagued seasons. He's finally healthy and looks like his career is back on track.

7. Steve Rapp, Attack Kawasaki -- Rapp backed his Daytona 200 win with two more podium finishes, earning third place in both FX and Supersport. Steve leads the FX points standings as well. Attack had a miserable year in 2006 but with Rapp, teammate Ben Attard, and Pirelli tires, the pendulum seems to be swinging the other way in 2007.

Honorable mention -- Suzuki's Ben Spies did not win in Alabama, but how bad can things really be? He left a place he doesn't really like leading in points or tied for first in both classes he races. Jordan Suzuki's Jake Holden earned his first AMA podium with second place in the Superstock race. Graves Yamaha's Ben Bostrom earned third in Superstock and was the only top finisher not mounted on a Suzuki GSX-R1000.

And let's not forget Mr. George Barber, the founder of the Barber Motorsports Park. More track improvements, a record crowd of 58,000, and it seems his operation is very close to nabbing a World Superbike round for next year.

The Super Seven is our very unscientific and totally subjective list of the top seven people, or groups of people, who stood out at the most recent race meeting.

ENDS

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