July 5 - Blake Young Blog: Laguna

I am pleased with my performance at Laguna Seca. Before I went out for the Superbike race, Kevin Schwantz cautioned me, “Look at all the MotoGP and Daytona SportBike guys who fell down today. Check out the track before you put the hammer down.”

I was ready for the first start. Second time around, though, I wasn’t as ready as I should have been; I had to get amped up again. The lap times that I was turning weren’t easy, and I was pretty jittery. Mid-race, I tried to step back, regroup and calm down.

I knew Mat Mladin was going to be strong. I had a tough time finding my board, and I didn’t know if I had a gap on him. When he came by me, he got on the gas really quickly. I put my head down and tried to put together a couple of really good segments. I stopped the gap from growing any larger, but I just couldn’t close it.

Regarding the situation with the safety car, what should I have done? Wait for it to catch up? Should I have sped up? I don’t know. It’s really tough when you are put in a situation like that. I immediately thought about the guys who were behind me. Were they going to hit me

Competing in the World Superbike round at Donington Park in England was a great learning experience. It was good to ride a “real” Superbike on 16.5-inch wheels. Racing in the U.S. for Yoshimura Suzuki is my primary job, but I would like to race WSB or MotoGP some day. Obviously, I would have liked better results, but I was able to take what I learned there and bring it to Laguna. It was good motivation for me.

“My finger is healing well. The swelling is up a bit, but flexibility and movement are good. Dainese made some alterations to my gloves; they have my handprints now. It’s all good.