Seemingly, being the only man on the planet to have won four AMA Superbike championships would give way to an off-season filled with happiness and joy, but Mat Mladin seemed anything but happy at the recent Sepang tests.

Mladin mentioned having some things on his mind in his recent press release, issued after the Sepang tests.

He certainly has some technical hurdles in front of him: the '04 Superbike rules will make the Suzuki Superbike significantly slower than it was in '03 (although, even a GSX-R1000 with a plug-cap pulled could not be termed slow). Also at Sepang, Suzuki teased him with a short run on the GP bike, which was cruel, given Mladin's accomplishments.

Mladin's crewchief, Peter Doyle, and his wife, lost their toddler daughter, Savannah, just before the Sepang test to a rare genetic disease. This was certainly a blow to the very tight Australian side of the Suzuki team. Doyle has been a friend and confidant to Mladin for more than a decade.

It's also well-known that Mladin has been quietly battling some health issues for the past half-year, including an Epstein-Barr or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-like virus.

"He's got some things on his mind, that's for sure," said one member of the team.