Suzuki Report

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies raced to his first-ever double-header victory at today’s second AMA Superbike Championship race at Barber in Alabama to take the lead in the series after three rounds.

The GSX-R1000-mounted Texan fended off Miguel Duhamel (Honda) to win by 2.8 seconds as team-mate and reigning champion Mat Mladin crashed out on the fifth lap. Mladin rejoined the race in dead last in 29th position and carved through the field to 14th before the race was red flagged on lap 21 of 28.

Mladin, starting from the fourth row, quickly caught the leaders and when third Yoshimura rider Aaron Yates and Tommy Hayden fell, he moved into third place and the final rostrum position. Yates remounted to take a well-deserved fourth place ahead of Neil Hodgson (Ducati).

Said six-time AMA Champion Mladin: "We got lucky with the red flag for sure! To come from the fourth row and put it up here on the box, we’re very, very happy."

HRC Report

American Honda's Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke each earned a podium spot in the AMA Superbike Championship double-header at Barber Motorsports Park, with Duhamel coming within seconds of winning Sunday's race.

The results were a clear indication that the work done in the past year by American Honda's R&D department, with help from Honda Racing Corporation in Japan, is paying dividends with the new Honda CBR1000RR.

"We're miles ahead of where we were last year," Duhamel said after nearly winning Sunday's race, the third round of the AMA Superbike Championship. "The bike is so much better. I'm thanking Honda for giving us such a great chassis this year. The bike is better by itself. But with the guys at Honda here in the U.S R&D still working hard, they're making some great progress. And I've got to thank Honda Japan for assisting. This weekend was a team effort."

Sunday's race, held in glorious Alabama sunshine, was reduced to an eight lap sprint after a red flag stoppage on the 21st of 28 laps. At the time the race was stopped, Duhamel was in second place, where he'd been since the 11th lap of the race.

On the re-start he hounded the race leader to the finish, while fending off an attack from Suzuki's Mat Mladin, who tried to make a final corner pass of the veteran Honda rider.

The final order was Ben Spies (Suzuki), Duhamel, and Mladin. It was Duhamel's second podium in three races.

American Honda's Jake Zemke high-sided on the fifth lap of the original race while challenging for fourth.

Zemke's day to shine in the sun was Saturday, when the Californian fought his way to third, one spot in front of teammate Duhamel. It was his first podium of the young season, and he predicted many more to come.

Duhamel's successful weekend vaulted him to third in the point standings after three of 19 races.

Miguel Duhamel, 4th Saturday, 2nd Sunday Yesterday (Saturday) was a bit of survival. We had a bit of trouble getting the right set-up on the bike. We picked the wrong tire, I guess, for the bike and we were really sliding a lot from the word go. And a little bit my fault. These new tires from Dunlop are bullet-proof. Sometimes I fall into the old trap of trying to save them. You don't save these tires, you abuse them. I was really, really pleased to get fourth.

I didn't ride my race bike from yesterday. It was one little ingredient missing. I stood there for three hours and at the last minute said 'Let's take some oil out of the front fork,' and that was the miracle cure. And the bike was really wonderful after that. We went from the last factory bike in this morning's warm-up to finishing second and having a shot at winning. In the first race, until they red-flagged it, I thought I could reel Ben (Spies) in. If he starts relaxing, I'm going to go get him, because my bike was wonderful in that first race. At the end, when I was racing with Mat (Mladin), I know when I went full throttle and he went full throttle, his bike, fortunately it missed a bit. And it went pop, pop, pop. And when it did that I just went by him. And after that it was a heat race all the way to the line.

Jake Zemke, 3rd Saturday, DNF Sunday
We're definitely making progress from last year, but those two guys were out in front and they were pretty far gone. We still have a ways to go, that's for sure. The boys are working hard at it. Hopefully sooner rather than later we'll be up there challenging these two up at the front. Right when I got up to fourth I was catching Aaron (Yates) just a little bit, but then he definitely picked up the pace. We just kind of evened out for a long time.

I'm just disappointed about my crash today (Sunday). The guys worked really hard this weekend to give us something competitive. And we felt we had something to do something with this weekend. At least today, it seemed like we were a little bit on pace. I was running about half a second quicker than I was yesterday. Just kind of bummed out. My crash was spectacular. The next to the last corner up there in the right hander right as it tightens up right as you clip the apex of the curb there. Right when I get to that point, the back end just started coming around on its own. Picked up the throttle a little bit and just to keep it from high-siding me but the thing just kept going and going and I tried to stand the bike up a little bit to get some traction, but the thing just kept coming around.

Sunday Superbike:
1. Ben Spies (Suzuki)
2. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
3. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
4. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
6. Ben Bostrom (Ducati)
7. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki)
8. Jacob Holden (Suzuki)
9. Larry Pegram (Honda)
10. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki)

Saturday Superbike:
1. Ben Spies (Suzuki)
2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
3. Jake Zemke (Honda)
4. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
5. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki)
6. Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
7. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
8. John Haner (Suzuki)
9. Ben Bostrom (Ducati)
10. Jason Pridmore

Championship Standings:
1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 107
2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 99
3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 88
4. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 78
5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 76
Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) 76
7. Ben Bostrom (Ducati) 71
8. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) 64
9. Jake Zemke (Honda) 52
10. Larry Pegram (Honda) 51

Dunlop Report

The established and rising stars of the world’s best national roadracing competition--the 2006 AMA Superbike Series--came out to play at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama, April 21-23. On Saturday, the young guns showed their talent as Yoshimura Suzuki’s second-year Superbike sensation Ben Spies won the first of the weekend’s two Superbike events with a convincing performance on his GSX-R1000. Then it was factory Yamaha’s Jason Disalvo’s turn and the 22-year old delivered his first victory in the Formula Xtreme series on a YZF-R6. Sunday saw Yoshimura Suzuki’s veteran Aaron Yates win a thrilling come-from-behind Superstock race on his GSX-R1000 and Kawasaki Racing’s surging Roger Lee Hayden take the Supersport win on a ZX-6RR. Serving notice that Saturday’s first Superbike win was no fluke, Spies took the second Superbike race in commanding fashion, completing his first Superbike doubleheader.

The Barber circuit, home of the world-renowned Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, is a picture-postcard race track that is very demanding of both riders and tires. While the abrasive nature of the track surface was not as evident as in year’s past, the numerous right-hand sweepers still generate significant heat--and therefore wear--in the right-side tread of the rear tires. To cope with these variables, Dunlop brought more than 1800 tires to support the factory teams and support riders in Superbike, Superstock, Formula Xtreme and Supersport competition--including rain tires. It appeared the wet skins might be needed when, on Thursday and Friday, severe weather foreshadowed a wet weekend. Fortunately, Saturday’s and Sunday’s races were run in near perfect conditions, much to the delight of the record 56,000 fans in attendance.

Friday’s Superbike qualifying session saw Spies teammate, six-time AMA Superbike champ Mat Mladin, collect the provisional pole position with a record-setting time of 1:24.983 on his GSX-R1000. But Spies came back in Saturday’s session and broke Mladin’s record of 11 straight poles with an even faster lap of 1:24.830. When the flag dropped for the race, Spies took the lead into turn one, followed closely by Mladin. The order was unchanged until Mladin took the lead on lap five. But Spies was not to be denied and he eventually retook the lead for good on lap 16 as the pair negotiated around a lapper. When Mladin had to run off the track to avoid colliding with another lapped rider, the race was Spies’ to lose, something he was not about to do. Mladin managed to get back on the track, still in second but now precious seconds behind Spies with just three laps to go. Spies took the checkered flag with a 10.723 margin over his teammate while Honda Racing’s Jake Zemke collected the final podium slot. “The feeling is awesome,” said Spies. “It was a tough race. I got a good start and put my head down the first couple laps to get a gap on everybody.” Of his battle with Mladin, he commented, “This win means a lot to me. I’m not used to having Mat Mladin behind me… People don’t understand. To run with him the full race on the same motorcycle is not an easy task.” Following Zemke across the line was teammate Miguel Duhamel, Kawasaki Racing’s Tommy Hayden, Ducati Austin’s Neil Hodgson and Suzuki’s Aaron Yates in fourth through seventh, respectively. Ducati’s Ben Bostrom was ninth and Jordon Motorsports Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore tenth as Dunlop riders took nine of the top 10 finishing positions. Spies ended the day tied with Mladin in series points at 70 apiece, followed by Honda’s Duhamel with 56.

Saturday’s second race pitted Erion Racing Honda’s veteran Josh Hayes against Yamaha’s streaking young star Disalvo in a terrific battle in the hot-rod 600cc Formula Xtreme class. The day before, Disalvo had smashed the lap record with a time of 1:27.144 aboard his YZF-R6 for the pole position. At the beginning of the race, Hayes jumped to the front and he and Disalvo diced for the lead. Hayes was able to hold off Disalvo for eight laps, but Disalvo got around him on lap nine and put together a string a fast laps, showcasing the Yamaha’s power. He finished the race going away, cruising to the win by 6.707 second over Hayes. Behind Hayes was Team M4 Emgo Suzuki’s Kurtis Roberts, a former class champion who was competing in his first race of the season. “I just tried to put it all together and remember where I was strong, hit my marks, and put a couple of consistent 27s in there,” said Disalvo. “I saw the gap start to build, and knocked it back the last couple of laps, and that was it.” Erion Racing’s Aaron Gobert was fourth and Matsushima Suzuki Racing’s Danny Eslick rounded out the top five as Dunlop riders collected seven of the top 10 positions. In the standings, Disalvo leads with 67 points, followed by Hayes with 64 and Gobert with 52.

Sunday’s racing action was every bit as thrilling as Saturday’s. In the first race, Disalvo was again the polesitter, this time in the 1000cc Superstock competition aboard his YZF-R1LE tuned by Graves Motorsports Yamaha. Teammate and early-season series leader Jamie Hacking was alongside Disalvo on the front row and the pair rocketed off the starting line, Hacking in the lead. The duo set a blistering pace for the field to try and match. Accepting the challenge was Suzuki’s Aaron Yates, who methodically worked his way forward from a less than ideal start. On lap 15 he recorded his fastest lap of the race--a 1:27.165--and passed Disalvo to take over second place. Yates then set after Hacking and, on the last lap, caught and passed him in turn four. Yates held off Hacking to take the win by a scant .134 seconds, his 11th career victory in the class; Disalvo was third. “I was trying really hard to keep my GSXR going forward. These guys were going strong at the beginning and they got a pretty good gap out there… I knew the race would come down to the end. It feels really good to get out there and get a win… it was a really fun race out there and hopefully there’s more to come.” Team M4 Emgo Suzuki’s Geoff May was fourth, followed by Erion Racing Honda’s Hayes, Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Eric Bostrom, Jordon Motorsports Suzuki’s Steve Rapp and Jake Holden, Erion Racing Honda’s Aaron Gobert and Jordon Motorsports Suzuki’s Pridmore in fifth through tenth, respectively. Overall, Dunlop-shod riders took nine of the top 10 positions. In the series standings, Hacking leads with 69 points, Yates is second with 65 and Disalvo is third with 63.

Some say Kawasaki Racing’s Roger Lee Hayden is one of new guard, others count the 22-year old as a veteran given his seven-year AMA pro road racing career. Regardless, Hayden put on a show for the fans in the 600cc Supersport competition on his ZX-6RR, winning his second consecutive race after an exciting battle with Yamaha’s Hacking. Hayden led briefly from the pole position--which he earned the day before with a class record time of 1:27.081--but swapped the lead several times with Hacking before Hacking took over on lap five and held off Hayden for the next 10 laps. Hayden made his move on lap 15 and was never headed after that on his charge to the checkered flag. He crossing the line .380 seconds ahead of Hacking; behind Hacking was Team M4 Emgo Suzuki’s Geoff May, completing the podium. “I’m just happy to be consistent up here on the box,” said Hayden. “It was a really fun race with Jamie. I was lucky to get by him with three laps to go. I wanted to make my move, try to put in three good laps, and it just worked out for me.” Attack Kawasaki’s Ben Attard and Damon Buckmaster and Matsushima Suzuki Racing’s Eslick took fourth through sixth, respectively, and Eslick’s teammate Blake Young was ninth as Dunlop-equipped riders took six of the top ten positions. Hayden leads the series with 74 points followed by Hacking with 66 and May with 53.

The weekend’s final race, Superbike race two, was packed with drama. Suzuki’s Mladin took off in the lead with Spies close behind. In his effort to distance himself from his pursuing teammate, Mladin crashed on lap five, handing the lead to Spies. Mladin, meanwhile, remounted and finally got underway in last place—and seemed all but out of the race. Spies proceeded to build an apparently unassailable lead of 3.45 seconds over Honda’s Duhamel and Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden when a red flag on lap 21 temporarily halted the race. For Mladin, who had worked his way up to 14th, it was a gift that would put him on the fourth row on the restart. The final eight-lap sprint saw Spies motor away from a pack of riders that included Duhamel, Hayden, Suzuki’s Aaron Yates and, with three laps to go, a hustling Mladin. The final lap was eventful; Yates collided with Hayden in turn four as he attempted to take over second place. That left Duhamel in second over a rapidly-closing Mladin. Mladin passed Duhamel, only to be repassed by a determined Duhamel at the line. Spies won handily by 2.835 seconds and Duhamel nipped Mladin by .050 seconds. “We were doing everything right and then I saw the red flag and was pretty bummed out,” said Spies. “But we put some good tires on and I put my head down the first couple of laps and got a gap and pulled it together again.” Of his phenomenal weekend, he said, “My first goal was to out-qualify him (Mladin). And then getting two races wins--if you would have told me that before, I would have told you… well you know.” As in Superbike race one, Dunlop again took nine of the top ten positions. Yates, Ducati’s Hodgson and Ben Bostrom, Tommy Hayden and Jordon Motorsports Holden collected fourth through eighth, respectively, and Holden’s teammate Pridmore was 10th. Spies leads the championship with 107 points, Mladin holds down second with 99 and Duhamel is third with 88.

Next stop for Dunlop and the 2006 AMA Superbike road racing tour is the California Speedway in Fontana, California, April 28-30. Round three features a doubleheader for the Superbike series.