Suzuki Report

Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies won his third consecutive AMA Superbike race in the first of the weekend’s two Superbike races at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on Saturday afternoon. Teammates Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates finished a close second and fourth, respectively.

“I really want to thank my Yoshimura Suzuki crew because they’ve got my Suzuki GSX-R1000 running great,” said Spies. “I’d also like to thank all the Southern California fans for coming out today and I hope to see everyone again tomorrow.”

Earlier in the afternoon, Spies captured his second career AMA Superbike pole position by posting a track record-breaking lap time of 1:22.939. “We did a 23.3 (lap time) yesterday and I felt like we could do a 22.9,” said Spies afterward. “We knew the race pace was going to be quick at the beginning and we’ve found a race set-up that we like on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000.”

Teammate Mladin, who set the pole position at the Fontana race last year, qualified in the second spot on the grid with a 1:23.287. Yates joined his teammates on the front row in fourth position with a fastest lap of 1:24.118.

In the 28-lap race, Spies got out front immediately but then made a mistake and moved back to fourth place on lap one. Even so, the young Texan quickly worked his way up into second place for several laps before taking the lead.

“I got a really good start, but then I ran wide,” said Spies. “I don’t know what happened. I lost my rear going into the last corner and came out fourth. I worked my way up and ran back up on Mat. I was ready for a big duel at the end of the race but I could tell that he was having some sort of problems. I’m sure he’ll get that ironed out. I have to thank my crew for putting a good bike like the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 under me.”

Mladin, meanwhile, had taken advantage of Spies’ running wide at the start and took the lead for the first half of the race. When Spies passed him, however, he settled into second position until the checkers.

“We had a couple of problems today,” acknowledged Mladin. “We probably chose the wrong tire and we went backward halfway through the race, but that’s the way it goes. We’ll come back tomorrow, pick something different and go from there.”

At the start, Yates got out with Spies and Mladin but had a few problems and faded back to fourth by the end of the race. “We got fourth place today and so we got some points in the championship,” said Yates. “But we’re going to make a few changes to the bike tonight and we’ll be better tomorrow.”

Mat Mladin, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #1
2nd Place - AMA Superbike
2nd Place -- Overall

Aaron Yates, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #20
4th Place - AMA Superbike
5th Place -- Overall

Ben Spies, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #11
1st Place - AMA Superbike
1st Place -- Overall

AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:
1. Ben Spies, Team Yoshimura Suzuki
2. Mat Mladin, Team Yoshimura Suzuki
3. Jake Zemke, Honda
4. Aaron Yates, Team Yoshimura Suzuki
5. Neil Hodgson, Ducati
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda
7. Ben Bostrom, Ducati
8. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki
9. Jason Pridmore, Jordan Suzuki
10. Larry Pegram, Honda