Suzuki Report

Round 4 - AMA Superbike Series
Sonoma, CA
Infineon Raceway
May 19 - 21, 2006

Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies captured his fifth consecutive AMA Superbike victory in the first race of the double-header weekend at Sonoma, California’s Infineon Raceway on Saturday afternoon. Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Mat Mladin brought home a close second-place finish, and Aaron Yates finished an impressive fourth.

“I got a really good start and just tried to put my head down,” said Spies, only the fourth rider to ever win five consecutive AMA Superbike races. “I saw we were gapping the field and I just tried to hammer away at it and hold on to the end. I have to thank my crew because the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was just awesome and I can’t say enough about the Dunlop tires.”

Earlier in the day, Spies took his third pole position after posting a track record-breaking fastest lap of 1:35.893. Said Spies, “I really feel that I’m riding the same as I did last year, but I’ve been able to get the GSX-R set up so that I’m more comfortable. I’m also a little more confident and that means I can ride the bike harder.”

Teammate Mladin carded the second spot on the grid with a 1:36.556 lap time and Yates was slated to start from the fifth position, thanks to a best time of 1:37.013.

The main event saw Spies get the holeshot and lead all 28 laps to take the win. “I really wanted to set the pace and see what I could do,” said the young Texan. “The last few races we’ve followed and so it was good to lead a whole race. I don’t know about Mat but I was pretty worn-out, muscle-wise. By the end, I was just focusing on trying to hit my lines, not making any mistakes and putting good laps together.”

Defending AMA Superbike Champion Mladin was off the line right behind Spies and he pushed his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 hard and rode a smooth, consistent race to second place. “It was a good race today,” said the Australian. “Unfortunately I couldn’t get up ahead of Ben. He rode a great race today. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will hold out and we’ll come back with something for him.”

Yates, meanwhile, started several positions back from his teammates. The Georgian worked his way through the field and battled hard for third before finishing up in fourth position.

“I didn’t really get the best start,” said Yates. “But on the first lap I was able to get past a couple of guys but then I got stuck. Toward the end of the race I tried to work my way up but then I made a mistake and got fourth. Tomorrow, we’ll work on putting my Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 up on the podium with my teammates.”

Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s next event is the second AMA Superbike race of the double-header weekend on Sunday, May 28.

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