Mat Mladin led a Team Yoshimura Suzuki clean sweep in today’s first leg of the AMA Superbike Championship ‘Suzuki Superbike Showdown’ at Road Atlanta in Georgia with team mates Ben Spies and Aaron Yates joining him on the victory podium. It was Mladin’s sixth win of the season; his third in a row; and 49th of his career which saw him grab back five championship points from Championship leader Spies.
With two races to go, including Sunday’s second race, Spies’ lead is now just 25 points from the six-time AMA Champion.
Said Mladin: “I know what it’s like to be in Ben’s position with a few races to go. All we can do is go for the win and keep the pressure on him for the last few races. It was a good race for us. The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was running great, the Dunlop tyres were working well, and I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.”
As usual, the weekend began with qualifying sessions. Although Mladin captured provisional pole on Friday afternoon, it was Spies who took the coveted starting spot in Saturday’s final session. Still nursing a hand injury from the VIR race earlier this month, Spies posted a 1:21. 987 fast lap to take his seventh pole position of the season. Mladin was a close second with a 1: 22.109 lap time and Yates was on the second row with a 1:23.942 posting.
“I tried to put in five or six good laps on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000,” said Spies. “I knew I needed the extra point with the championship situation like it is. The Suzuki is working well and my hand is better – not good by any means, though – and I hope we’ll have a good race and we’ll take what we can get.”
In the 25-lap race, Spies got a great start and was out front immediately. Mladin was close behind and began challenging for the lead within a few laps. Riding with a broken hand, Spies yielded to his team mate after five laps.
Said Mladin: “I was a little sick at VIR so it was good to be able to push all the way for a win today. We just need to keep the pressure on Ben and try to keep things close for the last round at Mid-Ohio.”
Added Spies, “I got a pretty good start but I didn’t want to get out front on the first lap because I didn’t know how things were going to be with my hand. We’re obviously not in the right frame of mind to win races right now. But the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was good and my team is working really hard - I wish I could have given them a win, but hopefully, we’ll come back stronger tomorrow.”
Like his team mates, Yates also got a good launch and was up front with the top-five. He rode consistently and aggressively and moved into fourth position before the halfway point in the race. He slowly reeled in the third-place rider and took over the last podium spot with one lap left.
“The race was a lot of fun,” said Yates. “Luckily, we got off the line pretty good. I got up front and could see my team mates were going strong. They set a good pace, the Suzuki was running good and my crew did a great job giving me a bike that got around the track well. It’s great to get Yoshimura Suzuki 1-2-3 at the Suzuki Superbike Showdown. Hopefully, we’ll do it again tomorrow.”
Saturday’s race was the first of two Superbike races in the Road Atlanta double-header weekend, with the second race on Sunday afternoon.
Results:1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2. Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki)
3. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki)
4. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
6. Jake Zemke (Honda)
7. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki)
8. Steve Rapp (Suzuki)
9. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki)
10. Jake Holden (Suzuki)
Related Linkswww.suzuki-racing.com
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