Yoshimura Suzuki’s AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin completed a clean sweep of the AMA Superbike double-header at Alton, Virginia today while team mate Aaron Yates picked up his first Superbike podium of the year with a second-place finish. Championship leader Ben Spies, racing with a fractured right hand, brought home a strong fourth place and maintained his points lead.
Said Mladin: “After Mid-Ohio, I said all we could do is try to win as many races as possible and that’s what we did this weekend,” who took his fifth victory of the season and his fifth win at the circuit.
Overall, this win marks Mladin’s 48th career victory.
Starting from pole position, Mladin got a good start but then fell behind on the first lap. He worked his way up from ninth, and then the six-time AMA Superbike Champion moved into the lead.
“My start on the GSX-R1000 was awesome,” said Mladin. “But I braked early in the first turn. I finally got a good start and look what I did with it. As for the championship, the only way we can win the title is if Ben loses it. The championship is in Ben’s hands. No matter what, it’s good to get a couple wins.”
Team mate Yates also got a good start and led the first eight laps of the 28-lap race. Once Mladin got past him, however, Yates tucked in behind and the Yoshimura Suzuki duo finished together.
“I don’t know why everything came together here at VIR,” said Yates of his first 2006 podium. “We found some things for the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the Road Atlanta test last week and I knew I had to get a good start because I’ve had a tough time passing here. I have to thank my crew for doing a great job getting the Suzuki set up for me.”
Meanwhile, Spies was suffering from a hand injury that he got from crashing in qualifying. Determined to maintain his points lead in series, the young Texan rode a strong, consistent race and finished in fourth.
Said Spies: “I have to admit, these are the two worst races of my life, but I knew that I had everything under control by running in fourth and I just needed to focus on the Championship. We have a week-and-half to heal and come back ready for Road Atlanta.”
AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:1: Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2: Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki)
3: Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
4: Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki)
5: Jake Zemke (Honda)
6: Ben Bostrom (Ducati)
7: Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki)
8: Jason Pridmore (Jordan Suzuki)
9: Matt Lynn (Suzuki)
10: Eric Wood (Suzuki)
Related Linkswww.suzuki-racing.com
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