Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies raced his GSX-R1000 to its sixth consecutive race victory in today’s opening AMA Superbike Championship race at Infineon Raceway, California. The young Texan led from the start of the 28 lapper to beat team mate and six-time Champion Mat Mladin by almost seven seconds and is now within one victory of equalling the record of most consecutive wins set by Honda’s Miguel Duhamel.
Duhamel finished third, stopping third Yoshimura team rider Aaron Yates from making it a Suzuki one-two-three.
“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 tyres.”
Earlier in the day, Spies took his third pole position after posting a track record-breaking fastest lap of 1:35.893. He said: “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.”
Team mate Mladin carded the second spot on the grid with a 1:36.556 lap time and Yates took fifth position with a 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. 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.”
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 and hopefully tomorrow the weather will hold out and we’ll come back with something for him.”
Yates, meanwhile, started several positions back from his team mates. 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. Towards 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 team mates.”
Superbike Results: 1. Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
4. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki)
5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
6. Ben Bostrom (Ducati)
7. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki)
8. Jake Zemke (Honda)
9. Steve Rapp (Suzuki)
10. Larry Pegram (Honda)
Yates Moves To 2nd In Superstock SeriesTeam Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates brought home a second-place finish in the AMA Repsol Superstock race, the defending AMA Superstock Champion moving from third-place to second-place overall in the points standings.
The Superstock racing action began late Saturday afternoon when Yates qualified in fifth position on the second row after posting a best lap time of 1:37.557. He fell during the morning’s practice and tweaked the shoulder he’d injured during testing last February.
He said: “I hurt my shoulder when I fell this morning and I just can’t push as hard as I need to.”
In Sunday afternoon’s 17-lap race, however, Yates got a good start and was out front in third position. He stayed put for several laps before taking over second place and was riding aggressively on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 when a red flag was thrown with eight laps completed. Because of anticipated weather, the AMA called the race at that point.
“You always want to win the race,” said Yates afterwards. “But it was a good race. I got hung up for a while in third place and then I was able to get by and get into second. I tried to chase after the leader but he was too far out there when we got the red flag. Even though I’d rather get the win, second is good for the points in the championship.”
Superstock Top 10 Finishers: 1. Jamie Hacking (Yamaha)
2. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki)
3. Eric Bostrom (Ducati)
4. Geoff May (M4 EMGO Suzuki)
5. Jake Holden (Jordan Suzuki)
6. Marty Craggill (Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki)
7 Steve Rapp (Jordan Suzuki)
8. Josh Hayes (Honda)
9. Matt Lynn (Suzuki)
10. Aaron Gobert (Honda)
Related Linkswww.suzuki-racing.com
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