Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing's Ben Spies captured his third consecutive AMA Superbike victory of the season at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California on Saturday afternoon. The 28-lap race - the first of two in the double-header weekend - saw Spies start from the pole position and take over the lead on the first lap. He went on to lead all the laps and take the win. Additionally, this weekend's pole position is Spies' third consecutive at Infineon; his second of the year; and his 18th career pole position. Securing this one makes him tied for second for all-time career AMA Superbike pole positions.
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing team mate Mat Mladin holds the record for all-time career pole positions with a remarkable 54. At Infineon this weekend, six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin rode a strong race on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 and finished in second place to give Suzuki a double podium. Mladin continues to lead the championship points chase.
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing's Tommy Hayden is recovering from injuries sustained at the last round of AMA Superbike and did not race this weekend.
Ben Spies: "The Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working really good. We wanted to get a comfortable margin because this track is really physical and you have to work pretty hard. We just tried to put some good laps together and that was pretty much it. It was a pretty hot race and it ended up being a fairly tough race. Congratulations to Mat and Jamie Hacking because they were riding great today. Right now, we're just doing what we need to do for the championship. Tonight, we'll go back and see what we can do to make the bike a little better and try to come back and do the same thing tomorrow."
Mat Mladin:
"There was no catching Ben today; he was just riding too fast today. Congratulations to him and his team for a good race. Tomorrow, we'll come back and try to give it another shot on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000."
AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:
1. Ben Spies (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)
2. Mat Mladin (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)3. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki)
4. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha)
5. Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki)
6. Neil Hodgson (Honda)
7. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha)
8. Matt Lynn (Honda)
9. Geoff May (Jordan Suzuki)
10. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
