Yoshimura Suzuki's Mladin Wins Again in Sonoma Superbike Race II

Yoshimura Suzuki dominated the recent AMA Superbike double-header weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin won both races on Saturday and Sunday, with defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies bringing home second place in each event. This result has Mladin and Spies tied for the lead in the overall championship points standings. Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Tommy Hayden also put in two impressive rides, finishing in seventh on Saturday and an even better fifth in Sunday's event.

"I've got to thank my crew first and foremost," said Mladin from the podium. "They've worked very hard to keep things tight. The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 ran beautifully again and I was able to get a really good start."

Earlier in the weekend, Spies picked up his 11th career pole position, posting a track record-breaking lap time of 1:34.991. Mladin was second-fastest in qualifying with a lap time of 1:35.128, while Hayden rounded out the second row of the grid with a 1:36.860 lap time.

The double-header weekend's second race was very similar to the first event. Mladin got the holeshot and led all 28 laps.

"It was a good weekend for us," said Mladin of his 56th career AMA Superbike win. "We've tried very hard to win as many races as possible. I came here ready to ride as hard as I had to. I just want to get as much out of me as I can and to get as much out of the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 as I can. I'll worry about everything else later."

Again mimicking yesterday's race, Spies got a good start and was in second place for almost the entire race.

"We just didn't have the pace today," said Spies. "Mat was riding a defensive race. In the end, he was just a little faster. He stepped it up, for sure, and we just have to take it up another notch. But we know what we have to do so we'll put our heads down and get ready for Road America. That's one of my favorite tracks and I'm looking forward to it."

Hayden also stepped up his performance over yesterday's race. The two-time AMA Supersport Champion got a decent start but still had to work his way up to the front of the pack. But he did what he had to do to pick up a top-five finish.

"Today went a lot better than yesterday," said Hayden. "My race speed was faster, my times were better and I was a lot closer to the podium. We still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully between now and Road America we can make some improvements. I'd really like to get on the podium soon."

All of Suzuki's road race teams will return for round five of the AMA Superbike Series at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., the weekend of June 1 - 3, 2007



AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers


1. Mat Mladin, Yoshimura Suzuki
2. Ben Spies, Yoshimura Suzuki
3. Jake Zemke, Honda
4. Miguel Duhamel, Honda
5. Tommy Hayden, Yoshimura Suzuki
6. Jason Disalvo, Yamaha
7. Eric Bostrom, Yamaha
8. James Ellison, Honda
9. Jake Holden, Jordan Suzuki
10. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki



AMA Superbike Points Standings:


1. Mat Mladin, Yoshimura Suzuki (tied)
2. Ben Spies, Yoshimura Suzuki (tied)
3. Miguel Duhamel, Honda
4. Jake Zemke, Honda
5. Tommy Hayden, Yoshimura Suzuki
6. Jason Disalvo, Yamaha
7. Eric Bostrom, Yamaha
8. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki
9. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki
10. James Ellison, Honda