Ben Spies: “We’ve been getting our butt kicked all year so I had to do something different”
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Jun 25, 2007
Suzuki-Racing
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies and Mat Mladin continue to dominate the AMA Superbike Championship Series after finishing first and second respectively in the first AMA Superbike race of the double-header weekend at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
Defending AMA Superbike Champion Spies started from pole position, his fifth of the season got the holeshot and led all 21 laps to take the win. This victory is Spies’ fourth win of the season and his 15th career AMA Superbike victory. It also makes Spies the first repeat winner at Miller.
Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin, who qualified in second with a lap time less than one-tenth of a second behind his team mate, overcame a less-than-stellar start to bring home the second spot on the podium.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden was gridded on the second row but got an excellent start on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. The two-time AMA Supersport Champion ran in third place for the first few laps before eventually finishing in seventh position.
Ben Spies:
“We’ve been getting our butt kicked all year so I had to do something different. We have to ride harder… We need to get some more wins. Pole points are good but they’re not going to get it done. Unless I win the title by three points at the end of the year, getting pole position probably won’t make a difference at all. We have to do what it takes to get a win. I need to ride 110 per cent the whole time. Today, after we got the holeshot, on the first two or three laps I made the same mistake in the same corner two or three times in a row. But I tried to keep it clean and the GSX-R1000 was good for the whole race. It was pretty much a picture-perfect race. “
Mat Mladin:
“You can’t give up six seconds on the first few laps to a guy whose lap times are similar to yours. I pushed as hard as I could and then about halfway through the race I threw a couple chunks out of the rear tyre and that was pretty much my day. I probably chose the wrong tyre today and again the bad start. To be honest, everyone knows we have launch control now, but it didn’t work. I pushed the button and it didn’t work. So we’ll just have to get things sorted out for tomorrow. “
Tommy Hayden:
“Today’s race started out real good. The first few laps have been my problem all year, but today it was really good. I’ve struggled some this weekend and I just wasn’t able to run the pace that I needed to stay up front. But I learned some things from being up there with those guys and getting in there at the beginning that I can use tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow we can get the same start and then stay up there. “
AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:
1. Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
3. Jake Zemke (Honda)
4. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki)
5. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
6. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki)
7. Tommy Hayden (Yoshimura Suzuki)
8. Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki)
9. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha)
10. James Ellison (Honda)
