Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin and team mate Ben Spies dominated the second leg of the AMA Superbike Championship double-header at California Speedway in Fontana today, with Mladin taking the victory by just 0.035 seconds.
The six-time AMA Champion reversed the places on his team mate as the two GSX-R1000s finished 21 seconds ahead of third-placed Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) in the 28 lapper. Third Yoshimura rider Tommy Hayden finished in fourth place after an equally-close and exciting battle with Honda’s Jake Zemke, who finished 0.0334 seconds behind.
“After yesterday, we were off from what we’d wanted to do, ” said Mladin, who finished second to Spies in Saturday’s race. “Today, we got everything together. Right from the start, I put my head down. This is a bit of a hometown race for us so it means a lot to get a win here. ” The previous day, Spies had picked up his third AMA Superbike pole position of the season with a qualifying lap of 1:23.117. Mladin was second with a best time of 1:23.711, while Hayden rounded out the front row of the grid with a 1:24.475 lap time.
At the start of the 28-lap race, Mladin took the lead almost immediately. Spies slotted in behind and they battled together for the entire race. “I have no illusions that the season is going to be anything but tough, ” maintained Mladin. “It’s going to be hard racing and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve won several championships already and it’s tough racing that motivates me. Today, I was 100 per cent the whole way. There wasn’t anything left on the table. “
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