Yoshimura Suzuki team mates Mat Mladin and Ben Spies continued their domination of AMA Superbike in Saturday’s race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
This first of two Superbike races in the double-header weekend was red-flagged midway through the event: In the first part of the race, Spies led the way but after the re-start Mladin took the lead after a few laps.
For six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin, this win is his seventh victory of the season, his 58th career AMA Superbike win and also his seventh win at Mid-Ohio.
Defending AMA Superbike Champion Spies picked up his seventh pole position of the season and his 14th career pole position, as well as his 13th podium spot out of 13 starts this year.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden benefited from the red flag, with his crew finding some extra speed for the Kentucky rider, who finished in ninth position.
Mat Mladin:
“Ben was going quick and I knew I had to go quicker on my Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. I did a few things that I wouldn’t have done if I’d had a 10-second lead. I’ve said that if I could get a good start I could race with Ben and when I found myself in fourth place just after the re-start, I knew I had to put my money where my mouth was. I was pushing hard and caught up to Ben and had an opportunity to pass. I tried to keep the pressure on and now we’ll try to come back tomorrow and get off the line a bit quicker.”
Ben Spies:
“This was a tough one to swallow. Having a red flag can help you sometimes and it can hurt you sometimes and this one definitely didn’t help us. After the red flag, we tried to regroup but obviously we didn’t get it done today. I was riding my Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 100 per cent but this was one of the best rides I’ve ever seen Mat do. It’s good to get two Suzukis up on the podium, even though it didn’t work out the way we wanted. We’ll go back tonight and see if we can come up with something for tomorrow.”
Tommy Hayden:
“We’ve been struggling all weekend, really. But overall, I’m continuing to get faster on my Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. I matched my qualifying time in the first part of the race before the red flag and I’m happy about that. Also, after the red flag, my crew made a couple of changes to the bike that made me feel more comfortable. But there are still a couple of corners where I’m getting smoked. If I can improve on those for tomorrow, we’ll have a better result.”
AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:
1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2. Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki)
3. (Honda)
4. Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki)
5. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki)
6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha)
7. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha)
8. Jake Zemke (Honda)
9. Tommy Hayden (Yoshimura Suzuki)
10. James Ellison (Honda)
| 
|