Personal knowledge on the part of key AMA Pro Racing officials may have doomed American Suzuki’s and Yoshimura Racing’s appeal of Mat Mladin’s disqualification for running a non-homologated crankshaft in Superbike races at VIR. AMA Pro Racing’s Colin Fraser operates the Canadian Superbike Championship, which runs with a dyno-enforced horsepower limit and allows any internal engine modifications as long as the engine does not produce more power than specified in the rules. According to series insiders, Suzuki teams in Canada have run what they refer to as “an endurance crank” and which is basically a race-kit crankshaft also used in Endurance World Championship events. The crankshaft is stronger than a standard GSX-R1000 crankshaft. AMA Pro Racing’s Roy Janson worked for Clear Channel prior to joining new AMA Pro Racing owner DMG (Daytona Motorsports Group), and his duties at Clear Channel included overseeing the Clear Channel-managed Jordan Motorsports Suzuki racing program. Insiders say the team was offered race kit crankshafts for use in Aaron Yates’ AMA Superbike, but declined the offer for fear of being caught and disqualified for running a non-homologated component. Yates has failed to finish several AMA Superbike races due to mechanical failures which may or may not be related to the crankshaft. In contrast, the Yoshimura Suzukis ridden by Mladin have not failed to finish a race due to a mechanical failure since an event at Fontana, California in April, 2005. Since moving into the AMA Superbike class in 2005 with Yoshimura Suzuki, current AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies has never had a mechanical DNF. Spies has also never been disqualified for a technical infraction, and his bike’s crankshaft was inspected and deemed legal by AMA officials at Road Atlanta. American Suzuki and Yoshimura Racing maintain that the crankshaft taken from Mladin’s bike at VIR is a standard production part which is functionally identical to the homologated crankshaft. To back up that position, American Suzuki submitted an analysis performed by an independent crankshaft expert who compared a crankshaft with production blueprints. According to appeal paperwork filed by American Suzuki, the crankshaft examined by the expert was identical to the crankshaft confiscated from Mladin’s bike by AMA officials at VIR; the actual confiscated crankshaft is still in AMA Pro Racing’s possession.