Two-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies finished his second and his last day of the three-day Dunlop tire test with the fastest time, so far, around the revised infield road course at Daytona International Speedway. “It was good,” said Spies, who turned a 1:36.0 Saturday afternoon while testing new parts and new Dunlop tires on his Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 to lead all 18 riders at the event. “We got through all the tires and pretty much got through all that we wanted to with our test parts. We got the bike working pretty good. There’s a couple of things we’ll make better when we come back here. It’s easy fixes, but we really didn’t have time to work on it today. We needed to do the major test parts that’s gonna be all through ’09 and the test tires. Those are the most important things. It’s really Dunlop’s day. So we got all that stuff done, and like I said there’s a couple of little things we’re gonna work on with the bike. Not really anything that’s gonna make it go any faster, just a little more comfortable and easier to ride.” Tire testing will continue Sunday but without Spies, who plans to fly out of Florida Saturday night and head toward California, where he will have surgery on a lingering shoulder injury at the hands of Dr. Arthur Ting. Second-fastest on the day was Spies’ teammate Mat Mladin, who turned a 1:36.71 while testing fork settings, two new swingarms and a different throttle body set-up. Mladin also started his test of Dunlop’s newest tires, including one of the many new fronts Dunlop brought in hopes of not having front tire problems like it did in the 2007 AMA Superbike race at Daytona. Third-fastest overall was Eric Bostrom, who completed his test program on Yamaha’s sole 2008-spec YZF-R1. In spite of having to shift his bike “old school,” without an electronic ignition cut-out, Eric Bostrom lapped the course in 1:37.1 while running through his list of Dunlop test tires. Jason DiSalvo, who turned a fourth-fastest 1:37.8 Saturday while testing brake components and tires on his 2007 YZF-R1, will take over Yamaha’s 2008-spec Superbike for the final day of the test. “Pretty good” and “productive” were how Tommy Hayden described his day Saturday, which he split between his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike and his GSX-R600 Supersport machine. The eldest Hayden brother was fifth-fastest among Superbike riders, with a 1:37.8, and tied for third with his youngest brother Roger Hayden in the Supersport category, with a 1:42.9. Defending AMA Formula Xtreme Champion Josh Hayes was the fastest 600cc rider Saturday, turning a 1:40.68 on his Erion Honda CBR600RR Formula Xtreme bike while testing Dunlops and different exhaust pipes. Hayes just edged out Neil Hodgson (1:40.77), who spent all day working with the American Honda CBR600RR Formula Xtreme bike he will race in the Daytona 200. Hodgson has never raced a 600cc machine before but said he is really enjoying his new Honda CBR600RR. Graves Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom was the quickest Supersport tester with a 1:41.29 on his 2008 YZF-R6. Second to Bostrom in Supersport was Hayes’ teammate Zemke (1:42.09), who spent all day Saturday on his Supersport bike after his Formula Xtreme bike suffered transmission problems early in its test. Zemke jumped on Hayes’ back-up FX bike late Saturday but only completed a few laps before the day ended. The first two crashers of the test were Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Geoff May and Erion Honda’s junior rider Shea Fouchek. May fell first when a rear spring change caused him to overload his front Dunlop going into the west horseshoe. May was not injured and completed the day on his second bike. Fouchek then suffered a big highside crash while chasing Hodgson out of the New International Horseshoe. Fouchek was uninjured, but his team was not able to repair his CBR600RR Supersport bike in time to continue Saturday. Fouchek said he expects to ride again on Sunday. Weather conditions were good Saturday with partly sunny skies, temperatures in the mid-70s and little wind. Sunday’s forecast calls for similar conditions, albeit with warmer temperatures. Dunlop Tire Test Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida December 1, 2007 Unofficial Lap Times: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:36.0 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:36.71 3. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:37.1 4. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:37.8 5. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:37.8 6. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:38.0 7. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Superbike, 1:38.3 8. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), Superbike, 1:38.6 9. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock, 1:39.0 10. Akira Yanagawa (Kaw ZX-10R), Superbike, 1:40.0 11. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR), Formula Xtreme, 1:40.68 12. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock, 1:40.7 13. Neil Hodgson (Hon CBR600RR), Formula Xtreme, 1:40.77 14. Chris Peris (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock, 1:40.90 15. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6), Supersport, 1:41.29 16. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), Supersport, 1:42.09 17. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), Supersport, 1:42.36 18. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6R), Supersport, 1:42.9 19. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R600), Supersport, 1:42.9 20. Shea Fouchek (Hon CBR600RR), Supersport, 1:43.5 21. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), Formula Xtreme, 1:43.6 22. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), Supersport, 1:43.6