Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies closed out the annual Dunlop tire test at Daytona International Speedway by posting the fastest time after only a handful of laps on his 2006-spec GSX-R1000 Superbike Wednesday. In spite of spending most of the test successfully testing his 2007 GSX-R1000 Superstock racer, Spies used what he called a “softer race tire” to turn a lap of 1:37.823 around the 2.95-mile road course late on Wednesday to lead all riders at the test. “We went back to last year’s set-up and last year’s gearbox,” Spies told reporters Wednesday evening. “I went 1:38.2 right out of the gate, immediately, and that was good. I went back out on a softer tire. They said it was kind of a race tire. Then I did a 1:37.9 or something. “Then I told them I wanted to do a little bit of a stint on the new tire, because that was the first of the new generation tires that I had seen, and it was definitely better. So I told them to give me a new race tire, and we went out and did 11 laps. The tires definitely got better this year, for sure. I did 11 laps faster than anyone else’s fastest lap. So that was good. I think my fastest lap of the race last year was a 1:38.0, and then it dropped into the high-1:38s. [Today] I did a high-1:37 and the rest of the nine laps were faster than a 1:38.4, so that was really encouraging.” Spies’ fastest time, however, was actually slower than his fastest time during the last Dunlop tire test at Daytona in December 2005. Then Spies turned a 1:37.308 on his 2006 GSX-R1000. Spies was also the fastest man in the Superstock category, turning a 1:38.750 on the newest GSX-R1000, which was under the AMA Superstock lap record for Daytona, 1:39.185. American Honda’s Jake Zemke posted his fastest lap time, and the second-fastest lap time overall, a 1:38.653, near the end of the test. Zemke felt he could have gone faster, but his CBR1000RR quit running in the last hour of testing Wednesday. Zemke’s teammate Miguel Duhamel turned the ninth-fastest Superbike time of 1:39.726 (just behind the 1:39.62 Josh Hayes turned during a guest test of Zemke’s Superbike Wednesday) while testing three different Superbikes equipped with three different engine management systems. In his limited time on a shared 2007 CBR600RR, Duhamel was credited with the top Formula Xtreme test time, a 1:40.067. Third-fastest Superbike, and overall, rider was Jason DiSalvo, who recorded a 1:38.711 on his Yamaha YZF-R1, which isn’t a full-fledged Superbike at the moment. The YZF-R1 Superbikes of DiSalvo and teammate Eric Bostrom (sixth-fastest Superbike rider with a 1:39.161) still wore stock swingarms, stock fuel tanks, stock radiators and were only equipped with mildly-tuned engines at Daytona. Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin’s best time of 1:39.067 (turned Wednesday morning during Mladin’s last stint during the test) held up for the fourth-fastest Superbike time. Mladin left the test early when it became apparent that Yoshimura Suzuki’s 2007 Superbikes would not make it to Daytona. In his first true test of his new Kawasaki ZX-10R Superbike, 2006 double AMA Champion Jamie Hacking put up the fifth-fastest Superbike test time, a 1:39.141, just faster than teammate Roger Hayden’s seventh-fastest 1:39.404. Hacking also posted the fastest lap time among the four Supersport testers at Daytona, a 1:42.613 on his all-new Kawasaki ZX-6R. Former Grand Prix racer Chaz Davies recorded an impressive Supersport time of 1:43.140 even though he was using a stock, back-up engine in his Celtic Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. Hayden was a tick behind Davies in the Supersport order with a 1:43.191. Pirelli will open its two-day tire test at Daytona Thursday morning. Dunlop Tire Test Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida December 6, 2006 Wednesday Afternoon Test Times (as supplied by AMA Pro Racing timing & scoring): 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:37.823, Superbike 2. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:38.653, Superbike 3. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), 1:38.711, Superbike 4. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:38.750, Superstock 5. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:39.141, Superbike 6. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:39.161, Superbike 7. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:39.608, Superbike 8. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:39.726, Superbike 9. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:39.912, Superstock 10. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.038, Superbike 11. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.534, Superbike 12. Akira Yanagawa (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.564, Superbike 13. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.746, Superstock 14. James Ellison (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:41.283, Superbike 15. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.616, Formula Xtreme 16. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.968, Formula Xtreme 17. Chaz Davies (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.140, Supersport 18. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.415, Formula Xtreme 19. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:43.739, Supersport 20. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.202, Supersport 21. Gary Mason (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:44.324,Superbike 22. Ryan Elleby (Hon CBR600RR), 1:45.138, Formula Xtreme Fastest Overall Times, By Class, Of The Test: Superbike: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:37.823 2. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:38.653 3. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), 1:38.711 4. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:39.067 5. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:39.141 6. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:39.161 7. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:39.404 8. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:39.62* 9. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:39.726 10. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.007 11. Akira Yanagawa (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.461 12. James Ellison (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:41.283 13. Gary Mason (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:44.007 Superstock: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:38.750 2. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:39.912 3. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.304 Formula Xtreme: 1. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6), 1:41.980 2. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.099 3. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.141 4. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.616 5. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.333 6. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR600RR), 1:44.10* 7. Ryan Elleby (Hon CBR600RR), 1:45.158 Supersport: 1. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:42.182 2. Chaz Davies (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.140 3. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:43.191 4. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.202 * time supplied by rider’s team (Editorial Note: The list of best overall test times listed above may appear differently than the times posted by other media outlets. This is due to AMA Pro Racing timing & scoring posting and distributing lap times that included laps where riders cut the course. Roadracingworld.com confirmed that all of the lap times listed above are legitimate by ensuring riders hit all four timing loops and/or by asking the rider directly if their best lap time was accurate.) More, from a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway: Dunlop Tire Testing Day 3: Testing Wraps Up DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. The three-day Dunlop tire testing at historic Daytona International Speedway wrapped up on Wednesday. The weather has been perfect throughout the test and teams have been using their extensive track time to prepare for Daytona 200 Week By Honda on March 1-10. But teams and riders always want more and 2006 Daytona 200 By Honda champion Jake Zemke says while the test has been successful, he would be willing to spend more days at DIS testing if he could. “Sure, a fourth day, a fifth, a sixth, we can test all week,” Zemke said with a laugh. “That’d be fine by me. Until we’re perfectly happy with everything, which as a racer I don’t think anybody is perfectly happy, we always want more time. It’s good and we’ve got plenty of tests outside of here before we come back. We have plenty of more time to look at a lot more stuff and get things dialed in.” Zemke, who’ll defend his Daytona 200 By Honda win on Saturday, March 10, says the majority of his time during the test has been spent on Honda’s new traction control system. “That’s where 80 percent of our efforts are going right now,” Zemke said. “To get up to speed with this stuff and to make it an effective tool, it takes a lot of time. Unless we’re not out on the track, we’re not able to figure out what we need from the traction control system.” The Dunlop tire test is the second visit to DIS for the American Honda team, which held a private test at “The World Center of Racing” in October following Fall Cycle Scene. During that test, Zemke revisited his 2006 Daytona 200 By Honda win. “As a kid growing up, I always looked at all the names of people that won this race,” Zemke said. “Historically, the Daytona 200 is the biggest race we have in America. It means an awful lot to put my name up there with some of the legends of motorcycle racing.” While the victory was an important piece to Zemke’s career, the triumph was also important to Honda. The manufacturer puts a tremendous amount of effort into the race and hopes the victory translates into motorcycles sales. “To win the Daytona 200, it’s huge for the manufacturer because it’s the start of spring,” Zemke said. “It’s March when all the sport bikes are coming out. It creates a lot of press and a lot of publicity for the manufacturers that win the race. It’s definitely a great way to sell motorcycles. That’s the whole reason why we do race. It’s an advertising tool to the public to showcase the attributes of the bike. It definitely shows what the bikes are capable of doing. It feeds the fans to go out and ride.” While the Dunlop tire test has concluded, Pirelli and Michelin tire testing are scheduled for the next two days at DIS and the sessions are free and open to the public with access to the Oldfield Grandstand available through DAYTONA USA. Tickets for Daytona 200 Week By Honda are available online at ~http://www.racetickets.com~ or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.