YOSHIMURA SUZUKI’S SPIES CAPTURES AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP, MLADIN WINS RACE AT MID-OHIO Team Yoshimura Suzuki celebrated a tremendous weekend at the final AMA Superbike race at Lexington, Ohio’s Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sunday afternoon. Yoshimura Suzuki rider Ben Spies captured his first-ever AMA Superbike Championship after finishing the race in a comfortable seventh position, while teammates Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates brought home the win and second place. “This has been an awesome season,” said the newly crowned Spies. “The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 has been great this year and I really have to thank my crew for working so hard for me all season. We had a small problem at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) when I broke a bone in my hand, but we’ve worked through it and brought home the championship. Now we know what to expect next year and we’ll just try to go forward and come back strong for 2007.” Interrupted by a red flag mid-way through, Sunday afternoon’s 26-lap race was an exciting one. Defending AMA Superbike Champion Mladin got a good jump off the line in both starts and charged hard on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. “It was a good race,” said the six-time AMA Superbike Champion. “We struggled a bit in both races but we got it together and things went well. The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 is great and congratulations to Ben on his championship. Now I’m just looking forward to next year.” Yates also got really good starts, leading much of the race. In the end, however, he brought home second position. “I got really good starts,” the Georgian reiterated. “We didn’t make any changes during the red flag, we just went out with new Dunlop tires. When Mat got by me, I ran with him for a while. But I’m just happy to bring home second place on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000.” Ben Spies, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #11 7th Place AMA Superbike 1st Place Overall Championship Points Standings Mat Mladin, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #1 1st Place AMA Superbike 2nd Place Overall Championship Points Standings Aaron Yates, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #20 2nd Place AMA Superbike 4th Place Overall Championship Points Standings AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers: 1. Mat Mladin, Team Yoshimura Suzuki 2. Aaron Yates, Team Yoshimura Suzuki 3. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 4. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 5. Jason Pridmore, Jordan Suzuki 6. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki 7. Ben Spies, Team Yoshimura Suzuki 8. Jake Zemke, Honda 9. Marty Craggill, Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki 10. Larry Pegram, Honda More, from a press release issued by Pegram Racing: LEOVINCE PEGRAM RACING HONDA TEAM FINISHES SUPERBIKE SERIES IN TOP TEN Hebron, Ohio Larry Pegram of LeoVince Pegram Racing Honda Team (a professional AMA Superbike Race Team) finished the final race and season in 10th place in the AMA Superbike Series. Despite some mechanical problems early in the season, the team was able to put forward very consistent results and finish strong. The privateer team is excited to have finished inside the top ten among all the factory teams. “This was my third year running a team in the Superbike series and I am very pleased with the growth of superbike racing and the team’s marketing presence. The team paddock was very professional and provided a quality-marketing platform for our sponsors. In addition, we ran competitively with the factory teams, so we delivered the results that the fans wanted to see from a serious privateer team,” stated Larry. “The team and I appreciate everything that our sponsors did to help us achieve a top ten overall in the AMA Superbike Series. Everybody worked hard. I am looking forward to 2007 and taking our race team to the next level,” added Larry Pegram. Team rider, Ryan Elleby, raced the final race of 2006 at Mid-Ohio with a partially healed broken wrist. Ryan crashed in the Formula Extreme class at Mid-Ohio but still finished 14th overall for the season. In the Supersport class, Ryan finished 13th for the day and 15th overall for the series. About LeoVince Pegram Racing Honda Team Hebron, Ohio-based LeoVince Pegram Racing Honda Team is a professional superbike race team competing in the AMA Superbike Championship. The team is owned and managed by Larry Pegram, a Superbike Champion and third-generation motorcycle racer. Ryan Elleby of Powder Springs, Georgia also races for the team. The team competes in the Superbike, Formula Extreme and Supersport classes on Honda CBR1000RR and CBR600RR motorcycles. The team web site is www.pegramracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki: Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Pridmore Celebrates Best Superbike Finish of the Season LEXINGTON, Ohio Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki rider Jason Pridmore picked up his best AMA Superbike result of the year with a fifth-place finish in the season finale at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006. The 26-lap season-ending Superbike race was lauded as a shootout, with riders being gridded via heat-race results, as opposed to regular qualifying sessions. Due to unseasonably cold, wet and windy weather, both Pridmore and teammate Steve Rapp chose to support the factory riders’ decision to use provisional start options rather than qualifying in the scheduled heat races. This resulted in the Jordan Suzuki riders starting toward the back of the grid, considerably farther back than in their previous Superbike starts. But veteran rider Pridmore got a good start and made his way up through the field to finish in fifth position, his best result of the 2006 AMA Superbike season. “It just takes time to make these things work,” said Pridmore of the season’s results. Pridmore also spoke of the vast improvements that his crew has been making during the past five or six races, further stating, “We really don’t want to be running in ninth and 10th. Our team and bikes are much better than that.” Due to the regulations regarding provisional starts, Jordan Suzuki’s Jake Holden participated in the Superbike consolation race. There, Holden earned his first podium of the year, piloting his Suzuki GSX-R1000 to the front of the pack. Steve Rapp started the Superbike race to use it as additional practice time in order to compete in the second race of the day, Superstock. The strategy worked, as Rapp finished one place shy of the podium. Jason Pridmore, Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, #43 5th Place AMA Superbike Race 8th Place Overall Championship Points Standings Jake Holden, Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, #59 DNS AMA Superbike Race 12th Place Overall Championship Points Standings Steve Rapp, Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, #15 DNF AMA Superbike Race 11th Place Overall Championship Points Standings More, from another Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki: Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Rapp gets Best Superstock Result of the Year LEXINGTON, Ohio Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki rider Steve Rapp followed up his impressive fifth-place finish at Road Atlanta with an even better fourth-place result in the final AMA Repsol Superstock race of the year at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006. Rapp’s finish was his best of the 2006 AMA Superstock season. Due to inclement weather throughout the weekend, the event’s qualifying sessions were cancelled. This allowed Jordan Suzuki riders Jake Holden and Steve Rapp to grid on the front row in second and third positions respectively, by using their Friday practice times. In the 16-lap race, Jake Holden led the first five exciting laps while Rapp was running in third place. Although Holden didn’t finish the race, Rapp more than made up for it by picking up his and the team’s best result of the season with a fourth-place finish “This was a great way to finish off the season,” said Rapp. “The Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 was running great and it was good to be up front for the race. We’ve made a lot of progress this year and I want to thank the crew and my teammates for such an excellent season.” Teammate Jason Pridmore did not compete in the Superstock event, choosing to save his strength in his right broken ankle so he could focus on the AMA Superbike event, where he finished fifth. Steve Rapp, Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, #15 4th Place AMA Repsol Superstock 7th Place Overall Championship Points Standings Jake Holden, Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, #59 DNF AMA Repsol Superstock 12th Place Overall Jason Pridmore, Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, #43 DNS AMA Repsol Superstock 17th Place Overall Championship Points Standings