AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia September 2, 2006 Provisional Race Results: 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 25 laps 2. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), -5.090 seconds 3. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), -20.870 seconds 4. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), -21.402 seconds 5. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06), -31.735 seconds 6. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), -38.376 seconds 7. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), -38.539 seconds 8. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000), -57.988 seconds 9. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000), -58.029 seconds 10. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), -60.434 seconds 11. Matt Lynn (Suz GSX-R1000), -76.437 seconds 12. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000), -83.466 seconds 13. Eric Wood (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap 14. Larry Pegram (Hon CBR1000RR), -1 lap, 0.655 second 15. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 4.291 seconds 16. Jason Curtis (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 7.792 seconds 17. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 10.979 seconds 18. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 38.750 seconds 19. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 53.638 seconds 20. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06), -2 lap, pitted/mechanical 21. Gary Mason (Suz GSX-R1000), -6 laps, DNF, mechanical 22. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), -8 laps, DNF, mechanical 23. Scott Carpenter (Suz GSX-R1000), -8 laps, DNF, mechanical 24. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), -13 laps, DNF, mechanical 25. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), DNS 26. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000), DNS 27. Brian Stokes (Yam YZF-R1), DNS Provisional Championship Point Standings (After 17 of 19 races): 1. Spies, 593 points 2. Mladin, 568 points (-25 points) 3. Duhamel, 470 points 4. Yates, 422 points 5. Hodgson, 413 points 6. Tommy Hayden, 408 points 7. Zemke, 401 points 8. Pridmore, 355 points 9. Ben Bostrom, 340 points 10. Pegram, 316 points More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mladin, Spies & Yates Sweep Suzuki Superbike Showdown at Road Atlanta –Next round, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, Sept. 29 Oct. 1, 2006– Round 10 AMA Superbike Series Braselton, GA Road Atlanta Sept. 1 – 3, 2006 Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, Ben Spies and Aaron Yates finished first, second and third, respectively, in the first AMA Superbike race of the double-header weekend at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., on Saturday afternoon. This win is Mladin’s 49th career victory and also his sixth win of the season. For teammate Spies, this podium finish brings him one step closer to the Superbike championship. “It was a good race for us,” said six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin. “The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was running great, the Dunlop tires were working well, and I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.” As usual, the weekend began with qualifying sessions. Although Mladin captured provisional pole on Friday afternoon, it was Spies who took the coveted starting spot in Saturday’s final session. Still nursing a hand injury from the VIR race earlier this month, Spies posted a 1:21. 987 fast lap to take his seventh pole position of the season. Mladin was a close second with a 1: 22.109 lap time and Yates was on the second row with a 1:23.942 posting. “I tried to put in five or six good laps on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000,” said Spies. “I knew I needed the extra point with the championship situation like it is. The Suzuki is working well and my hand is better not good by any means, though and I hope we’ll have a good race and we’ll take what we can get.” In the 25-lap race, Spies got a great start and was out front immediately. Mladin was close behind and began challenging for the lead within a few laps. Riding with a broken hand, Spies yielded to his teammate after five laps. Said defending AMA Superbike Champion Mladin: “I was a little sick at VIR so it was good to be able to push all the way for a win today. We just need to keep the pressure on Ben and try to keep things close for the last round at Mid-Ohio.” Added Spies, “I got a pretty good start but I didn’t want to get out front on the first lap because I didn’t know how things were going to be with my hand. We’re obviously not in the right frame of mind to win races right now. But the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was good and my team is working really hard — I wish I could have given them a win. But hopefully, we’ll come back stronger tomorrow.” Like his teammates, Yates also got a good launch and was up front with the top-five. He rode consistently and aggressively and moved into fourth position before the halfway point in the race. He slowly but surely reeled in the third-place rider and took over the last podium spot with one lap left. “The race was a lot of fun,” said Yates. “Luckily, we got off the line pretty good. I got up front and could see my teammates were going strong. They set a good pace, the Suzuki was running good and my crew did a great job giving me a bike that got around the track well. It’s great to get Yoshimura Suzuki 1-2-3 at the Suzuki Superbike Showdown. Hopefully, we’ll do it again tomorrow.” Saturday’s race was the first of two Superbike races in the Road Atlanta double-header weekend, with the second race slated for Sunday afternoon. Mat Mladin, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #1 1st Place AMA Superbike 2nd Place Overall Championship Points Standings Ben Spies, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #11 2nd Place AMA Superbike 1st Place Overall Championship Points Standings Aaron Yates, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #20 3rd Place AMA Superbike 4th Place Overall Championship Points Standings More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Mat Mladin led a Team Yoshimura Suzuki clean sweep in today’s first leg of the AMA Superbike Championship ‘Suzuki Superbike Showdown’ at Road Atlanta in Georgia with team mates Ben Spies and Aaron Yates joining him on the victory podium. It was Mladin’s sixth win of the season; his third in a row; and 49th of his career which saw him grab back five championship points from Championship leader Spies. With two races to go, including Sunday’s second race, Spies’ lead is now just 25 points from the six-time AMA Champion. Said Mladin: “I know what it’s like to be in Ben’s position with a few races to go. All we can do is go for the win and keep the pressure on him for the last few races. It was a good race for us. The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was running great, the Dunlop tyres were working well, and I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.” As usual, the weekend began with qualifying sessions. Although Mladin captured provisional pole on Friday afternoon, it was Spies who took the coveted starting spot in Saturday’s final session. Still nursing a hand injury from the VIR race earlier this month, Spies posted a 1:21. 987 fast lap to take his seventh pole position of the season. Mladin was a close second with a 1: 22.109 lap time and Yates was on the second row with a 1:23.942 posting. “I tried to put in five or six good laps on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000,” said Spies. “I knew I needed the extra point with the championship situation like it is. The Suzuki is working well and my hand is better not good by any means, though and I hope we’ll have a good race and we’ll take what we can get.” In the 25-lap race, Spies got a great start and was out front immediately. Mladin was close behind and began challenging for the lead within a few laps. Riding with a broken hand, Spies yielded to his team mate after five laps. Said Mladin: “I was a little sick at VIR so it was good to be able to push all the way for a win today. We just need to keep the pressure on Ben and try to keep things close for the last round at Mid-Ohio.” Added Spies, “I got a pretty good start but I didn’t want to get out front on the first lap because I didn’t know how things were going to be with my hand. We’re obviously not in the right frame of mind to win races right now. But the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was good and my team is working really hard – I wish I could have given them a win, but hopefully, we’ll come back stronger tomorrow.” Like his team mates, Yates also got a good launch and was up front with the top-five. He rode consistently and aggressively and moved into fourth position before the halfway point in the race. He slowly reeled in the third-place rider and took over the last podium spot with one lap left. “The race was a lot of fun,” said Yates. “Luckily, we got off the line pretty good. I got up front and could see my team mates were going strong. They set a good pace, the Suzuki was running good and my crew did a great job giving me a bike that got around the track well. It’s great to get Yoshimura Suzuki 1-2-3 at the Suzuki Superbike Showdown. Hopefully, we’ll do it again tomorrow.” Saturday’s race was the first of two Superbike races in the Road Atlanta double-header weekend, with the second race on Sunday afternoon. More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati: TOP FIVE FINISH FOR HODGSON IN GEORGIA Braselton (Georgia) 2 September 2006: Neil Hodgson of the Parts Unlimited Ducati Team finished fifth in Sunday’s AMA Superbike race at Road Atlanta. Hodgson ran as high as third in the 25-lap event and challenged for the podium before a grip issue blunted his charge. His teammate Ben Bostrom was classified 20th after a pit stop in his race. Hodgson, who qualified on the front row, got a good start in the race held in the warm Georgia countryside near Atlanta. “Even though we weren’t racing for the win today, we were riding hard and trying to do the best we could,” said Hodgson, who battled with many of the top AMA stars during the course of the race. An off-track excursion cost Neil a position in the order to an eventual podium finisher. “I ran off the track, unfortunately, and that’s how Aaron Yates got by me. I was trying to hang with him and thinking we could run that pace until the end of the race but we had a grip issue with a few laps to go.” Hodgson is confident he can improve his finishing position on Sunday. “We’re going to make some small changes and try a different rear tire and we think we’ll be even more competitive than we were today,” said Neil, who finished third in last year’s season finale at Road Atlanta. Ben Bostrom struggled with the setup of his machine in Saturday’s 25-lap event. “We used the backup bike for the race today,” said Ben, who was classified in 20th spot. “I thought something was wrong so I pitted for a new tire. That was pretty much our race. We have some ideas for tomorrow and are looking forward to fighting for a podium spot.” Tomorrow’s race begins at 3:00PM.