Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin continued his perfect 2005 season by claiming his third consecutive AMA Superbike pole position and the bonus Championship point that comes with it in final qualifying Saturday morning at California Speedway. To secure the 40th AMA Superbike pole position of his career, Mladin went faster Saturday, turning a time of 1:23.611, which lowered the lap record of 1:24.184 he set Friday. Mladin told reporters that he used a potential race tire during Friday’s qualifier and mounted a “soft race tire” during Saturday’s session. Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates remained second on the grid based on his qualifying time from Friday, 1:24.327, and said he used Saturday’s session to concentrate on improving his race set-up. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Superbike rookie Ben Spies improved his time from 1:24.715 on Friday to 1:24.386 on Saturday but remains third on the grid. Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Neil Hodgson leapfrogged over teammate Eric Bostrom during Saturday’s timed session to capture the fourth and final spot on the front row. Hodgson said he is suffering from flu symptoms but felt better Saturday, resulting in him recording a 1:24.432, an improvement on his Friday time of 1:25.624. Bostrom will start fifth after he was unable to improve on his Friday time of 1:25.938. Likewise, American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel (1:25.624) and Jake Zemke (1:26.002) could not improve on their sixth- and seventh-fastest times, respectively, from Friday. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Vincent Haskovec earned the final spot on the second row with a lap of 1:26.261 on his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000, the first motorcycle on the grid not rolling on Dunlop tires. Provisional Combined AMA Superbike Qualifying Results: 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:23.612 2. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:24.327 3. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:24.386 4. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 1:24.432 5. Eric Bostrom, Ducati, 1:24.938 6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:25.624 7. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:26.002 8. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:26.262 9. Marty Craggill, Suzuki, 1:26.336 10. John Haner, Suzuki, 1:26.452 11. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki, 1:26.523 12. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:26.763 13. Geoff May, Suzuki, 1:26.913 14. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:26.981 15. Jake Holden, Suzuki, 1:27.022 16. Larry Pegram, Honda, 1:27.022 17. Jeff Tigert, Honda, 1:27.663 18. Clint McBain, Suzuki, 1:27.846 19. Eric Wood, Suzuki, 1:27.902 20. Cory West, Suzuki, 1:28.020