Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin raced to a record-breaking 33rd AMA Superbike victory at Daytona International Speedway today to take the lead in the 2005 series on a day that saw six GSX-R1000’s in the top 10.

The victory moves the five-time AMA Superbike Champion one win clear of American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel – the pair having arrived at Daytona tied with career wins.

The short 15-lap race showed that Mladin is right back where he left off, the defending class champion again proving that he’s the man to beat as the 2005 series kicked off under sunny skies in Florida.

“This was a good race for us and a good week for us,” said Mladin from the podium. “I have to thank my boys who have worked really hard and give credit to Yoshimura Suzuki for giving us such a great bike in the GSX-R1000 and Dunlop for providing better tyres.”

Although the premier Superbike class’ race was a 15-lap sprint race instead of the long-standing 200-mile event, Mladin was still pleased to have captured his fourth Daytona victory and was quick to attribute his success to his crew and the Yoshimura Suzuki.

“I’m confident in my motorcycle and I’m confident in my team. If I do my job, then we will win some races,” said Mladin. “The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 is the best motorcycle I’ve ever ridden. Suzuki has done a lot of hard work on the bike and we still have some testing to do. So I’m looking forward to taking the bike to Barber, which is a track were we can show what the motorcycle is made of.”

Second place went to the Brit Neil Hodgson, the Ducati Austin rider keeping Mladin honest throughout but not able to seriously challenge the Australian.

Hodgson ended up 3.4 seconds behind Mladin, but it was a solid effort from the Brit and it may very well serve as a preview of things to come as those two tough customers are certain to square off all season long.

Third place at the flag went to Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies, the young Texan fighting through from a bad start to pass his team mate Aaron Yates on the drafting run to the flag. Yates held on for fourth after running in third for the majority of the race.

“I thought if I was going to get on the podium, I’ve got to get to it,” said Spies. “But I have to thank Suzuki because the new GSX-R1000 is awesome. It would have been nice to have gotten second and given Yoshimura Suzuki a one-two finish, but I just couldn’t do it today.”

Yates, meanwhile, looked at the Daytona race as a learning experience and in a positive light. “The race was pretty good,” said Yates. “We got some points and this was a better start to the racing season than last year. We’ve spent most of our time this year testing the Superstock bike and now we’re going to focus on Superbike. With this race, we realised the direction we want to go in.”

After Yates came the factory Hondas led by Jake Zemke. Zemke was 7.2 seconds behind Mladin at the flag, beating his team mate Duhamel to the flag by one second.

Well behind the Honda intrasquad battle came Michael Jordan Motorsports’ Jason Pridmore, the Suzuki-mounted rider taking advantage of a miscue by M4 Emgo Suzuki’s Geoff May to take the spot late in the race.

May held on to finish eighth, barely ahead of Erion Racing’s Kurtis Roberts at the flag as Michael Jordan Motorsports’ Steve Rapp rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Superbike Results: 1 Mat Mladin (Suzuki) , 2 Neil Hodgson (Ducati), 3 Ben Spies (Suzuki), 4 Aaron Yates (Suzuki) , 5 Jake Zemke (Honda), 6 Miguel Duhamel (Honda), 7 Jason Pridmore (Suzuki), 8 Geoff May (Suzuki), 9 Kurtis Roberts (Honda), 10 Steve Rapp (Suzuki).

AMA SUPERSTOCK:

 In the Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series, Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates was a part of the strong Suzuki contingent that swept the podium in Thursday’s season-opening race at Daytona.

“I wanted to be in the top three,” said Yates from the podium. “I would have liked to win the race but I’m happy to be in second position, especially because the bad weather limited the time I’ve spent on the bike.”

In the race, Yates got the holeshot and led for the first 10 laps. He was passed by M4 EMGO Suzuki rider Vincent Haskovec with just three laps to go and held on to finish second. “Suzuki swept the podium with GSX-R1000s and that’s the important thing,” he said. “This just goes to show how great the Suzuki GSX-R1000 is.”

Superstock Results: 1 Vincent Haskovec (Suzuki) , 2 Aaron Yates (Suzuki), 3 Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) , 4 Jamie Hacking (Yamaha), 5 Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha), 6 Geoff May (Suzuki), 7 Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki), 8 Steve Rapp (Suzuki), 9 Brent George (Suzuki), 10 Jacob Holden (Suzuki).

AMA SUPERSPORT:

In the season-opening AMA Supersport Series at Daytona, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies fought a hard battle and came away with an impressive fourth-place finish.

“I’ve never ridden that hard for that long,” said Spies after the 22-lap event. “That was like riding the Daytona 200 but on a 600cc bike.”

Initially, Spies got a good start and led on the first lap. Eventually, however, he was overtaken and went on to battle with the second and third-placed finishers, but before the race was at its halfway mark, the riders had encountered lappers, which impacted the event.

“The lapped traffic was really bad,” said Spies. “But I don’t want to make any excuses. I just had to put my head down and ride the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600 as hard as I could and try to stay with the lead group.”

Supersport Results: 1 Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki), 2 Jamie Hacking (Yamaha), 3 Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha), 4 Ben Spies (Suzuki) , 5 Aaron Gobert (Yamaha), 6 Robert Jensen (Yamaha), 7 Michael Barnes (Yamaha), 8 Geoff May (Suzuki) , 9 Pascal Picotte (Yamaha), 10 Danny Eslick (Suzuki).

More, from a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway:

Aussie Mat Mladin Dominates AMA Superbike DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (March 12, 2005) — Aussie Mat Mladin captured the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited in dominating fashion on Saturday at historic Daytona International Speedway.

Mladin, aboard the No. 1 Yoshimura Suzuki, broke away from the competitive field early in the race and earned a 3.475-second victory in the 15-lap event on the 2.95-mile motorcycle course.

“We saw what happened in the Supersport race, so we had a pretty good idea of what could happen today if you got it right,” Mladin said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t quite get the start we wanted but after a couple laps we got the lead and managed to cut some decent laps and get out there and put some gaps on everybody. We did what we had to do to bring it home. The bike’s amazing. This is the best bike I’ve ever been on. Suzuki has done some hard work on the Superbike.” 

Mladin, who is shooting for his sixth AMA Superbike championship this year, earned his fourth Superbike win at Daytona and his 33rd of his AMA career, which puts him atop the all-time wins list.

England’s Neil Hodgson, whose lone start at Daytona was back in 1995 when he finished 16th in the Daytona 200 By Honda, came home in second place aboard the No. 100 Austin Ducati.

“I’m really pleased,” Hodgson said. “I’ve got mixed feelings. You feel happy to get this out of the way and get some good points, but you feel sickish you didn’t win.” The fight for the lone remaining podium spot in the AMA Superbike Championship was claimed by Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies, who nipped teammate Aaron Yates by .119 seconds.

For Spies, it was his first career podium finish in AMA Superbike.

“This was my first podium in my second Superbike race,” Spies said. “You want to win, but I’ve got to be realistic.”

Motorcycle action continued on Saturday with the Daytona 200 By Honda.

More, from another press release issued by Daytona International Speedway:

Miguel Duhamel Claims Fifth Daytona 200 By Honda

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (March 12, 2005) — Canadian Miguel Duhamel made history on Saturday at historic Daytona International Speedway winning a record fifth Daytona 200 By Honda.

Duhamel, riding aboard the No. 17 Honda, is now tied with Scott Russell atop the all-time Daytona 200 By Honda wins list with five triumphs in the prestigious motorcycle classic.

“This year, it’s just a great time,” said Duhamel, who had a 42.586-second margin of victory. “Anytime you can win Daytona and tie Scott Russell. I’ve been coming here a long time. I really felt like I earned it. I rode really hard out there. It didn’t matter what other people were doing. I was just concerned with my team and what my guys were doing. I didn’t want to let those guys down.” The battle for the 64th Daytona 200 By Honda came down to a trio of Honda riders.

Duhamel and teammate Jake Zemke used a three-pit stop strategy while Erion Honda rider Kurtis Roberts was able to cover the 68 laps on the 2.95-mile road course with only two pit stops.

But Duhamel maintained a fast pace and his Honda crew performed flawless pit stops on his CBR600RR motorcycle.

Roberts came home in second while Zemke settled for third. It’s the third time in event history that Honda has swept the podium and the second time in the last three years.

Roberts, son of three-time Daytona 200 By Honda champion Kenny Roberts, was frustrated over pit stop problems.

“Seems every year I have a pit stop problem here,” Roberts said. “Had a problem with the air gun on the second stop and it took forever.”

Local rider William Meyers took a respectable 23rd -place finish in his first Daytona 200 By Honda start and Daytona 200 By Honda mileage leader Rick Shaw finished 40th.

Motorcycles will return to Daytona International Speedway for Fall Cycle Scene on Oct. 20-23. Tickets and more information are available online at ~http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com~ or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

More, from a press release issued on behalf of Dunlop by Vreeke & Assoc.:

Mladin dominates AMA Superbike opener; Duhamel takes record-tying fifth Daytona 200 win

Daytona, FL March 12, 2005 Yoshimura Suzuki’s five-time AMA Superbike champ Mat Mladin turned in an impressive performance in the series opener on Saturday, garnering his 33rd career Superbike victory in the process. Meanwhile, Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel took his fifth Daytona 200 victory, tying him with Scott Russell for all-time victories in America’s most prestigious motorcycle race.

Mladin passed teammate Aaron Yates on lap one and was never headed again as he set off on his season-long quest for a record sixth AMA Superbike title. He attributed his convincing victory of 3.475-seconds over Ducati Austin’s Neil Hodgson to Suzuki’s new GSX-R1000 and his team. “The bike’s amazing,” said Mladin. “This is the best motorcycle I’ve ever ridden. Suzuki have done some hard work on the Superbike.” Asked about the depth of the competition, he said, “Oh, for sure. But we’re confident in our motorcycle, and I’m confident in my team. I think I have a motorcycle that, if I do a good job, and do my job properly, we can win some races. But I think those guys are going to be strong.”

Hodgson’s American debut on the 999R was impressive and ensured that the series’ top factory teams””Honda, Ducati, and Suzuki””will be battling each other throughout the season. On this day, Suzuki riders did well, as Mladin’s teammates Ben Spies and Yates took third and fourth. Spies’ last-second draft pass of Yates at the finish line served notice that the young Texan will be a force in his rookie Superbike season. Honda Racing’s Jake Zemke and Miguel Duhamel finished fifth and sixth on their American Honda-tuned CBR1000RRs, followed by GSX-R1000-mounted Jordon Motorsports’ Jason Pridmore and M4/Emgo Suzuki’s Geoff May in seventh and eighth, respectively. Honda-supported Erion Racing’s Kurtis Roberts was ninth, followed by Jordon Motorsports Steve Rapp, as Dunlop-shod riders took nine of the top 10 finishing positions. Mladin staked out his claim in the championship hunt with 38 points, followed by Hodgson with 32 and Spies with 29.

The Daytona 200, reclassified by the AMA as a 600cc Formula Xtreme event in an effort to widen the margin of track safety, started off with the trio of factory Honda CBR600RR riders””Duhamel, Zemke and Roberts””in a hotly-contested affair. Roberts turned the fastest time of the race, 1:42.946 on lap 16, as the three swapped the lead regularly before the riders began pitting for fuel and tires. Duhamel’s crew had the fastest time in the first of three planned pit stops, giving him a nine-second advantage that he stretched to as many as 15 seconds by the halfway point of the race. In the end, pit strategy and Duhamel’s torrid pace were the decisive factors. Even with a last-minute splash-and-go, Duhamel took the checkered flag by 42.586 seconds over Roberts, while Zemke took third just 5.8 seconds behind Roberts.

“I am so happy to win this race,” said an ebullient Duhamel, who at 36 joins Dick Mann as the oldest rider to win the 200. “My Honda CBR600RR was super fast, my team was incredible, and my Dunlop tires were fantastic.” Of his record-tying fifth win, Duhamel said, “It feels great to win five times, Scott Russell is a great racer and it feels really good to be in his company.” Duhamel’s win, the largest margin of victory since 1995, ties him for the most Formula Xtreme victories at nine. Honda’s podium sweep of the 200 is the third time Honda has done so, having taken the three top spots in 1985 and 2003 as well.

Next stop for Dunlop and the AMA Superbike road racing tour is the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, April 22-24. Round two features a doubleheader for the Superbike series.

About Dunlop Tires

Dunlop Tires is the largest supplier of original equipment and replacement motorcycle tires in the U.S. and the only manufacturer of motorcycle tires in North America. With North American operations headquartered in Buffalo, NY, Dunlop has been making and selling high-quality tires in the U.S. since 1923. For more information, please visit www.dunlopmotorcycle.com.

More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:

Miguel Duhamel is Mr. Daytona

American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel, the most accomplished rider in the history of American road racing, added to his legacy by winning a record-tying fifth Daytona 200 by Honda while leading a Honda sweep of the podium, on a bright, sunny afternoon at Daytona International Speedway. Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts made a successful return to the U.S. road racing scene by coming second with American Honda’s Jake Zemke third.

“It feels great to win five Daytona 200’s and this year felt like was the Daytona 255,” Duhamel said after tying Scott Russell for most Daytona 200 wins. “It’s quite a testament to the (Honda CBR600RR) and how Honda builds motorcycles. They build them for the long run, powerful and long.”

By any measure, Duhamel is the most prolific rider in American racing history. The ageless 36-year-old French-Canadian, who calls Las Vegas home, won his 12th race on the famed high banks of Daytona. Today’s win makes five Daytona 200 wins; four Superbike and one Formula Xtreme, six in Pro Honda Oils Supersport, and last year’s 2004 Formula Xtreme win. It also increases his career win total to 83 victories, 32 of which are in Superbike. He owns seven AMA championships.

The Honda-mounted trio jetted out from the start and were never headed. Duhamel chose a strategy of three pit stops, all of which were flawless. In a bid to save time, Kurtis Roberts’ Erion Honda team chose two pit stops, rather than Duhamel and Jake Zemke’s three. But Roberts had trouble with one of his stops which denied him the chance to challenge Duhamel. So complete was Duhamel’s dominance that he won the 200 mile, 68-lap race by 42.586 seconds, the largest margin of victory in 10 years. The victory, his record-tying ninth Formula Xtreme win, marks a successful start to the defense of his 2004 Formula Xtreme Championship.

Zemke and Duhamel were challenging the leaders in the earlier Superbike race when lapped riders in the chicane slowed both drastically. Zemke had to ride off course and Duhamel had to alter his line. Zemke finished fifth with Duhamel just behind. Kurtis Roberts came ninth on a machine that’s still in the early stages of development.

The race was won by Suzuki’s Mat Mladin over former World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson (Ducati) and Suzuki’s Ben Spies.

Miguel Duhamel, First Place, Formula Xtreme I was pushing it hard, riding hard, racing myself. I kept pushing and just wanted to go hard the whole time. I really wanted to earn it and I figured the best way to do that is to race every lap. I was hoping to win by that much (42.586 seconds). Until that first pit stop, I was thinking we were going to regroup and be together the whole 68 laps. I just put my head down and got out there and went as hard as I could.

Kurtis Roberts, Second Place, Formula Xtreme We were going to go for just the two pit stop strategy and just go real easy through the race and try and keep in the draft of everybody and not use myself to tow everybody around,and have to be wide open all the time and roll off the throttle a little bit in the draft and conserve fuel, because we knew it was going to be tight and we made it through. We did everything we could’ve, but Miguel (Duhamel) did a great job and won the race. My hat’s off to his whole Honda team and Jake’s (Zemke). Could’ve been a really fun race there sure if we could’ve stayed like that for 68 laps or something. It was fun altogether and nice to be back up on the podium after last year.

Jake Zemke, Third Place, Formula Xtreme Getting by Miguel (Duhamel) and Kurtis (Roberts), we just picked the wrong gear. We didn’t have enough gear to pull the wind. We were gearing for the draft, but then with that headwind it kind of killed our gear. And then in the infield, those guys with their shorter gearing were able to pull me off the corners as well. I was in trouble from the get go. It’s a long race. We’re hanging pretty even for a while. And then my bike started overheating, it started spitting water up on the windscreen. I was thinking, man we’re only a couple laps in. I need to make this the whole race. I backed there quite a bit there for a while. I think I was running 46’s through the middle part of the race. Just trying to make sure I made it to the end.

Jake Zemke, Fifth Place, Superbike I saw that pack in second and I’d just passed [Ben] Spies and pulled away from him; he was kind of tailing off that pack. I got up to them and we’re going down the backstraight toward the chicane and there were two lappers down toward the inside of the track. They were sitting up and looking back at everybody. Mat [Mladin] and Neil [Hodgson] had gotten through. [Aaron] Yates started turning in and he made it through and these guys, instead of staying single file, they all of a sudden go two wide. One was in the middle of the track and the other was down by the curbing. Miguel started to tip it in and realized there was nowhere to go and he went straight. I almost got to the start of the chicane, right were the curbing is, and they were parked down there. I was like, Okay I can make the right-hander, but if I do I’ll clean all three of us out. I had to stand up, go through the track, go through a hay-bale chicane. And Miguel did too. It kind of ruined our race right there.

Miguel Duhamel, Sixth Place, Superbike They (lapped riders) knew we were coming and they did the right thing, but then they threw it on there. I went straight and my guy was really enthusiastic about slowing me down and I listened to him too much. I could have just kept going and got back in the same spot, but I lost a little bit of time there. I did the right decision because I saw Jake motocrossing down there. If he couldn’t make it through there, it could have been really ugly. After that, Jake was doing really well and it made me think that I need to do some more motocross or supermoto-ing because he was really comfortable going in there sideways completely.

Kurtis Roberts, Ninth Place, Superbike Our bike was working really bad. Grip, everything, we’ve only had one day of testing before here. We’re so far behind it’s not even funny. But we beat Eric [Bostrom], we beat some of the guys. We just need this month off to go test and that’s what we have. We’ll be good.

Formula Xtreme; 1. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 2. Kurtis Roberts (Honda) 3. Jake Zemke (Honda) 4. Danny Eslick (Suzuki) 5. Chris Peris (Yamaha) 6. Jason Perez (Yamaha) 7. Michael Barnes (Yamaha) 8. Ty Howard (Yamaha) 9. Taylor Knapp (Yamaha) 10. Simon Turner (Yamaha)

Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 3. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 4. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 5. Jake Zemke (Honda) 6. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 7. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) 8. Geoff May (Suzuki) 9. Kurtis Roberts (Honda) 10. Steve Rapp (Suzuki)