The first-ever AMA Superbike test at Miller Motorsports Park, near Salt Lake City, Utah, kicked off Saturday morning. Present for the test are: Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin; Hotbodies Racing/Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki’s Marty Craggill; American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke; Leo Vince/Pegram Racing Honda’s Larry Pegram and Ryan Elleby; Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden and Roger Hayden; Attack Kawasaki’s Damon Buckmaster and Ben Attard; Yamaha/Graves Yamaha’s Eric Bostrom, Jamie Hacking and Jason DiSalvo; Hotbodies Racing’s Cory West; and privateers Shane Turpin and C.R. Gittere. Asked why 2005 Superstock Champion Aaron Yates and 2005 Superbike Championship runner-up Ben Spies were not at the test, Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager Don Sakakura said, “Aaron’s not 100% healthy yet, so we felt it would be better if he skipped this test and worked on getting healthy for the race at Barber. And we didn’t really have much to test. We’re primarily looking at tires for Dunlop. Plus, we’re coming back here for another test (with several other teams) in May, and we can work on our race set-up stuff then.” American Honda’s Duhamel and Zemke are not riding their CBR1000RR Superbikes at Miller Motorsports Park. Instead, the two men are sharing one CBR1000RR “R&D” bike built by Zemke’s former Crew Chief David McGrath “to have a look at the track, look at some tires for Dunlop and test a couple of things for Dave,” Zemke told Roadracingworld.com. The Superbike he was riding, added Zemke, was used for testing this past off-season before their new, 2006-spec machines were completed. The test is being conducted on the 3.06-mile “perimeter course” at Miller Motorsports Park, the course AMA Pro Racing is planning to race on, but some riders have asked AMA Pro Racing if they may also ride the full, 4.5-mile course at some point of the two-day test. The 4.5-mile course includes more turns and more technical turns than the 3.06-mile course, but the shorter course will allow for the riders to come past at-track spectators more times during the races. In general, riders had good things to say about the wide, fast and flowing course Saturday morning, but called the track’s surface “dirty” and “green.” The AMA riders are the first ones to ever ride on the 3.06-mile course. Some riders pointed out some bumps at pavement transitions (including one on the front straightaway that resulted in nasty tank-slappers), which track personnel were already aware of, and a few safety concerns were also identified, like the Armco barrier at the exit of the final corner. All of the riders have expressed appreciation for the way their concerns have been received by Miller Motorsports Park staff, which has said plans are already in the works to make several adjustments the riders have called for. A debriefing session between the riders, AMA Pro Racing and Miller Motorsports Park staff is scheduled for Saturday evening. In spite of a media event being snow/rained out Thursday and snow-covered mountains surrounding the racetrack, conditions for Saturday’s test are relatively mild, with temperatures near 60 degrees, but a persistent moderate-to-heavy wind is blowing from the south and keeping things on the chilly side. Saturday Morning Test Times (as provided by AMA Pro Racing timing & scoring): 1. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1 LE), 1:55.631 Superstock 2. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R1 LE), 1:58.042 Superstock 3. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:58.513 Superbike 4. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:59.302 Superstock 5. Damon Buckmaster (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:59.859 Superstock 6. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1 LE), 2:00.108 Superstock 7. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:00.163 Superbike 8. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:00.387 Superbike 9. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6), 2:00.630 Formula Xtreme 10. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:01.397 Superstock 11. Larry Pegram (Hon CBR1000RR), 2:01.546 Superstock 12. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6RR), 2:02.480 Supersport 13. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-6RR), 2:03.849 Supersport 14. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:04.084 Superstock 15. Shane Turpin (Yam YZF-R1), 2:05.689 Superstock 16. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6), 2:06.093 Formula Xtreme 17. C.R. Gittere (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:13.258 Superstock