Two-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies rode his Dunlop-shod Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 to his first victory of the 2008 season today at Auto Club Speedway, in Fontana, California. Spies battled 95-degree heat, high winds and his teammate Mat Mladin en route to winning the 28-lap race by 20.585 seconds. Mladin took the lead on lap nine and held it until lap 13, but he could not match Spies’ pace and had to settle for his first runner-up finish of the season. Tommy Hayden made it a Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki sweep of the podium by taking his third consecutive third-place finish. The results were revised shortly after the race when a video review of the battle to the line between Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo and American Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel led to a reversal of their original finishing order. The electronic timing system originally scored DiSalvo in seventh and Duhamel in eighth, but their timing beacons were mounted in different locations on their motorcycles. According to the video replay, Duhamel’s front wheel actually crossed the finish line before DiSalvo’s front wheel. AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited Auto Club Speedway Fontana, California April 26, 2008 Revised Provisional Race Results: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 28 laps 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -20.585 seconds 3. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -34.158 seconds 4. Neil Hodgson (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -37.608 seconds 5. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -40.097 seconds 6. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, -46.034 seconds 7. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -56.936 seconds 8. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -56.942 seconds 9. Matt Lynn (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -59.382 seconds 10. Jake Holden (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -68.143 seconds * 11. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -71.046 seconds, crash 12. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -86.178 seconds * 13. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap 14. Hawk Mazzotta (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap, 12.307 seconds * 15. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -2 laps 16. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -2 laps, 12.307 seconds 17. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -3 laps, DNF, mechanical 18. Tim Knutson (Suz GSX-R1000), -11 laps, DNF, mechanical 19. Chris Peris (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -20 laps, DNF 20. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, DNS 21. Jeremy Toye (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, DNS * = known to be riding a Superstock-spec motorcycle Revised Provisional Championship Point Standings (after 4 of 19 races): 1. Mladin, 145 points 2. Spies, 122 3. Tommy Hayden, 114 4. DiSalvo, 111 5. Hodgson, 103 6. Duhamel, 91 7. Hacking, 88 8. May, 84 9. Eric Bostrom, 81 10. Yates, 80 11. Lynn, 73 12. Jensen, 66 13. Peris, 60 14. Mizdal, 46 15. Ben Thompson, 45 More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing Dominates Second Barber Superbike Race Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mladin, Spies & Hayden sweep the podium Round 3 AMA Superbike Series Birmingham, Alabama Barber Motorsports Park April 18 – 20, 2008 Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing swept the AMA Superbike podium in the second of two AMA Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday afternoon. A large crowd turned out to see six-time AMA Superbike Champion follow up Saturday’s win with a victory on Sunday. This win is Mladin’s third win of the season, his seventh win at Barber and his 66th career AMA Superbike victory. Defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies charged hard on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 but was unable to catch his teammate. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden also put in an impressive ride and picked up his second podium of the year and of the weekend by finishing behind Spies. Mat Mladin: “Today was a great day for me and my guys, and it was a great day for the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team. For me, it was a pretty good race. I just tried to put in a good, solid ride and be consistent. Our goal all along was to come out and win as many races as possible. We’ve gone three for three, we’ve gotten both pole positions and led the most laps so I reckon that’s not too bad. Hopefully, we can do it again next weekend at Fontana.” Ben Spies: “We got a not-so-good start and then I made my way into second place but I just couldn’t keep Mat’s pace. But we’re going to some tracks that I like and we’re going to keep giving it all we’ve got. He’s riding really good right now and we’re chasing him so we’ve got to step it up. I have to thank my guys for building me a new Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 last night after I crashed yesterday. Now we’re focusing on Fontana next weekend and we know what we need to do. We just need to go faster.” Tommy Hayden: “Rockstar Makita Suzuki one, two, three that’s the way it should be and I’m just glad to do my part to make that happen. It feels good to be up on the podium twice this weekend and thanks to my team for everything. We did a lot of work this winter and we’ve come a long way. I’m definitely happy with today’s race, even happier than yesterday. I felt like I got a bit of a gift yesterday with Ben crashing. Today, I really had to earn this one. I just tried to keep my head down. It was a hard race but it feels good to start off the season with two podiums. My goal was to get more podiums right out of the gate and hopefully I’ll keep on seeing these guys a little more often.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office: Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ben Spies picked up his first AMA Superbike victory of the 2008 season in the weekend’s first of two Superbike races at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on Saturday afternoon. Starting from pole position, defending AMA Superbike Champion Spies got a great start on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 but was passed by his team mate Mat Mladin midway through the race. Within a few laps, however, Spies regained the lead and six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin followed his team mate home in second place. Third member of the Rockstar Makita Suzuki squad Tommy Hayden rounded out the all-Suzuki podium with an impressive ride and third-place finish. This Rockstar Makita Suzuki AMA Superbike sweep is the second in a row for the threesome, who also swept last weekend’s AMA Superbike podium at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Ben Spies: “I got a good start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and put my head down for the first few laps. I tried to get a little bit of a gap on Mat, but then I knew he was closing in on me. I started making a few mistakes and he got around me. Then I just rode as hard as I could. The Suzuki felt good but we’re going to have to make it faster for tomorrow because we need to win again. Even though we’re only a few rounds in, I was getting a little frustrated because I was used to winning and coming off of winning the championship last year. It feels good to get my first win of the season and it’s great to have the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team up on the box one-two-three.” Mat Mladin: “We got beat today… but we were doing a little bit of everything trying to keep up with Ben. He rode too good for us today and hopefully we’ll come back tomorrow and put on a better show. We did pretty good for about the first half of the race but after that we just couldn’t keep up. I gave it everything I had; we’re out there pushing because that’s what it takes. Congrats to Ben and Tommy and the whole Rockstar Makita Suzuki team for taking the podium again.” Tommy Hayden: “I definitely didn’t get the start that I wanted. I was way back in eighth place or so. So I put my head down and tried to be patient. It was hot and slippery out there and it would have been easy to make a mistake. It was tough to be aggressive and make big passes, but my Suzuki felt good for the race distance and I just tried to not make any mistakes. When I was finally able to get into third position, I was able to get a little bit of a gap and it felt good to have a bit of a cushion. I’m just happy to start off the season strong, with the whole Rockstar Makita Suzuki team on the podium.”