2005 AMA Superbike Championship runner-up Ben Spies, 21, turned the fastest lap time Saturday, the opening day of the annual Dunlop tire test at Daytona International Speedway. Riding his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 on 2005-spec Dunlop slicks, Spies turned a best time of 1:39.545, which nearly equaled the fastest race lap time of 2005 Daytona Superbike winner Mat Mladin. “It was OK,” said Spies. “We only did about 10 timed laps, and we basically rode the bike just like it rolled off the truck. We didn’t even get to run any of the new tires, and I hear they’re pretty good. We’ll start messing with the bike a little bit tomorrow, get it working a little better and then start trying some of the new tires.” Spies added that he has new Showa forks for his Superbike that have given him the front end feel he was searching for throughout the 2005 season. Just behind Spies on the time sheet was Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin Ben Bostrom, who turned a 1:39.685 on his 2006-spec Ducati 999 in spite of having to learn the changed-in-2005 infield road course. Although he said he preferred the old infield road course, Bostrom said he was instantly happy with the 999 and only made a few changes to make it more stable on the banking. Jake Zemke was quickest in the morning session (1:40.379) and third-quickest in the afternoon (1:39.903), but his time on his American Honda CBR1000RR Superbike was cut short by a crash in turn one. Zemke said lost the front on the brakes but was completely uninjured. Zemke was the only known crasher Saturday. Zemke also recorded the fastest trap speed, according to AMA Pro Racing, 196.17 mph at the start/finish line. Spies’ teammate Aaron Yates was the fifth-fastest Superbike rider with a 1:40.322 but was over one second faster than any other Superstock rider with a 1:40.504. In fact, Yates’ Superstock lap time was quicker than the fastest lap time of the 2005 Superstock race. Having had two test sessions in California to set up his GSX-R1000, Yates was able to immediately start sorting through most of the many new rear Superstock tires Dunlop brought to the test. Second-fastest in the Superstock category was Damon Buckmaster, who turned a 1:41.586 on his Attack Kawasaki ZX-10R. Attack Kawasaki only has one 2006 ZX-10R at Daytona, so Buckmaster will trade the big bike for Ben Attard’s ZX-6RR at lunch time Sunday, the halfway point of the three-day test. Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking turned the fastest Supersport lap of the test so far, a 1:42.210, on the all-new YZF-R6 and was third-quickest on his YZF-R1 LE Superstock bike with a 1:41.672. Hacking’s Supersport lap time was quicker than the pole time and the fastest race lap from 2005 Supersport race at Daytona. Hacking’s teammate Jason DiSalvo spent all Saturday working with his YZF-R6 Formula Xtreme machine and led the class by quite a margin — with a 1:41.740. DiSalvo’s time was 0.8 second fastest than the fastest qualifying time from the 2005 Daytona 200. Eric Bostrom, the third factory Yamaha rider, cut three seconds off his best Superstock lap from Saturday morning but was listed ninth Saturday afternoon with a 1:44.178. Eric Bostrom was also listed last in Formula Xtreme, but he only did two timed flying laps on his new YZF-R6 Saturday afternoon. Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden (1:40.575) and Roger Hayden (1:40.618) tested their new ZX-10R Superbikes with promising results at Daytona, posting the sixth- and seventh-fastest Superbike lap times, respectively, not far behind Yates and Neil Hodgson. Both Haydens said their new Superbikes, although in an early stage of development, were already much better than their 2005-spec ZX-10R Superstock bikes. Saturday Afternoon AMA Team Test Times (as supplied by AMA Pro Racing): 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:39.545 Superbike 2. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06) 1:39.685 Superbike 3. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:39.903 Superbike 4. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06) 1:40.171 Superbike 5. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:40.322 Superbike 6. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:40.504 Superstock 7. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:40.575 Superbike 8. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:40.618 Superbike 9. Damon Buckmaster (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:41.586 Superstock 10. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:41.609 Superbike 11. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R1) 1:41.672 Superstock 12. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:41.718 Superstock 13. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6) 1:41.740 Formula Xtreme 14. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:41.975 Superstock 15. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:42.026 Superbike 16. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R6) 1:42.210 Supersport 17. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:42.302 Superstock 18. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:42.626 Superstock 19. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:43.002 Superstock 20. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR) 1:43.419 Formula Xtreme 21. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR) 1:43.419 Formula Xtreme 22. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR600RR) 1:43.656 Formula Xtreme 23. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR) 1:43.781 Formula Xtreme 24. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:44.087 Supersport 25. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1) 1:44.178 Superstock 26. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R600) 1:44.578 Supersport 27. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR) 1:45.631 Formula Xtreme 28. Ty Howard (Hon CBR600RR) 1:46.012 Formula Xtreme 29. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6) 1:57.446 Formula Xtreme