Tommy Hayden was the fastest rider Tuesday during an AMA teams test at Auto Club Speedway, in Fontana, California. Riding his much-in-development 2009-model Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000, Hayden lapped the 2.3-mile, 21-turn infield road course in 1:24.3, which he said was the fastest he’s ever gone around the track. “I’d say it’s been pretty good, really,” said Hayden, who qualified fifth for last year’s AMA Superbike race at Auto Club Speedway with a 1:24.507. “I enjoyed riding the bike. It felt good to get out there and ride some, and things have been going pretty smooth, no major problems. We’ve been following the plan we had for the test and rolling through stuff. We’ve pretty much knocked it all out, got some good information, everything was pretty clear on what was better and what was worse. It felt pretty good.” Hayden, like his teammates Mat Mladin and Blake Young, spent a lot of time evaluating suspension components that fit within the rules of the new American Superbike class. “With the homologation and all that stuff we needed to figure out what we are going to use more than anything,” said Hayden. “We have a few different options with Showa, and we tried some Öhlins stuff. That took some time swapping that stuff around.” Overall, Hayden said he really liked the new GSX-R1000 much more than the previous version. “It’s a lot different, but I like it,” said Hayden. “Obviously, just by looking at it you can tell it’s more compact, a little smaller cockpit. It fits me a lot better. I feel more comfortable on the bike. I think that’s good news for me. Straight away, I was happy and comfortable with it. I just hope the year goes this smooth.” Second-fastest unofficially was Neil Hodgson on his Corona Extra Honda CBR1000RR with a 1:25.0, while Mladin was third-quickest with a 1:25.3. Mladin said he wasn’t feeling well and did only a handful of laps. Ben Bostrom (who was also feeling ill) was next in the order with a 1:25.64 on his factory Yamaha YZF-R1. Foremost Pegram Ducati’s Larry Pegram, riding his new 2008-spec Ducati 1098R, was just 0.04 second slower than Bostrom and 0.1 faster than Young’s 1:25.78. Bostrom’s teammate Josh Hayes (another rider who was feeling ill) did a 1:26.5 on his YZF-R1. Daytona Sportbike riders were led by AMA Formula Xtreme Champion Jake Zemke, who has now officially signed to ride for Erion Honda in 2009, according to team owner Kevin Erion. Zemke’s 1:29.3 on his 2009 CBR600RR was just better than the 1:29.4 of two-time AMA Supersport Champion Jamie Hacking, who was riding his Monster Attack Kawasaki ZX-6R for the first time ever. The times turned by the Daytona SportBike testers Tuesday were well off the qualifying and race pace of the 2008 Supersport field at Auto Club Speedway. Last year, Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin set pole position with a time of 1:25.475 and turned the fastest lap in the race at 1:26.406. Most teams will continue testing tomorrow, except for Rockstar Makita Suzuki, which started its test on Monday and packed up and left Auto Club Speedway Tuesday evening. Unofficial Best Lap Times (as reported by each rider’s team): 1. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), American Superbike, 1:24.3 2. Neil Hodgson (Hon CBR1000RR), American Superbike, 1:25.0 3. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), American Superbike, 1:25.3 4. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), American Superbike, 1:25.64 5. Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R), American Superbike, 1:25.68 6. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000), American Superbike, 1:25.78 7. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), American Superbike, 1:26.5 8. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), Daytona SportBike, 1:29.3 9. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-6R), Daytona SportBike, 1:29.4 10. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), Daytona SportBike, 1:29.7 11. Tommy Aquino (Yam YZF-R6), Daytona SportBike, 1:29.9 12. Chris Peris (Hon CBR600RR), Daytona SportBike, 1:30.2 13. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6R), Daytona SportBike, 1:31.7 14. Tyler Odom (Hon CBR600RR), SuperSport, no time reported