Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin took his first victory of the 2007 AMA Superbike Championship Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park. Mladin took the lead on the first lap and held that lead all the way to the checkered flag, but the six-time former Champion was closely pursued by the reigning AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies. Spies, who said he didn’t have as much drive grip as Mladin, made an attempt at wrestling the lead away from Mladin on the final lap but came up just short. The win was the 52nd of Mladin’s career (the most on the all-time AMA Superbike win list), and it elevated him from 10th to third in the Championship point standings. The final podium spot went to American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel who came out on top of a race-long fight with Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Aaron Yates, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden and Duhamel’s teammate Jake Zemke. Jamie Hacking held off Yamaha’s Eric Bostrom and Jason DiSalvo to finish seventh. Bostrom finished about two seconds behind Hacking in eighth, while DiSalvo brought his YZF-R1 home in ninth. Corona Extra Honda’s James Ellison passed Hacking’s teammate Roger Hayden in the closing laps to finish 10th. After a crash and hard hit on his head Friday, Roger Hayden rode somewhat conservatively to take 11th Saturday. 2007 AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama April 21, 2007 Provisional Race Results: 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 28 laps 2. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -0.116 second 3. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -26.349 seconds 4. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -26.579 seconds 5. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -27.613 seconds 6. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -35.473 seconds 7. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, -45.927 seconds 8. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -48.212 seconds 9. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -52.573 seconds 10. James Ellison (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -59.915 seconds 11. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, -60.204 seconds 12. Matt Lynn (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, -66.210 seconds 13. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -66.812 seconds 14. Jordan Szoke (Kaw ZX-10R), Pirelli, -1 lap 15. Clint McBain (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap, 0.163 second 16. Kevin Lacombe (Yam YZF-R1), Pirelli, -1 lap, 0.462 second 17. Steve Crevier (Yam YZF-R1), Pirelli, -1 lap, 13.731 seconds 18. Doug Chandler (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -1 lap, 15.022 seconds 19. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap, 34.376 seconds 20. Tristan Palmer (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 38.041 seconds 21. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 64.260 seconds 22. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 64.527 seconds 23. Andrew Nelson (Yam YZF-R1), Pirelli, -1 lap, 69.928 seconds 24. David Weber (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -2 laps 25. Francis Martin (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -2 laps, 13.118 seconds 26. Santiago Villa (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -2 laps, 32.542 seconds 27. Kurtis Roberts (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -10 laps, DNF 28. Luca Scassa (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, -15 laps, DNF, mechanical 29. Martin Cardenas (Kaw ZX-10R), -23 laps, DNF 30. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000), -23 laps, 118.788 seconds, DNF More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mladin Wins Barber Superbike Race I, Spies Brings Home 2nd & Hayden Finishes 5th Round 2 AMA Superbike Series Birmingham, AL Barber Motorsports Park April 20 – 22, 2007 Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin won the weekend’s first of two AMA Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL, on Saturday afternoon. This victory is Mladin’s 52nd career win and his fourth at the Barber facility. Mladin’s teammate and defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies finished in a very close second place, while new Yoshimura Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden brought home an impressive fifth-place finish. “It’s nice to get the win,” said Mladin of the close victory over his teammate. “Anytime you have a hard race like that, it’s nice to come out on top. At the finish line, there wasn’t much of a gap so we’ll go back tonight and see if we can make a few improvements to the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 for tomorrow and have another good race.” This morning’s Superbike qualifying session saw the Yoshimura Suzuki team all gridded on the front row. Spies led the way after picking up his second pole position of the year, thanks to a track record-breaking 1:24.094 lap time. Mladin carded second position with a fastest lap of 1:24.509, while Hayden rounded out the front row in fourth position with a fastest lap of 1:25.070. “The lap was good,” said Spies of his notable qualifying time. “Right now we’ve got a good bike with the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and it’s working really well on race tires. We’ve got the bike pretty much where we want it.” Later in the day, the weekend’s first Superbike race got off to an exciting start with Spies, Mladin and Hayden all up front. Mladin quickly took over the lead and Spies was in second with Hayden in third. Mladin and Spies went on to battle for the lead for all 28 laps of the race. “It was a good race,” said six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin. “Ben was riding really good and all I had to do was go as quick as I could on my Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and keep it clean. I pushed it as hard as I could on the last lap and didn’t make any mistakes. It was a good race today and I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.” Added Spies, “I don’t think we had anything left. Mat was strong where it counts and I did everything I could. It was good to follow him and see where I can make up time tomorrow. With the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, we have a bike that can run up front but we just couldn’t quite get it done today. We gave it a little bit of a go with a few corners to go but that didn’t really work. Hopefully we can come back stronger for tomorrow.” Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Hayden held onto third place for several laps before settling into fifth position. This marks Hayden’s second AMA Superbike race aboard the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. “It would have been nice to have finished on the podium but we’re a lot closer than we were at Daytona,” said Hayden, who finished eighth at the Florida series opener. “It’s only my second race on the bike and I feel like we’ve made a lot of improvements. I’m becoming more comfortable on the Suzuki every time I ride it. I learned some stuff out there today that I think will help us get a little bit better for tomorrow.” Yoshimura Suzuki will return for the second AMA Superbike race of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL, on Sunday, April 22. Ben Spies, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #1 2nd Place AMA Superbike Race 1 1st Place — Overall Championship Standings Mat Mladin, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #66 1st Place AMA Superbike Race 1 3rd Place Overall Championship Standings Tommy Hayden, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #22 5th Place AMA Superbike Race 1 5th Place — Overall Championship Standings AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers: 1. Mat Mladin, Yoshimura Suzuki 2. Ben Spies, Yoshimura Suzuki 3. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 4. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki 5. Tommy Hayden, Yoshimura Suzuki 6. Jake Zemke, Honda 7. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki 8. Eric Bostrom, Yamaha 9. Jason Disalvo, Yamaha 10. James Ellison, Honda More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office: Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin won the weekend’s first of two AMA Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday afternoon, sealing his 52nd career win and his fourth at the Barber circuit. Mladin’s team mate and defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies finished in a very close second place, while new Yoshimura Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden brought home an impressive fifth-place finish. “It’s nice to get the win,” said Mladin of the close victory. “Anytime you have a hard race like that, it’s nice to come out on top. At the finish line there wasn’t much of a gap so we’ll go back tonight and see if we can make a few improvements to the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 for tomorrow and have another good race.” This morning’s Superbike qualifying session saw the Yoshimura Suzuki team all gridded on the front row. Spies led the way after picking up his second pole position of the year, thanks to a track record-breaking 1:24.094 lap time. Mladin carded second position with a fastest lap of 1:24.509, while Hayden rounded out the front row in fourth position with a fastest lap of 1:25.070. “The lap was good,” said Spies of his notable qualifying time. “Right now we’ve got a good bike with the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and it’s working really well on race tyres. We’ve got the bike pretty much where we want it.” Later in the day, the weekend’s first Superbike race got off to an exciting start with Spies, Mladin and Hayden all at the front. Mladin quickly took over the lead and Spies was in second with Hayden in third. Mladin and Spies went on to battle for the lead for all 28 laps of the race. “It was a good race,” said six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin. “Ben was riding really good and all I had to do was go as quick as I could on my Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and keep it clean. I pushed it as hard as I could on the last lap and didn’t make any mistakes. It was a good race today and I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.” Added Spies, “I don’t think we had anything left. Mat was strong where it counts and I did everything I could. It was good to follow him and see where I can make up time tomorrow. With the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, we have a bike that can run up front but we just couldn’t quite get it done today. We gave it a little bit of a go with a few corners to go but that didn’t really work. Hopefully we can come back stronger for tomorrow.” Hayden held onto third place for several laps before settling into fifth position. This marks Hayden’s second AMA Superbike race aboard the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. “It would have been nice to have finished on the podium but we’re a lot closer than we were at Daytona,” said Hayden, who finished eighth at the Florida series opener. “It’s only my second race on the bike and I feel like we’ve made a lot of improvements. I’m becoming more comfortable on the Suzuki every time I ride it. I learned some stuff out there today that I think will help us get a little bit better for tomorrow.” AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers: 1 Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 2 Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki) 3 Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 4 Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki) 5 Tommy Hayden (Yoshimura Suzuki) 6 Jake Zemke (Honda) 7 Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 8 Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 9 Jason Disalvo (Yamaha) 10 James Ellison (Honda)