Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin turned the fastest time during the multi-AMA-team Dunlop tire test Monday at Daytona International Speedway. Mladin lapped the 2.95-mile infield road course in 1:39.635 while evaluating new Dunlop tires on his 2006 Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike. “We just tested a few tires more than anything,” Mladin told Roadracingworld.com at the end of testing Monday. “There’s no point in doing too much with the [old] bike, and the track’s too cold. It could catch you out, maybe.” The 2007 GSX-R1000 Superbike Mladin tested in mid-November at Sepang, in Malaysia, was still in transit to Daytona on Monday, forcing Mladin’s crew to pull last year’s Superbike, complete with its Number One plate, off of the motorcycle show circuit and prepare it for action at Daytona. “It would be nice to have the new bike here,” said Mladin, “but it’s not a bad thing to be able to jump on this thing and give us a good comparative test, you know? You can see Ben’s [Spies] got going on the new Superstock bike already, so it’s promising.” Mladin added that his right shoulder felt good following post-season surgery to “clean-up” injuries suffered in a crash during testing at Phillip Island in January 2006. American Honda’s Jake Zemke had a promising day going Monday, until he crashed. Zemke had just posted the second-fastest time of the day, a 1:39.785, while dialing in new suspension and new engine management components and evaluating new Dunlop tires, when he crashed in turn one. “I just lost the rear, like immediately, as soon as I picked the throttle up in the corner the rear just came around. There was no way of saving,” Zemke told Roadracingworld.com. “I had already put four or five laps on [the tire]. I had just done my quickest lap. We went back and looked at all the data, and I was doing the exact same thing that I was doing the lap before: throttle application, engine rpm, wheel speed. Everything was exactly the same, within one percent.” Zemke was uninjured in the crash and continued testing on his second CBR1000RR Superbike. Zemke’s crashed bike did not suffer major damage. Eric Bostrom was the third-quickest rider overall, recording a 1:40.116 on his new Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike. Bostrom was cautiously optimistic at the end of the day, saying he and his bike had room for improvement. 2006 AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies posted the fastest time in the Superstock category, a 1:40.249 on his 2007 GSX-R1000. Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki debuted Aaron Yates Monday at Daytona, but Yates’ teammate Jake Holden was forced to sit on the sidelines. Holden had surgery just before Thanksgiving to have some hardware in his right wrist (the remnants of a 165 mph crash at VIR in 2005) replaced so that he will be ready to test when the team’s 2007 bikes are ready in January. AMA Team Test Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida December 4, 2006 Monday Afternoon Times (as provided by AMA Pro Racing timing & scoring): 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:39.635, Superbike 2. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:39.785, Superbike 3. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.116, Superbike 4. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.249, Superstock 5. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:41.091, Superbike 6. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:41.217, Superbike 7. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:41.418, Superbike 8. Akira Yanagawa (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:41.694, Superbike 9. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:41.813, Superbike 10. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), 1:41.980, Superbike 11. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR), 1:42.141, Formula Xtreme 12. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:42.811, Superstock 13. James Ellison (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:42.837, Superbike 14. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), 1:44.476, Supersport 15. Chaz Davies (Yam YZF-R6), 1:45.061, Supersport 16. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR), 1:45.540, Formula Xtreme 17. Jsoh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 1:47.161, Supersport 18. Gary Mason (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:47.547, Superbike 19. Ryan Elleby (Hon CBR600RR), 1:47.774, Formula Xtreme More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: AMA SUPERBIKE TEAMS AT DAYTONA TIRE TEST The Dunlop Tire Test kicked off today at Daytona International Speedway, signaling the unofficial start of the 2007 AMA Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited season. The Dunlop-sponsored portion of the Daytona test runs December 4-6, and is followed by a Pirelli-sponsored test on Dec. 7 and 8. Live timing for the tire tests is available via www.amasuperbike.com’s @theWire, accompanied by news and expert analysis from AMA Superbike reporter Chris Martin. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin topped Monday afternoon’s Superbike timesheets with a fast lap of 1:39.635. Honda’s Jake Zemke was second fastest, with a time of 1:39.785, followed by Eric Bostrom’s 1:40.116 lap aboard his Yamaha R1. Reigning AMA Superbike Champ Ben Spies was fourth fastest with a time of 1:40.249.