Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin was the fastest man Tuesday during the first day of a two-day AMA team test at California Speedway in Fontana, California. After turning a time of 1:25.411 in the morning session, Mladin was able to pilot his Dunlop-fitted GSX-R1000 Superbike around the 2.36-mile infield road course in a time of 1:24.708. “I feel it was a successful day,” the noticeably leaner six-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion told Roadracingworld.com. “We went through quite a bit of stuff. Those times were a bit down, but we had quite a bit of stuff to re-test that we started with in Australia. I think we found some good stuff, though.” Mladin qualified for last year’s Superbike race at California Speedway with a new record time of 1:23.612. As in the morning session, American Honda’s Jake Zemke and Miguel Duhamel were next on the time sheets with afternoon lap times of 1:25.438 and 1:25.614, respectively. Both men split time Tuesday between their Ohlins-suspended CBR1000RR Superbikes and the CBR600RR Formula Xtreme machines they will only race in selected 2006 events, including the Daytona 200. Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Neil Hodgson was the fourth-fastest Superbike man, shaving 0.6-second from his Tuesday-morning time to end up with a 1:25.766. Hodgson’s new teammate Ben Bostrom, however, stalled out at 1:26.4 Tuesday morning and stopped riding mid-afternoon because he wasn’t making any progress. Bostrom feels the character of California Speedway’s course does not suit the Ducati 999. Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden and Roger Hayden continued the development process with their new ZX-10R Superbikes (which are actually closer to Superstock bikes than true Superbikes) with help from former MotoGP and World Superbike racer Akira Yanagawa. Tommy Hayden shaved 1.5 seconds from his best lap time Tuesday afternoon with a 1:25.861. The only other Superbike men at the test, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates and Ben Spies, did not factor into the fastest lap times because Yates crashed early in the day and did not ride again and Spies focused on dialing in the new suspension of his GSX-R600 Supersport racebike. Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking recorded the fastest time in the Superstock class, turning a 1:26.254 on his YZF-R1 LE Tuesday afternoon. Hacking’s teammate Jason DiSalvo was the top Formula Xtreme rider with 1:26.073 on his factory Yamaha YZF-R6. Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden turned the fastest Supersport lap time (1:27.108), before parking his ZX-6RR at lunchtime. Tuesday Afternoon AMA Team Test Times (as provided by AMA Pro Racing timing & scoring): 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:24.708 Superbike 2. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:25.438 Superbike 3. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:25.614 Superbike 4. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06) 1:25.766 Superbike 5. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:25.861 Superbike 6. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6) 1:26.073 Formula Xtreme 7. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:26.118 Superbike 8. Jamie Hacking (Yam YZF-R1 LE) 1:26.254 Superstock 9. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06) 1:26.479 Superbike 10. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1 LE) 1:26.830 Superstock 11. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:26.977 Superstock 12. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.136 Superstock 13. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.524 Superstock 14. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:27.533 Superstock 15. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.627 Superbike 16. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.670 Superstock 17. Damon Buckmaster (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:27.685 Supersport 18. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-6RR) 1:28.240 Supersport 19. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6) 1:28.308 Formula Xtreme 20. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:28.317 Superstock 21. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:28.318 Superstock 22. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R600) 1:28.467 Supersport 23. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR) 1:28.648 Formula Xtreme 24. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR600RR) 1:28.807 Formula Xtreme 25. Michael Barnes (Suz GSX-R600) 1:28.846 Formula Xtreme 26. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:29.024 Superstock 27. Ty Howard (Hon CBR600RR) 1:29.330 Formula Xtreme 28. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.204 Superstock 29. Danny Eslick (Suz GSX-R600) 1:30.482 Supersport 30. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R600) 1:30.998 Supersport 31. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR) 1:31.103 Formula Xtreme 32. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.685 Superstock 33. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R600) 1:32.742 Supersport More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Yoshimura Suzuki Concludes Day One of Testing at California Speedway BREA, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2006) — Team Yoshimura Suzuki concluded the first day of a two-day test at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., today. The 2005 AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin, 2005 AMA Superstock Champion Aaron Yates and AMA Superbike frontrunner Ben Spies were on hand at the 21-turn, 2.36-mile circuit. “This is just the final shakedown of equipment leading into the first round of AMA Superbike at Daytona,” said Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager Don Sakakura. “Also, we have had several updates to the new Suzuki GSX-R600 – mostly with suspension and chassis – and we needed to address those.” In his first 2006 U.S. test, Mladin was fastest on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 with a best lap time of 1:24.708 and he was upbeat at the end of the day. “It was a good first day,” said Mladin. “We’re just running through a bunch of stuff we tested earlier in the year in Australia. What we have now is what we’re going to start the season with.” Teammate Spies spent the day developing the new Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600. “This is really the first time I’ve been able to put any real miles on the 600,” said Spies. “It’s a little difficult because I’m the only guy in the U.S. who’s developing the bike. But we found out what we needed to do and the guys are going to work on some stuff tonight, then we’re going to go back out tomorrow.” Yates, meanwhile, had an unfortunately short day as a get-off in the back-straight kink resulted in a broken right shoulder blade. “Going into that right/left, I got into a tank-slapper and went off over the front and landed on my shoulder,” described Yates, who went to the doctor after the incident. “Most likely, I won’t need surgery and I’ll be ready for Daytona.” Team Yoshimura Suzuki will continue the two-day test tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 8, while the season-opening round of AMA Superbike is scheduled for March 8-11 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.