Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies won his ninth AMA Superbike race of the season Saturday at the repaved Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio. Spies pulled away on his Dunlop-shod GSX-R1000 from the start, building a 2.3-second lead after the first lap and a 9.6-second lead after 16 laps. The race was stopped on lap 17 for a crash involving Jason Pridmore, causing a restart and Spies’ lead to be erased. Spies grabbed the holeshot on the restart and pulled away again to his convincing victory. Mladin and Duhamel stayed closer to Spies on the restart but could not match the Superbike sophmore’s pace. Mladin was able to hold off Duhamel and finish second, 5.713 seconds behind Spies. Feeling he could not pass Mladin, Duhamel consolidated to place third. Zemke was running fourth, not far behind Duhamel when he crashed in turn 12 on lap 22. Zemke was fine, but his CBR1000RR slid all the way to the outside of turn 13 and hit the Airfence hard enough to become airborne. AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio August 5 Provisional Race One Results: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 26 laps 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), -5.713 seconds 3. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), -9.113 seconds 4. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), -12.318 seconds 5. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), -12.594 seconds 6. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000), -19.270 seconds 7. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), -19.566 seconds 8. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), -25.655 seconds 9. Larry Pegram (Hon CBR1000RR), -28.769 seconds 10. Matt Lynn (Suz GSX-R1000), -28.940 seconds 11. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000), -36.468 seconds 12. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), -36.555 seconds 13. Eric Wood (Suz GSX-R1000), -37.067 seconds 14. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000), -40.468 seconds 15. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), -41.116 seconds 16. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06), -57.983 seconds 17. Akira Tamitsuji (Suz GSX-R1000), -59.083 seconds 18. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), -59.508 seconds 19. Jason Curtis (Suz GSX-R1000), -68.666 seconds 20. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06), -1 lap, pitted 21. Douglas Duane (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 37.453 seconds 22. Jean Paul Tache (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 39.186 seconds 23. Andi Notman (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 39.226 seconds 24. James Kerker (Hon CBR1000RR), -1 lap, 39.498 seconds 25. Michael Sanchez (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 39.806 seconds 26. Barry Teasdale (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 49.245 seconds 27. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-10R), -2 laps 28. David Weber (Suz GSX-R1000), -4 laps 29. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), -5 laps, DNF, crash 30. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000), -10 laps, DNF, crash 31. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), -12 laps, DNF, crash 32. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000), -16 laps, DNF 33. Kenny Noyes (Yam YZF-R1 LE), -26 laps, DNS 34. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000), -26 laps, DNS 35. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), -26 laps, DNS Championship Point Standings (After 13 of 19 races): 1. Spies, 464 points 2. Mladin, 424 points 3. Duhamel, 358 points 4. Hodgson, 332 points 5. Yates, 331 points 6. Tommy Hayden, 330 points 7. Zemke, 298 points 8. Ben Bostrom, 279 points 9. Pridmore, 260 points 10. Rapp, 251 points 11. Pegram, 240 points 12. Holden, 205 points 13. Wood, 183 points 14. Curtis, 159 points 15. Tamitsuji, 156 points 16. Lynn, 154 points 17. TIE, Hendry/Scott Jensen, 102 points 19. Amantini, 89 points 20. TIE, West/Mizdal, 83 points More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: Yoshimura Suzuki 1-2 in Saturday’s Mid-Ohio Superbike Race –Next round, Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA, Aug. 18 – 20, 2006– Round 8 AMA Superbike Series Lexington, Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Aug. 4 – 6, 2006 Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies overcame the Lexington, Ohio, heat and humidity as well as a red flag to win the first AMA Superbike race of the double-header weekend at Mid-Ohio on Saturday afternoon. This Superbike victory is Spies’ ninth of the season. Teammate Mat Mladin joined Spies on the podium in second place, while Aaron Yates came home in fourth. “The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 has just been working so good,” said Spies, who extended his lead in the points chase with this win. “The bike and the Dunlop tires made my job easy this weekend. I want to thank Suzuki and my crew for doing such a good job and it’s great to see Yoshimura Suzuki one-two on the podium again.” Earlier in the day, Saturday’s final qualifying session saw Spies break last year’s track record when he posted a fastest lap of 1:24.917 and captured his sixth pole position of the season. Teammate Mladin was gridded next to Spies on the front row of the grid in second place, thanks to a best lap time of 1:25.442. Yates qualified a few spots back in fourth position with a 1:25.899 lap time. “The race is going to be tough,” predicted Spies after taking pole. “It was kind of rough yesterday because we had provisional pole but it wasn’t that easy at all. We went out today on a pure race set-up and did about seven laps within the pole lap so that was good.” The afternoon’s 26-lap race was a good one for Spies, who got a great start on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and pulled out ahead of the field. He’d created a good-sized gap when a rider went down and a red flag was thrown. After the re-start, it took Spies a lap to get back into first place, but once he regained the lead the young Texan held it until the race’s end. “Today was really tough,” reiterated Spies. “In the first start, I just hammered and got a pretty good gap. After the red flag, we put on new tires and I just went out and gave 110 percent until I had nothing else to give. Right now, we’ve got the championship lead, the Suzuki is comfortable and the bike is running really good. We just need to keep running up front and winning races.” For teammate Mladin, the first start was not the best. Even so, the defending AMA Superbike Champion rode a strong race and moved quickly through the field to slot into second place. After the red flag, he got a better start and was in second position within a few laps. “I was trying hard and doing the best I could,” said six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin. “Ben’s doing a great job and we’re kind of playing catch-up right now. There are a couple of spots on the track where Ben’s making up time and we need to work on those spots. We know we have to win races so we’ll go back and do a little homework and see what we can come up with for tomorrow.” Yates also got a good start at the first of the race and ran up front before settling into fifth position. After the red flag, the laid-back Georgian settled into a strong fourth place. “This race was better than most this year,” said Yates of finishing in fourth. “I hated to see the red flag because I had a good groove going and had started making up time on the leaders. I was right there and looking forward to a good race to the end and then we had to start all over. Overall, it was a pretty decent ride and now we’ll make a few adjustments to make the Suzuki better for tomorrow.” Mat Mladin, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #1 2nd Place AMA Superbike 2nd Place — Overall Ben Spies, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #11 1st Place AMA Superbike 1st Place — Overall Aaron Yates, Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, #20 4th Place AMA Superbike 5th Place — Overall More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati: TOUGH DAY FOR BOSTROM AND HODGSON IN OHIO Lexington (Ohio) 5 Aug 2006: Ben Bostrom and Neil Hodgson fought through a difficult day at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday. Both Parts Unlimited Ducati riders had to pit, which ruined their chances at another podium for the Ducati 999 Superbike. Although both riders mounted a challenge on Saturday, their final results didn’t reflect their competitiveness. Ben Bostrom vaulted to a strong second place in the 26-lap race before a minor technical issue slowed him and caused him to pit. Ben was able to return to the track and perform at a very competitive level, turning in strong lap times despite heavy traffic. “I felt it was a bit dangerous for me to continue on, so I pulled in,” said Bostrom, who finished in 20th place officially as he took the checkered flag. “Hopefully, our run of bad luck is over now. We were up to second in the race before our problem and things were going well. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be today and we had to pit. After the red flag, it was quite scary charging through the field on the restart. I’m looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow to show what we can do.” Hodgson was classified 16th despite pulling into the pits after the red flag for a repair to his machine. The brief stop happened on the warm-up lap for the restart. After a technical issue with the bike was repaired, he rejoined the field. “It didn’t go very well for us, really. It was a bad day for us,” said Hodgson. “We had a technical problem, and I had to pull in. We’re hoping for a better day on Sunday. Today was very frustrating for the whole team.” “Despite the gremlins we had today, we’re looking forward to competing again in tomorrow’s race,” said team manager Tom Bodenbach. “Ben’s lap times in the beginning of the race and after the restart showed he can be competitive. Neil and his crew are working on some changes they think will help get him up to the front, too.” Tomorrow’s race begins at 3:00 PM local time.