2006 AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies’ first laps on his 2006 Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike put him at the top of the time sheets Tuesday afternoon at the Dunlop tire test at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Spies spent most of the first two days of the test working on his brand new 2007 GSX-R1000 Superstock machine, which he had never touched before coming to the test in Florida. Then at the end of Tuesday’s program, Spies jumped on his 2006 Championship-winning Superbike to make sure it was ready to go for tire testing Wednesday. Within three flying laps, Spies set the fastest time of the test, a 1:39.016, which was marginally faster than the 1:39.067 turned by Mat Mladin Tuesday morning and the 1:39.061 Spies turned on his Superstock machine Tuesday afternoon. “It was good today,” Spies told Roadracingworld.com. “I spent most of my time on my Superstock bike. We started working toward a baseline set-up on that bike, made little changes, little changes and now it’s good. On race tires I’m consistently faster than what they did here at last year’s race. “My Superbike, I didn’t race with this gearbox at all last year, and it was upside-down and backwards all through the infield. I was never in the right gear, banging off the rev-limiter, coming out of corners at 4000 rpm, having to shift down into first gear. It was my idea to put the gearbox in, and I’ll admit it was wrong. But to do a 1:39.0 on a bike I hadn’t touched the whole test, totally wrong gearing, the track was cooling off and I was using a baseline tire I couldn’t be happier.” The second-fastest rider Tuesday afternoon was Superbike rookie Jason DiSalvo with a 1:39.274 on his new Yamaha YZF-R1. DiSalvo said he spent most of his day riding a consistent pace to evaluate brakes, Brembos versus Nissins, and clutches. Then at the end of the day he was given the green light to go fast on one of Dunlop’s test tires, resulting in his fast time. Roger Hayden posted the third-fastest Superbike time, a 1:39.404, on his factory Kawasaki ZX-10R while testing engine management electronics, shock settings and tires for Dunlop. Hayden’s day ended with a heart-stopping moment, however. With about 30 minutes left in the day, Hayden suddenly pulled his smoking ZX-10R onto pit lane. After cleaning his oil-soaked leathers, Hayden later said, “I was scared to death. I was up there [on the banking] between [NASCAR] turns three and four and Kaboom!” Hayden’s crew did not know exactly what happened to Hayden’s engine before leaving the garages Tuesday evening. The second day of the test included an interesting surprise. Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes was given the opportunity to ride one of Jake Zemke’s American Honda CBR1000RR Superbikes for most of the afternoon. Using only two tires over 20 laps and while riding on Zemke’s set-up, Hayes turned a 1:39.62, which was just off Zemke’s best time of the day, a 1:39.467, and better than Miguel Duhamel’s best time, a 1:40.067. Hayes’ ride on the Superbike was partly a reward for him winning the 2006 AMA Formula Xtreme Championship for Honda and partly as a means for American Honda to get fresh feedback on some of the mechanical issues it is working on. Hayes, who impressed everyone including himself with his performance on the bike, may ride the Superbike more on Wednesday. Dunlop Tire Test Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida December 5, 2006 Tuesday Afternoon Times (as provided by AMA Pro Racing timing & scoring): 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:39.016, Superbike 2. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:39.061, Superstock 3. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), 1:39.274, Superbike 4. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:39.404, Superbike 5. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:39.467, Superbike 6. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:39.62, Superbike* 7. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:40.067, Superbike 8. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.080, Superbike 9. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.304, Superstock 10. Akira Yanagawa (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:40.461, Superbike 11. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:41.339, Superbike 12. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:41.639, Superbike 13. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:41.775, Superstock 14. James Ellison (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:42.603, Superbike 15. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.481, Formula Xtreme 16. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:43.720, Supersport 17. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.804, Supersport 18. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), 1:43.870, Formula Xtreme 19. Gary Mason (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:44.007, Superbike 20. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR600RR), 1:44.186, Formula Xtreme 21. Chaz Davies (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.565, Supersport 22. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.76, Supersport* 23. Ryan Elleby (Hon CBR600RR), no time, Formula Xtreme *lap time supplied by rider’s team