Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Aaron Yates was happy with his performance at the end of Thursday’s promoter practice at Barber Motorsports Park. He was pleased that he was within one second of the lap times he turned in 2006, when rode Showa-suspended Yoshimura Suzuki instead of his current Ohlins-suspended GSX-R1000s. He was more pleased, however, with the simple fact that he was able to ride at a competitive pace considering he broke a rib two weeks ago while testing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “It was the out-lap,” said Yates of his crash. “It got pretty windy. I was just a little off the line. I was kind of rolling in up there. I was on that sealer patch, tipped it in and the front kind of pushed on the brakes. I kind of stood the thing up a little. I thought I could just roll the thing off the track. I guess I’ve never run off there too much. “The way they’ve got that run-off stuff they’ve got something sprayed on it. It’s kind of hard-packed dirt. It’s not like it was loose dirt. It was like concrete. As soon as I got out there, I just lost the front — and I was going slow. It slammed me. I guess got something got into my ribs or something, but I didn’t really have any marks on my leathers or nothing.” Yates tried to ride later that day, but the pain was too great and he sat out the rest of the test. Later that evening he went to the hospital via a private vehicle, and X-rays revealed a fractured rib under his left arm. So how did Yates feel Thursday at Barber? “I felt good until I went riding,” he joked at the end of the day, ice strapped to his left side. “Nah, it’s not too bad. I’m just a little sore. Riding’s not really a problem, but when I’m going over some of these hills I want to lay up over the tank and that’s the most painful thing.” Yates said he did a limited number of laps Thursday, just enough to get a direction with suspension settings and gearing options.