SUZUKI 1-2 WITH MLADIN AND SPIES
23 July 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Yoshimura Suzuki''s Mat Mladin raced to his 40th career AMA Superbike victory and Suzuki''s 75th AMA Superbike win at Mid-Ohio today as the GSX-R 1000s dominated the race.

Mladin and team mate Ben Spies provided the large Lexington crowd with an awesome finish to the first of the weekend''s two AMA Superbike races as third team rider Aaron Yates crashed, unhurt, and failed to finish.

''The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 felt amazing,'' said Mladin, who got the holeshot and led all the laps of the race. ''I knew we had a good bike and, as I said earlier, this is the best this bike has ever felt on this track. Getting a good start was important and then I just tried to get a good gap.''

In Saturday afternoon''s extremely warm qualifying session, Mladin, Yates and Spies qualified first, second and third respectively and Mladin - who set his eighth pole of the season - also set a track record-breaking lap time of 1:26.058. Yates posted an impressive 1:26.541 and Spies came in with a close 1:26.603.

''It was a good session for us,'' said Mladin. ''I didn''t make any changes last night after taking provisional pole on Friday. We just got into a groove and the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 feels awesome.''

In the 26-lap Superbike race, Mladin got away on the first lap and didn''t look back. Likewise, Spies was right up front after getting away in fifth position. For a few laps, he diced for fourth position and then soon after, he moved into third. After Yates was out of the running, Spies moved into second and held on until the flag.

''We''ve been struggling with the front end all year,'' said Spies, who with this race carded his ninth podium of the season. ''But we''re going in a better direction with the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. We chose the wrong front tyre and it was only good for the first 10 laps or so. But my crew is working hard and the bike is just getting better and better.''

Yates also got a good start and had worked his way up into second position fairly quickly. But with just several laps to go, he tucked the front end and low-sided and was unable to rejoin the race.

''There were a couple of places where I noticed that it was feeling pretty greasy,'' said Yates after his get-off. ''And then I was coming around a turn and without any warning, it went. It was real quick; I didn''t have any time to save it or anything. But I''ll definitely be back out there tomorrow for a better day.''

Superbike Result: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki), 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki), 3. Eric Bostrom (Ducati), 4. Miguel Duhamel (Honda), 5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati), 6. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki), 7. Kurtis Roberts (Honda), 8. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki), 9. Jacob Holden (Suzuki), 10. Marty Craggill (Suzuki).

www.suzuki-racing.com

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