Mat Mladin led a Suzuki one-two-three at today's first leg of the AMA double-header at the Suzuki Superbike Showdown at Road Atlanta.
Depending on the outcome of Mladin’s appeal of his disqualification from his race wins at VIR, the race at Road Atlanta was either Mladin’s seventh consecutive win, tying an all-time record, or the clincher for Spies’ third consecutive AMA Superbike Championship.
Mat Mladin:
"I'd like to thank my Rockstar Makita Suzuki crew for working so hard and giving me a good bike in the GSXR1000. Today, it was a good race for us, though it was fairly uneventful. Ben got the meatball flag - because of the AMA penalty - and I just put it on cruise control and brought it home. Hopefully, we'll have a better race for the fans tomorrow."
Ben Spies:
"That's the hardest I've ever had to ride to get second place. I did everything I could do. We just had a little problem at the start, and I couldn't get it together. Then, I knew I had to come through the field because I knew I needed to get on the podium. I'd like to thank my Rockstar Makita Suzuki crew for putting a great bike together for me."
Result:
1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 25 laps
2. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -5.483 seconds, jump start/Ride-through penalty
3. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -10.362
4. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -11.513
5. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -14.314
6. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -25.467
7. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -38.981
8. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -64.700 *
9. Ben Thompson (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -77.172
10. Matt Lynn (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -1 lap
11. Ryan Elleby (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap *
12. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap *
13. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, -1 lap, crash
14. Josh Day (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -1 lap *
15. Keith Marshall (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap
16. James Stroud (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap
17. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap, ran off track
18. Hawk Mazzotta (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -18 laps, DNF *
19. Scott Carpenter (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -19 laps, DNF *
20. Kurtis Roberts (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -23 laps, DNF *
21. Neil Hodgson (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -24 laps, DNF, mechanical
22. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, DNS
23. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, DNS *
