Dunlop Motorcycle Tires Race Report: 2006 AMA Superbike Series, Round 10, Road Atlanta
September 3, 2006 Dunlop Motorcycle Tires Race Report: 2006 AMA Superbike Series, Round 10, Road Atlanta Braselton, Ga. - Yoshimura Suzuki's six-time national champion Mat Mladin took both Superbike wins-the 49th and 50th of his career-and Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Jamie Hacking captured the Superstock title at round 10 of the 2006 AMA Superbike Series at Road Atlanta, September 1-3. Hacking also snared the Supersport win after locking down that class title two weeks ago and, with just one round remaining, Erion Racing Honda's Josh Hayes stormed to the Formula Xtreme victory and the series lead. For Dunlop teams it was a very successful weekend, as 90 percent of the riders competing in the weekend's five competitions took the top ten finishing positions (45 of 50). A capacity crowd enjoyed the Superbike doubleheader weekend at one of the country's oldest and most prestigious road racing venues. While Georgia's ever-present humidity reminded the racers and attendees alike that Labor Day weekend is just the halfway point in the region's summer, the temperatures were mercifully moderate as clouds frequently shielded the 2.54 mile, 12-turn course from the sun. Road Atlanta is a "right-hand" circuit that generates significant heat in the right side of the rear tire, particularly after finishing the back straight. The surface is aging and bumpy in places and, due to the concrete patches in some turns, surface traction can be inconsistent. With track temperatures rising and falling under the scattered cloud cover, the racing teams played a guessing game with tire selections. Fortunately, Dunlop-prepared for every contingency-brought approximately 2100 tires to support the factory teams and support riders in Superbike, Superstock, Supersport and Formula Xtreme. Superbike Race One - Saturday Entering the penultimate round of the Superbike series, Yoshimura Suzuki's Ben Spies has shown that he has the goods to earn his first Superbike championship-particularly after his gutsy performance at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) two weeks ago when he broke his hand. Teammate Mladin cut deeply into his lead with two VIR wins but Spies still managed to post 2-4 finishes and, coming into the Road Atlanta weekend, only 29 points separated the pair. A mistake by Spies was all that it would take to open the door for Mladin. Friday's provisional qualifying round went to Mladin, but on Saturday Spies fought back in the second qualifying session and took the pole-and the point that goes with it-with a time of 1:21.685. In the race, Honda Racing's Miguel Duhamel took the early lead but by lap two Spies was around him and into the lead. Mladin started off in fifth but, in trademark fashion, worked his way through the pack and by lap five he was around Spies as well. From that point Mladin opened up a gap on his GSX-R1000 and he was never headed, taking the win by 5.090 seconds over Spies. Teammate Aaron Yates was third after a spirited battle with Duhamel, assuring a Suzuki sweep of the podium. "The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was running great, the Dunlop tires were working well," said Mladin of his third consecutive win. "All we can do is go and try and win some races and see if we can keep the pressure on a little bit." The gap from Mladin to the first non-Dunlop rider across the line was more than 1 minute, 16 seconds as the first 10 riders to finish rode on Dunlop tires. Superbike Race Results, Saturday: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki 2. Ben Spies - Suzuki 3. Aaron Yates - Suzuki 4. Miguel Duhamel - Honda 5. Neil Hodgson - Ducati 6. Jake Zemke - Honda 7. Tommy Hayden - Kawasaki 8. Steve Rapp - Suzuki 9. Jason Pridmore - Suzuki 10. Jake Holden - Suzuki Formula Xtreme Race - Saturday The most closely contested series of the year has pitted the CBR600RRs of Erion Racing Honda against the Graves Motorsports Yamaha-tuned YZF-R6s. Coming into this round only three points separated Graves Yamaha's Eric Bostrom, the series leader, from his teammate Jason DiSalvo and Erion Honda's Josh Hayes. Hayes, who has only won one competition this year but finished second on five occasions, was the first to draw blood with a scorching pole time of 1:24.430-the only class this weekend to establish a new pole record. And it was Hayes who took the race lead from the start. Throughout the 15-lap affair Bostrom was tantalizingly close but he could never line up a pass. Hayes' course mastery resulted in the win, a scant .823 seconds over Bostrom, with DiSalvo taking third. "I've had some great races and some close ones here," said Hayes. "After all these years it's finally good to get one in front of all my fans and all my friends from back home," the Gulfport, Mississippi native continued. "They (Dunlop) basically brought four race tires for us to race, and I think you could've won on any of them. It's neat that everyone on the podium was probably on a different race tire. Dunlop's been stepping it up for us." Hayes collected the maximum points possible for the weekend and takes over the series lead by three points over Bostrom, 321 to 318. DiSalvo remains within striking distance with 313 points and one round remaining. Dunlop riders turned in another dominant performance with eight of the top 10 finishers sporting the Flying D chevron. Formula Xtreme Results: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Josh Hayes (Honda) 2. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 3. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 4. Aaron Gobert (Honda) 6. Ryan Andrews (Honda) 7. Ty Howard (Honda) 8. Eric Wood (Honda) 10. Tony Meiring (Suzuki) Superstock Race - Sunday Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Jamie Hacking is having the season of his life. The 34-year old North Carolinian locked up the Supersport title at VIR and he came to Road Atlanta needing to win by six points or more over Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates to add the Superstock trophy to his mantle. Hacking lined up on the starting grid in second position with teammates Eric Bostrom (who took the pole) on one shoulder and Jason DiSalvo on the other. When the green flag dropped, it was Hacking who took the holeshot, followed closely by Bostrom, Erion Racing's Josh Hayes and DiSalvo. Hacking never gave up the lead despite constant pressure from Bostrom all the way to the checkered flag. He took the win by .225 seconds, with third going to DiSalvo to complete Yamaha's second consecutive podium sweep. "First of all I have to thank my crew," said Hacking of Yamaha's third class title. "The Graves Yamaha R1 guys did one heckuva job all season long getting this bike just the way I like it. Last of all but not least, Dunlop Tires. I If I hadn't had Dunlop Tires beneath me I couldn't have run that race pace like I did." Hacking becomes only the second rider to win both the Supersport and Superstock classes in one year-Doug Polen did it in 1988. With one round remaining, Hacking leads the class by an insurmountable 45 points over Yates with DiSalvo third (315 to 306 to 281, respectively). In typical Dunlop fashion, all but one of the top 10 riders rode on Dunlop tires. Superstock Results: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Jamie Hacking - Yamaha 2. Eric Bostrom - Yamaha 3. Jason DiSalvo - Yamaha 4. Josh Hayes - Honda 5. Steve Rapp - Suzuki 6. Jake Holden - Suzuki 7. Aaron Yates - Suzuki 8. Aaron Gobert - Honda 10. Damon Buckmaster - Kawasaki Supersport Race - Sunday As if to prove he will never let up, Hacking quickly suited up for the 600cc Supersport competition and proceeded to walk away with that victory as well. After trailing M4 Emgo Suzuki's Michael Barnes briefly, Hacking surged into the lead on his factory Yamaha YZF-R6 and dueled for half of the 15-lap event with Kawasaki Road Racing's Roger Lee Hayden. Hayden faded and eventually succumbed to a mechanical failure on lap 13, leaving Hacking firmly in control. He crossed the finish line 5.374 seconds ahead of M4's Geoff May and Barnes was third. "I do love winning," said an ebullient Hacking after winning his sixth race in row. "Yamaha has given me some top-of-the-class equipment right now and that's what it takes. My bike runs unbelievably and handles like there's no tomorrow. It was another great weekend for us." Dunlop riders represented eight of the top 10 finishers and in the race for the series runner up, May leads MPT Performance's Danny Eslick by two points, 233 to 231, while Attack Kawasaki's Ben Attard is fourth with 225. Supersport Results: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Jamie Hacking - Yamaha 4. Danny Eslick - Suzuki 5. Ben Attard - Kawasaki 6. Damon Buckmaster - Kawasaki 7. Blake Young - Suzuki 8. Michael Beck - Yamaha 9. Josh Herrin - Yamaha 10. Tony Meiring - Suzuki Superbike Race Two - Sunday The final race of the weekend was the second Superbike event and the result was a carbon copy of the first: a podium sweep for Suzuki led by Mladin, then Spies and Yates. Spies led early while Mladin worked his way forward from sixth position. By lap six he was in front for good while Spies settled into second. Mladin's winning margin was 10.499 seconds over Spies while Yates clawed his way forward to rob Parts Unlimited Ducati's Neal Hodgson of the final podium spot by just .099 seconds with a dramatic last-turn pass at the line. "It's a shame it's a little bit too late in the year, but I've got to thank my guys," said Mladin. "We got some stuff sorted our a few weeks ago and we've had some really good races, really just trying to push hard and see what we could get out of everything. We tried a bit of a different tire today to see how it would go and it worked very well." Despite sweeping the historic venue for the third time in his Superbike career (2000, 2004 and now 2006), Mladin still trails Spies for the championship by 20 points (625 vs. 605) going into the final round, where Spies only needs to finish 13th or better to secure the championship. Duhamel is third with 496 points. Overall the contest was another crowning achievement for Dunlop, whose riders took the top 12 finishing positions. Superbike Race Results, Sunday: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki 2. Ben Spies - Suzuki 3. Aaron Yates - Suzuki 4. Neil Hodgson - Ducati 5. Miguel Duhamel - Honda 6. Roger Lee Hayden - Kawasaki 7. Ben Bostrom - Ducati 8. Jake Zemke - Honda 9. Tommy Hayden - Kawasaki 10. Jake Holden - Suzuki Next stop for Dunlop and the 2006 AMA Superbike road racing tour is Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, September 29 - October 1. About Dunlop Tires Dunlop Tires is the largest supplier of original equipment and replacement motorcycle tires in the U.S. and the only manufacturer of motorcycle tires in North America. With North American operations headquartered in Buffalo, NY, Dunlop has been making and selling high quality tires in the U.S. since 1923. For more information, please visit www.dunlopmotorcycle.com.