Suzuki's Spies Rolls to Victory in AMA Superbike
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Spies Puts on Clinic, Takes Victory in AMA Superbike in Sonoma
SONOMA, Calif. (May 17, 2008) -- Suzuki's Ben Spies put on a clinic on
Saturday at Infineon Raceway, taking a dominating victory in the
Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown, presented by Supercuts.
Spies, the two-time defending AMA Superbike champion, coasted to the win
in the 28-lap feature by 6.168 seconds over teammate Mat Mladin under
90-degree temperatures.
It was Spies' third consecutive win and also his third Superbike victory
on Infineon Raceway's 12-turn, 2.2-mile road course. Jamie Hacking
(Kawasaki) reached the podium with a third-place finish, his best-ever
in Sonoma in Superbike.
With the win, Spies narrowed Mladin's lead in the standings to just 14
points after six races (210-196). The battle continues on Sunday as the
two Rockstar Makita Suzuki riders compete in the second 28-lap feature
of the weekend (3 p.m. start time).
"The bike worked really good," said Spies, who notched his 21st career
Superbike win, good for third all-time. "We wanted to get a pretty
comfortable margin because this track is really physical, really hard.
We're doing what we need to do for the championship. We'll go back and
try to make it faster and ride harder."
Spies, who began the race on the pole after a blistering track-record
qualifying time of 1 minute, 34.731 seconds, was beaten to Turn 1 at the
drop of the green flag by Yamaha's Eric Bostrom. But Bostrom's lead did
not last long as Spies took the top spot for good on the first lap at
Turn 7.
Spies built nearly a 10-second lead by lap 11 and never looked back.
"There was no catching Ben. He was too fast today," said Mladin.
"Congratulations to him and his team. We'll get out there tomorrow and
give it another shot."
Suzuki has led every lap of every Superbike race at Infineon Raceway
dating back to 2005 (196 laps). Moreover, Suzuki has now won the last
seven Superbike features in the Sonoma. Bostrom, a Petaluma High School
graduate, and Aaron Yates (Suzuki) rounded out the top five.
San Francisco native Jake Zemke (Erion Honda) edged teammate Josh Hayes
by just .067 seconds to take a thrilling win in the 17-lap feature for
Formula Xtreme. It was Zemke's third win of the year and his second
Formula Xtreme win in Sonoma, the other coming in 2005. Zemke maintained
his lead in the Formula Xtreme points standings.
"Josh was riding great and really made me work for that one," Zemke
said. "I thought we had the perfect setup, but it wasn't so perfect come
race time. The guys have made improvements to my bike the whole time,
and we put the Erion Honda bikes one-two again, so we're happy."
Steve Rapp, an Oakland native who graduated from Acalanes High School in
the East Bay, placed third.
Action continues on Sunday at Infineon Raceway with main events in three
classes: Superstock (1 p.m.), Pro Honda Oils Supersport (2 p.m.) and
Superbike (3 p.m.). The Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup will run their
7-lap feature at 10:20 a.m. All times are Pacific. For more information,
visit www.infineonraceway.com.
Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown, presented by Supercuts
May 16-18
Wine Country Classic vintage car races
May 31-June 1
Toyota/Save Mart 350
NASCAR Weekend
June 20-22
FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals
July 25-27
NHRA Division 7 drag races, presented by Korbel
Aug. 1-3
Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County
Aug. 22-24
PINKS All Out drag racing
Sept. 5-6
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John Cardinale
VP, Communications & Marketing
Infineon Raceway
Hwys 37 and 121
Sonoma, CA 95476
707-933-3907
707-334-9805 (cell)
