Bushiee46
28-04-2007, 20:39
AMA: Spies on Pole in Fontana
Ben Spies claimed his third pole position of the 2007 season Saturday during AMA Superbike qualifying at California Speedway, in Fontana, California.
Riding his Dunlop-shod Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, Spies recorded a time of 1:23.117, which was exactly one second faster than he went during qualifying Friday afternoon, when the ambient and track temperatures were much higher.
“It felt good,” Spies told reporters. “We went out on our race set-up again. We found some stuff overnight that definitely helped the bike, dipped down in the 1:23s a few times on race tires, so it was good. I knew we had a good lap when we put the softer race tire on. We’ve been a little bit nervous. Could we run it? Is it gonna last, because if it does it might be better? But we’ve got our bike working good on the hard tires and going at a decent pace. We threw the softer tire on and went at it. It was OK.”
Spies turned his 1:23.117 with eight minutes left in the session and returned to the pits, where his Tom Houseworth-led crew mounted a fresh rear tire. Spies sat on the wall monitoring Mladin’s progress on the track, trying to decide if he needed to go out and try to go faster. Even though Mladin did not look to be threatening Spies’ time, the young Champion returned to the track “just in case.” Little did Spies know that Mladin conceded the pole position to him months earlier.
“I didn’t even try to do a lap, to be honest with you,” said Mladin, who qualified second with a 1:23.711. “I was just trying race tires, a couple different shocks in that session and that’s it. I didn’t put a tire on at the end to go and do anything. I’m trying to get some laps on a couple of different tires just to see how they react after the first eight or 10 laps. There’s just not time to do anything else. To be honest with you, I’m over the qualifying thing. Ben can have the point. That’s good. I’ll get ready for this afternoon.”
Asked to elaborate on his new strategy, Mladin said, “I decided before Daytona, actually, that I really didn’t care for qualifying anymore and I really don’t care to win Championships anymore either, to be honest with you. I’m just here to try and win every weekend. That’s it. I decided that a few months ago. If we can win every weekend the Championship will take care of itself. If we can’t we’re not going to win. I’ve won six Championships, and I’m over trying to race for Championships. I just want to ride 100%, get the most out of me and my bike and that’s it. I’m tired of racing for Championships.”
Behind Spies and Mladin the qualifying order was very tight with the third- through 11th-fastest qualifiers separated by only 0.7 second.
2007 AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited
California Speedway
Fontana, California
April 28, 2007:
Combined Final Qualifying Results:
1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:23.117
2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:23.711
3. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:24.102
4. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.475
5. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.572
6. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:24.572
7. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:24.599
8. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, 1:24.714
9. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:24.736
10. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, 1:24.802
11. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.831*
12. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:25.549*
13. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:25.685*
14. Matt Lynn (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, 1:25.996
15. Doug Chandler (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:26.062
16. James Ellison (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:26.193
17. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:26.235*
18. Luca Scassa (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, 1:26.886
19. Martin Cardenas (Kaw ZX-10R), Pirelli, 1:27.017
20. Kurtis Roberts (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:27.193
21. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:27.674*
22. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:27.684
23. David Weber (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:27.784
24. Jason Curtis (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.183
25. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.429
26. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.431
27. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:29.665
108% of Fast Time: 1:29.766
28. Chad Rolland (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.360
29. Corey Sarros (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.955
30. Santiago Villa (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:31.330
31. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, no time, did not ride
*Known to be a Superstock-spec machine.
Ben Spies claimed his third pole position of the 2007 season Saturday during AMA Superbike qualifying at California Speedway, in Fontana, California.
Riding his Dunlop-shod Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, Spies recorded a time of 1:23.117, which was exactly one second faster than he went during qualifying Friday afternoon, when the ambient and track temperatures were much higher.
“It felt good,” Spies told reporters. “We went out on our race set-up again. We found some stuff overnight that definitely helped the bike, dipped down in the 1:23s a few times on race tires, so it was good. I knew we had a good lap when we put the softer race tire on. We’ve been a little bit nervous. Could we run it? Is it gonna last, because if it does it might be better? But we’ve got our bike working good on the hard tires and going at a decent pace. We threw the softer tire on and went at it. It was OK.”
Spies turned his 1:23.117 with eight minutes left in the session and returned to the pits, where his Tom Houseworth-led crew mounted a fresh rear tire. Spies sat on the wall monitoring Mladin’s progress on the track, trying to decide if he needed to go out and try to go faster. Even though Mladin did not look to be threatening Spies’ time, the young Champion returned to the track “just in case.” Little did Spies know that Mladin conceded the pole position to him months earlier.
“I didn’t even try to do a lap, to be honest with you,” said Mladin, who qualified second with a 1:23.711. “I was just trying race tires, a couple different shocks in that session and that’s it. I didn’t put a tire on at the end to go and do anything. I’m trying to get some laps on a couple of different tires just to see how they react after the first eight or 10 laps. There’s just not time to do anything else. To be honest with you, I’m over the qualifying thing. Ben can have the point. That’s good. I’ll get ready for this afternoon.”
Asked to elaborate on his new strategy, Mladin said, “I decided before Daytona, actually, that I really didn’t care for qualifying anymore and I really don’t care to win Championships anymore either, to be honest with you. I’m just here to try and win every weekend. That’s it. I decided that a few months ago. If we can win every weekend the Championship will take care of itself. If we can’t we’re not going to win. I’ve won six Championships, and I’m over trying to race for Championships. I just want to ride 100%, get the most out of me and my bike and that’s it. I’m tired of racing for Championships.”
Behind Spies and Mladin the qualifying order was very tight with the third- through 11th-fastest qualifiers separated by only 0.7 second.
2007 AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited
California Speedway
Fontana, California
April 28, 2007:
Combined Final Qualifying Results:
1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:23.117
2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:23.711
3. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:24.102
4. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.475
5. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.572
6. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:24.572
7. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:24.599
8. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, 1:24.714
9. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:24.736
10. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, 1:24.802
11. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.831*
12. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:25.549*
13. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:25.685*
14. Matt Lynn (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, 1:25.996
15. Doug Chandler (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:26.062
16. James Ellison (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:26.193
17. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:26.235*
18. Luca Scassa (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, 1:26.886
19. Martin Cardenas (Kaw ZX-10R), Pirelli, 1:27.017
20. Kurtis Roberts (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:27.193
21. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:27.674*
22. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:27.684
23. David Weber (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:27.784
24. Jason Curtis (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.183
25. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.429
26. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.431
27. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:29.665
108% of Fast Time: 1:29.766
28. Chad Rolland (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.360
29. Corey Sarros (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.955
30. Santiago Villa (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:31.330
31. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, no time, did not ride
*Known to be a Superstock-spec machine.