Spies claims pole for SuperBike opener

Spies claims pole for Daytona SuperBike race

(AMA Pro Racing Release) The first real duel of the 2007 AMA Superbike season with something on the line went to Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies today at Daytona International Speedway. As expected, Spies and teammate Mat Mladin traded the top spot on the charts multiple times during the session while the rest of the field was left essentially battling over the third slot on the front row.

Late in the session, Spies hustled his ’07 GSX-R1000 around the idiosyncratic raceway with a quick time of 1:37.546, just fractionally inside of Mladin’s 1:36.581 to claim the eighth pole of his young Superbike career.

The pole win provides Spies with the first point of the season as he takes an early 1-0 advantage over the pack in the opening weekend of his title defense.

Just like after yesterday’s Superstock pole win, the Texan claimed he could have gone even faster if his session had gone a bit more smoothly.

He explained, “We went out and did some race set-up on race tires early in the session and got going really good. That’s the most important thing and that’s when the bike is working the best. Then I put on some soft tires and tried to go for a lap and I knew from the first lap that the right side of the tire didn’t have as much grip on the front as the race tire did.

“We went the first lap and kind of ran wide through the horseshow and had to actually go an extra lap on the qualifier. I came back around and told myself I wasn’t going to do it, but I did the same thing again. That’s when we put together the ‘7.5.

“I came in and got a new rear (same as the other one), and told myself I wasn’t going to do it this time and then found myself ten feet offline in the horseshow. I did the exact same thing and we did another ’37.5.

“We left a few tenths out there. It was really close. I would have liked to have nailed my lap, but the bike is working really good. It’s probably going to be the same as it was last year.”

Spies clearly has the speed to race upfront, just as he did last year before the vastly more experienced Mladin aced him on the final lap to steal away the win. The defending series champ is focused on preventing a repeat in this year’s contest.

“The difference is, last year I wasn’t confident in the bike set-up,” he stated. “I thought I could stay in the race but probably couldn’t draft for the win. I just wanted to make sure I’d be there. We did that. This year we made the bike gear around. If I have to make a last-lap pass, I can make it. I’ve got room in the rpm to pull out, or I can win it from the front.

“Either way it goes, right now we have a bike that can win; a bike that can pass on the front straightaway. There’s a million different ways it can happen. I can get a bad start, (Mat) can get a bad start, great starts, whatever. I’m just going to try to get the best start I can do and put together the first few laps and see what happens. If we’re together, I’m sure it will probably be won with some kind of move. Not pure racing because around this place, if you’re not going to drop them, you’re going to win because of the draft or you outsmarted somebody. Hopefully we can out think everybody this year.”

Some six tenths behind the Suzuki stars, Eric Bostrom made an impressive front-row return to the premier Superbike class. The Yamaha USA start laid down a 1:38.195 to claim the third spot on the grid, one spot up on the hard-riding Roger Hayden (Monster Energy Kawasaki – 1:38.769).

Tommy Hayden just missed putting a third Yosh GSX-R1000 on the front row, qualifying fifth at 1:38.931. He’ll be joined on the second row by American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel, Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May on a Superstock-spec GSX-R, and Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Aaron Yates.

The increased depth of the AMA Superbike field is very evident on the third row, which features second Yamaha pilot Jason DiSalvo, Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking, Miller Motorsports race winner Jake Zemke, and Yates’ teammate, Jake Holden.

The highly anticipated 2007 AMA Superbike Championship opener will take place at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday at 11:15 am local time.