Spies
gets ready for title defense
(AMA Pro Racing)
In only his second full season of AMA Superbike Championship racing
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies broke through to earn the series title last
season. The 22-year-old from Longview, Texas, comes to the 2007 season
opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, March 10, with one
goal in mind and that’s to defend the championship he fought so hard to
earn in 2006.
"I like being the champion and want to do what it takes to do it again
next year,” said Spies, who is the second youngest AMA Superbike
Champion. “If anything, winning has made me more driven to do it again.
My goal isn't to win one. It's to win as many championships as I can. The
weaknesses I did have, I want to make them better and that's what I'm
thinking about."
If Spies is to win a second straight AMA Superbike Championship his
biggest challenge is likely to come from his own teammate Mat Mladin.
Mladin, the all-time winningest rider in AMA Superbike history, is the
defending winner of the Daytona Superbike race. He made a clever last-lap
move to put his Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike in a position to draft past
Spies to earn a thrilling victory. Mladin, who will turn 35 the day of
the race, is reportedly in the best shape of his life, training intensely
during the off season. Like Spies, Mladin seems more eager than ever to
get this season started.
He commented on the rematch after the last race of 2006.
“Next year is going to be fun and I’m looking forward to it,” Mladin
said. “I’ve won six championships and 51 races and by the time I had
realized that complacency had set in, it was a bit too late. I think Ben
is smart enough to know that we’re not going to go away easily. We’ll be
back ready to rock and roll next year and I can’t wait. He’s a great
young rider and for me it was awesome to have someone to pick my game
back up.”
Spies and Mladin are joined this year by eldest of the racing Hayden
brothers, Tommy. Tommy Hayden and his youngest brother Roger Lee, who
rides for Kawasaki, will try to follow in middle brother Nicky’s
footsteps. Nicky Hayden, the current MotoGP world champion, won the
Daytona Superbike race (then the Daytona 200) in 2002.
Joining Roger Lee Hayden on the Monster Energy Kawasaki squad is Jamie
Hacking. Last year Hacking had a dream season, becoming only the second
rider in history to win the AMA Supersport and AMA Superstock titles in
the same season. Hacking has been eager to get back on Superbikes. It’s
been five years since the British born rider, who now lives in North
Carolina, has raced in the premier AMA class. He was AMA Superbike Rookie
of the Year in 1998.
One of the biggest stories in the off-season was the announcement that
Yamaha was returning to the Superbike ranks. Eric Bostrom and Jason
DiSalvo will pilot the potent new Yamaha YZF-R1. Yamaha always finds a
way to build ultra-fast Superbikes for Daytona. Those machines carried
riders like Eddie Lawson, David Sadowski and Scott Russell to victory at
Daytona in years past. Bostrom and DiSalvo would like to start a new
legacy for the company beginning at Daytona this year.
“Our team has plenty of experience, but we face a formidable challenge,”
said Bostrom of the new Yamaha effort. “It’s going to be tough to bridge
that gap. It would be amazing if we could come out of the first race,
come out swinging and run up there. That’s our plan. Anything short of
that and I will be disappointed.”
Also returning to AMA Superbike is famed owner/tuner Eraldo Ferracci.
Italian Luca Scassa and Georgian Matt Lynn will ride with the newly
formed Fast by Ferracci MV Agusta team. Under Ferracci’s guidance Ducati
won two World Superbike and two AMA Superbike Championships in the 1990s.
MV Agusta, a rare Italian racing brand, is hoping that Ferracci can work
his Superbike magic once again. This will mark the first appearance for
MV in the Daytona Superbike race.
Honda will have vast experience in their stable with Miguel Duhamel and
Jake Zemke. Duhamel is second on the all-time AMA Superbike wins list and
is aiming to come out of the box strong in 2007.
“I need to pounce on any opportunity I have to win,” said Duhamel.
“Daytona has always been good to me. Some tracks it may be difficult for
us to win, but at others I feel we have a good shot at it and Daytona is
one of those.”
A number of leading support teams hope to challenge the factory teams at
Daytona. Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki has leading rider Aaron Yates.
Yates will be gunning to prove that he still deserves to be counted among
one of the elite in AMA Superbike. Corona Extra Honda will run Superbike
this year with former MotoGP rider James Ellison from England. Kurtis
Roberts and three-time AMA Superbike champion Doug Chandler are also
slated to race at Daytona with the NFS Racing team.
SPEED television coverage on Saturday, March 10, kicks off at 11:00 a.m.
Eastern with the opening round of the AMA Superbike Championship
presented by Parts Unlimited.
Tickets are available via
www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.
