Spies leads another Suzuki sweep

From Team Suzuki

Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing dominated the Suzuki-sponsored doubleheader AMA Superbike weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA by sweeping the AMA Superbike podium on Saturday's and Sunday's races.

Just like in Saturday's race, defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies took the win on Sunday and was followed home by Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammates Mat Mladin in second and Tommy Hayden in third.

Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin actually led most of the laps in Sunday's race but Spies passed him on the last lap as the two crossed the start-finish line to get the win.

"This is one of the toughest races I've ever been in," Spies said. "I just couldn't make any headway. It's a little easier when you have someone in front of you because you can chase. But certainly the race didn't go the way I would have planned.

"I was about to be content with second place when I saw Mat run wide. So I put my head down and kept pushing and pushing. I almost gave up with about 15 laps to go but I knew I needed to get as many points as possible. I think for the last 10 laps or so, I was just out of control."

Hayden got a better start in Sunday's race and worked his way into third position to take the final spot on the podium.

This is the third-consecutive AMA Superbike podium sweep for the Rockstar Makita Suzuki squad.

"We had a completely different Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 today than we did yesterday and it was a good race for us," Mladin said. "We pretty much led all of it but at the end, we just didn't have it. I made a few small mistakes and gave back a little time that proved costly at the end. I did what I could but just couldn't hang on."

AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers
1. Ben Spies (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)
2. Mat Mladin (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)
3. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)
4. Neil Hodgson (Honda)
5. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha)
6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha)
7. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki)
8. Scott Jensen (Suzuki)
9. Matt Lynn (Honda)
10. Dean Mizdal (Suzuki)