Mladin snaps Spies' streak

From amasuperbike.com

Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin ended teammate Ben Spies' AMA Superbike win streak at seven with a brilliant performance on Sunday afternoon at Road America. The win was the 67th of Mladin's illustrious career and his fourth of the season after opening the year three-for-three.

Sunday's race was one of the more stirring of the season as Mladin, Spies and Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jamie Hacking settled into a three-way scrap for the lead over the race's opening several laps. Mladin and Spies traded the top spot repeatedly while Hacking used every last mph of his ZX-10R to cling onto the fight for first.

The British pilot lost the draft after hitting a damp spot following lap 5 and slowly fell into another lonely ride to his sixth straight podium result while Mladin took command of the race.

The Australian slowly worked up a small advantage with five to go, gradually opening the gap up to just over a half-second as they took the white flag. Spies gave up the pursuit when he ran wide in turn 5 and it became obvious Mladin wouldn't be beaten on this day and fell close to three seconds off the win at the checkered flag.

Hacking finished third some 21 seconds back while American Honda's Neil Hodgson was once again the fourth fastest man on track, finishing another eight plus seconds behind his countryman.

Yamaha USA's Eric Bostrom took advantage of a problem with Jordan Suzuki's Aaron Yates' GSX-R to escape from their fight for fifth, while American Honda's Miguel Duhamel overcame a stiff challenge from Yates' teammate, Geoff May, on his Superstock-spec machine for sixth.

Yates got the chain back on his bike to claim eighth, while Celtic Racing's Alastair Seeley and Team ESP's Chris Peris rounded out the top 10.

Spies will carry a 40-point advantage (378 vs. 338) into the combined MotoGP/AMA Superbike round at Laguna Seca on July 16-18 following the summer break.

Results (16 laps)
1. Mat Mladin Suzuki GSX-R1000 35:46.844/108.528 mph
2. Ben Spies Suzuki GSX-R1000 +2.695
3. Jamie Hacking Kawasaki ZX-10R +21.899
4. Neil Hodgson Honda CBR1000RR +30.321
5. Eric Bostrom Yamaha YZF-R1 +33.234
6. Miguel Duhamel (Montreal, QC) Honda CBR1000RR +48.085
7. Geoff May Suzuki GSX-R1000 +51.101
8. Aaron Yates Suzuki GSX-R1000 +52.885
9. Alastair Seeley Suzuki GSX-R1000 16 laps
10. Chris Peris (Calgary, AB) Suzuki GSX-R1000 16
11. Scott Jensen Suzuki GSX-R1000 16
12. Jason DiSalvo Yamaha YZF-R1 16
13. Ryan Elleby Suzuki GSX-R1000 16
14. Hawk Mazzotta Suzuki GSX-R1000 15
15. Keith Marshall Suzuki GSX-R1000 15
16. Dean Mizdal Suzuki GSX-R1000 15
17. Matt Lynn Honda CBR1000RR 14
18. Ben Thompson Suzuki GSX-R1000 8
19. David Anthony Suzuki GSX-R1000 5
20. Robertino Pietri Suzuki GSX-R1000 2

Point Standings
1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 378
2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 338
3. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 293
4. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 292
5. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 265
6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 254
7. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 238
8. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 234
9. Geoff May (Suzuki) 199
10. Scott Jensen (Suzuki) 188
11. Chris Peris (Suzuki) 186
25. Jordan Szoke (Kawasaki) 40
29. Brett McCormick (Kawasaki) 33
31. Francis Martin (Suzuki) 23
39. Matt McBride (Suzuki) 13