Mat Mladin Takes Pole For AMA Superbike Opening Round

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Yoshimura Suzuki swept the top three starting spots for Saturday’s AMA Superbike Opening Round at Daytona International Speedway.

Mat Mladin, a six-time AMA Superbike champion, captured the pole and the one championship point with a fast lap of 110.903 mph, 1 minute, 35.760 seconds.

“It was a good morning for us,” Mladin said. “I got a chance to try a couple of tires. One we confirmed that was our favorite yesterday was certainly the one we liked again today. We’re looking forward to the race.

“We have a motorcycle that is very consistent and very nice to ride. Hopefully we’ll get a decent start and get away there and see what happens. It’s a good day for us and nice to get the pole.”

Spies, who swept both the pole and the win in last year’s Daytona Superbike round, will start second with a speed of 110.663 mph, 1:35.967. He is gunning for his third straight AMA Superbike championship.

“At the end, we put on a tire that seems to be everybody’s favorite and ours too,” Spies said of the qualifying session. “I started sliding around quite a bit. I rode a 100 percent. I came in and the motor was leaking quite a bit of oil but I don’t even think we had the pace to do it either way. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get some stuff fixed and try to get me faster in a couple of areas of the track where I’m slow at.”

Completing the Suzuki sweep of the top three starting spots was Tommy Hayden while Jason DiSalvo rounded out the podium.

“Our bike has been working really good since we got here. I haven’t really changed a lot. I’ve been steadily getting a little faster and a little faster. I was able to get in a quick lap. I’m pretty happy with my bike, my race tires.”

The Opening Round of the AMA Superbike is set for Saturday, 11:15 a.m. Tickets are available online at www.racetickets.com, 1-800-PITSHOP or at the gate.

From DIS press