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Dunlop Motorcycle Tires Race Report: 2007 AMA
Superbike Series, Round 10, Road Atlanta
Braselton, Ga.--Road Atlanta was the setting for the penultimate round
of the 2007 AMA Superbike Series, August 31-September 2, and high drama played
out in each of the weekend’s five races. Yoshimura Suzuki’s six-time AMA
Superbike Champion Mat Mladin swept both Superbike competitions to notch his
62nd and 63rd career victories and, most importantly, take
over the series lead from teammate and defending champion Ben Spies. Spies,
meanwhile, earned his third AMA championship with his Superstock class win. Not
to be outdone, Erion Racing Honda’s Josh Hayes won the Formula Xtreme race and
in so doing took his second consecutive class title and third AMA ring. Then
Hayes went out and won the Supersport race, giving him his second double-race
win performance in as many weeks.
Road
Atlanta’s famed 12-turn, 2.54-mile racing surface was completely repaved early
in the year. After a number of two- and four-wheeled racing events, the
well-seasoned surface supplied substantial grip for the AMA’s racers and their
Superbike, Superstock, Supersport
and Formula Xtreme machines. Already known as a "right-hand" circuit that
generates significant heat in the right side of the rear tire, the new surface
places tremendous demands on tires. To offer the factory teams and support
riders as many options as possible, Dunlop brought approximately 2100 tires for
the weekend, including the latest generation of N-Tec multi-compound rear tires
and a next-generation multi-compound front tire design with improved feel. When
the last bike of the last race had crossed the finish line, Dunlop riders had
collected 13 of the 15 available podium positions and 76 percent (38 of 50) of
the top-10 finishing positions.
All weekend long lap records fell. Spies’
Superbike qualifying time of 1: 20.454 was more than 1.2 seconds quicker than
the previous record set by Mladin in 2005. Hayes qualifying time of 1:24.278 in
Formula Xtreme bettered his own record set last year and Roger Hayden knocked
more than a half-second off his 2005 Supersport qualifying record, 1:25.248
versus 1:25.775--then turned an even faster race lap of 1:24.976. Though Jason
Disalvo’s 2005 Superstock qualifying record of 1:22.923 was safe for another
year, Spies unofficially topped it in Sunday’s morning’s 70-degree practice
session when he clocked a 1:22.482.
Superbike Race One
A rainy
Friday night left the track damp on Saturday morning with water pumping up
through cracks in the surface of infamous turn 12. The revised AMA schedule
combined practice and qualifying for Superstock and Supersport and eliminated
the second Superbike qualifying round, cementing Spies provisional pole position
set on Friday. When the race flagged off, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Spies took the lead
going into turn one and held it for two laps before teammate Mladin slipped by
on lap three. The duo were already well ahead of the rest of the pack when
Spies, hot on Mladin’s heals, clipped the turn-four curb on lap six and tumbled.
With the rider and bike down on the edge of the track, a red flag stopped the
race. Spies recovered but AMA rules required that he restart from the back row.
The second start saw Mladin rocket away on his GSX-R1000. Spies marched through
the field and moved into second place after just four laps but the outcome was
sealed as Mladin pulled away en route to his 11 win of the season,
tying his own record set in 2005. “I told Ben we’re not good for each other’s
health,” joked Mladin from the podium. “Both of us have had our fair share of
falling down. With a couple more races to go, hopefully we can keep it
together.” In the press conference he added, “It was a good race for us today,
it was good to get the win and have 11 wins for the year. It's been a pretty
good season so far.” The victory allowed Mladin to close to within two points of
Spies in the championship hunt. Following Spies across the line was Kawasaki
Road Racing’s Jamie Hacking, his fourth podium in Kawasaki’s first season back in Superbike
competition. Dunlop notched every one of the top 10 finishing
positions.
AMA
Superbike – 22 Laps (shortened from 28 by a red
flag)
Superbike Race One results, Saturday, September 1:
Dunlop finishers in the Top 101. Mat Mladin -
Suzuki
2. Ben
Spies - Suzuki
3.
Jamie Hacking - Kawasaki
4.
Aaron Yates - Suzuki
5. Jake
Zemke - Honda
6.
Roger Hayden - Kawasaki
7. Matt
Lynn - MV
9. Luca
Scassa - MV
8. Jake
Holden - Suzuki
10.
Tommy Hayden - Suzuki
Formula Xtreme Race
After
dominating the Formula Xtreme Series all year, Erion Racing Honda’s Hayes came
to the starting line of the ninth round needing only to finish 20th
or better (after taking the point for pole) to seal his second consecutive
class title. But in typical fashion, he charged to the front of the pack on his
CBR600RR and led from flag-to-flag (including a second-lap red flag and
restart), collecting his seventh victory of the season and the AMA’s first
series title in 2007. “I figure I want to keep it as long as I can,” said Hayes.
“Dunlop’s does an awesome job for us… I am excited for the crew, who worked hard
all year.” In the post-race press conference he added, “It’s a testament to the
motorcycle. My team made my job extremely hard because they gave me such a good
motorcycle that if we don’t win, it’s 100 percent my fault… I rode with all my
heart in every race.” Finishing second was Attack Kawasaki’s Ben Attard,
followed by Boulder Motorsports Ducati’s Marty Craggill with his second
consecutive podium. Hayes third AMA championship follows his Formula Xtreme
title last year and a Superstock championship in 2003. In all, Dunlop placed six
riders in the top 10.
AMA
Formula Xtreme – 13 Laps (shortened from 15 by a red
flag)
Formula
Xtreme results, Saturday, September 1: Dunlop finishers in the Top 101. Josh
Hayes - Honda
3.
Marty Craggill - Ducati
6. Chaz
Davies - Yamaha
7.
Larry Pegram - Ducati
8. Ryan
Andrews - Honda
9. Ryan
Elleby - Honda
Formula Xtreme Championship Points after 9 of 10 races:
Top three riders
1.
Hayes – 324 (Champion)
2. Rapp
- 250
3.
Pegram – 212
Superstock Race
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Spies ran a masterful race on Sunday
aboard his GSX-R1000 to wrap up the Superstock championship with one race to go.
From the pole position he led every lap, though he was kept honest by Graves
Motorsports Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom and then by Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates. Yates’
crash on the last lap handed second place back to Bostrom, who trailed Spies
over the line by just over three seconds. M4 Emgo Suzuki’s Geoff May was third.
“I wanted the title but I wanted the win pretty bad too,” said Spies, who only
needed to finish sixth to take the championship. “We just tried to make no
mistakes and get it done today and it was good enough to get it today.” Spies’
latest title gives him three career AMA rings, the first coming in the 2003
Formula Xtreme Series and the second being his 2006 Superbike crown. Six of the
top 10 finishers were on Dunlop tires.
AMA
Superstock – 15 Laps
Superstock results, Sunday, September 2: Dunlop
finishers in the Top 10
1. Ben Spies - Suzuki
2. Ben
Bostrom - Yamaha
4. Jake
Holden - Suzuki
5.
Jamie Stauffer - Yamaha
6.
Blake Young - Suzuki
9.
David Weber - Suzuki
Superstock Championship Points after 8 of 9 races: Top
three riders
1.
Spies – 292 (Champion)
2.
Bostrom -235
3.
Yates - 219
Supersport Race
The
most exciting action of the weekend took place in the 600-class Supersport race
as Erion Racing Honda’s Josh Hayes, winner of three races this season, swapped
places lap-after-lap with Kawasaki Road Racing’s Jamie Hacking, the series’
defending champ. Never more than a second back was M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Martin
Cardenas, who was closely trailed by the current series leader, Kawasaki’s Roger Hayden.
Though the lap chart showed Hayes leading all but four of the 15 laps on his
CBR600RR, Hacking challenged Hayes all the way to the next-to-last lap. Then
Hayes built a small gap in lapped traffic and was able to take the win by just
over a second. Hacking was next and then teammate Roger Hayden snuck ahead of
Cardenas to nab
the final podium slot. “There were some pretty dodgy passes in there from time
to time but my Honda was so good,” said Hayes on the podium. “I was really
having a good time racing Jamie,” he added in the press conference. “The tires
were fantastic, we did a good race prep this morning and we knew what we could
do… This was so much fun, another double.” Dunlop riders were six out of 10 in
the finishing order. As the series heads to Laguna Seca for the final race, only
11 points separate Hayden, Hacking and Hayes.
AMA
Supersport – 15 Laps
Supersport results, Sunday, September 2: Dunlop
finishers in the Top 10
1. Josh Hayes - Honda
2.
Jamie Hacking - Kawasaki
3.
Roger Hayden - Kawasaki
5. Josh
Herrin - Yamaha
6.
Blake Young - Suzuki
8.
Chris Peris - Yamaha
Supersport Championship Points after 9 of 10 races: Top
three riders
1. R.
Hayden - 271
2. J.
Hacking - 262
3.
Hayes - 260
Superbike Race Two
Following the first Superbike race on Saturday, concern
for tire wear and rider safety led Dunlop to request the AMA to shorten the race
distance of Superbike race two from 25 to 20 laps. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin
rode an exemplary race, leading from the beginning and building a substantial
lead over teammate Spies. By the time Mladin had crossed the finish line on his
GSX-R1000 with a 6.794 second winning margin, he had established more records:
the most Superbike wins in a season (12) and the most Superbike wins ever (63).
His sixth win in a row also tied Spies and Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel for
most consecutive Superbike wins. Most significantly it gave him a three point
lead over Spies in the series and set up a showdown at the final round at Laguna
Seca. “It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure,” said Mladin from the podium. “I decided
if we were going to have some issues in the race, I wanted at least to have some
type of lead and I could maybe manage it. So we pushed as hard as we could and
brought it all the way home.” In the press conference he told the media, “It’s
nice to get the bike working so well that we can pull away a little bit when we
need to. Laguna Seca is going to be a good race and I’m looking forward to it.”
As on Saturday, Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking was third, his fifth
podium off the season and fourth in the last five races. The first 12 riders
across the finish line rode on Dunlops.
AMA
Superbike – 20 Laps (shortened from 25)
Superbike Race Two results, Sunday, September 2: Dunlop
finishers in the Top 10
1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki
2. Ben
Spies - Suzuki
3.
Jamie Hacking - Kawasaki
4.
Aaron Yates - Suzuki
5.
Roger Hayden - Kawasaki
6. Jake
Zemke - Honda
7.
Tommy Hayden - Suzuki
8.
James Ellison - Honda
9. Jake
Holden - Suzuki
10.
Eric Bostrom - Yamaha
Superbike Championship Points after 18 of 19 races: Top
three riders
1.
Mladin - 618
2.
Spies - 615
3.
Zemke - 441
The
next stop for Dunlop and the final round of the 2007 AMA Superbike Series is
Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Ca., September 15-16.
from Dunlop press
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