Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing dominated Saturday's AMA Superbike race in the double-header weekend at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.
The 28-lap race started with an all-Suzuki front row of the grid and ended with a Rockstar Makita Suzuki podium sweep.
Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin won the race while his team mates Ben Spies and Tommy Hayden finished second and third respectively.
This victory is Mladin's eighth AMA Superbike win of the season and his 71st such career win.
Two-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Spies took the pole position this weekend - his seventh of the season - and led the first few laps before bringing home his 14th podium finish of the year. Meanwhile, Hayden rode an impressive race and was excited to return to the podium after missing six races due to injuries sustained earlier in the year.
Currently, Spies leads the AMA Superbike title chase, Mladin is in second place and Hayden is in 11th.
Mat Mladin:
"It was a good race for us today; I knew we had a good motorbike in the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSXR1000 and I was able to rely on it. I know Ben likes to get the lead and put his head down, but we had something for him today. In qualifying, I felt like I left a few-tenths out there and it seemed like I was able to find at least one of them at the start of the race. We had a few problems at the beginning of the year but we have been able to get those sorted and I'd like to thank my guys for putting in the hard work. What else can you say about the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team going one-two-three? We just want to get out there and race as hard as we can."
Ben Spies:
"I was pushing as hard as I could to stay with Mat and I lost the rear and I was just happy I was able to hang on. After that, I couldn't get back into a rhythm again. I tried to hang on to him but we just didn't have the speed today. I knew I had a good gap on third place and there was no reason to do anything silly. We did everything we could and settled into second place. I'm happy that we were able to get the Rockstar Makita Suzuki on the podium one-two-three and hopefully we can find a little more for tomorrow."
Tommy Hayden:
"It's been a long road since I was on the podium last time. Today's race went well: I got a good start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and got the holeshot for about a minute. I tried to latch on to my team mates but those guys got away from me pretty quick. I had a battle for third going for a while until about 10 laps to go and then after that it was a pretty uneventful race. It's good to be back on the podium again."
AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:
1. Mat Mladin (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)2. Ben Spies (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)3. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki)4. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha)5. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha)6. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)7. Geoff May (Jordan Suzuki)8. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki)9. Chris Peris (Suzuki)10. Kenny Noyes (Suzuki)
