Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin and Ben Spies were the quickest men during a two-day AMA team test February 3-4 at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

Mladin led all lap times with a 1:26.0 on his 2004-spec GSX-R1000 Superbike, which was just ahead of teammate Aaron Yates’ best of 1:26.1 but slightly slower than the 1:25.70 Mladin turned testing at California Speedway in February of 2003.

“I feel pretty good out here the last couple of days. This is really the first proper test for me. We were at (Sepang) Malaysia, but we didn’t do a whole lot there. This is the first proper test, and I feel pretty good,” said Mladin, who is currently approximately 25 pounds over his normal race weight due to his battle with the fatiguing Epstein-Barr virus preventing him from doing any physical training over the off-season.

“I haven’t been doing a whole lot,” continued the four-time AMA Superbike Champion. “I’ve been really relaxing quite a bit. I’ve been spending a lot of time at work, actually, back home, but not doing too much training. All I’ve really done is just been to the gym a fair bit. Nothing that taxes your system a whole lot. It hurts your muscles, but it doesn’t really tax your system a whole lot. Hopefully, I’ve given it enough time to rid itself out of my body…I haven’t done a whole lot of cardio stuff because I was told not to. I’ve definitely put on some muscle and some fat to go along with it, but I’m not too concerned. Like I said, I’ll be 100 percent fit come Fontana or maybe even Sears Point. If I’m 100 percent by then I’ll be able to sustain it for four or five months. I can handle that no worries.”

Also unable to ride or do any physical training for the last three months following his 186mph crash at Daytona International Speedway and resulting injuries, Spies was happy to have the fastest Superstock (1:27.0) and Supersport (1:28.2) lap times at the small test.

“I’m still not back to riding where I was last year,” Spies told Roadracingworld.com. “I feel fine, but I get sore real fast…My butt’s a little sensitive when I sit down on the bike. And when I have to make transitions, I kind of have to stand up and sit back down on the bike; I can’t really slide across the seat yet. But that’s going to come with time. It hasn’t been that long since the crash and how bad I got hurt.

“It’s pretty cool to come back and be fastest on both bikes after being in that big of a crash and not being able to ride or train at all. I’m just going to be getting faster and faster from here on out, and I should be 100 percent by Daytona.”

Spies’ best Superstock lap time Wednesday compared well with his fastest lap time on his GSX-R1000 Formula Xtreme bike (1:26.82) in February of 2003.

Spies also said he likes the new GSX-R600, which Yates found much improved from the under-developed bike he rode at the Dunlop tire test at Daytona last December.

“At Daytona we had an ignition box we were running that didn’t want to run,” said Yates. “They found that going back to the standard one was a bit better.

“The bike’s good. It’s amazing how it handles. It’s like the harder you ride it, the better it goes. It’s got amazing grip. The way it steers around the turns, the longer the turns the better it seems to like it. I’m looking forward to riding it.”

Kawasaki’s two-Hayden effort also netted good lap times on both their ZX-10R Superstock and ZX-6RR Supersport racers. Both Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden were within a few tenths of Spies’ best Superstock and Supersport times and a full second faster than Tommy Hayden’s Supersport testing times from a year ago at Fontana.

“I love the bike (ZX-6RR),” said Roger Lee Hayden. “We hardly changed anything. It’s such a fun bike to ride. It turns really well.”

Older brother Tommy trailed younger brother Roger Lee’s test times slightly, but as is his normal method of operation, Tommy Hayden meticulously worked through tiny details on his bikes rather than vying for fast lap honors. For example, Tommy Hayden spent a great deal of time finding the perfect position for his new Attack Performance rear sets, according to Crew Chief Joey Lombardo.

Tommy Hayden also said the new 17-inch Dunlop slicks were working well at Fontana despite a racing surface made slippery by recent rains.

The lap times turned by No Limits Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore and Jason Curtis were not headline material, but Crew Chief Jeremy Daniel said the team’s first test “went very smooth and was very productive. I’m happy with how everything went, and we’re looking forward to our next test and to Daytona.”


Unofficial Best Lap Times of Two-day Test (as provided by the teams):

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike, 1:26.0
2. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike, 1:26.1
3. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock, 1:27.0
4. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R Superstock, 1:27.4
5. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R Superstock, 1:27.6
6. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R600 Supersport, 1:28.2
7. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock, 1:28.3
8. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6RR Supersport, 1:28.3
9. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6RR Supersport, 1:28.5
10. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R600 Supersport, 1:29.0
11. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6RR Supersport, 1:30.1
12. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock, 1:31.1