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Chris Martin
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AMA SBK: Spies Doubles in Sonoma
Written by: Chris Martin   
05/18/2008 - 06:07 PM
Sonoma, CA
 
Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki's Ben Spies (Photo: Brian J Nelson) ยป More Photos

While Ben Spies was carrying the #1 plate for the second consecutive season, following the Barber Motorsports Park round it felt more like six-time AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin was the man in charge.

The Australian had just picked up his third consecutive convincing win to open the '08 season in perfect fashion and boasted nine of ten victories dating back to the '07 season.

But The tide has shifted once again, and now the Texan is standing tall with four straight wins of his own after grabbing yet another lopsided triumph at Infineon Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Spies' perfect points haul weekend narrows the championship gap considerably as he now trails his rival by single digits, with Mladin leading just 242 to 233.

Spies stormed to the holeshot from pole but Mladin offered much stiffer resistance on Sunday, pushing his Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki teammate hard from right around a second back over the race's first half.

Mladin's challenge effectively ended on lap 16 when the gap jumped up to nearly three seconds,
and Spies' continued to pile on, building up his advantage up to just under ten seconds before cruising to a 8.042-second margin of victory.

Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jamie Hacking picked up his second podium finish of the weekend, passing Jordan Suzuki's Aaron Yates and Yamaha USA's Eric Bostrom early before pressuring second qualifier Jason DiSalvo for third.

DiSalvo overshot the chicane on lap 8, opening the door for Hacking, and the Kawasaki ace powered his way to a clear third from there. DiSalvo's day took another hit when he parked his bike on lap 15 after an incident that also ruled out Matt Lynn.

Yates picked up fourth, followed by American Honda's Neil Hodgson, who rounded out the top five.

Bostrom took sixth followed by second works CBR1000RR-mounted rider Miguel DuHamel.

Yates' teammate, Geoff May, Team ESP's Chris Peris, and Texan Ryan Elleby rounded out the top ten.

The AMA Superbike Championship next joins the World Superbike Champion on May 29-June 1 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT.
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