Bad weather affects AMA April 22, 2005 Chris Martin (AMASuperbile.com) Ben Spies overtook his Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Mat Mladin on the leaderboard with about four minutes remaining in the first AMA Superbike practice session of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park this afternoon. The 20-year-old Texan’s fast lap of 1:37.966 on a drying circuit proved faster than anyone else was willing to push in the precarious conditions with the promise of better weather for the day’s upcoming qualifying session. Friday Superbike practice times Mladin’s mark (1:39.098) was good enough to keep him in second, one spot ahead of Ducati Austin’s Neil Hodgson (1:39.502), who is quickly shaping up to be a serious challenger to both Mladin and Spies. Fourth best in the session was Matthew McBride, a wild card entry this weekend representing Kawasaki’s Canadian Superbike outfit. Third Yosh man Aaron Yates rounded out the top five. The Georgian was followed by American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel and second Kawasaki Canada rider Tom Kipp. |