The five-time AMA Champion headed team mates Aaron Yates and Ben Spies by more than 11 seconds at the end of the 28-lap, 100-mile race and increased his series lead to 21 points over Spies with just one round and two races remaining.

The Australian captured the pole position and the track record by posting a 1:23.986 lap time, his 46th career pole position and his ninth - out of a potential nine - this season.

He said: “It’s a long way from over. We still have two races to go. I want to thank my guys for working really hard this weekend. And what can I say about the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000? Two Superbike wins and a Superstock win in one weekend -- the motorbike speaks for itself. Along with Suzuki and Dunlop tyres, I’d also like to thank all the fans who came out.”

At the start of the 28-lap race, Mladin got a fairly good start but it was Spies who took the lead. Spies led for the first several laps before Mladin overtook him. He then began creating a gap and held onto it for the victory. Spies, meanwhile, held on to second before running wide in a turn and being passed by Yates.

“I couldn’t even see Mat in today’s race so I’m not doing as well as I’d like to,” joked Spies from the podium. “But it’s get to get three Suzukis up here.”

Said Yates, “This has been a good weekend for me, a good weekend for Suzuki and a good weekend for the fans. It’s great to have Suzuki one-two-three up here and I guess that shows how strong the new GSX-R1000 is.”

Mladin, Spies and Yates will campaign the final AMA Superbike race of the season at Road Atlanta next weekend.

AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:

1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki)
3. Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki)
4. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
6. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki)
7. Eric Bostrom (Ducati)
8. Jason Pridmore (Jordan Suzuki)
9. Steve Rapp (Jordan Suzuki)
10. Cory West (Suzuki)
Full Championship points uploaded under: AMA/ AMA Superbike/ Championship Points.

YATES TAKES SUPERSTOCK VICTORY

In the first race of the day, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates won his fifth AMA Repsol Superstock race of the season and extended his points lead in the title chase at Virginia International Raceway on Sunday morning.

“I was just really comfortable out there,” said Yates from the podium. “I got a great start on my Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and got into Turn One first. I just tried to keep a smooth rhythm out there and keep the pace fast.”

In the previous afternoon’s qualifying session, Yates carded himself the fourth position on the grid by posting a fastest lap time of 1:26.303. Although the soft-spoken Georgian was pleased about being on the front row, he would have preferred to be on pole.

“I had some issues with the front tyre,” he explained. “The qualifying tyre made the front end feel a little unstable and I couldn’t get into some of the turns the way I wanted. I kind of feel like that’s holding us back a little, but we still have a practice session tomorrow to work on it.”

Apparently Yates’ Yoshimura Suzuki crew and GSX-R came through. Yates did indeed get out front immediately, and kept up a blistering pace in what should have been a 17-lap race. Unfortunately, a crashed rider caused a red flag toward the end of the event and the AMA called the race.

“The Suzuki had great grip at the beginning of the race and then the tyres started slipping and I felt more comfort able,” he said. “About halfway through the race I eased up on the throttle and I couldn’t decide whether Roger Hayden was going to come by me, so I picked it up towards the end of the last lap and then I saw the red flag. I expected some excitement at the end of the race and I was ready for it, so it’s sort of strange for the race to end this way. But congratulations to Roger for a great race and thanks to Yoshimura Suzuki.”

Yates is currently 21 points ahead of second place in the Superstock championship points chase.

Superstock Top 10 Finishers:

1. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki)
3. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha)
4. Damon Buckmaster (Yamaha)
5. Geoff May (M4 EMGO Suzuki)
6. Aaron Gobert (Yamaha)
7. Steve Rapp (Jordan Suzuki)
8. Jason Pridmore (Jordan Suzuki)
9. Jacob Holden (Suzuki)
10. John Haner (Suzuki)
SPIES CRASHES IN SUPERSTOCK

Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies was headed for a top-five finish in today’s Supersport race at Virginia International Raceway when an unfortunate get-off took him out of the running.

Spies had qualified on the second row of the grid with his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600 after posting a 1:28.124 lap time the previous afternoon.

In the 17-lap race, the young Texan got a good start and was with the front-runners dicing for sixth.

“I was right there with Chris Peris in sixth and I was watching my gap on Aaron Gobert,” said Spies, who wasn’t hurt in the incident. “I didn’t want to let him catch me and I was going to wait until the last lap to pass Chris. Then I saw Chris start to lose the front end and then I started to lose the front end. Then he did lose the front end and I think I lost the front end in the exact some place. I don’t know if we were on a sealer line or what.”

Supersport Top 10 Finishers: