Infineon Raceway in Sonoma California was the site of the latest AMA roadracing action and Suzuki added two more victories to their impressive 2004 resume. GSX-R1000 mounted Mat Mladin consolidated his Superbike points advantage to 24 after the weekend on the strength of his Saturday win. Ben Spies and the Suzuki GSX-R600 emerged victorious in Superstock action.

Mladin won the Saturday Superbike race at Infineon Raceway in dominating fashion. Conserving his tires in the beginning of the race, Mladin ran third in the early laps before putting his mark on the event. By the time the checkered flag fell, Mladin had earned his 28th career victory by a margin of 6.749 seconds.


"At this race, it's impossible to go 100% from start to finish because if you do your tires are not going to be very nice at the end," Mladin said after the race. "There's a lot of race strategy that comes into play at Infineon, that's for sure."


Local rider Dave Stanton finished seventh on his GSXR-1000, ahead of ninth place finisher Geoff May on the Team Prieto Racing Suzuki. Yoshimura's Aaron Yates led the race early on his GSX-R1000, but was forced to pit early in the race for a new tire. He charged through the field and finished tenth.


On Sunday, Mladin's chances to repeat as race winner were dashed by machine troubles as he finished fourth behind teammate Aaron Yates in the heat nearing 95 degrees.


"It was good to be back up here on the podium, back riding my Yoshimura Suzukis," third place finisher Yates said. "Being at the racetrack is a feeling you can't get anywhere else and I was glad to get back up here on the podium."


Geoff May and Millenium Technologies Suzuki's Shawn Higbee also finished in the top ten.


Suzuki's Ben Spies won the Supersport final at Infineon Raceway, streaking out to an early lead and holding a consistent gap over his championship rivals until the late laps. Spies, who led every lap of the race, eased up slightly as he took his first Supersport win of the year on the GSX-R600 by 1.324 seconds.


"Everything just clicked," said Spies. "The Suzuki GSX-R600 was working great and I managed to get a lead on the rest of the guys out there. I just mellowed towards the end. The tires were getting a little greasy in the heat and we were going through the lappers, so I just watched my gap and held on for the win."


Ben Attard of the Corona Extra Suzuki team finished eighth on his GSX-R600.


The Superstock final saw four Suzukis finish in the top ten. Ben Spies was sixth for Yoshimura and Steve Rapp was seventh on his Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki GSX-R750. Rapp's teammate Vincent Haskovec was ninth and Hypercycle's Jake Holden rounded out the top ten.


In Formula Xtreme action, Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Vincent Haskovec looked to have a podium finish sewed up before a mechanical problem ended his race. Still, five Suzuki GSX-R600s finished in the top ten. Those riders were Steve Crevier. Jake Holden, Jason Pridmore, Danny Eslick, and Corey Eaton.


AMA roadracing action resumes at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham May 14-16