Jake Zemke celebrates his AMA Superbike win at Miller Motorsports Park in June of 2006. It marked the first victory for Honda in the series in nearly two years and broke a 14-race win streak for Suzuki in the series dating back to August of 2005. Zemke, also hadn’t won since 2004. (Riles/Nelson photo)
Jake Zemke recovered from a crash on Saturday to win the second leg of the AMA Superbike Championship race on June 18, 2006, at Miller Motorsports Park. The victory for the Honda rider from Paso Robles, Calif., broke a 14-race win streak for Suzuki in the series dating back to August of 2005.
Series leader Ben Spies, of Longview, Texas, had a three second lead on his Suzuki when the race was stopped due to oil on the track. On the restart Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, of Australia, led for eight laps before being passed by Zemke with just five laps to go. Zemke went on to win the race by 4.134 seconds over Mladin. Spies was third and remained series leader.
It marked the first victory for Honda in the series in nearly two years. Zemke, also hadn’t won since 2004.
“I really have to give a tip of the hat to my crew who rebuilt the bike after my crash yesterday,” Zemke said. “It’s been a long time since I stood on top of the podium and boy does it feel good.”
AMA Superbike Championship Results
At Miller Motorsports Park
Tooele, Utah
1. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR1000RR, 21 laps.
2. Mathew Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
3. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
4. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR1000RR, 21.
5. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 21.
6. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999R, 21.
7. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
8. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
9. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
10. Matt Lynn, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
11. Jacob Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
12. David Weber, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
13. Akira Tamitsuji, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
14. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
15. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
16. Robertino Pietri, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
17. Ben Thompson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
18. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
19. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
20. Larry Pegram, Honda CBR1000RR, 21.
21. Fernando Amantini, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 21.
22. Cory West, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
23. Shane Turpin, Yamaha YZF-R1, 21.
24. Dale Kieffer, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
25. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
26. Dominic Jones, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
27. Taylor Knapp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
28. Michael Sullivan, Yamaha R1, 21.
29. Mark Ledesma, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
30. Michael Sanchez, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
31. Brad Hendry, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 21.
32. Marco Martinez, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 20.
33. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 999R, 6.
Race Statistics
Race time: One hour, two minutes, 43.474 seconds (due to red flag stoppage).