Suzuki begins 2010 Superbike Tests at Fontana

Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Tommy Hayden and Blake Young are fine-tuning their race bikes and gearing up to make Suzuki's championship-winning GSX-R1000 a winner again in 2010.

Hayden and Young were recently out on their new 2010 GSX-R1000s for two days of testing at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California before the beginning of the AMA Superbike season.

Hayden, coming off an impressive 2009 Superbike season, is making preparations to take the championship in 2010. He's been testing his new race bike for the last two days, putting in hundreds of laps and getting a feel for his updated race machine.

"So far, so good," Hayden commented. "Testing has been going well and things have been really smooth. We have a lot of stuff to work on, but so far it's been positive and feedback has been good. There are several small changes here and there that we've made to the bike and hopefully they'll add up to a big improvement once we get closer to the start of the season. There's a lot more horsepower on this bike; I can definitely feel the difference.

"2009 was a good season, but I definitely feel like we left room for improvement. We're building on a lot of things and the bike is going to be even better, and another year with the team should help as well. I'm expecting big things so I'm excited for the 2010 season to get here and to make it happen."

Hayden's team mate Blake Young had a great rookie Superbike season and is poised to challenge Hayden for the title now that seven-time champion Mat Mladin has retired. Young is excited by the results from this first test: "This was our first test of the year and it went really well. Every year Suzuki seems to outdo themselves and make the GSX-R1000 better and better and so far that seems to be the case again this year. It's still early and we're testing a lot of things, but it's on track to being better than the 2009 bike. One noticeable change is a large increase in horsepower."

Peter Doyle, after working with Mat Mladin on his championship run, is now Blake's crew chief. Pete will bring a wealth of experience to Blake's effort and this is a big plus for the Wisconsin racer.

"This year I'm working with crew chief Peter Doyle. I'm really looking forward to working with him and to getting that first race win under my belt. Hopefully after that, the wins will keep coming and a championship will follow. One thing for sure, having Pete on my team is a huge plus."

For now the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team will continue to test and refine the 2010 race bikes to be ready for the AMA Pro Superbike season opener in Daytona, which will be the 69th running of Speed Week at the Florida venue.