Spies takes first race in Fontana

Ben Spies qualified for this weekend’s superbike races at California Speedway with his motorcycle prepared for race conditions, not for clocking just one fast lap to win the pole.

The reigning series champion won the first starting spot anyway, and the setup also paid off Saturday as Spies easily won the opening race in the AMA Suzuki Superbike Challenge after an early duel with teammate Mat Mladin.

The second race at the Fontana track -- the third stop on the series’ 11-event schedule -- is today at 3 p.m.

Spies, of Longview, Texas, won by 6.7 seconds over Mladin, the six-time superbike champion from Australia who beat Spies in both races a week ago in Birmingham, Ala.

Mladin “kicked my butt last weekend and we had to regroup,” said Spies, 22. “It’s going to be back and forth all year, and it’s going to be good.”

Indeed, the two members of Team Yoshimura Suzuki were close in the first 10 laps of the 28-lap race as temperatures again hit the low 90s.

They shadowed each other around the 2.3-mile, 21-turn course and swapped the lead several times, until Spies pushed his No. 1 Suzuki in front for good.

“I knew a half a lap into the race that I was in a lot of trouble,” Mladin said. “Things just weren’t clicking right. I made a couple of changes to the bike before the race, and that might have been a mistake.”

Mladin and Spies (pronounced speez) have a frosty relationship despite being teammates, but Mladin said, “Congratulations to Ben and his crew. We’re going to try to chase him down tomorrow.”

Eric Bostrom of San Francisco was third on a Yamaha. It was the first time in five years that a Yamaha rider finished among the top three in a superbike race. Between Mladin and Spies, Suzuki has dominated the sport in recent years.

“It feels good to be on the podium, it feels even better to get up there and mix it up with these guys,” Bostrom said.

Spies won the pole in the second round of qualifying Saturday morning with a lap of 99.618 mph. Mladin followed at 98.911 mph.

Spies’ race win widened his lead in the championship standings to 14 points over Mladin, who said his attitude changed after Spies won his first title last year, ending Mladin’s domination of the sport.

“I’m over trying to race for championships,” said Mladin, 35, referring to how he now tries harder to simply win rather than securing finishes that accrue points. “If we can win every weekend, the championship will take care of itself.”

In the AMA’s Formula Xtreme support series, Josh Hayes of Honda won by six seconds over teammate Aaron Gobert of Murrieta.

james.peltz@latimes.com