New Suzuki 'very strong' in tests.

Five-times AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin has completed his first test session aboard the all-new 2005 model Suzuki GSX-R1000 that he will use to defend his American title next season - and which will also be given to Alstare Suzuki for WSBK and Rizla Suzuki for BSB.

Mladin, his Yoshimura Suzuki crew and team-mate Aaron Yates spent a gruelling three-days at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia last week putting the latest version GSX-R1000 through a myriad of tests.

By contrast to recent years where the American Superbike team shared the track with other Suzuki supported teams such as the factory MotoGP team, last week's test saw them there alone.

Mladin has been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to ride the latest offering from Suzuki, and came away from the test full of praise for the work that has been done by the factory in readiness for their attack on all the major Superbike championships next season - in particular the World Superbike series, where Suzuki will be represented by Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama.

"Suzuki have made some very strong improvements with the motorcycle and the whole package presents itself with something that we can work straight away," said Mladin. "It's very promising after the first test.

"It was hard to compare lap times with what we have done there previously as it rain each night we were there, so the track was 'green' each time we went out in the morning.

"We had one of our '04 models that we rode this year to compare it with and it stacked up very well. Grip was an issue for us under those conditions, but we had a few things to compare the performance with," concluded the Australian.