Ben Spies has won his third consecutive AMA Superbike title after the AMA Pro Racing announced last Friday that it had denied the appeal of Rockstar Makita Suzuki team-mate Mat Mladin, who was disqualified from both races at Virginia International Raceway in August for an illegal crankshaft.

That decision means that Spies has now an insurmountable lead at the top of the championship and therefore earns the title even though there is still one race to be presented.

Spies now turn his attention to this weekend's inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix - where he will make his third and presumably final MotoGP appearance for Rizla Suzuki; the three times champion is expected to join either Gresini Honda or JIR next year.