Roger Hayden was the fastest rider in challenging conditions during Motul Superbike/Bazzaz Superstock 1000 qualifying practice Friday at the 2017 MotoAmerica season finale at Barber Motorsports Park.
Riding his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, Hayden lapped the 2.3-mile, 16-turn road course in 1:25.974 in spite of ground water seeping up through cracks at several points on the track.
The “weepers,” as they are being called, caused Jake Gagne to crash and destroy his Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda CBR1000RR SP2 Superbike during Qualifying Practice Two (QP2). Gagne was not injured in the crash.
“The first 10 minutes were OK. I got going pretty fast and felt a lot better than in the morning,” Hayden told Roadracingworld.com. “Then the water kept coming up and coming up. I was having some moments. In a couple sections of track you could push, but in others you couldn’t. I hate doing this, but I quit [riding] 15 minutes early because there was so much water coming up in places I didn’t want to toss it down the road.
“One of the things, if you crash where the water’s coming up your bike is done. Those corners just eat bikes. I didn’t see anything worth the risk of pushing in those conditions. I’m interested to see what will happen because we can’t race like that tomorrow.”
Gagne’s crash brought out a red flag, and during the cleanup, MotoAmerica officials dried up the “weepers” as best they could, before restarting the session. But the water returned shortly after the session restarted, preventing many riders from going faster than they did in the early going of the session or than they did in the morning’s qualifying practice.
Josh Herrin (who is filling in for the injured Cameron Beaubier) said the Monster Energy/Yamalube Yamaha crew made special parts just for him since the event last weekend in New Jersey, and those parts allowed him to be much more comfortable on the bike Friday. The result was Herrin was second-fastest on the day with a 1:26.289.
Newly crowned Superstock 1000 Champion Mathew Scholtz turned nearly identical laps on his Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 in the morning and afternoon sessions with his best of 1:26.403 placing him third overall and the top rider in his class on Friday.
Hayden’s teammate Toni Elias, the newly crowned Superbike Champion, was not comfortable in the afternoon session, and the 1:26.552 he did in the morning stood up as his best lap of the day and the fourth-best lap overall.
Fresh off his podium finish in Superbike/Superstock 1000 Race Two in New Jersey, privateer rider/team owner Kyle Wyman posted the fifth-quickest time Friday, a 1:26.554, on his Cambr/YCRS/Lucas Oil/KWR Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike.
Jason DiSalvo, an Alabama resident who considers Barber Motorsports Park his home track, planned to push early in the afternoon session to get in a fast lap before the weepers started getting too bad. The strategy worked, and DiSalvo’s 1:26.593 on his Team WD-40/Scheibe Racing BMW S1000RR was sixth on the day.
Four-time Superbike Champion Josh Hayes, seventh-fastest with a 1:26.760 in the morning session, said he had a “less-than-ideal” day. However, Hayes said he made some progress on used tires when conditions were their worst at the end of the afternoon session.
In those same conditions at the end of the afternoon session, Hayden Gillim did his fastest time, a 1:26.938, on his Cycle World Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock machine. That ranked him eighth overall and second among Superstock 1000 riders.
Gagne turned the ninth-fastest lap time of 1:26.942, right before his destructive crash.
The 1:27.159 Danny Eslick did on his TOBC Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock 1000 racebike during the morning session was 10th overall and third in class on Friday.
Quicksilver Latus Motors Racing Kawasaki’s Bobby Fong put on a fresh rear tire and attacked the first laps right after the red flag in the afternoon session to ensure he got one of the 12 spots in Superpole. The plan worked as he did a 1:27.201, which made him 11th overall and fourth among Superstock 1000 riders.
Superstock 1000 racer Jake Lewis secured the 12th and final spot in Superpole with a lap of 1:27.278 on his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the afternoon session.
As a result of the deteriorating track conditions, MotoAmerica canceled KTM RC Cup Qualifying Session One, which was scheduled to take place after Superbike/Superstock 1000 QP2 on Friday, and moved KTM RC Cup Race One from late Saturday afternoon to late morning on Saturday.
Supersport/Superstock 600 Race One (2:25 p.m. Eastern Time) and Motul Superbike/Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Race One (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time) remain at their originally scheduled times due to beIN SPORTS’ live television window.
To help reduce the impact of the “weepers” on Saturday afternoon, MotoAmerica and Barber Motorsports Park staffers spent Friday evening cutting small grooves in the racing surface to hopefully allow the seeping water to drain off the track rather than puddle.
Honda Championship of Alabama Presented by Broaster Chicken
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North America Road Racing Series
Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Alabama
September 15, 2017
Motul Superbike/Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Qualifying Practice Two Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:25.974
2. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:26.289
3. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:26.408
4. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:26.554
5. Jason DiSalvo (BMW S1000RR), Superbike, 1:26.593
6. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:26.886
7. Hayden Gillim (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock 1000, 1:26.938
8. Jake Gagne (Hon CBR1000RR SP), Superbike, 1:26.943, crash
9. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:27.000
10. Bobby Fong (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 1:27.201
11. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock 1000, 1:27.278
12. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 1:27.281
13. Danny Eslick (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:27.342
14. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:28.652
15. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:29.055
16. Kenny Riedmann (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 1:29.398
17. Sylvain Barrier (BMW S1000RR), Superbike, 1:29.739
18. Alastair Hoogenboezem (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 1:31.674
19. Martin Biernacki (BMW S1000RR), Superstock 1000, 1:32.257
20. Felipe MacLean (Kaw ZX-10R), Superbike, 1:32.926
21. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:33.444
22. Steven Zoumaras (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 1:33.676
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Hayden Fast On Day One At Barber
Gerloff Still The Best In Supersport
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA (September 15, 2017) – Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden has more pole positions than anyone in the Motul Superbike class and if Friday’s two sessions are any indication, he may grab his seventh pole of the season tomorrow during qualifying for the Honda Championship of Alabama, presented by Genuine Broaster Chicken.
Hayden led both Motul Superbike practice sessions on Friday at Barber Motorsports Park, the Kentuckian’s best lap coming early in the second session with a 1:25.974 as he was the only rider to dip into the 1:25s on opening day. The session got slower as it wore on as water seepage through the pavement continued to cause issues in certain places.
“The track just gets worse and worse as the session goes on,” said Hayden. “New puddles keep popping up just when you think you know where they’re at. I had a couple of close calls, almost high-sided once, but luckily was able to bring it back. I tried to figure out some stuff with the bike and my technique in case the conditions are similar to the race. I’m not sure what the solution is going to be to try and get it to dry out.”
Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Josh Herrin ended the day second, .315 of a second behind Hayden in his second outing as the fill-in rider for the injured Cameron Beaubier.
“Quite a few changes were made since last weekend in New Jersey in order to get me feeling a little bit more at home on the new bike,” said Herrin. “The bike is quite a bit different than the bike I was riding previously, especially with the ergonomics. I immediately felt night and day better when I went out on the track today. The biggest thing is just being comfortable.”
Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was third fastest, .434 of a second behind Hayden. Fourth fastest was YCRS/Cambr/KWR Racing’s Kyle Wyman, the New Yorker maintaining his momentum from his second-place finish in race two last weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
“It was a relatively good day and we were really quick out of the gate today,” said Scholtz. “That was a good step in the right direction for us. The team just worked on some changes to the bike and finding braking markers to get me comfortable. We made quite a serious change in between the two sessions and right away from the first lap in the second session it really seemed to be an improvement. I’m working hard to get consistency for the entire race so that I can run with the Superbike guys for more than just five laps. It has been a weakness of mine to burn up the rear tire early in the races.”
As has been the case of late, from the time Monster Energy/Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff rolled his Yamaha R6 out of the truck he was fast. And he stayed fast, the Texan leading both sessions over M5 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise. In the first session, held in the morning, Gerloff lapped at 1:27.314 to lead Debise by 1.3 seconds. In the second session, the lead duo went slower, with Gerloff’s best a 1:28.184. Gerloff’s teammate, however, had his best session in the second one but still ended up third on the day. Benny Solis was fourth fastest in both sessions on his Team H35 Honda.
“Today was a good day for the team and I,” said Gerloff. “The first session I was able to go decently fast and was real close with my qualifying time from last year. It was pretty difficult in the second session since we were trying different setups with the bike, but it ended up being a step backwards. The track was seeping water through, which was a little sketchy and tough, so hopefully we can get the track to where it will stay dry throughout the day. I’m looking forward to qualifying tomorrow morning.”
The fastest Superstock 600 lap of the day was turned in by championship leader Jason Aguilar with his 1:30.217, set in the second session. Aguilar’s championship rival Michael Gilbert was third fastest in both sessions.
The KTM RC Cup, meanwhile, ran one practice session in the morning, but its afternoon qualifying session was cancelled because of the water-seeping issues. Championship contender Cory Ventura was fastest of the KTMs in the morning session by just .076 of a second over the man he is tied with in the title chase, Benjamin Smith.