Defending AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Champion Josh Hayes earned the first five pole positions of the 2011 season, but that streak ended Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course when Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Blake Young earned the top qualifying spot and the bonus point that comes with it — with a lap of 1:25.025 on his GSX-R1000. Hayes improved his time of 1:25.639 on Friday to a second-best 1:25.361 on his Monster Energy Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 on Saturday, but the veteran said he had a good setup for the 21-lap race this afternoon. Hayes needed help getting up from his chair after the post-qualifying press conference and walked out gingerly, the result of back pain that mysteriously appeared Saturday, he said. Through the closing stages of the session Roger Hayden got faster and faster on his National Guard Suzuki GSX-R1000 and ended up third-quickest with a 1:25.459. A test between races and a resulting big change to his Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing BMW S1000RR allowed Larry Pegram to achieve his best qualifying result of the season, fourth, with a 1:25.759. Young’s teammate Tommy Hayden (1:25.854) finished fifth in qualifying and will start from row two of the grid for the first time since the race at Infineon in 2010. Tommy Hayden will be joined on the second row by San Diego BMW/Locust Powered by Lee’s Cycles’ Steve Rapp (1:25.857), Jordan Suzuki’s Ben Bostrom (1:256.064) and Iron Horse BMW/ESP Racing’s Chris Peris (1:26.205). Team M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas (1:26.380) was the only competitor in the 24-rider field not to improve on his time from Friday’s qualifying period. Cardenas suffered a high-speed crash in that session and suffered injuries to his knee and ankle. The Colombian will start from the ninth grid position. Superbike rookie Chris Fillmore rounded out the top 10 in qualifying with an impressive 1:26.911 on his new HMC/KTM RC8R. AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio July 9 Provisional Combined Qualifying Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.025 2. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.361 3. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.459 4. Larry Pegram (BMW S1000RR), 1:25.759 5. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.854 6. Steve Rapp (BMW S1000RR), 1:25.857 7. Ben Bostrom (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.064 8. Chris Peris (BMW S1000RR), 1:26.205 9. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.380 10. Chris Fillmore (KTM RC8R), 1:26.911 11. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.997 12. Geoff May (EBR 1190RS), 1:27.543 13. Jeremy Toye (BMW S1000RR), 1:27.551 14. J.D. Beach (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:27.594 15. Shane Narbonne (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.116 16. Chris Clark (Yam YZF-R1), 1:28.209 17. Chris Trounson (BMW S1000RR), 1:28.828 18. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.851 19. Jordan Burgess (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.446 20. Jason Farrell (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:29.447 21. Reese Wacker (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.282 22. Eric Pinson (BMW S1000RR), 1:30.852 107% of Fast Time: 1:30.977 23. Johnny Rock Page (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.219 24. Scotty Van Hawk (BMW S1000RR), 1:31.454
Young Breaks Hayes’ Streak, Takes AMA Pro Superbike Pole Position At Mid-Ohio
Young Breaks Hayes’ Streak, Takes AMA Pro Superbike Pole Position At Mid-Ohio
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