AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California July 23, 2010 Free Practice Times (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:24.988 2. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.263 3. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.388 4. Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R), 1:25.859 5. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.995 6. Chris Peris (BMW S1000RR), 1:26.384 7. Jake Zemke (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.674 8. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.716 9. Eric Bostrom (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.733 10. Geoff May (Buell 1125RR), 1:26.943 11. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.211 12. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.552 13. Brett McCormick (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.931 14. Jeremy Toye (BMW S1000RR), 1:27.998 15. Miguel Duhamel (Duc 1098R), 1:28.063 16. Ricky Corey (Yam YZF-R1), 1:28.421 17. Chris Clark (Yam YZF-R1), 1:28.556 18. Hawk Mazzotta (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.502 19. Brian Parriott (Apr RSV4 Factory), 1:30.393 20. Johnny Rock Page (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.259 21. Skip Salenius (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.426 22. Chris Siebenhaar (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.676 23. Steve Atlas (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:32.336 24. Kevin Boisvert (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:32.601 25. Trent Gibson (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:33.066 26. Josh Waters (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:33.629 27. Mark Simon (BMW S1000RR), 1:34.384 More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Hayden, Herrin and DeHaven Fastest in AMA Pro Road Racing Practice at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Two Full Days of Racing Kick Off Tomorrow at Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix MONTEREY, Calif. (July 23, 2010) – Day one is complete for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. All three AMA Pro Road Racing classes held practice sessions, in addition to the MotoGP action. In National Guard SuperBike practice, Tommy Hayden and his Rockstar Makita Suzuki waited until almost the end of the 50 minute practice session to knock Josh Hayes off the top spot. Hayes had set the pace for the majority of the first practice session. Hayden, racing this weekend along with his two brothers at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Weekend, popped in a quick lap of 1:24.988/94.799 MPH. Hayes was next up with a 1:25.263/94.494 MPH around the 2.238-mile natural road course. Impressing once again, M4 Monster Energy Suzuki rider Jake Holden posted the third fastest time of 1:25.388/94.355 MPH. “The track felt pretty normal to me,” Hayden commented on his day. “It was what I remember from last year. I was happy with the track. We tried a couple different bikes with different settings, something similar to what we ran last year and something like we have been running lately. I evaluated the two Suzukis and tried to get a direction for tomorrow. The lap time was pretty good, there are a couple of areas out there that hopefully we can improve on and make things a little easier and we can get a little faster. But overall it’s a good start to the weekend.” The National Guard SuperBikes have two qualifying sessions tomorrow in preparation for Sunday’s 23 lap race, which will go green at 3:45 p.m. local time. In AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, points leader Josh Herrin continued his fast form of late and posted the fastest time on his Team Graves Yamaha. Herrin, coming off a win last weekend at Mid-Ohio (race one), set the bar pretty high with a stellar time of 1:28.483/91.055 MPH. No one else was in the 1:28 minute range. “It was awesome,” Herrin said. “We went out and tried to shake down the bike we crashed at Mid-Ohio but I didn’t really like it so we went out on the back-up bike and did three laps and then right away we were fastest. Then we went a little quicker but then the red flag came out and we were expecting to end the session right there. We put a new set of Dunlops on and went out and I did the best time I could. It just came really, really easily on the first flyer. I was really impressed with the track and how clean it was, it was an awesome session and I can’t wait to get back out there tomorrow.” The 23 lap Daytona SportBike final will kick off at 10:25 a.m. local time on Sunday. In AMA Pro SuperSport, Austin DeHaven from Los Angeles, Calif. posted the quickest time on his DeHaven Yamaha with a lap of 1:30.479/89.046 MPH. DeHaven is taking part in his first SuperSport race since earlier this year when he ran in the two races at Infineon Raceway. In that event, DeHaven placed fifth and fourth respectively in the doubleheader event back in May. Newly crowned AMA SuperSport Young Gun West Divisional Champion Joey Pascarella rode his DNA Energy Drink Yamaha to second quickest with a time of 1:30.762/88.769 MPH. Pascarella and DeHaven were the only riders in the 1:30 range. Taking third was two time SuperSport winner this year Cameron Beaubier riding his Mazda Technologies/Rockwall Yamaha. Beaubier posted a lap of 1:31.144/88.396 MPH. Final Qualifying and the 18 lap SuperSport race will be tomorrow Saturday, July 24. The green flag is scheduled to fly at 5:30 p.m. local time. Don’t miss the action from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on SPEED TV, late Sunday, early Monday July 26 at 12:00 midnight a.m. (9 p.m. PT). Please visit www.mazdaraceway.com for full schedule and ticket information. AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Team M$ Monster Energy Suzuki: HOLDEN, CARDENAS EARN THIRD IN LAGUNA SECA PRACTICE Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki displayed impressive speed in American Superbike and Daytona SportBike on Friday at Laguna Seca as Jake Holden and Martin Cardenas fought for top positions in the weekend’s opening sessions. Superbike rider Holden and SportBike title contender Cardenas both ended the day ranked third fastest during an encouraging opening day of AMA Pro Road Racing practice. Holden, who is in his last scheduled ride for the team with a recovering John Hopkins eager to return to action at the series’ next round, was the fastest man late in the Superbike session until narrowly being relegated to third. The Washington native clocked a 1:25.388 aboard his GSX-R1000 at a circuit he’s enjoyed success at in the past, including claiming his first career AMA Pro victory at the venue back in 2007. “The M4 Monster Energy Suzuki guys threw a bunch of stuff at me that session,” Holden said. “I think we changed gearing two or three times and we changed suspension drastically. We finally got a pretty good feel out there for the bike and I got to running with the top riders in the class and I was able to hang with them. I could see where I was struggling too, so we’ll go into tomorrow focused on working on those weaker points.” “Laguna has always been good to me — this is one of my favorite tracks along with Phillip Island. I don’t think I’ve ridden to my full potential with the team yet. I’ve just got to hang it out there and ride as well as I know how I can and we’ll be up front. This is a great team and their bikes are good enough to win, so it’s just up to me to put it together.” Martin Cardenas was third fastest in the SportBike session aboard his GSX-R600 at 1:29.083. The Colombian took his first career pole position at Laguna Seca last year. “I think today went pretty good,” Martin remarked. “We tried a little bit different setting than last year. It’s quite okay. We have to change something on the front but the bike seems to be working good. We’re really focused on the race and we’re decided on what tires to use. We have a few things left to try tomorrow but I think we’re ready to go. “I will try to repeat my pole from last year tomorrow. I would love to be on pole again. We’ll see.” Chris Ulrich was just outside the top ten in the opening Superbike practice, registering a best time of 1:27.211, good enough for eleventh place. A particularly deep Superbike field is contesting the combined MotoGP/AMA weekend, making it all the more difficult to break into the upper echelons, but Ulrich has his sights set on his eleventh consecutive top ten result of the season. On Saturday Team M4 Monster Energy will qualify in American Superbike and Daytona SportBike to claim their grid positions for Sunday’s 23-lap races.