Yamaha’s Josh Hayes earned the first AMA American Superbike pole position of his career with his win in Friday’s Superpole session at Mid-Ohio. Hayes, riding his factory Yamaha YZF-R1, lapped the 2.4-mile road course in 1:26.303, which was considerably slower than the 1:25.219 he did in Basic Qualifying earlier in the day. That faster time, however, was turned before a short rain shower washed all the rubber and a considerable amount of the grip — off the track. Still, Hayes’ time was enough for him to take the pole position and break a streak of seven consecutive pole positions by Mat Mladin. Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin struggled throughout practice Friday, and his struggles continued in Superpole. He finished ninth, next-to-last in the order. “We’re working hard and not really getting anywhere,” said Mladin. “We’re trying to find something on the bike that I like. We’ve never got this bike [2009-model GSX-R1000] to work the way I like it. We tried some more stuff in Superpole and obviously it didn’t work.” AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike Presented by Parts Unlimited Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio July 17, 2009 Superpole Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.303 2. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), 1:26.469 3. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), 1:26.564 4. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), 1:26.741 5. Michael Laverty (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), 1:26.753 6. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), 1:26.808 7. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.898 8. Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R), 1:27.050 9. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), 1:27.457 10. Jake Holden (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:27.835 More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Hayes Grabs First Career AMA Pro American Superbike Pole for Honda Super Cycle Weekend Daytona SportBike Superpole Rained Out, Final Qualifying to Take Place Saturday at Mid-Ohio LEXINGTON, Ohio (July 17, 2009) – A new name topped Friday’s Superpole qualifying session for the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tires at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as Josh Hayes put the No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1 on pole position for the weekend’s AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited doubleheader. AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL qualifying and Superpole sessions were rained out. Starting positions for the twin Daytona SportBike races will be set by tomorrow morning’s final qualifying session. Claiming his first career pole in American Superbike competition, Hayes turned a lap of 1:26.303 (100.133 mph) around the 2.4-mile circuit to break the string of seven consecutive poles set this season by Mat Maldin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000). Hayes has positive history to fall back on for the weekend with three previous wins here in his last three Formula Extreme outings at the track. “I was a little disappointed with my time I thought we could actually go faster than that,” said Hayes. “You kind of have to get into a rhythm, and I just didn’t put it together perfect by any stretch. The R1’s been pretty good this weekend. I’ve been pretty happy with it right out of the box and I’m just having fun riding and things seem to be clicking well. This is cool, it’s cool to get your first pole and I’m looking forward to going racing.” Starting alongside Hayes will be Aaron Yates on the No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, who ran the second-quickest lap of Superpole at 1:26.469 (99.921 mph). Yates has three American Superbike wins to his credit at Mid-Ohio, his last two coming in a doubleheader sweep in 2000. “My lap, it was pretty decent, nothing really too eventful,” said Yates. “The bike was hooked up pretty well, just a little cautious, especially around the top of the keyhole, you are on the side of your tires so long. I got around pretty good.” Geoff May qualified third on the No. 54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R100 with a lap at 1:26.564 (99.810 mph). Both May and teammate Yates have finished on the podium three times this season and are in search of their first win of the year this weekend. “We needed to kind of scope out the track after all of that rain (earlier in the day), it definitely changes this place and the grip level and the patches (in the asphalt),” said May. “It looks like everybody was way off the pace and you go out there on new stuff and think ‘is it going to stick or not going to stick,’ so I was a little tentative in the first split. Then I realized I was better than I thought I was and put the hammer down, put my head down for the second half of the track to try to make up time best I could. I really didn’t make any mistakes except for just going to slow in the first sector.” The final spot on the front row belongs to Tommy Hayden with a time of 1:26.741 (99.607 mph) aboard the No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. Hayden is currently second in the point standings and looking to gain ground on Mladin, who leads him 355-228. Points leader Mladin starts from ninth with a time of 1:27.457 (98.792 mph). “The lap seemed alright,” said Hayden. “The bike has been pretty good since I’ve gotten here, faster than it was in the tests straight away. So far today everything’s been going pretty smooth, I feel pretty solid out there.” The first American Superbike race of the Honda Super Cycle Weekend rolls off from a standing start at 3:00 p.m. local time Saturday afternoon with a scheduled distance of 21 laps (50 miles). Sunday’s race is also scheduled for 21 laps (50 miles) and has a 4:00 p.m. local start time. Rain Washes out Friday Daytona SportBike Qualifying An afternoon rain shower put a damper on AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL basic qualifying. The time-certain schedule, combined with the time needed for the track to dry, did not allow for an opportunity to reschedule the basic qualifying or Superpole sessions. Saturday morning’s final qualifying session will set the grid for the weekend’s twin Daytona SportBike races. Graves Motorsports’ Tommy Aquino paced the morning’s practice session on the No. 6 Yamaha YZF-R6 with a lap time of 1:28.587 (97.531 mph). Danny Eslick posted the second fastest time of 1:28.720 (97.385 mph) aboard the No. 9 Rossmeyer GEICO Powersports RMR Buell 1125R. The first Daytona SportBike race will close Saturday’s schedule at 4 p.m. local time. The Sunday final is the first of three races that day and will start at 2 p.m. Like American Superbike, both Daytona SportBike races are 21 laps for 50 miles. Scooter Superstore-Hooters and Touring Sport Ducshop Take Poles in SunTrust Moto-GT In qualifying for tomorrow’s two-hour AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT, the No. 4 Scooter Superstore Hooters Aprilia RSV1000R of David Anthony and Ryan Elleby claimed the overall and Moto-GT1 class pole, while the No. 77 Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati PS1000LE of Elleby and Frank Shockley took the Moto-GT2 pole position. The No. 4 Aprilia, which has earned podium positions in two of three outings this season, turned a best lap of 1:32.738 (93.166 mph) with Anthony at the controls and will be joined on the front row by the No. 13 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 of Dane Westby and Dustin Meador with a time of 1:33.787 (92.123 mph). “My lap was just a normal lap,” said Anthony. “I wasn’t pushing that hard, I was just watching the board and saw that I was in second and it turns out I did my biggest lap not knowing where I was. The next lap I come around and I was in first.” In Moto-GT2, the championship leading No. 77 Ducati of Elleby and Shockley will start from the class pole after turning a lap of 1.36:470 (89.562 mph). Starting second in GT2 will be the team’s No. 38 Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati PS1000LE shared by Cory Rech and Huntley Nash. The No. 38 Ducati posted a best qualifying lap at 1:37.093 (88.987 mph). “I’m really proud of the two teams today,” said team owner Shockley. “Ryan Elleby did that pole lap which was really good and the two young guys here, Huntley and Cory, stepped up and ran the second bike really, really well. All is good and if I can just manage to keep the pace we’ll be alright.” The No. 27 Four Feathers Racing entry of Matt Lynn originally qualified on the outside pole for tomorrow’s race but was sent to the back of the GT1 grid after failing post-qualifying technical inspection for exceeding the required fuel capacity. The fifth round of the nine-race 2009 SunTrust Moto-GT season takes the green flag Saturday at 11:00 a.m. local time for a scheduled two hours. Beach Paces SuperSport Practice Friday’s AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei practice session was led by J. Beach aboard the No. 73 Honda CBR600R with a time of 1:33.266 (92.639 mph). Lloyd Worrell posted the second fastest lap of the session aboard the No. 13 Rockwall Performance Yamaha YZF-R6 at 1:33.505 (92.401 mph). Qualifying for AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei is scheduled for 8:40 a.m. local time on Saturday. A strong entry of 25 emerging young riders in AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei will split the Sunday Daytona SportBike and American Superbike finals with a 17-lap/40-mile race at 3 p.m. 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. From its Daytona Beach headquarters, the organization operates and manages AMA Pro Road Racing, which includes AMA Pro American Superbike, AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, AMA Pro SuperSport and AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT. AMA Pro Racing also manages and works closely with the day-to-day operational organizations of the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship and the AMA Pro Supermoto Championship Series in addition to other two-wheel and ATV series. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Pegram Racing: PEGRAM EIGHTH IN MID-OHIO SUPERPOLE Lexington, Ohio (July 17, 2009) Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing’s Larry Pegram qualified eighth for this weekend’s AMA Pro Superbike races from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Pegram, an Ohio native, led after he completed the first segment of his Superpole lap but will start the twin 21-lap races from the second row after a slight mistake in tricky conditions. “It was a very tough lap because the conditions were less than ideal. We’d had rain and then just a ten minute warm-up after it stopped, and then it was time to put in a quick one,” said Pegram, who won at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin last month. “Everyone’s times in general were about 1.3 seconds slower than the session before the rain. I made a mistake and I’m mad about it now but we’ll be ready for the race tomorrow.” Saturday’s race begins at 3:00PM local time. For more information on Team Foremost Pegram Racing please visit www.pegramracing.com. To learn more about Ducati’s line of racing inspired motorcycles please visit www.ducatiusa.com. More, from a press release issued by Michael Jordan Motorsports: LEXINGTON, OH (July 17, 2009) Round 8 of the AMA Pro Racing National Guard American Superbike Championship kicked off today at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with Michael Jordan Motorsports (MJM) riders Aaron Yates and Geoff May capturing the teams’ highest combined qualifying positions of the season. During late Friday afternoon’s Superpole session, Yates and May set down the second and third fastest times, and for the second time this season give MJM two of the four front row positions. This also marks the first time this season that MJM has been the highest qualifying Suzuki team, which serves to highlight the showroom potency of the new 2009 Suzuki GSX-R 1000. A rain shower hit the Lexington, Ohio track a few hours prior to Superpole, which cast doubt over the running of the session. The sun soon reappeared, however, and track staff quickly got the surface ready to go. The tricky Mid-Ohio track was “green” and a slower race course greeted the American Superbike riders as they headed out for a 10 minute warm-up session immediately preceding Superpole. Though laptimes were slightly affected, there was still a great deal of excitement on the track as some major reshuffling went on as riders jockeyed to set the top 10. One of the riders to benefit was #54 Geoff May, who entered Superpole in fifth and jumped up two positions to third with his Superpole lap of 1:26.564. #23 Aaron Yates entered Superpole in P2 and left in the same position on the grid. Aaron Yates 2nd 1:26.469 – Jordan Suzuki #23 “It’s nice to put the Jordan Suzuki up here on the front row,” said Yates. “The track was a bit more slippery than it was this morning so our times weren’t as fast, but I was able to put a decent one together and get the #23 in a good starting position for Saturday and Sunday’s races.” Geoff May 3rd 1:26.564 – National Guard Jordan Suzuki #54 “I’m glad to be back in the mix after my off-weekend at Laguna,” May said. “We’ve gone back to square one with the front end of the bike and it’s moved us forward here at Mid-Ohio. I just sat down with the crew post-Laguna and we went over everything. This is a good track to be on the front row and I’m looking to getting the National Guard Jordan Suzuki back on the podium tomorrow.” Superpole Results: 1) Josh Hayes #4 Yamaha 2) Aaron Yates #23 Jordan Suzuki 3) Geoff May #54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki 4) Tommy Hayden – #22 Suzuki 5) Michael Laverty – #8 Suzuki 6) Blake Young – #79 Suzuki 7) Ben Bostrom – #2 Yamaha 8) Larry Pegram – #72 Ducati 9) Mat Mladin – #7 Suzuki 10) Jake Holden – #59 Honda