After trouncing the field by 1.3 seconds in SuperPole and claiming the 57th AMA American Superbike/Superbike pole position of his career Friday, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mat Mladin went even faster during “Final Qualifying” Saturday morning at Auto Club Speedway. In warm and windy conditions Friday afternoon, Mladin turned a SuperPole lap of 1:23.404 on his 2008-model GSX-R1000. In cooler overcast conditions during Saturday morning’s “Final Qualifying” session, Mladin turned a 1:23.205, which is very close to the overall lap record of 1:22.939 set by Ben Spies in 2006. During the same session, however, some riders in the field closed their deficit to Mladin. Riders who improved their best times during the session included Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates (1:23.769), Team Foremost Pegram Racing’s Larry Pegram (1:23.769) and Mladin’s teammate Tommy Hayden (1:23.886). The qualifying set-up for 2009, for American Superbike and Daytona SportBike, is different than it was in 2008. Basic Qualifying, which is held on Friday, determines who goes to SuperPole (the top 10) and the mark that determines the qualifying cut-off for the field (108% in American Superbike and 110% in Daytona SportBike). The riders who go to SuperPole lock in the top 10 grid positions and then compete amongst themselves for those positions during the SuperPole session on Friday evening. For those in SuperPole, Saturday morning’s Final Qualifying session turns into a practice, while the rest of the field continues to fight for grid positions 11 and higher. No matter what lap time a rider does during Final Qualifying, they cannot gain or lose a spot in the top 10. AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike Presented by Parts Unlimited Auto Club Speedway Fontana, California March 21, 2009 Provisional Saturday Morning Qualifying Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:23.205 2. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:23.769 3. Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R), 1:23.846 4. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:23.886 5. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:24.227 6. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:24.652 7. Jake Holden (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:24.793 8. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:24.811 9. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.041 10. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.785 11. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:25.877 12. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.112 13. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:26.142 14. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.562 15. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.677 16. Jeremy Toye (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:26.912 17. Hawk Mazzotta (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.593 18. Shane Narbonne (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.643 19. Reno Karimian (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.201 20. Shawn Higbee (Buell 1125R), 1:29.283 21. Josh Graham (Yam YZF-R1), 1:29.696 22. Davie Stone (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:29.904 23. Eric Haugo (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.412 24. Brad Hendry (Duc 1098R), 1:31.651 25. Brad Puetz (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.991 Provisional Final Combined Results (all on Dunlop tires): Top 10 Locked in by SuperPole 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:23.404 2. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:24.759 3. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:24.809 4. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:24.885 5. Jake Holden (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:25.254 6. Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R), 1:25.497 7. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.763 8. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.033 9. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.099 10. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.874 The Rest of the Grid: 11. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.785 12. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:25.877 13. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.112 14. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:26.142 15. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.562 16. Jeremy Toye (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:26.912 17. Hawk Mazzotta (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.593 18. Brad Hendry (Duc 1098R), 1:27.800 19. Shane Narbonne (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.643 20. Reno Karimian (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.201 21. Shawn Higbee (Buell 1125R), 1:29.283 22. Josh Graham (Yam YZF-R1), 1:29.696 23. Davie Stone (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:29.904 24. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.001 25. Mark Simon (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.356 26. Eric Haugo (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.412 27. Brad Puetz (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.438 108% of Fast Time: 1:30.796 Did Not Qualify: 28. Kevin Boisvert (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:37.374