Parts Unlimited PJ1 Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes took his first Lockhart Phillips USA AMA Formula Xtreme pole position of the season Friday during qualifying at Road Atlanta, in Braselton, Georgia. Hayes was fastest throughout much of the 40-minute qualifying session, but he waited to use his last Dunlop qualifying tire until the final moments of the session, when he followed Championship rival Jason DiSalvo out of the pits. Hayes hoped following DiSalvo would pressure him into making a mistake, and apparently the strategy worked, as DiSalvo ran his factory Yamaha YZF-R6 off track at the end of the back straightaway. Hayes finished his lap without a mistake, turned a new lap record time of 1:24.430, took pole position and the bonus Championship point that comes with it. That point pulled Hayes into a tie with DiSalvo for second in the Championship standings, two points behind Championship leader Eric Bostrom. Bostrom, DiSalvo’s teammate, concentrated on perfecting the race set-up of his Yamaha YZF-R6 during qualifying but still managed to turn the second-fastest time, a 1:24.844. DiSalvo ended up third with a 1:24.933, just ahead of Hayes’ teammate Aaron Gobert, who turned a 1:24.936. Rockwall Honda’s Ryan Andrews (1:26.642), Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Michael Barnes (1:26.759), Team Stargel Castrol’s Brian Stokes (1:27.238) and Andrews’ teammate Ty Howard (1:27.258) earned second-row starting spots. Barnes crashed hard early in the session, but returned to the track to put in a faster time on his back-up bike. Lockhart Phillips USA AMA Formula Xtreme Championship Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia September 1, 2006 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR), 1:24.430, new track record 2. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6), 1:24.845 3. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6), 1:24.934 4. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), 1:24.936 5. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR), 1:26.642 6. Michael Barnes (Suz GSX-R600), 1:26.760 7. Brian Stokes (Yam YZF-R6), 1:27.238 8. Ty Howard (Hon CBR600RR), 1:27.258 9. Eric Wood (Hon CBR600RR), 1:27.385 10. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R600), 1:27.690 11. Danny Eslick (Suz GSX-R600), 1:27.760 12. Tony Meiring (Suz GSX-R600), 1:28.825 13. Jeremy McWilliams (Buell XBRR), 1:28.930 14. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6), 1:29.510 15. Garrett Carter (Yam YZF-R6), 1:29.985 16. Armando Ferrer (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:30.510 17. Keith Marshall (Suz GSX-R600), 1:30.993 18. Victor Chirinos (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:31.329 19. Marco Martinez (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.450 20. Shane Narbonne (Suz GSX-R600), 1:31.725 110% Of Fast Time = 1:32.873 Did Not Qualify 21. Michael Morgan (Suz GSX-R600), 1:33.178 22. Dirk Sanchez (Kaw ZX-6RR), 1:33.223 23. Chris Siebenhaar (Suz GSX-R600), 1:33.270 24. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.274 25. James Kerker (Hon CBR600RR), 1:34.393 26. Jeremiah Johnson (Suz GSX-R600), 1:34.708 More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: TOP FIVES FOR TEAM M4 EMGO SUZUKI IN ATLANTA Team M4 EMGO Suzuki opened the tenth round of the 2006 AMA road racing season in promising fashion at Road Atlanta, putting in three top-five performances on the day. Coming off of their spectacular double podium result in the AMA Supersport contest at Virginia International Raceway two weeks ago, Michael Barnes and Geoff May are right in the thick of things again this weekend aboard their Pirelli-shod GSX-R600s. In the class’ solitary practice session on the day, Barnes posted the fourth fastest Supersport time with a quick lap of 1:27.435. Local favorite May was only fractions of a second behind his teammate, clocking in at 1: 27.684, the sixth best lap in the practice. Shea Fouchek, the team’s developmental rider, got off to a solid start at Road Atlanta as well. The Texan was 17th in Friday’s Supersport session at 1: 31.861. Georgian May was also impressive at his home track aboard the squad’s powerful GSX-R1000, notching up the fourth fastest lap of the day in Superstock at 1: 24.997. Despite a tough go of things in Formula Xtreme qualifying, Barnes managed to qualify on the second row for Saturday’s 15-lap race. The Floridian set the sixth fastest lap in FX qualifying at 1: 26.760 even after crashing and fighting to find grip in the hot afternoon conditions after getting off to a quick start in the morning free session (5th — 1:26.298). Barnes explained, “We set some pretty good times in the morning FX session and I was really looking forward to qualifying. But when I went out with a race tire the temperature didn’t treat it like I was hoping. I had a major moment and I saved a highside but then I was running off the track towards the airfence and I had to bail on the bike. I flipped over and hit my head pretty good. “I got a ride back in from a fan and got on the ‘B’ bike. We just put some softer tires on and tried to salvage a grid position but we went slower than we did this morning on a race tire. I’ll be ready to go tomorrow. I just need a good night’s sleep.” In addition to Saturday’s Formula Xtreme race, Team M4 EMGO Suzuki will also qualify for Sunday’s Supersport and Superstock finals tomorrow.