Genuine Suzuki Accessories 750cc Supersport pole sitter Ben Spies took his Shane Clarke-tuned Valvoline EMGO Suzuki GSX-R750 out for a handful of laps in Friday morning practice and turned the fastest time at 1:53.422. Roadracing World/Vesrah Racing’s Chris Ulrich was second-fastest at 1:54.465.

Attack Suzuki’s Rich Alexander was third-fastest at 1:54.523, followed by Arclight Suzuki’s Lee Acree at 1:56.530 and Alexander’s teammate Jason Pridmore at 1:56.542.

Number two qualifier Corona Ebsco Suzuki’s Jimmy Moore did not go out in the warm-up session at all saying, “I’m dialed.” Moore, as well as Hooters Suzuki’s Brian Gibbs and Mike Ciccotto, planned on using the morning Superbike practice session to run their 750cc Supersport bikes.

750cc Supersport Morning Practice times follow:

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:53.422
2. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:54.465
3. Richard Alexander, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:54.523
4. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSXR600, 1:56.530
5. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSXR600, 1:56.542
6. Daigoro Suzuki, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:56.595
7. Chuck Chouinard, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:56.624
8. Alan Schmidt, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:57.087
9. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:57.088
10. Roland Williams, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:57.509

American Honda’s Nicky Hayden caught a tow off Bruce Transportation Group’s Josh Hayes late in the Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport practice to record a 1:53.892 for the fastest time of the morning warm-up session. Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom also put in a timely fast lap to go second-fastest with a 1:53.931. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Jamie Hacking was third-fastest Friday morning with a 1:53.957 just ahead of Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s John Hopkins’ 1:53.983. The top four riders were separated by less than one tenth of one second. The next four riders on the morning practice time sheets were separated by 0.04-second!

Yamaha riders Anthony Gobert and Tommy Hayden each made significant improvements to their qualifying times. Gobert ran a 1:54.243–which was 0.65 second better than his ninth-fastest qualifying time of 1:54.896–while Tommy Hayden’s 1:54.255 was nearly a full second quicker than the 1:55.328 that put him 11th on the grid for the 600cc Supersport final.

Hacking and Corona EBSCO Suzuki’s Vincent Haskovec crashed with a slower rider in the International Horseshoe late in the practice session with all three riders going down. All riders were said to be fine. Eyewitnesses said that Hacking fell first and that his bike collected the other two riders.

Friday mornings 600cc Supersport practice times follow:

1. Nicky Hayden, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:53.892
2. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:53.931
3. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSXR600, 1:53.957
4. John Hopkins, Suzuki GSXR600, 1:53.983
5. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSXR600, 1:54.213
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:54.232
7. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54.243
8. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54. 255
9. Kurtis Roberts, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:54.769
10. Joshua Hayes, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:54.898

The 750cc Supersport and 600cc Supersport Finals will be held Friday afternoon.