Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts broke his own Daytona 600cc Supersport lap record enroute to qualifying in the pole position for Friday’s Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport final. Roberts circulated in a draft pack that included factory CBR600F4i Hondas ridden by Nicky Hayden and Miguel Duhamel as well as a GSXR600 ridden by Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s John Hopkins. As the time ran down in the 20-minute session for odd-numbered machines, Roberts recorded a 1:53.549 on his Honda fitted with a Dunlop D208 qualifying tire to better his record of 1:54.147, set last year. Hopkins used the draft of the leading Hondas to record the second-fastest time–1:53.624–on his 2001 Suzuki GSXR600. While Roberts and other riders sponsored by Dunlop pitted for qualifying tires late in the session, Hopkins set his lap time using the same set of race-compound Michelin Pilot tires that he started the session with. Nicky Hayden was third fastest at 1:53.675 with Duhamel fourth-fastest at 1:53. 736. Eric Bostrom, the fastest qualifier from the even-numbered session, was fifth-fastest overall when the times from the two qualifying sessions were combined. It appeared that Bostrom’s last lap on his Dunlop-shod Kawasaki ZX-6R was his fastest but it was missed by the electronic scoring system. Team watches had Bostrom going faster than the 1:53.773 confirmed by AMA timing and scoring, but the team’s time didn’t count. The top combined 600cc Supersport qualifying times follow: 1. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:53.549 2. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:53.624 3. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:53.675 4. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:53.736 5. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:53.773 6. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, 1:54.166 7. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:54.866 8. Josh Hayes, Honda, 1:54.882 9. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, 1:54.893 10. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:54.986 11. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha, 1:55.328 12. Grant Lopez, Suzuki, 1:55.505 13. Owen Weichel, Kawasaki, 1:55.771 14. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:56.162 15. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:56.285 16. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:56.632 17. Brian Parriott, Suzuki, 1:56.692 18. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:56.888 19. Joe Gill, Yamaha, 1:56.914 20. Richie Alexander, Suzuki, 1:57.012 The Michelin rear tire used by Hopkins in 600cc qualifying was part of a shipment that arrived directly from France on Saturday, March 3. Prior to the arrival of that shipment, Michelin had not shipped any DOT-labeled tires capable of lasting race distance to Daytona.