Josh Hayes topped provisional AMA Pro National Guard Superbike qualifying Friday at New Jersey Motorsports Park with a lap of 1:21.176 on his Monster Energy Graves Yamaha YZF-R1. “Wow! It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a motorcycle,” Hayes told reporters after the session. “I’m sure everybody out there is feeling the same. I think everyone was in the same boat. We didn’t choose to do any testing between Laguna and here. Last year, I think we did get to ride once. So four weeks would have been a nice break. Six weeks, I think, was a little long. “Fortunately, we showed up and the track was in good condition and the weather is good and we were kind of able to go out there and focus on what we’re doing. I’m a little ahead of where I was last year, which is positive, and I’m having fun. “It feels good to be back on the bike. I’m definitely using muscles that haven’t been used since Laguna. I feel a little rusty. Hopefully, as we go through it the rest of the weekend, the next two days things will get better and better every time we’re on the motorcycle.” Roger Hayden was outside of the top 10 riders until the late stages of the session when he jumped up quickly and finished second-fastest with a 1:21.587 on his National Guard Suzuki GSX-R1000. Hayden’s effort bumped Jordan Suzuki’s Ben Bostrom (1:21.589) back to third. Bostrom had been second for much of the session. Geoff May wasn’t able to get into the 1:21s on his Amsoil/Team Hero EBR 1190RS, but his lap of 1:22.137 was good enough for fourth, the final spot on the provisional front row. Larry Pegram also jumped up several positions with a late lap of 1:22.202 on his Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing BMW S1000RR. Motorcycle-Superstore.com/LeoVince/Attack Performance’s Steve Rapp ran strong Friday, as high as third at times, and ended up sixth with a 1:22.248 on his Kawasaki ZX-10R. Hayes’ teammate Josh Herrin shook off a minor crash in the morning session and came back in the afternoon to post the seventh-best time, a 1:22.409. Team Hero’s Danny Eslick (1:22.421) was third with 20 minutes to go but slipped back to eighth while trying setup changes. Yoshimura Racing Suzuki’s Chris Clark (1:22.527) and KTM/HMC Racing’s Chris Fillmore (1:22.561) rounded out the top 10 qualifiers. Blake Young, who is currently second in the Superbike Championship standings 74 points behind Hayes, got off to a slow start Friday and was 11th in provisional qualifying with a 1:22.663. Less than 1.1 second separated second from 12th (Taylor Knapp 1:22.672) in Friday’s provisional qualifying order. American Red Cross Devil’s Showdown/GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing National Guard SuperBike New Jersey Motorsports Park Millville, New Jersey September 7, 2012 Provisional Qualifying Session One Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:21.176 2. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:21.587 3. Ben Bostrom (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:21.589 4. Geoff May (EBR 1190RS), 1:22.137 5. Larry Pegram (BMW S1000RR), 1:22.202 6. Steve Rapp (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:22.248 7. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), 1:22.409 8. Danny Eslick (EBR 1190RS), 1:22.421 9. Chris Clark (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:22.527 10. Chris Fillmore (KTM RC8R), 1:22.561 11. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:22.663 12. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:22.672 13. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:22.896 14. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:23.606 15. Tim Bemisderfer (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:23.785 16. Jordan Burgess (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:24.713 17. Reese Wacker (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.395 18. Michael Garner (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:26.498 19. Lloyd Bayley (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.592 20. Trent Gibson (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.627 More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: MILLVILLE, N.J. (September 7, 2012) – To hear him tell it, Josh Hayes spent Friday’s opening day of the American Red Cross Devil’s Showdown presented by Team ProMotion at New Jersey Motorsports Park knocking out the cobwebs. However, the timing charts tell another story, insisting that the defending champion picked up right where he left off the last time GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing was in action back in late July. Hayes claimed the provisional pole for this weekend’s AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike doubleheader with a best time of 1:21.176, almost three tenths better than his Friday effort at NJMP a year ago. Additionally, he was more than four tenths quicker than Friday’s next fastest men, National Guard Jordan Suzuki’s Roger Hayden (1:21.587) and Jordan Suzuki’s Ben Bostrom (1:21.589). The Monster Energy Graves Yamaha pilot appears well positioned to secure the top spot on the grid and up his consecutive run of poles to eleven on Saturday morning. “Wow — it feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a motorcycle,” Hayes said. “I’m sure everybody else is feeling the same. We didn’t choose to do any testing between Laguna and here. Four weeks would have been a nice break; six weeks was a little long. “Fortunately, we showed up and the track is in good condition and weather is good and we were able to go out there and focus on what we’re doing. I’m little ahead of where I was last year and that’s a positive. “It definitely feels good to be back on the bike. I’m definitely using muscles that haven’t been used since Laguna. I feel a little rusty. Hopefully as we go through the rest of the weekend I’ll get better and better every time I’m on the motorcycle. I’m having fun and the R1 is as I remembered it.” Along with his pole streak, Hayes is also aiming to score his ninth AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike victory in a row on Saturday, which would stand as a new outright series record. And with 74 points in hand, the Mississippian sees no reason not to go for every possible win at this point. “At this point if we (took it easy), it would just be because I was tired and weak,” Hayes said with a laugh. “I don’t have to think about points very much, so I can race for every race win. If I throw a race away in a garbage can, then I’ll sit down and reevaluate how I’m going to handle the next few. Right now, I’m in a position, other than not wanting to get hurt, that I can race for the win and not have to worry about much of anything. If I don’t, I’ll be disappointed in myself I think.” Hayden took his time working his way up to speed, throwing down some quick times lap late to leap up from outside the top ten to displace Bostrom for second. The MJM riders were factors in the races at NJMP a year ago, each one walking away with a podium result. And they might just represent the biggest threat to Hayes’ win streak going forward this weekend. The two men ranked second and third in the title fight, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Young and Hayes’ Yamaha teammate Josh Herrin, were mired down the order alongside Hayden deep into the session. While unable to match Hayden’s ascension, Herrin did manage to improve to seventh. Young, however, ended the day an uncharacteristic 11th at the same venue he scored one of the most memorable victories in series’ history a year ago. Team Amsoil/Hero EBR’s Geoff May rounded out the provisional front row, albeit nearly a full second removed from Hayes’ session-leading pace (1:22.137 to Hayes’ 1:21.176). Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing’s Larry Pegram (BMW) was fifth, followed by Attack Performance’s Steve Rapp (Kawasaki), fresh off his MotoGP wild card ride in Indianapolis. May’s teammate, Danny Eslick, rounded out the provisional second row on the Team Hero EBR 1190RS, while Yoshimura Suzuki’s Chris Clark and KTM/HMC Racing’s Chris Fillmore completed the day’s top ten. The final grid for the weekend’s AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike doubleheader will be set follow Saturday morning’s qualifying session. AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike GEICO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas won provisional pole in the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike class. Cardenas topped Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha’s Tommy Hayden and Cameron Beaubier, along with Jason DiSalvo, who missed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on his Triumph. Cardenas holds a commanding lead in the points but the Colombian insists on pushing hard. After developing an early lead, he was able to work on improving his bike under race conditions. “So far, the bike has been working awesome from the first practice. We made some small changes. We made some good laps. One of them turned out to be the quickest one. I had a bit of a gap to second so I went out to try some other stuff,” said Cardenas, who tried laps with a full fuel tank. “When I came back in I saw they were too close. Let’s hope for a dry race tomorrow.” AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport saw a back and forth battle between Dustin Dominguez and James Rispoli. Dominguez took the top spot with less than a minute to go to put the Latus Motors Triumph back on the provisional pole. “We waited until the last little bit to go out on a new tire. At the time, I didn’t know that Rispoli had knocked it down,” said Dominguez. “I put in one good lap but I’m glad I did another one. I was able to go a tenth faster and that was pole. “We’re not here to race with people that aren’t in this championship,” the Oklahoman concluded. Rispoli was second on the Celtic Racing Orient Express Suzuki GSX-R600. His teammate Corey Alexander took third on the National Guard Fairhills Group machine. Miles Thornton (Eyeball NYC) eased Elena Myers (Suzuki SportBikeTrackGear.com M4) for the last spot on the front row. Television Coverage, AMA Pro Live Streaming Video Experience, Live Timing & Scoring and Social Media Channels GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing’s National Guard SuperBike and GoPro Daytona SportBike divisions will be featured on SPEED in a set of back-to-back, same-day delayed broadcasts, scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT on Saturday night and at 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT on Sunday night. This weekend’s AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport and AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series races will be streamed live on SPEED2, for more information, please visit http://www.speed2.com/. AMA Pro Live, the online streaming video experience launched earlier this season, will be broadcasting views from around the track this weekend during practice and qualifying sessions. Tune in at http://www.amaprolive.com. GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing Live Timing & Scoring presented by Cortech offers fans real-time access to results from on-track sessions at http://amaprolive.com. Between the races, stay connected with GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing at www.twitter.com/AMAProSBK and www.facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing. For tickets to this weekend’s GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing event at New Jersey Motorsports Park, please visit http://store.njmp.com/store/category/9/69/AMA-SUPERBIKE/. 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. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha U.S. Road Racing Teams “Give It The Devil” And Enjoy Successful First Day At New Jersey Motorsports Park Millville, NJ September 7, 2012 With five highly capable riders competing in three different GEICO AMA Pro Road Racing classes, the first day at the American Red Cross Devil’s Showdown In New Jersey was a successful one for the Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha and Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha teams. In AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike, two-time reigning series champion Josh Hayes led the noontime practice session, then went on win the provisional pole in the afternoon’s first qualifying session. “It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a motorcycle,” Josh quipped as he commented on the rare six-week break in the AMA Pro Racing season. “The track is in good condition. The weather is good. My Yamaha R1 is the same as I remember it. I kept myself in shape during the break, and I’m happy to get back to the business of winning races.” Josh’s teammate, and rider of the #2 Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha YZF-R1 had a little bit tougher day. He had an uncharacteristic tipover in practice, which contributed to being slightly off the pace early in provisional qualifying. But, Josh found his speed towards the end of the session, and he worked himself up to seventh place leading into tomorrow’s final qualifying. A good night’s sleep should do the SuperBike rookie sensation some good, and he’ll be looking to improve on his starting position in final qualifying. In AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike, Tommy Hayden, who rides the #22 Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha YZF-R6, used his smooth, analytical style in provisional qualifying to continually improve on his laptimes throughout the session. He ran 24 laps in qualifying and clicked off his fastest lap of the day on his final circulation around the 14-turn, 2.2-mile road course, which put him in second place on the provisional starting grid. Tommy’s teammate, Cameron Beaubier–who has won four of the past five DSB races, as well as being on the podium in 9 out of the 11 races he’s started–qualified in third place. In AMA Pro Motorcycle-SuperStore.com SuperSport, Garrett Gerloff made his return to racing after his Daytona 200 practice crash this past March, and he went right to work “shaking off the rust.” After a methodical practice session, Garrett turned up the wick in provisional qualifying and worked himself up to a remarkable sixth place, He’ll consult with his team overnight, in an effort to improve his starting position in tomorrow morning’s final qualifying. SuperSport Race 1 will go green at 1:00 PM on Saturday, Daytona SportBike Race 1 will start at 2:00 PM, and SuperBike Race 1 is scheduled for 3:15 PM. All times are Eastern. If you can’t make it to the track, be sure to watch all the action from New Jersey Motorsports Park on Speed TV. For the exact days and times of the telecasts, check your local listings, or go to www.SpeedTV.com for more information. For news, results, and other team info, be sure to check out Yamaha’s Facebook page.