Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin earned his eighth consecutive AMA Superbike pole position of the 2005 season during qualifying Saturday morning at the Honda Supercycle Weekend at Mid-Ohio Sport Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio. Riding a Dunlop-shod GSX-R1000, Mladin earned the top starting spot (for the 45th time in his AMA Superbike career) with a new lap record time of 1:26.058, beating the old lap record of 1:26.375, set by Jake Zemke in 2004. Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates turned a time of 1:26.541 on his GSX-R1000, moving him from fifth on Friday’s provisional grid to second on the final Superbike grid. Likewise, Ben Spies, the junior Yoshimura Suzuki rider improved his starting position from fourth to third with a time of 1:26.602 Saturday morning. It was the third time in 2005 that the three Yoshimura Suzuki riders earned the top three starting spots on the AMA Superbike grid. American Honda’s Zemke will start fourth, his Friday time of 1:26.717 holding up as his best. Zemke was second-fastest in Saturday’s session when he crashed. He was seen pushing his battered CBR1000RR back to pit lane and he later rode in the Formula Xtreme practice session. Zemke’s teammate Miguel Duhamel went no quicker Saturday than he did Friday and will start fifth. Although he said he was concentrating on improving his race set-up, Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom lowered his time by half a second during the final qualifying round and will start sixth. Bostrom’s teammate Neil Hodgson qualified seventh and is still coming to grips with the challenging 2.4-mile, 15-mile Mid-Ohio road course. Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes improved his time Saturday, earning the final spot on the second row of the grid. Weather for Saturday afternoon’s 26-lap Superbike race is expected to be fine, but there is a strong chance for rain on Sunday. Saturday Morning’s Provisional AMA Superbike Group Two Qualifying Results: 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:26.058 2. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:26.541 3. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:26.603 4. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:26.791 5. Eric Bostrom, Ducati, 1:26.910 6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:27.738 7. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 1:27.875 8. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki, 1:28.420 9. Larry Pegram, Honda, 1:28.494 10. Marty Craggill, Suzuki, 1:28.748 11. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:29.013 12. John Haner, Suzuki, 1:29.102 13. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:29.114 14. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:29.247 15. Jeremy Toye, Honda, 1:29.628 16. Jake Holden, Suzuki, 1:29.728 17. Eric Wood, Suzuki, 1:30.696 18. Jason Curtis, Suzuki, 1:30.847 19. Matt Lynn, Suzuki, 1:31.012 20. David Weber, Suzuki, 1:31.181 21. Heath Small, Yamaha, 1:31.735 Provisonal Combined AMA Superbike Qualifying Results: 1. Mladin, 1:26.058 2. Yates, 1:26.541 3. Spies, 1:26.602 4. Zemke, 1:26.717 5. Duhamel, 1:26.789 6. Bostrom, 1:26.909 7. Hodgson, 1:27.759 8. Hayes, 1:28.420 9. Holden, 1:28.449 10. Pegram, 1:28.485 11. Craggill, 1:28.748 12. Roberts, 1:28.952 13. Rapp, 1:29.013 14. Haner, 1:29.102 15. Pridmore, 1:29.247 16. Toye, 1:29.628 17. Weber, 1:29.715 18. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, 1:30.075 19. Tony Meiring, Suzuki, 1:30.142 20. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:30.530 21. Matt Lynn, Suzuki, 1:30.606 22. Jason Perez, Yamaha, 1:30.616 23. Eric Wood, Suzuki, 1:30.696 24. Jason Curtis, Suzuki, 1:30.847 25. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, 1:30.940 26. James Kerker, Honda, 1:31.030 27. Cory West, Suzuki, 1:31.169 28. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, 1:31.409 29. Doug Duane, Suzuki, 1:31.454 30. Brent George, Suzuki, 1:31.529 31. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 1:31.566 32. Heath Small, Yamaha, 1:31.579 33. Brian Stokes, Yamaha, 1:31.851 34. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, 1:32.403 35. Logan Young, Suzuki, 1:33.042 36. David Bell, Suzuki, 1:33.149 37. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki, 1:33.476 38. Anthony Fania, Suzuki, 1:33.630 39. Scott Carpenter, Suzuki, 1:33.677 40. Roger Bell, Suzuki, 1:34.096 41. Steve Scott, Yamaha, 1:34.606 42. Sean Wray, Yamaha, 1:34.635