Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin took his ninth pole position of the 2005 AMA Superbike season during final qualifying Saturday morning at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). Riding his factory GSX-R1000 with race-compound Dunlop tires, Mladin turned a 1:23.986, breaking Miguel Duhamel’s lap record of 1:24.404, which was set using a qualifying tire in 2004. Taking pole also gave Mladin a bonus Championship point, extending his lead over teammate and Championship challenger Ben Spies to 10 points. Superbike rookie Spies was second-fastest with a 1:24.783 on his GSX-R1000, which was fitted with race-compound Dunlops. Aaron Yates also set his fastest time (1:25.239) using a race-compound Dunlop on his GSX-R1000. It was the fourth time in 2005 that the three Yoshimura Suzuki riders qualified in the top three spots in Superbike. American Honda’s Jake Zemke, who, unlike most of the other factory riders, did not test at VIR this season, earned the final spot on the front row with a 1:25.335 on his race-tire-equipped CBR1000RR. Zemke’s late lap bumped Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom (1:25.435) off the front row, but Bostrom’s Crew Chief Gary Medley said his rider was happy with his bike on race tires. Zemke’s teammate Miguel Duhamel (1:25.519), Bostrom’s teammate Neil Hodgson (1:25.582) and Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes (1:26.065), the fastest non-factory rider, will also start from the second row. Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki’s Marty Craggill (1:26.566), Lion Racing Suzuki’s Jake Holden (1:26.650), Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May (1:26.768) and Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Steve Rapp (1:26.981) will start from the third row of the grid. Hotbodies Racing/Triangle Cycles Honda’s Larry Pegram, 16th-fastest with a 1:27.547, highsided his CBR1000RR during the session and suffered minor foot injuries, according to his crew. Overall Combined Superbike Qualifying at VIR 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:23.986 2. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:24.783 3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:25.239 4. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:25.335 5. Eric Bostrom, Ducati, 1:25.435 6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:25.519 7. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 1:25.582 8. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki, 1:26.065 9. Marty Craggill, Suzuki, 1:26.566 10. Jake Holden, Suzuki, 1:26.650 11. Geoff May, Suzuki, 1:26.768 12. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:26.981 13. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:27.019 14. John Haner, Suzuki, 1:27.048 15. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:27.151 16. Larry Pegram, Honda, 1:27.547 17. Jeremy Toye, Honda, 1:27.686 18. Eric Wood, Suzuki, 1:27.780 19. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:27.996 20. Brent George, Suzuki, 1:28.541 21. Cory West, Suzuki, 1:28.723 22. Jason Perez, Yamaha, 1:28.778 23. Tony Meiring, Suzuki, 1:28.830 24. Brian Stokes, Yamaha, 1:28.857 25. Matt Lynn, Suzuki, 1:28.941 26. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, 1:28.958 27. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 1:29.029 28. Akira Tamitsuji, Suzuki, 1:29.514 29. Jason Curtis, Suzuki, 1:29.984 30. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, 1:30.651 31. David Bell, Suzuki, 1:30.653 32. Anthony Fania, Suzuki, 1:30.696 33. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, 1:30.737 34. James Kerker, Honda, 1:30.830 35. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki, 1:31.017 36. Scott Carpenter, Suzuki, 1:31.056 37. Heath Small, Yamaha, 1:31.111 38. Marco Martinez, Suzuki, 1:31.322 110% Of Fast Time = 1:32.385 Did Not Qualify Steve Scott, Yamaha, 1:33.393 Adam Vella, Suzuki, 1:37.029 Reno Karimian. Suzuki, 1:49.762