Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin qualified on pole position for today’s AMA Superbike race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with a lap time of 1:24.886 on his Dunlop-shod GSX-R1000. It was Mladin’s seventh consecutive Superbike pole position of 2005 and the 44th AMA Superbike pole position of his career. Mladin’s time was good enough to eclipse the old AMA Superbike lap record for Laguna Seca, Ben Bostrom’s 1:24.906. In fact, Mladin’s time was also quicker than the existing World Superbike lap record (Colin Edwards’ 1:24.888, set during Superpole in 2002), and he did it all without any pre-event testing at Laguna Seca and within only 90 minutes of track time. Mladin told reporters that his new lap record with such little track time is a testament to the improved performance of the 2005 GSX-R1000. Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom qualified second with a 1:25.366, just ahead of Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates (1:25.490) and his own teammate Neil Hodgson (1:25.772). Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies, American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke, and Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes will start from row two at 4:35 p.m. local time today. The factory AMA Superbike riders have not been using qualifying tires in 2005, but Dunlop distributed two rear qualifying tires to each factory Superbike racer at Laguna Seca “to see how we stack up against MotoGP,” said Dunlop’s David Watkins. Provisional AMA Superbike Qualifying Results: 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:24.887 2. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 999F05, 1:25.366 3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:25.491 4. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999F05, 1:25.772 5. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:25.879 6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:26.383 7. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:26.439 8. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:26.990 9. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.271 10. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.387 11. Marty Craggill, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.406 12. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.868 13. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.966 14. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.968 15. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.065 16. Kurtis Roberts, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:28.108 17. Larry Pegram, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:28.203 18. Jeremy Toye, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:28.790 19. Brent George, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.808 20. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.878 21. Tony Meiring, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.481 22. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.590 23. Clint McBain, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.683 24. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.783 25. Kevin Lacombe, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.140 26. Mark Ledesma, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:30.183 27. Mike Sullivan, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:30.306 28. Cory West, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.848 29. Jeff Tigert, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:30.901 30. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.983 31. Cory Call, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:31.032 32. Akira Tamitsuji, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.117 33. David Bell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.115 34. James Kerker, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:32.148 35. Shane Turpin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.196 36. Nicky Moore, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:32.405 37. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.569 38. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.580 39. Brian Boyd, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.780 40. Matt Lynn, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.935 110% of fast time: 1:33.375 41. Scott Carpenter, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:33.595 42. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:34.143