Five-time Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier bagged pole position during MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Qualifying Two (Q2) Saturday morning at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Riding his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR, Beaubier lapped the 2.5-mile course in 1:30.688.
“This place is definitely pretty tricky, pretty technical,” said Beaubier. “I’m getting more comfortable with it. It’s going to be a tough race.”
Beaubier’s teammate PJ Jacobsen earned the second spot on the grid with a 1:31.094, and two-time and defending Champion Jake Gagne earned the third and final spot on the front row with a time of 1:31.154 on his Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha YZF-R1.
Matthew Scholtz made a huge improvement, jumping up from P10 and 1:32.512 in Q1 on Friday to P4 with a 1:31.424 in Q2 on his Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch backed up his strong performance on Friday and held onto fifth place on the grid with a 1:31.436 in Q2. Paasch’s teammate Richie Escalante will start next to him on the second row courtesy of his 1:31.457.
Josh Herrin was seventh with a 1:31.466 on his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R. Four-time Josh Hayes, riding in place of injured Cameron Petersen, crashed his Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha while on his final qualifying lap and will start his first Superbike race in six years from eighth based on the 1:31.518 he did in Q1 on Friday. Bobby Fong qualified ninth with a 1:31.532 on the Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha YZF-R1.
The top nine Superbike qualifiers were separated by just 0.844 second.