Former AMA Pro Superbike Champion Josh Herrin earned provisional MotoAmerica Motul Superbike/Bazzaz Superstock 1000 pole position during a weather-affected day of qualifying Friday at VIRginia International Raceway, in Alton, Virginia.
A persistent mist caused the 2.25-mile road course to be wet most of the day, but in the afternoon the precipitation stopped long enough for the track to dry out and riders to switch to slick and DOT-labeled race tires during Supersport/Superstock 600 Free Practice Two, the session immediately preceding Superbike/Superstock 1000 Qualifying Practice Two (QP2).
Even though it was evident that Supersport/Superstock 600 riders were using dry-weather tires at the end of their session, Superbike/Superstock competitors chose to start their session on a wide variety of tire and setup choices. Those initial choices and the timing of changes during the session ended up playing a big role in where some riders finished.
Herrin and his team decided to start QP2 on slicks with a compromised chassis setup somewhere between full-wet and full-dry settings, which allowed Herrin to start the session on time and get a large number of laps in improving conditions. This enabled Herrin to work his way down to a best lap of 1:28.364 on his HelmetSounds.com/Western Services/Meen Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike, right before the mist returned and track conditions deteriorated to where no one was able to go any faster.
“I lucked out there at the end and put a fast lap in right before it started raining again,” Herrin told Roadracingworld.com. “It’s good for the mentality to be P1 going into tomorrow. I was kind of disappointed with this morning’s session in the wet. When it dried out I kept making mistakes and I didn’t have a lot of confidence in the wet. So I’m hoping the race [Saturday] will be in the dry.”
Kyle Wyman spent the first 15 minutes of the session investing in a change to a full-dry setup, including slicks, suspension, engine mapping and gearing on his Excelsus Solutions/Lucas Oil/KWR Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike. Wyman got out on track with enough time to heat up his tires and record a 1:28.392, which ranked him second in the group.
After a minor crash Friday morning, two-time and defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier took a cautious approach to the afternoon session, which he started off on rain tires and a rain setup to “feel things out,” he said. Beaubier pitted early in the session to switch to slicks, went back out, and did a 1:28.653 that put him third in the group and safely into Saturday’s Superpole.
Beaubier’s Monster Energy/Yamalube Yamaha teammate Josh Hayes also started the session on rain tires (which he used to bed in some new front brake discs), before switching to slicks. Hayes turned a 1:28.664, the fourth-fastest time of the session, right before he tucked the front entering Turn Three and crashed at high speed. Hayes said his YZF-R1 stopped abruptly in the muddy runoff area and he slid into his motorcycle “pretty hard,” but Hayes said he did not suffer any significant injury.
Jake Lewis and his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team also spent the early portion of the session switching his 2017 GSX-R1000 to a dry setup with slicks, and that move allowed the 21-year-old to do a 1:29.746, the fifth-best time overall and the fastest time by a Superstock 1000 rider.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias initially went out with a rain front tire and a slick rear to access the conditions, but he soon changed to a slick front tire while keeping his chassis setup for wet conditions. Elias then did a 1:29.853, right before he ran off track at Turn One. By the time he got back on track, Elias said, it started raining again. The Spaniard ended up sixth overall in the session, but “the most important thing is we got to work on our rain setup,” said Elias.
Mathew Scholtz, the fastest rider in the wet morning session, started off with slicks and a wet chassis setup on his Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1, pitted to change his chassis to a dry setup, and got two more laps in before the conditions started to worsen. One of those last laps was a 1:29.915, which was good enough for seventh overall and second in the Superstock 1000 category.
Jake Gagne said an electrical problem with his Broaster Genuine Chicken Honda CBR1000RR SP2 Superbike caused him to miss all of Friday morning’s session and also caused him to turn off nearly all of his electronics – including his quickshifter – to avoid more problems in the afternoon session. Simplifying things allowed Gagne to do a 1:30.227, the eighth-quickest time, in QP2.
Reigning MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champion Bryce Prince made the most of his first day riding his new Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock machine in the wet and provisionally qualified ninth overall and third in class with a time of 1:30.523.
Electrical problems with his TOBC Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 limited Danny Eslick to just three laps in the morning session and a broken chain shut him down after only five laps in the afternoon, he said. But Eslick managed to do a 1:30.677 (10th overall) in the challenging conditions and secured a spot in Superpole.
Elias’s teammate Roger Hayden said he started the session with a wet chassis setup and intermediate tires, then he pitted to change to a dry chassis setup and slick tires. While Hayden was in the pits, he said he got very nervous because his name immediately started dropping down the order on the timing screen and then the mist returned. Hayden was unable to get back out on track in time to improve his lap time, but luckily for him the 1:31.235 he did prior to coming into the pits was good enough for 11th overall and a spot in Superpole.
The 12th and last spot in Superpole was secured by Bobby Fong (1:31.335), who said he was taking it easy on slicks because he was experiencing a technical problem with his Quicksilver Latus Motors Kawasaki ZX-10R and because he thought he had more time left to work with in the session.
On Saturday, the Superbike/Superstock 1000 field will have a 30-minute warmup session at 10:10 a.m. local time, the top 12 qualifiers will participate in the 15-minute Superpole session at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, and 23-lap Race One is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
MotoAmerica Championship of Virginia
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series
VIRginia International Raceway
Alton, Virginia
May 12, 2017
Motul Superbike/Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Qualifying Practice Two Results (drying-to-wet conditions, all on Dunlop tires):
1. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:28.364
2. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:28.392
3. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:28.653
4. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:28.664, crash
5. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock 1000, 1:29.746
6. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:29.853
7. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:29.915
8. Jake Gagne (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), Superbike, 1:30.227
9. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:30.523
10. Danny Eslick (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:30.677
11. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:31.235
12. Bobby Fong (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 1:31.335
13. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 1:33.648
14. Jason DiSalvo (BMW S1000RR), Superbike, 1:33.837
15. Hayden Gillim (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock 1000, 1:33.900
16. Frankie Babuska (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:35.174
17. Anthony Kosinski (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:35.727
18. Mathew Orange (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:36.321
19. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:37.698
20. Martin Biernacki (BMW S1000RR), Superstock 1000, 1:47.129
21. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:48.816