Roger Hayden repaid Yoshimura Suzuki’s faith in him and Suzuki’s investment in its new GSX-R1000 by using the all-new machine to capture pole position during qualifying Friday at the opening round of the 2017 MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Championship at Circuit of The America (COTA).

Hayden was fourth with a time of 2:09.980 halfway through the 15-minute Superpole session when riders switched from their new, pre-qualifying tires from Dunlop to the one-lap rear qualifying tires. Then in the closing moments of the session, the veteran from Kentucky stopped the clocks at 2:08.184 to break the track record and capture the first pole position of the season.

“It definitely feels good to be on pole,” Hayden told reporters. “Overall, I feel pretty good on the bike. Yesterday, I didn’t feel as good as the test, but today, we made some changes this morning and I felt pretty good. The lap time wasn’t there this morning. I had a lot of traffic on my last run, but I feel like the bike’s working good.

“It’s going to be a tough race. It’s going to be four of us, and I think tire management will come into play a lot here on the last couple of laps. This place can be pretty hard on tires. I’m happy to be on pole. The new Suzuki GSX-R1000, we definitely want to showcase its ability, and putting it on pole is big for them. So hat’s off to the team and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Two-time and defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier was leading the session with a 2:09.134, before the super-sticky qualifying tires were mounted. Then, Beaubier was only able to improve to 2:08.342 on his Monster Energy/Yamalube Yamaha YZF-R1, which will see him start this weekend’s races from the second position on the grid.

“All in all, I’m happy,” said Beaubier. “I had a decent pace going this morning on race tires. I feel like I didn’t get everything out of the qualifier, but I think that’s kind of always the case, you know. It’s almost impossible to put together a perfect lap, but I’m happy. I’m ready to race these guys. It’s going to be a tough race.”

Hayden’s teammate Toni Elias, the former Moto2 World Champion and the winner of both MotoAmerica Superbike races at COTA last year, qualified third with a 2:08.429 on his new GSX-R1000.

“I did some mistakes, and normally for me it is difficult to make the pole,” said Elias. “But I think we did a great job for the race. We have a good pace. We will see about the race distance and how the tires will work.”

Qualifying fourth and fastest among the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 riders was Bobby Fong, the winner of both Superstock 1000 races at COTA last season, who did a time of 2:09.588 on his Quicksilver Latus Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R. Fong said he wasn’t satisfied with just being the best in the Superstock 1000 class and he wants to beat some of the factory Superbikes in the races.

Fong was able to beat a factory Superbike rider, Josh Hayes, during the Superpole session. Hayes told Roadracingworld.com that he had some issues with his Superbike throughout the session, and then he made mistakes on his lap with his qualifying tire, nearly crashing. Hayes ended up fifth overall with a time of 2:09.724, but Hayes’ factory Superbike rivals all said they fully expected him to be in the race for first.

Kyle Wyman qualified sixth overall with his personal best lap time at COTA, a 2:09.788, in spite of him being forced to use a completely stock engine in his Motovation USA/Lucas Oils/KWR Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike. Wyman said the worst part about using the stock engine was the unmodified transmission, which was giving him lots of false neutrals.

After experiencing difficulties in the earlier sessions, South African Mathew Scholtz said he was satisfied with his Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 and with qualifying seventh overall and second in Superstock 1000 with a lap of 2:09.877.

Scholtz’s countryman Cameron Petersen will start this weekend’s races from the middle of row three after recording the eighth-best time overall and third-best Superstock 1000 lap time in qualifying, a 2:10.124 on his Fly Street/Motul/ADR Motorsports Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Jake Lewis earned the final spot on the third row with a 2:11.077 on his 2017-model M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock racebike, but Lewis was unhappy with his result because his shifter broke halfway through his lap on his qualifying tire, causing him to run off track.

Earning starting spots on row four were Hayden Gillim, who did a 2:11.129 on his 2016-model Cycle World Suzuki GSX-R1000; Jake Gagne, who did a 2:11.155 before he crashed his Broaster Genuine Chicken Honda CBR1000RR SP2 Superbike while riding on his qualifying tire; and Frenchman Sylvain Barrier, who did a 2:11.768 while using a Dunlop qualifying tire for the first time on his Scheibe Racing BMW S1000RR Superbike.

MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series

Circuit of The Americas

Austin, Texas

April 21, 2017

Motul Superbike/Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Combined Qualifying Results (All on Dunlop tires):

From Superpole:

1. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 2:08.184

2. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 2:08.342

3. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 2:08.429

4. Bobby Fong (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 2:09.588

5. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 2:09.724

6. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 2:09.788

7. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 2:09.877

8. Cameron Petersen (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 2:10.124

9. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock 1000, 2:11.077

10. Hayden Gillim (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock 1000, 2:11.129

11. Jake Gagne (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), Superbike, 2:11.155, crash

12. Sylvain Barrier (BMW S1000RR), Superbike, 2:11.768

The Rest Of The Grid:

13. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 2:12.652

14. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), Superbike, 2:12.672

15. Danny Eslick (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 2:12.974

16. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 2:14.265

17. Tyler O’Hara (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 2:15.487

18. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 2:15.959

19. Anthony Kosinski (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 2:19.606

20. Mathew Orange (BMW S1000RR), Superbike, 2:20.030

21. Jeremy Cook (BMW S1000RR), Superstock 1000, 2:20.395

22. Steven Zoumaras (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 2:21.169

23. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 2:22.394

24. Joy Higa (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 2:23.430

More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

Superpole To Hayden At Circuit Of The Americas

Yoshimura Suzuki Rider Puts GSX-R1000 On Pole In Debut

AUSTIN, TX (April 21, 2017) – Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden earned the first Motul Superbike class pole position of the season today at the Circuit of The Americas, the Kentuckian leading the way with a blistering 2:08.184 to set himself up nicely for tomorrow’s opening round of the 2017 MotoAmerica Series. It was Hayden’s second successive pole position at COTA, the Suzuki rider earning pole here a year ago before finishing second in both races to his teammate Toni Elias.

Hayden’s lap of 2:08.184 was impressive and .121 of a second faster than his quick lap from the Dunlop Preseason Test held at COTA three weeks ago. Last year, Hayden earned pole position with a 2:09.151.

“It definitely feels good to be on pole,” said Hayden. “Overall I just feel pretty good on the bike. Yesterday I didn’t feel as good as the (preseason) test, but today we made some changes this morning and I felt pretty good. The lap time wasn’t there this morning as I had a lot of traffic on my last run, but I feel like the bike is working good. Like these guys said, it’s going to be a tough race. I think tire management is going to come into play a lot during the last couple of laps. This place can be pretty hard on tires. I’m happy to be on pole. The new Suzuki GSX-R1000, we definitely want to showcase its ability and putting it on pole is big for them. So hats off to the team and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Second fastest today was two-time defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier, the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing team rider just .158 of a second off Hayden’s best. Both Hayden and Beaubier turned their fast laps on their sixth lap in the 15-minute Superpole session.

“I’m feeling a lot better,” said Beaubier, who has been suffering from a head cold. “After first practice yesterday, just sweating a little bit of the cold out helped a lot and I woke up this morning feeling quite a bit better. I’m ready to go racing. We had a good day today. We had a decent pace going on the race tires this morning. We still have a couple of things here and there to work on that we want to try tomorrow, but hopefully it’s dry. I know the forecast said it might rain overnight so hopefully the track is dry enough in the morning to try what we want to try but all-in-all I’m happy. I feel like I didn’t get completely everything out of the qualifier, but I think that’s kind of always the case. It’s almost impossible to put together a perfect lap. But I’m happy.”

Last year Elias swept the doubleheader victory at COTA on his Yoshimura Suzuki – in his debut in the series. Today he was third fastest and not overly pleased with his Superpole session. Elias was .245 of a second off his teammate Hayden’s best lap.

“Qualifying has been not well,” said Elias. “I did some mistakes. Normally it’s difficult for me to make the pole, but I think we did a good job for the race. We have a good pace. We’ll see about the race distance and how the tires will work during the race. I know these guys are really tough and it will be a difficult race. For sure (Josh) Hayes will also be there because on Sunday he always is. Let’s do a good start and a consistent race.”

Bobby Fong showed why he won both of the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 races here last year and today he showed why. The Quicksilver Latus Motors Kawasaki rider put his Superstock-spec Kawasaki ZX-10R fourth on the grid with his 2:09.588 and marginally ahead of Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes. Hayes’ best lap came on his second lap and was a 2:09.724.

Kyle Wyman was the fifth fastest Superbike and sixth overall, the Motovation USA/Lucas Oils/KWR rider/team owner turning in a 2:09.788.

Garrett Gerloff proved that you can’t keep a good man down as he crashed his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha in the final Supersport qualifying session, but got up and went on to earn pole position. The Texan and defending MotoAmerica Supersport Champion turned in a 2:12.676 to best M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise by .140 of a second. Gerloff’s best was almost a second slower than his best from the Dunlop Preseason test.

“Today was really good,” Gerloff said. “I felt comfortable and had a very similar setup to the pre-season test,” said Gerloff. “In the final stint of the qualifier I caught a pack of riders pretty quickly and tried to make an aggressive pass while my tires were still in good shape. Unfortunately, I tangled with one of the riders, but luckily the bike was alright. I was pretty fired up and dusted myself off to put in a hot lap and take the top spot.”

Debise has been at or near the top of the timesheets this week and said his focus in the final session was making sure his bike was race ready rather than just going for a fast lap.

“I felt good on the bike, despite the schedule giving us limited time on the track this weekend,” said Debise. “Today, I focused on working towards getting a good lap in during the qualifier and we [the team] put a new tire on that allowed me to drop my time. I’m happy heading into the race tomorrow.”

Gerloff’s teammate JD Beach ended up third, .301 of a second off his teammate’s best with the 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion set to start tomorrow’s 12-lap race from the outside of the front row.

“I’ve made a lot of changes to the bike since the test a few weeks ago here at COTA,” said Beach. “I missed about 30 minutes of practice yesterday due to an issue with the bike, so today I was able to try some new parts for the first time. Some of the parts were an improvement and others were not. The team and I will find a happy medium with our setting heading into the race.”

Today’s Superpole session featured the debut of the new Dunlop evelopment “pre-qualifying” tire that fits between the race tire and the one-lap, yellow-banded Dunlop qualifying tire. The new tire was popular amongst the riders.

“I like that MotoAmerica introduced that pre-qualifier because I feel like it’s kind of a safety barrier,” said Beaubier. “You can go out and get a few laps in on that and still be relatively close to what you can do on a qualifying tire, lap-time wise. That way, if someone gets in the way or if you have a big mistake – run off the track on a qualifier – you’re not on the third row. So I think it’s good.”

RESULTS

Superbike Superpole

1.Roger Hayden (Suzuki) 2:08.184

2.Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) 2:08.342

3.Toni Elias (Suzuki) 2:08.429

4.Bobby Fong (Kawasaki) 2:09.588

5.Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 2:0.9.724

6.Kyle Wyman (Yamaha) 2:09.788

7.Matthew Scholtz (Yamaha) 2:09.877

8.Cameron Petersen (Kawaski) 2:10.124

9.Jake Lewis (Suzuki) 2:11.077

10.Hayden Gillim (Suzuki) 2:11.129

11.Jake Gagne (Honda) 2:11.155

12.Sylvain Barrier (BMW) 2:11.728

Supersport Qualifying

1.Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)2:12.676

2.Valentin Debise (Suzuki) 2:12.816

3.JD Beach (Yamaha) 2:12.977

4.Daytona Anderson (Yamaha) 2:15.060

5.Benny Solis (Honda) 2:15.399

6.Nick McFadden (Suzuki) 2:16.156

7.Brandon Paasch (Suzuki) 2:16.840

8.Lucas Silva (Yamaha) 2:17.312

9.JC Camacho (Suzuki) 2:17.802

10.Brandon Cleland (Suzuki) 2:17.858

About MotoAmerica

MotoAmerica is the new North American road racing series created in 2014. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership that includes three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey, ex-racer and former manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland, motorsports marketing executive Terry Karges, and businessman Richard Varner. For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com. Also make sure to follow MotoAmerica on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

More, from a press release issued by Yoshimura Suzuki:

ROGER HAYDEN SCORES SUPERPOLE IN MOTOAMERICA SUPERBIKE OPENER

All New 2017 Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Makes Outstanding Debut

Chino, CA (April 21, 2017) – Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s Roger Hayden gave the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 a most memorable debut by winning Superpole in the MotoAmerica Superbike season opener at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) on Friday.

Hayden used the power and handling of the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 to clock a time of 2:08.184 to clinch pole position. Hayden will be joined on the front row by teammate Toni Elias, who qualified third with a time of 2:08.429.

Last year, Hayden earned pole position at COTA with a time of 2:09.151.

It’s a remarkable American racing debut for the newly redesigned Suzuki GSX-R1000. It’s rare for a new machine to win pole in its first outing, but Suzuki engineers have hit the mark perfectly with the latest incarnation of the legendary GSX-R series.

“It’s good to put the new GSX-R1000 on the pole in its first race weekend out,” Hayden said. “It’s looking pretty good so far and we feel good for the race tomorrow. Suzuki gave us a great package to start with and all my guys at Yoshimura have been working hard to get the bike ready. It’s nice to give them a thank you with the pole.”

Defending race winner Elias feels confident about his race pace and is in a good position with his front-row start.

“Normally it’s difficult for me to make the pole,” Elias explained. “but I think we did a good job for the race. We have a good pace. We’ll see about the race distance and how the tires will work during the race.”

Hayden, Elias and the rest of the MotoAmerica Superbike field will take the green flag at 5:00 pm local time for what is being dubbed the “Championship of Texas”, round one of the 2017 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Race Championship. Round two of the series takes place Sunday at 3:45 pm. The races can be watched on BeIN Sports.

COTA Superbike Superpole Results

1.Roger Hayden (Suzuki) 2:08.184

2.Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) 2:08.342

3.Toni Elias (Suzuki) 2:08.429

4.Bobby Fong (Kawasaki) 2:09.588

5.Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 2:0.9.724

6.Kyle Wyman (Yamaha) 2:09.788

7.Matthew Scholtz (Yamaha) 2:09.877

8.Cameron Petersen (Kawaski) 2:10.124

9.Jake Lewis (Suzuki) 2:11.077

10.Hayden Gillim (Suzuki) 2:11.129

You can keep up with the team’s progress by visiting www.yoshimura-racing.com and www.yoshimura-racing.com and via YouTube at www.yoshimura-racing.com