Team M4 Suzuki’s Jason DiSalvo earned his first-ever AMA Pro Daytona SportBike pole position by winning the Superpole competition Friday evening at Road Atlanta, in Braselton, Georgia. DiSalvo went into Superpole third-fastest, having turned a best lap of 1:29.905 in regular qualifying, and matching that effort with a 1:29.933 in Superpole allowed the young New Yorker to take the top prize. “The lap wasn’t anything super spectacular,” DiSalvo told reporters. “I just pretty much repeated the same lap time that I did from this morning’s session. I just felt consistent and accurate and I didn’t make any mistakes. That’s kind of what I’ve been missing the last couple of times out in Superpole. “I’m just real happy to get my first Superpole. I’ve kind of felt like people were expecting more from me in Superpole because of my qualifying history and I wasn’t delivering the goods. So this is kind of like a monkey off my back. I’m pumped to try and get the M4 guys a win tomorrow and Sunday.” Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke was fastest in regular qualifying with a 1:29.535 on his CBR600RR, but the 2008 AMA Formula Xtreme Champion could only manage a 1:30.254 on his single Superpole lap and ended up earning the second spot on the front row of the two-by-two rolling grid. “My guys have done a really good job in the little break between Fontana and here to get me a little more comfortable on the bike,” said Zemke. “They definitely improved the power delivery for me, and I’m really happy. I’m just looking forward to the race. The bike’s been really good since we rolled it off the truck.” AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship point leader Jamie Hacking has been one of the strongest Superpole competitors thus far in the young season, and he continued that trend Friday. The multi-time AMA Champion pushed his Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki ZX-6R hard and qualified third-quickest with a 1:30.878. “We worked on the front end of the bike right before the session,” said Hacking. “It seemed like that was better, [but] I under-rode the front and over-rode the rear of the bike. I was just fighting it back and forth. I had a pretty good slide coming out of Turn Five and got into a pretty good tankslapper going across the hill. And coming out of Turn Seven I had a pretty good slide. “Overall, I was pretty happy with the bike and what we’ve done to the front [end] of it. Hat’s off to the guys. My crew did a great job putting the thing together there before we went out and did the Superpole. I’m just happy we were right there close to the front and will be up there at the start of the race. It’s pretty important, starting out two on each row. It’s pretty important to be as far up as possible.” The biggest mover during the Superpole session was Chaz Davies, who went from 10th to fourth with a lap of 1:30.936 on his Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies RSV1000R, which he said is steadily getting better. “I wouldn’t say we’re right there yet, but there’s a few things I left out there today and there’s also a couple of things I want to work on with the bike,” said Davies. “We’ve been working very hard at it, and it’s just been, as you can see, the results have been gradually improving and getting better and better. We’ve just got a little bit left to do.” DiSalvo’s teammate Martin Cardenas was second-fastest in regular qualifying but crashed in Turn 10B on his Superpole lap. According to his team, Cardenas temporarily dislocated his left shoulder, which was put back in place in the track medical center; Cardenas planned to ride Saturday. AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Presented by AMSOIL Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia April 3, 2009 Superpole Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Jason DiSalvo (Suz GSX-R600), 1:29.933 2. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), 1:30.254 3. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:30.878 4. Chaz Davies (Apr RSV1000R), 1:30.935 5. Michael Barnes (Buell 1125R), 1:31.079 6. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:31.466 7. Tommy Aquino (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.556 8. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.588 9. Danny Eslick (Buell 1125R), 1:31.772 10. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), crash, no time The Rest of the Grid: 11. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.203 12. Taylor Knapp (Buell 1125R), 1:31.233 13. Robertino Pietri (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.311 14. Chris Peris (Hon CBR600RR), 1:31.417 15. Leandro Mercado (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:31.680 16. Chris Fillmore (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.735 17. Ben Thompson (Apr RSV1000R), 1:31.748 18. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.827 19. Steve Rapp (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.092 20. Kris Turner (Suz GSX-R600), 1:32.628 21. Barrett Long (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.665 22. Marcos Reichert (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.995 23. Garrett Carter (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.141 24. Russ Wikle (Suz GSX-R600), 1:33.369 25. Mark Crozier (Suz GSX-R600), 1:33.591 26. Daniel Parkerson (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:33.766 27. Scott Jensen (Apr RSV1000R), 1:33.835 28. Bobby Fong (Tri Daytona 675), 1:35.017 29. Ricky Parker (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.099 30. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:35.180 31. Andres Londono (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.383 32. Santiago Villa (Suz GSX-R600), 1:35.434 33. J.B. Layman (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.609 34. Tyler Odom (Hon CBR600RR), 1:35.848 35. C.R. Gittere (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.968 36. Bryan Bemisderfer (Buell 1125R), 1:36.014 37. Robert Michael (Yam YZF-R6), 1:36.154 38. Eric Haugo (Yam YZF-R6), 1:36.159 39. Shane Narbonne (Yam YZF-R6), 1:36.175 40. Michael Morgan (Suz GSX-R600), 1:36.334 41. Larry Myers (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:36.983 42. Dylon Husband (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:37.736 43. Alistair Douglas (Suz GSX-R600), 1:38.418 110% of Fast Time: 1:38.488 Did Not Qualify: 44. Jason Quillman (Yam YZF-R6), 1:39.226 45. Josh Bryan (Buell 1125R), 1:39.650 46. Rodney Vest (Suz GSX-R600), 1:40.879 More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: M4 SUZUKI’S DISALVO WINS ROAD ATLANTA SUPERPOLE Team M4 Suzuki’s Jason DiSalvo scored his first career Superpole victory at Road Atlanta on Friday. DiSalvo circulated the 2.55-mile road course aboard his Suzuki GSX-R600 with a time of 1:29.933 during his single flying lap to claim the top spot behind the safety car for the weekend’s twin Daytona SportBike rolling starts. The lap continued the New Yorker’s strong start to the weekend, as he also set the pace in the morning’s Daytona SportBike free session (1:31.126) and was third fastest in provisional qualifying (1:29.905). DiSalvo, who is widely acknowledged as one of the paddock’s ace qualifiers, was both happy and relieved to accomplish the feat in his third attempt at Superpole this season. He said, “The lap wasn’t anything super spectacular, I just pretty much repeated the same lap time I did from earlier. I just felt consistent and accurate and I didn’t make any mistakes and that’s what I’d been missing the last couple times out in Superpole. “I was just really happy to win my first Superpole. I kind of felt like people were expecting more from me in Superpole due to my qualifying history and I wasn’t delivering the goods. This is a monkey off my back and I’m pumped to try to give the M4 guys a win tomorrow and Sunday.” Martin Cardenas entered Superpole looking formidable as well, lapping second quickest in both the morning practice (1:31.394) and provisional qualifying (1:29.872). Unfortunately, the Colombian crashed during his Superpole lap in Turn 10 and will be forced to start the weekend’s 20-lap SportBike finals from tenth place. Friday was a frustrating day for young Kris Turner as well, who is competing in both SuperSport and Daytona SportBike this weekend. Unfortunately, Turner was caught out by another rider and was sidelined for much of the day as his bike was repaired. Turner was forced to miss the afternoon SuperSport free session but he managed to qualify 20th for the weekend’s Daytona SportBike finals. On Saturday Team M4 Suzuki will look to continue their season’s perfect podium haul streak in search of their first win of 2009 in the afternoon’s 50-mile Daytona SportBike main event. More, from a revised press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Mladin and DiSalvo Win AMA Pro Superpoles for Suzuki Superbike Showdown at Road Atlanta Mladin Pole Perfect in 2009 American Superbike; DiSalvo Takes First Daytona SportBike Pole BRASELTON, Georgia (April 3, 2009) – Mat Mladin kept his season perfect while Jason DiSalvo earned his first top qualifying spot of 2009 in Superpole qualifying Friday at Road Atlanta in the opening day of action for the AMA Pro Suzuki Superbike Showdown. Mladin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX- R1000) continued his AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited hot streak despite cool temperatures in the low 60s and out-qualified the competition by more than 1.6 seconds. He has now won the pole in each of the year’s first three races and has also swept the victories in the year’s opening trio of races last month at Daytona International Speedway and the doubleheader at Auto Club Speedway. “It was a good lap for us,” said Mladin, who posted a time of 1:25.281 (107.644 mph). “I think there’s quite a bit more out there, but in conditions like today, it’s quite cool and the left side of the tires never came around. There was too much rubber to get heated up in that amount of time, so the left side was pretty average and the right side was clean and we got enough temperature in it to do a decent job. It was good.” Second place on the American Superbike grid went to Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) who turned in his and Yamaha’s best American Superbike qualifying effort of the year at 1:26.902 (105.636 mph). “I definitely think there’s more in there,” said Hayes, who joins Mladin as the only riders to have won a series-high five AMA Pro Road Racing Series races at Road Atlanta since 2006. “We’re working hard. Superpole hasn’t been my forte, so I just tried to put in a clean lap with no mistakes. I’m quite surprised it got me P2, especially with this big of a time gap. I thought a lot of these guys would be a little bit closer to him (Mladin), but we’ll see. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.” Local Georgia rider Geoff May (No. 54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) qualified third after a solid fourth place effort at Auto Club, but joined his fellow front runners in believing more speed could have been found. He turned a lap time of 1:26.942 (105.587 mph). “I left a little bit on the table out there,” said May, who lives in nearby Gainesville, Ga. “I guess I’m feeling pretty good, to make a couple of mistakes and still end up here with these guys. I definitely left a lot on the table out there. I got into (Turn) 5 and screwed up, got out by the wall and spun the thing and then wheelied it and then bogged it all the way down into Turn 6. Then, I sat up early for the last corner. I just didn’t really have my head together that time, but we’ll be together for the race. That’s what matters.” Mladin’s teammate Blake Young (No. 79 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) was fourth fastest with a lap time of 1:27.071 (105.431 mph) while Ben Bostrom (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) rounded out the top five with a lap of 1:27.257 (105.206 mph). Race 1 for American Superbike begins the weekend’s racing action Saturday at 1:30 p.m. local time. Race No. 2 goes down at 4 p.m. on Sunday and closes the 2009 Suzuki Superbike Showdown weekend. Both American Superbike races will be 20 laps for 50 miles. Daytona SportBike Parity DiSalvo (No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) won his first Superpole in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL to lead a string of five different motorcycles in the top five for the second consecutive race. The Team M4 rider topped them all, however, with a pole-winning lap of 1:29.933 (102.076 mph) on the Road Atlanta road course. “The lap wasn’t anything super spectacular,” DiSalvo said. “I just pretty much repeated the same lap time that I did from this morning’s session. I just felt consistent and accurate and I didn’t make any mistakes. That’s what I’ve been missing the last couple times I’ve been out in Superpole. I’m just really happy to get my first Superpole. I kind of felt like people were expecting more from me in Superpole because of my qualifying history and I wasn’t delivering the goods. This is kind of like a monkey off my back. It just feels good to get our first Superpole, and I’m pumped to try and give the M4 guys a win tomorrow and Sunday.” Jake Zemke (No. 1x Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR) qualified third one race ago at Auto Club but improved on that effort at Road Atlanta. He lapped the Georgia road course at 1:30.254 (101.713 mph) to lock down the outside front-row starting spot on the two-by-two Daytona SportBike grid. “I’m just really happy,” Zemke said. “My guys have done a really good job in the little break between Fontana and here to get me a little more comfortable on the bike. They’ve definitely improved the power delivery for me, and I’m really happy. I’m just looking forward to the race. The bike’s been really good since we rolled it off the truck.” Jamie Hacking (No. 88 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) has proven to be the Daytona SportBike Superpole master and has qualified in the top four in each of the year’s three opening events, including winning the pole one race ago at Auto Club. Friday he lapped Road Atlanta at 1:30.878 (101.014 mph) to qualify third. “We all like to say we’ve got a little bit left in it, and we always leave a little bit out there,” said Hacking, who is the Daytona SportBike points leader. “I tried hard. I went down into Turn 1 and got in there a little hot. The rear end was sliding pretty good. We worked on the front end of the bike right before the session, and it seemed like it was better. Overall, I was pretty happy with the bike and what we did to the front of it, the front fork, so hats off to the guys. My crew did a great job putting the thing together there before we went out and did the Superpole.” Aprilia and Buell teams completed the top-five parity with Chaz Davies (No. 57 Factory Aprilia /Millennium Technologies Team Aprilia RSV) and Michael Barnes (No. 34 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell 1125R) each turning in season-best performances. Davies was fourth fastest at 1:30.936 (100.951 mph) while Barnes led Buell’s efforts for the first time in 2009 to round out the top five at 1:31.078 (100.972 mph). The Superpole session was delayed near the end when DiSalvo’s teammate Martin Cardenas (No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) – the second to last rider out – went down in Turn 10 during his qualifying run. Cardenas was transported to the Road Atlanta medical center where he was examined and released and he plans to compete in this weekend’s races. Race 1 for AMA Pro Daytona SportBike will be Saturday at 3 p.m. local time with the weekend’s second race for the division getting the green flag at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Like American Superbike, both races are 20 laps for 50 miles. SuperSport Top Speeds In AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei action, 17-year-old Argentinean rider Leandro Mercado (No. 92 Leandro Mercado Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) turned the day’s fastest lap of 1:32.419 (99.330 mph) in the second of two practice sessions. Russ Wikle (No. 5 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600), who finished third in the season-opening race at Daytona, was second fastest at 1:33.856 (97.810 mph) while that race’s pole-winner Josh Day (No. 4 Kerker Racing Yamaha YZF-R6) was third quick at 1:33.977 (97.684 mph). AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. From its Daytona Beach headquarters, the organization operates and manages AMA Pro Road Racing, which includes AMA Pro American Superbike, AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, AMA Pro SuperSport and AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT. AMA Pro Racing also manages and works closely with the day-to-day operational organizations of the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship and the AMA Pro Supermoto Championship Series in addition to other two-wheel and ATV series. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.