Defending AMA Formula Xtreme Champion Josh Hayes took another small step toward retaining his crown Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by taking his sixth pole position of the season and the bonus Championship point that goes with it, extending his Championship point lead to 35 points over his nearest challenger. “Today was not much drama,” said Hayes, who did a 1:26.661 on his Erion Honda CBR600RR, which was just off Eric Bostrom’s lap record of 1:26.628. “I got a good lap going but had to work around some traffic. There are a lot of guys out in FX this weekend and a lot of faster guys who are hard to pass. But my Honda and my Dunlops are working good. I just feel a little behind this weekend. I haven’t been able to sleep very well the last few nights.” Ohioan Larry Pegram was quite pleased with qualifying second, his best performance of the season, with a 1:27.091 on his Leo Vince Pegram Racing Ducati 749/848R. Pegram said he has quit trying to get his Ducati to turn the way he wants it to and has decided to just “ride the pee out of what I’ve got.” Celtic Racing Yamaha’s Chaz Davies was third-fastest with a 1:27.113 on his YZF-R6 Supersport bike, which is “at least 10 horsepower down” on his normal Formula Xtreme racebike, which suffered an engine failure and is out of commission for the rest of the weekend. Ben Attard was the highest non-Dunlop qualifier, fourth with a 1:27.304 on his Pirelli-shod Attack Kawasaki ZX-6R. Crew Chief Joey Lombardo said Attard was happy with his qualifying performance but was still looking for more front end feel from his motorcycle. Hayes’ teammate Aaron Gobert was fifth-fastest in qualifying in spite of suffering a huge crash a few hours earlier in Formula Xtreme practice. Gobert said he suffered no injuries in the crash but was beaten up quite badly. 2007 Lockhart Phillips USA AMA Formula Xtreme Championship Presented by HMR Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio August 3, 2007 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Josh Hayes (Hon CBR600RR), Dunlop, 1:26.661 2. Larry Pegram (Duc 749/848R), Dunlop, 1:27.091 3. Chaz Davies (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, 1:27.113 4. Ben Attard (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli, 1:27.303 5. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), Dunlop, 1:27.400 6. Steve Rapp (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli, 1:27.524 7. Marty Craggill (Duc 749/848R), Dunlop, 1:27.796 8. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), Pirelli, 1:27.801, crash 9. Ryan Andrews (Hon CBR600RR), Dunlop, 1:27.831 10. Chris Peris (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, 1:28.397, crash 11. Cory West (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, 1:28.443 12. Ryan Elleby (Hon cBR600RR), Dunlop, 1:28.739 13. Shane Narbonne (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, 1:29.250 14. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:29.648 15. Tony Meiring (Yam YZF-R6), Michelin, 1:29.928 16. Bobby Fong (Suz GSX-R600), Michelin, 1:30.241 17. Taylor Knapp (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, 1:30.388 18. Tyler McDonald (Yam YZF-R6), Michelin, 1:31.037 19. Brian Hall (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:31.037 20. Jason Perez (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.116 21. Keith Marshall (Suz GSX-R600), Pirelli, 1:31.163 22. Jonas McCluskey (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.467 23. Mike Shreve (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.617 24. Scott Ryan (Suz GSX-R600), Michelin, 1:32.051 25. Walt Sipp (Buell XBRR), 1:32.397 26. Brian Gibbs (Suz GSX-R600), 1:32.463 27. Jason Farrell (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:32.515 28. Chris Siebenhaar (Suz GSX-R600), 1:33.034 29. Eric Haugo (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.075 30. Scotty Van Hawk (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.108 31. Michael Morgan (Suz GSX-R600), 1:33.114 32. Robert McLendon (Tri Daytona 675), 1:33.322 33. David Sadowski, Jr. (Suz GSX-R600), 1:33.659 34. Skip Salenius (Suz GSX-R600), 1:33.912 35. C.R. Gittere (Suz GSX-R600), Michelin, 1:34.168 36. Misti Hurst (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:34.293 37. Robert Oliva (Hon CBR600RR), 1:34.323 38. Simon Kowalski (Yam YZF-R6), 1:34.346 39. Mark Hatten (Duc 749R), 1:34.636 40. Jason Trabert (Yam YZF-R6), 1:34.860 41. Robert Terando (Duc 749R), 1:34.933 42. Carlos Rodriguez (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:34.974 43. David Siminski (Hon CBR600RR), 1:35.232 44. Jessica Zalusky (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:35.411 45. Michael Arwood (Suz GSX-R600), 1:36.281 46. Rhiannon Lucente (Suz GSX-R600), 1:37.529 More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: Pirelli’s Attard on Front Row for AMA Formula Xtreme at Mid-Ohio In the hot, wet heat at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course during Friday’s practice for the AMA Superbike Championship series, Pirelli riders earned three of the top-six places in Formula Xtreme practice, with Ben Attard setting the second fastest time overall on his Attack Kawasaki. Attard’s best lap time was less than two itsy-bitsy hundredths of a second from the time of fastest rider of the session, Josh Hayes. Third fastest, Less than two tiny tenths behind Attard was his teammate, Steve Rapp, also on a Kawasaki ZX-6R and also using the same Pirelli Diablo Superbike Slicks used to sweep the podium at the 2007 Daytona 200. Rounding out the top six in FX practice was Columbian racer Martin Cardenas; this newly signed rider committed to continuing through 2008 with Team M4 EMGO Suzuki. Racer Cory West, on his Chuck Giacchetto-prepared Yamaha R-6, set the ninth-fastest time of FX practice. Final Formula Xtreme qualifying saw Pirelli riders taking three places on the front two rows of the grid for Saturday’s race, with Ben Attard leading them with a place on the outside of row one. Steve Rapp and Martin Cardenas secured the sixth and eighth spots on the grid for Attack Kawasaki and M4 EMGO Suzuki, respectively. In Friday’s Supersport practice, five Pirelli riders were in the top 13 with Ben Attard again leading them with the third-fastest lap of the session for the Attack Kawasaki team, barely four-tenths of a second off Jamie Hacking’s time, quickest rider of the session. Other top-performing Pirelli riders in Supersport include M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May with the seventh-fastest time on a GSX-R600, Attard’s teammate Steve Rapp at eighth fastest, May’s teammate Martin Cardenas at 11th quickest, and M4 EMGO Suzuki’s young racer Michael Beck, with the 13th fastest time, each of these riders using the Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa DOT road racing tires. Also, in Friday’s super-humid heat at Mid-Ohio, the singular Superstock practice had M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May setting a front-row time of fourth fastest. Seventh fastest in the session was the ever-quicker Robertino Pietri, continuing to take his Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R1000 to new levels. Pietri’s teammate, Chris Ulrich, also turning up the juice with many top-ten performances this year, set the tenth fastest time. Scott Jensen, riding for HALOF Racing, was 13th quickest, a few spots outside his common top-ten placing. Shocking the factory teams in Superbike practice was Geoff May, riding his M4 EMGO Suzuki GSX-R1000 to the sixth-fastest time of the session, faster than seven factory riders on full Superbike-spec machines, by making the most of a set of Pirelli Diablo Superbike Slicks. More, from a press release issued by Leo Vince Pegram Racing Ducati: Larry Pegram Qualifies Second in Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Class First Front Row Start this Season Columbus, OH, August 3, 2007 – Larry Pegram of the LeoVince Pegram Racing Ducati Team qualified second at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with a 1:27.091, four-tenths of a second off the pole position time of 1:26.661 Pegram was running at the front of the pack in practice when motor problems force him to switch bikes. He finished the first practice in fourth place with 1:27.979. “I am feeling really strong. Everything is going great with the team. The Ducati’s are running fast and we have the setup as good as it is going to get. I am looking forward to starting from the front row tomorrow, it will be the first time this season,” said Pegram. LeoVince Pegram Racing Ducati Team is racing tomorrow, August 4, 2007, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Mid-Ohio is Larry Pegram’s home track and he is looking forward to posting solid results in front of the hometown crowd. Pegram is currently in fourth place after six rounds of the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series. About LeoVince Pegram Racing Ducati Hebron, Ohio-based Pegram Racing Ducati is a professional superbike race team competing in the AMA Superbike Championship. The team is owned and managed by Larry Pegram, a third-generation motorcycle racer. The team competes in the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme class on a modified Ducati 749. Additional information about the team can be found on their web site at www.pegramracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: PROMISING MID-OHIO WEEKEND BEGINS FOR TEAM M4 EMGO SUZUKI Team M4 EMGO Suzuki got off to a steady start on Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the eighth stop on the eleven round AMA Superbike Championship tour. Last season the team picked up four podium finishes in two trips to the venue and entered this weekend with hopes of a similarly impressive performance. Geoff May was quick out of the gates this morning, circulating the undulating track with a best time of 1:26.472 during the Superstock practice. The Georgian ranked fourth best in the session aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000. A short while later, he lowered his time to a 1: 25.943 during the Superbike practice, good enough for sixth best in the premier class and ahead of several factory Superbike riders. May also led the way for Team M4 EMGO Suzuki in the middleweight class, clocking the seventh best lap (1: 28.285) of the Supersport session aboard his GSX-R600. Colombian Martin Cardenas was not far behind, ranking 11th at 1:28.652, followed closely by California Michael Beck, who was 13th with a fast time of 1:28.979. Cardenas closed out Friday with a second-row qualifying performance in the Formula Xtreme class despite suffering a fall in the session. The former Spanish Supersport champion will open tomorrow’s 16-lap FX contest from the outside of row two after registering a 1: 27.801 lap during qualifying to claim the eight spot on the grid. Team Crew Chief Keith Perry said, “Just when Martin was starting to get into his rhythm he had a little tip over in turn four. Luckily he was able to ride it back to the pits and we made some quick repairs, but it threw his session off a bit I think. He did manage to climb back up to the second row, which was encouraging. He just needs more laps around here. He got up to pace pretty quickly, but it’s not easy finding that last little bit needed.” Commenting on May’s Supersport showing, Perry said, “Practice went pretty well. We’ve got a good grasp of what we need for tomorrow. Geoff ran a lot of consistent laps in the low ’28s, right where we think he needs to be. We’ve got a good race pace, good tires, and a good set-up, so we’re looking forward to qualifying tomorrow and the race on Sunday.”