Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin topped AMA Superbike qualifying Saturday morning at Barber Motorsports Park with a lap time of 1:23.665 (a new lap record) on his Dunlop-fitted Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. The pole position is the 54th of Mladin’s AMA Superbike career, the most all-time. Two-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies improved his time from Friday but only slightly and ended up second in qualifying, 0.182 second behind Mladin but 1.2 seconds quicker than the third-fastest rider, Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo. DiSalvo’s teammate Eric Bostrom earned the final spot on the front row with his 1:25.106 from Friday’s qualifying session. Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s Robertino Pietri collided with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Roger Hayden, according to eye witness Ben Spies, early in the session, and both riders crashed at high speed in Turn 11, at the end of the back straightaway. Pietri got to his feet immediately, but Hayden was put on a stretcher, loaded into an ambulance and after a stop at the infield care center was transported to a local hospital complaining of back pain, according to a team representative. We will update Hayden’s condition as more information is made available. Update: Roger Hayden has been admitted to the University of Alabama – Birmingham hospital, according to his father Earl Hayden. Pietri admitted to hitting Hayden from behind, explaining that Hayden slowed down a lot more in the turn than he expected. Pietri was very apologetic. AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama April 19, 2008 Combined Qualifying Results: 1. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:23.664 2. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:23.847 3. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:25.047 4. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:25.106 5. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:25.154 6. Neil Hodgson (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:25.524 7. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, 1:25.529 8. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:25.544 9. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, 1:26.351, crash 10. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:26.447* 11. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:26.554 12. Matt Lynn (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:26.713 13. Chris Peris (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:27.381* 14. Jordan Szoke (Kaw ZX-10R), Pirelli, 1:27.648* 15. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:27.759*, crash 16. Ben Thompson (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:27.953 17. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:28.115* 18. Brett McCormick (Kaw ZX-10R), Pirelli, 1:28.233* 19. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:28.688* 20. Ryan Elleby (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:28.848* 21. Matt McBride (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:29.001* 22. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:29.222 23. Keith Marshall (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.317 24. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.344 25. Francis Martin (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:29.395* 26. Santiago Villa (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:30.309* 108% of Fast Time: 1:30.358 Did Not Qualify: 27. David Weber (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.364 28. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:30.616 29. Reno Karimian (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.848 30. Scotty Van Hawk (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:32.798 31. C.R. Gittere (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:33.076 * = known to be riding a Superstock-spec motorcycle More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office: Ben Spies and Mat Mladin have put their Rockstar Makita Yoshimura GSX-R1000s in first and second places during qualifying for the second round of the AMA Superbike Championship at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. It was the first time the two-time defending champion has sat on his bike after undergoing knee surgery after the Daytona opener in March. Spies and team mate Mladin swapped the top position several times but Spies’ best lap came right at the end of 40-minute session. Mladin closed down the gap soon after with a best time of 1:23.944, but it wasn’t enough to claim pole. His time of 1:23.880 undercut his previous pole time of 1:24.094 from 2007. Said Spies: “Everything went good. We missed out on a couple of tests after Daytona and there were a couple of new pieces with the bike that came along. These first two sessions we really had to kind of look at those and pretty much using both of them and get it set up a little bit better and just some updates to the forks and seemed to be pretty good. Other than that I was just going out to kind of use it more as a practice session to get back up to speed. Spies said the surgery was a straightforward operation although the recovery took longer than expected. He added: “About a week ago was the first time I could probably get on the bike. So it’s just a little bit of swelling in the spots that I couldn’t get out and it’s just having to slowly work out. And it’s getting there. It’s not 100% there, but in feeling and training-wise it’s fine. Tommy Hayden took fourth place with a time of 1:25.154 with Suzuki’s Geoff May and Aaron Yates rounding out the top 10. Friday Qualifying: 1. Ben Spies (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) 1:23.880 2. Mat Mladin (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) 1:23.944 3. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 1:25.107 4. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) 1:25.154 5. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 1:25.327 6. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 1:25.569 7. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 1:26.448 8. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki) 1:26.531 9. Geoff May (Suzuki) 1:26.447 10. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 1:26.536