Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Veteran American Honda rider Miguel Duhamel qualified on the pole position for Friday’s Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport final with a new lap record time of 1:52.785 on his brand new CBR600RR.

“The qualifying run wasn’t so special. I was a little faster earlier this morning by myself and was faster in December,” Duhamel told reporters.

A stronger wind was blowing into Duhamel’s face during the odd-numbered Supersport qualifying session, and Duhamel admitted to using a draft off of teammate Ben Bostrom to do his fast lap. Ben Bostrom qualified sixth with a 1:53.539.

Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking and Jason DiSalvo, two of the fastest Supersport riders throughout practice at Daytona, planned to work together in the draft during the even-number qualifying session, but DiSalvo crashed in turn six early in the session.

“I lost the front then I got on the gas to save it and it highsided me,” said 19-year-old DiSalvo. “I thought my right hand was broken because it looked twice as worse and hurt twice as bad as when I broke my hand last year. But they X-rayed it at the Infield Care Center and said it was just a deep tissue bruise.

“I’m going to race tomorrow, and I plan to finish in the top five.”

DiSalvo qualified 27th with a 1:58.890, but Hacking continued on alone to record the fastest time from the even-numbered group and the second-fastest time overall at 1:52.817.

Another Hacking teammate, Aaron Gobert, qualified third with a 1:52.945. Kurtis Roberts earned the final spot on the front row with a lap of 1:53.225 on his Erion Honda CBR600RR.


Final AMA Supersport Qualifying Results:

1. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR600RR, 1:52.785
2. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:52.817
3. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:52.945
4. Kurtis Roberts, Honda CBR600RR, 1:53.225
5. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:53.383
6. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR600RR, 1:53.539
7. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:53.735
8. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600RR, 1:53.768
9. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR600RR, 1:53.800
10. Jamie Stauffer, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:53.929
11. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:54.047
12. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:54.209
13. Matt Wait, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54.218
14. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:54.287
15. Ty Howard, Honda CBR600RR, 1:54.338
16. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:54.435
17. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600RR, 1:54.573
18. Craig Connell, Honda CBR600RR, 1:54.819
19. Andrew Nelson, Honda CBR600RR, 1:55.978
20. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:56.519
21. Doug Chandler, Honda CBR600RR, 1:56.791
22. Jason Curtis, Honda CBR600RR, 1:58.035
23. Jason Perez, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:58.121
24. Chris Peris, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:58.177
25. Owen Weichel, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:58.360
26. Jonathan Gomez, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:58.514
27. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:58.890
28. Thad Halsmer, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:59.077
29. Darrin Mitchell, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:59.834
30. Heath Small, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:59.893
31. James Mann, Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:00.178
32. Chris Siglin, Suzuki GSX-R600, 2:00.484
33. Dirk Sanchez, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2:00.836
34. Oliver Jervis, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2:01.101
35. Joe Ford, Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:01.230
36. Greg Moore, Suzuki GSX-R600, 2:01.275
37. Antonio Piccioni, Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:01.385
38. Tim Knutson, Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:02.185
39. Brent Bennett, Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:02.200
40. Hector Romero, Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:02.523
41. Chad Simons, Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:02.771
42. Michael McAllister, Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:03.144
43. Jason Hobbs, Suzuki GSX-R600, 2:03.290
44. James Kerker, Honda CBR600, 2:03.461
45. David Guy, Suzuki GSX-R600, 2:03.788
46. Crash Chris Lowe, Suzuki GSX-R600, 2:04.373
47. Larry Roberts, Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:05.546
48. David Sanchez, Kawasaki, 2:06.911

112% of fast time: 2:06.319

49. Joseph Bennardi, Yamaha YZF-R6, 2:09.964