Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin claimed provisional pole position for the Suzuki Big Kahuna AMA Superbike event during qualifying Friday afternoon at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), near Danville, Virginia. Riding a Dunlop-shod GSX-R1000, Mladin turned a fastest time of 1:24.933, 0.3 second faster than his nearest rival but 0.3 seconds slower than he went in Friday morning practice. Mladin used race-compound tires during both sessions and explained that the track got slower in the heat of the afternoon. Mladin’s junior teammate and main Championship threat Ben Spies was the second-fastest man Friday, lowering his time (1:25.633) from practice to a 1:25.293 (which he did on a race-compound tire) in qualifying. Jake Zemke, who unlike most of the factory Superbike men did not test at VIR this season, was third-quickest with a time of 1:26.038 on his American Honda CBR1000RR and followed by fourth-fastest Neil Hodgson, who turned a 1:26.076 (one second slower than his best test time) on his Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin 999. Zemke’s teammate Miguel Duhamel, Yoshimura Suzuki rider Aaron Yates, Hodgson’s teammate Eric Bostrom (who hasn’t raced at VIR since 2002, when he won a Superbike race on the 750cc Kawasaki ZX-7RR) and Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes earned spots on the provisional second row. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May was the highest non-Dunlop qualifier, ninth on his Pirelli-shod, Superstock-spec GSX-R1000, ahead of Lion Racing Suzuki’s Jake Holden (who is riding on developmental Pirelli slicks for the second weekend), Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts (who is using a new swingarm and shock linkage custom fabricated for his CBR1000RR by the Team Roberts raceshop in England) and Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore on the provisional third row. Final qualifying positions for both of this weekend’s Superbike races will be decided during a 30-minute qualifying session Saturday morning. Friday Afternoon’s Provisional AMA Superbike Qualifying Results: 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:24.933 2. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:25.294 3. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:26.039 4. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 1:26.076 5. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:26.092 6. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:26.115 7. Eric Bostrom, Ducati, 1:26.600 8. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki, 1:26.656 9. Geoff May, Suzuki, 1:26.768 10. Jake Holden, Suzuki, 1:27.001 11. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:27.019 12. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:27.151 13. Larry Pegram, Honda, 1:27.694 14. Marty Craggill, Suzuki, 1:27.698 15. John Haner, Suzuki, 1:27.847 16. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:27.848 17. Eric Wood, Suzuki, 1:28.083 18. Jeremy Toye, Honda, 1:28.274 19. Brent George, Suzuki, 1:28.821 20. Jason Perez, Yamaha, 1:28.841 21. Brian Stokes, Yamaha, 1:28.878 22. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:29.059 23. Cory West, Suzuki, 1:29.213 24. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, 1:29.292 25. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 1:29.526 26. Tony Meiring, Suzuki, 1:29.541 27. Matt Lynn, Suzuki, 1:29.883 28. Jason Curtis, Suzuki, 1:30.178 29. Akira Tamitsuji, Suzuki, 1:30.509 30. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, 1:30.651 31. David Bell, Suzuki, 1:30.654 32. James Kerker, Honda, 1:31.076 33. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, 1:31.183 34. Heath Small, Yamaha, 1:31.223 35. Marco Martinez, Suzuki, 1:31.658 36. Anthony Fania, Suzuki, 1:31.706 37. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki, 1:31.920 38. Steve Scott, Yamaha, 1:34.272 39. Adam Vella, Suzuki, 1:37.325 40. Reno Karimian, Suzuki, 1:49.762 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin has set provisional pole position for this weekend’s ‘Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals’ double-header AMA Superbike Championship round at Virginia International Raceway at Alton. The reigning AMA Champion recorded a time of 1:24.933 on his GSX-R1000 around the 2.25-mile Virginia circuit to beat team mate Ben Spies (1:25.293) and Honda’s Jake Zemke (1:26.038) as Aaron Yates grabbed sixth position on the grid with a time of 1:26.115. Said Mladin: “The session went pretty good. We were consistently right there in the low 25s.” Two rounds and four races remain in the Championship and only nine points separate leader Mladin and team mate Spies. Mladin leads on 397 points with Spies on 388 and Yates in fourth place on 316. More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin: HODGSON ON THE PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW IN VIRGINIA Alton, VA (August 26) – Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin riders Neil Hodgson and Eric Bostrom qualified provisionally at Virginia International Raceway on Friday. Neil put his Ducati 999 Superbike in fourth position and Eric Bostrom was seventh in the first qualifying session of the weekend. “We were on the front row with today’s lap time,” said Hodgson, whose best time was 1:26.076. Neil added he thought the track wasn’t quite the same as when he rode his Ducati at VIR the first time. “It didn’t seem quite as grippy as it was during the test here. The track’s quite greasy. We’ve been playing around with the settings a bit but I’m still not happy with it. There will be more for tomorrow.” “It wasn’t too bad today,” said Hodgson, who had several laps in the 1:26 range in the session held in warm and sunny conditions. “I’m not disappointed or anything, I’m just wondering why all of the top racers seem like they are about a second slower than what we should be.” After having the second quickest time at the test and winning three races this year, former VIR winner Eric Bostrom expected a better result on Friday but still was timed at a respectable 1:26.599. “Everything seemed a bit vague and I didn’t have a good feel for the racetrack,” said Eric. “To be quick in testing and to come back and struggle, I’m not happy with it. We’ll look at all the data and come up with something tomorrow. ” Bostrom and Hodgson will qualify again tomorrow before the first of two 28-lap races of the weekend. “As far as the lap times go, it was one of those days where we might have struggled a little bit compared to what we think we can do,” said team owner Terry Gregoricka, “We have some good ideas to get the guys comfortable and we’re not discouraged at all.”