Championship point leader Ben Spies took provisional pole position during AMA Superbike qualifying Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio. Riding his Dunlop-shod Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, Spies turned a 1:25.330, beating Mat Mladin’s lap record of 1:26.058 from 2005. Spies told reporters that he did not use a qualifying tire for his run, only that he stepped up his riding during the session, willing himself to let off his brakes earlier and roll through corners — especially sealer-coated corners — faster. Spies’ teammate and main Championship challenger Mat Mladin qualified second with a 1:25.441. American Honda’s Jake Zemke was third-fastest with a 1:25.795 on his CBR1000RR, and Parts Unlimited Ducati’s Ben Bostrom earned the last spot on the provisional front row with a time of 1:26.376 on his factory Ducati 999. AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio August 4 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.330 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.441 3. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:25.795 4. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06), 1:26.376 5. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06), 1:26.391 6. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:26.528 7. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.594 8. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.917 9. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.138 10. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.345 11. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.448 12. Larry Pegram (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:27.817 13. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:27.978 14. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:28.043 15. Matt Lynn (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.250 16. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.968 17. David Weber (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.095 18. Jason Curtis (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.520 19. Eric Wood (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.610 20. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.624 21. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.235 22. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:30.347 23. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.901 24. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.071 25. Akira Tamitsuji (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.129 26. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.163 27. Doug Duane (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.454 28. James Kerker (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:31.560 29. Jean Paul Tache (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.571 30. Michael Sanchez (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.727 31. Brad Hendry (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:32.270 32. Carlos Macias (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:32.499 33. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:32.592 34. Barry Teasdale (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:32.694 35. Andi Notman (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:32.717 36. Marco Martinez (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:32.988 37. Marcin Biernacki (Yam YZF-R1), 1:37.719 38. Marty Craggill (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:50.187 More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati: BOSTROM ON THE PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW IN OHIO, HODGSON A CLOSE FIFTH Lexington (Ohio) 4 Aug 2006: Parts Unlimited Ducati’s Ben Bostrom qualified on the provisional front row at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Friday. The veteran Superbike star was an impressive fourth in the afternoon qualifying session at the resurfaced track. His teammate Neil Hodgson finished fifth, just behind Bostrom’s 999 Superbike on the timing charts. Bostrom and his team methodically worked on his settings rather than set one quick lap on soft rubber. Ben said he was pleased with his progress so far during the weekend. His best time was 1:26.376. “Today was a pretty good day at the track,” said Ben Bostrom. “It was a good start for the event. We’re not done with our race setup yet, so we thought we would save our qualifiers until tomorrow. I was trying to see exactly how fast we could go on a race tire but we caught a little traffic at the last of the lap. We’re looking forward to improving things a little more and trying to stay on the front row, maybe move higher in the order if possible. Still, we are happy with the result today.” Neil Hodgson was next in the order, just 0.015 behind his teammate. Neil’s times on race tires showed he is once again in contention for a podium spot in the weekend’s races. “It went quite well for us. It was good to get a full day’s practice and testing in, instead of what we had at Laguna Seca,” said Hodgson. “It’s good to try some tires, some different settings, and have some laps to get used to the track. I’m quite pleased. I definitely like the circuit a lot better this year than last year. I’d say officially that Mid-Ohio was my worst track last year. I’m still riding a little tense over some of the elevation changes but I can improve on that tomorrow. A couple of tweaks to the settings and then we will be ready. We’ll also try a better combination of tires. Today, when I had the front tire I liked, I was using my least favorite rear and vice-versa.” Final qualifying is scheduled for 9:50 and the 26-lap race begins at 4:00 local time.