Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden earned the pole position for the AMA Superstock race during qualifying Friday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. Riding his factory ZX-10R, Hayden used a Dunlop qualifying tire to turn a 1:26.382, which was not only two seconds under Josh Hayes’ lap record (1:28.598), but also a full second faster than the time turned by provisional World Superbike pole-sitter Steve Martin (1:27.396).

Hayden also earned a bonus Championship point for taking pole position. “For sure, every point you can get is really important. So that was good,” said Hayden, who continues to sit third in the AMA Superstock Championship standings behind Jamie Hacking and Aaron Gobert. “Jamie is not 100 percent. We’re trying to take advantage of that.”

Graves Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo was at the top of the order when he went out on his third qualifier (which went unused by Hacking), but he was unable to improve on his second-fastest 1:26.669.

“If I had 20 qualifiers I don’t know if I could’ve got that time. My time was good, but Tommy must have nailed that lap!” said DiSalvo.

Hayden’s teammate and younger brother Roger Lee Hayden qualified third with a 1:26.685, said he felt he didn’t use his qualifiers well enough but was excited about starting the race from the front row.

Another member of the Graves Yamaha team, Aaron Gobert earned the last spot on the front row with a 1:26.766.

Jamie Hacking (who is riding with a freshly-plated, 11-day-old broken collarbone) was running well up the order during the session when he crashed in turn three. The crash was a simple lowside, according to his crew, but Hacking landed on his injured shoulder. Hacking looked to be in considerable pain after getting back to the pits.

Hacking’s qualifying time to that point (1:27.212) earned him the fifth spot on the grid.

Hooters Suzuki’s John Haner appeared to have blown an engine on the front straightaway during the qualifying session and pulled off the track near turn one.

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp crashed his GSX-R750 in turn 10 late in the session. He was uninjured.

With two minutes remaining in the session, all timing and scoring monitors on pit lane and in the media center went blank. Only after the session was over did the times re-appear, with Tommy Hayden overtaking Jason DiSalvo in the qualifying order.

Provisional AMA Superstock Qualifying Results:

1. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:26.382
2. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:26.669
3. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:26.685
4. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:26.766
5. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:27.212
6. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:27.288
7. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.337
8. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.298
9. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.537
10. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.603
11. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.919
12. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.099
13. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.954
14. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:31.087
15. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.404
16. Scott Greenwood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.599
17. Corey Eaton, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.682
18. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.409
19. David White, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.629
20. Jesse Janisch, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.834