American Honda’s Jake Zemke took pole position in AMA Formula Xtreme qualifying Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Riding a Dunlop-equipped CBR600RR, Zemke turned a new lap record time of 1:28.628 around the 2.4-mile, 15-turn road course, breaking Miguel Duhamel’s one-year-old lap record of 1:28.731 and collecting his third FX pole position of the season. Second-fastest in Formula Xtreme qualifying was Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Michael Barnes with a 1:28.848 on his Pirelli-shod GSX-R600. Duhamel was third-fastest with a lap of 1:28.872 on his CBR600RR. Completing the front row will be Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts, fourth-fastest with a time of 1:29.945 on his CBR600RR. Roberts is riding in Formula Xtreme to “fly the Honda colors” at the Honda-sponsored event at Mid-Ohio, according to Crew Chief Rick Hobbs. Provisional AMA Formula Xtreme Qualifying Results; 1. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:28.628 2. Michael Barnes, Suzuki, 1:28.848 3. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:28.872 4. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:29.945 5. Ty Howard, Yamaha, 1:30.259 6. Ben Attard, Kawasaki, 1:31.066 7. Robert Jensen, Yamaha, 1:31.299 8. Chris “Opie” Caylor, Suzuki, 1:31.563 9. Chris Peris, Yamaha, 1:31.643 10. Ryan Elleby, Suzuki, 1:31.792 11. Ryan Andrews, Ducati, 1:32.369 12. Mike Hale, Honda, 1:32.474 13. Tim Knutson, Yamaha, 1:32.719 14. Shea Fouchek, Suzuki, 1:33.091 15. Heath Small, Yamaha, 1:33.122 16. Danny Eslick, Suzuki, 1:33.236 17. Justin Filice, Honda, 1:33.699 18. Taylor Knapp, Yamaha, 1:33.715 19. Matt Furtek, Kawasaki, 1:33.828 20. Nicky Moore, Yamaha, 1:34.014 21. Kevin Pate, Suzuki, 1:34.078 22. Alex Gobert, Honda, 1:34.431 23. Daniel Doty, Yamaha, 1:34.662 24. Jonas McCluskey, Yamaha, 1:34.724 25. Myron Bell, Suzuki, 1:34.789 26. Roger Bell, Suzuki, 1:35.139 27. Derek Keyes, Suzuki, 1:35.183 28. Armando Ferrer, Yamaha, 1:35.412 29. Nathan Hester, Yamaha, 1:35.826 30. Victor Chirinos, Yamaha, 1:36.639 31. M. Ivan Garza, Suzuki, 1:36.768 32. Scotty Vanscoik, Kawasaki, 1:36.962 33. Lance Yeager, Kawasaki, 1:37.520 34. Robert Deily, Honda, 1:37.858 35. Mark Hatten, Ducati, 1:38.460 36. Jeff Johnson, Buell, 1:40.011 More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: BARNES QUALIFIES SECOND IN MID-OHIO FORMULA XTREME Team M4 EMGO Suzuki kicked off this weekend’s AMA race meeting at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in spectacular fashion on Friday. Spearheaded by an on-form Mike Barnes, the team played heavily near the top of the charts throughout the day, which ended with the Floridian claiming a front row starting position for tomorrow’s 16-lap Formula Xtreme race. Barnes guided his Pirelli slick-shod GSX-R600 FX racer around the flowing 2.4-mile raceway near Lexington, Ohio, with a best lap of 1:28.848 during the afternoon qualifying session. His mark was less than a quarter-second off pole and quick enough to secure him the second spot on the Formula Xtreme grid. His effort saw him split up the long-dominant factory machines on the front row. While pleased, Barnes is determined to continue improving. He said, “I’m relatively happy. I know we’ve got a little bit more to go. We’re real close to finding exactly what I want in the front end. We’re working on that and we worked on that throughout the test that we were here at last month and we’ve made a lot of progress. I really enjoy riding 600s — the GSX-R600 is just a missile and these guys do such a great job with it. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki is such a top-notch team, the bike just runs great, and the Pirelli tires were unbelievable as well. The bike worked phenomenally well and I thought we might have something for the factory guys to get pole today. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow.” Barnes’ FX showing wasn’t his only highlight on Friday. He also ranked third in the day’s Superstock free practice, registering a 1:29.143 aboard the team’s fire-breathing GSX-R1000. Teammate Geoff May enjoyed an impressive opening day of his own. The Georgian stood as the top Suzuki-mounted rider in the morning’s Supersport practice — sixth best overall — with a time of 1:35.400 in difficult damp/drying weather conditions. He then posted the sixth fastest time in the Superstock session as well, clocking a 1:29.958. Saturday’s schedule sees Team M4 EMGO Suzuki qualifying in Supersport and Superstock and concludes with the 60k Formula Xtreme race.