Defending Champion Ben Spies qualified on the provisional AMA Superbike pole position during qualifying Friday afternoon at the Suzuki Superbike Challenge AMA Superbike Championship event at California Speedway, in Fontana, California. Riding his Dunlop-shod Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, Spies topped the field with a time of 1:24.117 around the 2.36-mile infield road course. While the time was the best recorded by the 29 Superbike entries, it was significantly slower than the 1:23.372 Spies did during provisional qualifying last year at California Speedway. The slower lap times were partly attributed to the ambient temperature, 96 degrees F at the start of the session. “Right now, our main point was to go do race set-up,” Spies told reporters. “I went out and tried a softer tire in the middle [of the session], and that’s what we did go faster on, but I wasn’t going for qualifying. We were going for race feel. I was going to see how the tire felt, and if after two laps it dropped off I was gonna come and try the other tire. This was a full-race set-up for us today. “We went out and got on the tires we’re gonna race on, put about 12, 13 laps together and they were all pretty much as fast or faster than my fastest [race] lap last year [1:24.441]. It’s good, you know? I told the team there’s no sense in trying to bang out one lap around this afternoon with the temperatures because the track is slow.” Spies said he may dedicate a portion of his final qualifying session Saturday morning to trying to secure pole position and the bonus Championship point that comes with it. Spies’ teammate and chief rival Mat Mladin was second-quickest Friday afternoon with a 1:24.345, and Spies’ other teammate Tommy Hayden was third-fastest with a 1:24.513. Jake Zemke earned the final position on the provisional front row with a time of 1:25.249 on his American Honda CBR1000RR. Millennium KWS Suzuki’s John Haner missed the Superbike qualifying session Friday afternoon. Haner crashed during Superbike practice Friday morning, and according to his team was taken to a local hospital with a suspected broken foot/ankle and back pain from getting hit by his motorcycle. 2007 AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited California Speedway Fontana, California April 27, 2007 Provisional Qualifying Results: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.117 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.345 3. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:24.513 4. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:25.249 5. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlp, 1:25.347 6. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:25.364 7. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:25.379* 8. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, 1:25.556 9. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:25.566 10. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:25.685* 11. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, 1:25.754 12. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:25.913 13. Doug Chandler (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:26.062 14. James Ellison (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:26.210 15. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:26.502* 16. Matt Lynn (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, 1:27.162 17. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:27.177* 18. Luca Scassa (MV Agusta F4-1000R 312), Dunlop, 1:27.218 19. Martin Cardenas (Kaw ZX-10R), Pirelli, 1:27.619 20. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:27.674* 21. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, 1:27.683 22. Jason Curtis (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.183 23. David Weber (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 1:28.758 24. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.431 25. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, 1:30.402 26. Corey Sarros (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.955 27. Chad Rolland (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.021 28. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.809 29. Kurtis Roberts (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, 1:36.427 * known to be a Superstock-spec machine