AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport Championship Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida March 10, 2011 Provisional Qualifying Results (3.5-mile course, all on Dunlop tires):
1. Miles Thornton (Yam YZF-R6), 1:54.888 2. Hayden Gillim (Yam YZF-R6), 1:55.295 3. Stefano Mesa (Duc 848EVO), 1:55.590 4. Tomas Puerta (Yam YZF-R6), 1:55.623 5. David Gaviria (Yam YZF-R6), 1:55.757 6. Benny Solis, Jr. (Hon CBR600RR), 1:55.918 7. Eric Stump (Yam YZF-R6), 1:56.126 8. Dustin Dominguez (Apr RSV1000R), 1:56.143 9. James Rispoli (Suz GSX-R600), 1:56.502 10. Elena Myers (Suz GSX-R600), 1:56.925 11. Ricky Parker (Yam YZF-R6), 1:57.255 12. Emerson Connor (Duc 848EVO), 1:57.440 13. Jake Morman (Yam YZF-R6), 1:57.563 14. Brad Graham (Duc 848), 1:57.816 15. Charlie Long (Suz GSX-R600), 1:58.178 16. Sam Nash (Yam YZF-R6), 1:58.448 17. Ben Young (Yam YZF-R6), 1:58.630 18. Ryan Kerr (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:58.635 19. Brent Lyskawa (Duc 848), 1:58.646, crash 20. Travis Ohge (Yam YZF-R6), 1:59.022 21. Corey Alexander (Suz GSX-R600), 1:59.126 22. Morgan Murphy (Suz GSX-R600), 2:00.689 23. Nicholas Hansen (Suz GSX-R600), 2:00.713 24. Jett Chandler (Yam YZF-R6), 2:01.101 25. Sebastiao Ferreira (Yam YZF-R6), 2:01.229 26. Jeff Wrobel (Yam YZF-R6), 2:01.250 27. Zared Leon (Yam YZF-R6), 2:01.985 28. Russell Proctor (Yam YZF-R6), 2:02.286 29. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R6), 2:07.175 30. Jose Flores (Duc 848), 2:08.044 31. Frank Babuska (Suz GSX-R600), 2:08.422 32. Cristian Olguin (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:08.838 33. Angel Perdomo (Suz GSX-R600), 2:09.234 34. Alexander Guilbeault (Suz GSX-R600), 2:09.855 35. Kelly Barnett (Yam YZF-R6), 2:10.790 36. Dennis Ergo (Yam YZF-R6), 2:10.801 37. Nicholas Hayman (Duc 848), 2:12.141 38. Shelina Moreda (Yam YZF-R6), 2:14.859 39. Alvaro Sanchez (Suz GSX-R600), 2:16.319 40. Kevin Jones (Hon CBR600RR), 2:36.556
More, from a press release issued by Run 1 Racing:
Run 1 Racing’s Miles Thornton Grabs Provisional Pole at Daytona; Other Team Members Disappointed in Initial Runs
DAYTONA BEACH, FL (March 10, 2011) Run 1 Racing’s Miles Thornton jumped from seventh to fastest on the next to last lap of AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport qualifying Thursday to grab the provisional pole position at Daytona International Speedway.
Thornton, a 16-year-old from West Point, GA, took advantage of every drafting opportunity to drop his quickest lap time by 1.686 seconds in a single lap around the 3.51-mile long course to grab the top spot on the timing charts in the season-opening event of the AMA Pro Racing season.
The day was delayed for three hours by overnight heavy rain, and all classes were limited to one 50-minute session, and it was declared a qualifying run. Thornton turned in a lap of 1:54.888 = 109.986 mph aboard his #72 Yamaha YZF-R6 and was almost fourth-tenths of a second ahead of the 40-rider field.
“I am so focused this year,” says Thornton, who won five East Division races last year, and openly declared himself an AMA championship contender in 2011. “I am focused on winning the championship this year.
“Today, I watched somebody pass me in turn 1, and decided that was where I could make up a lot of time, so I just put my head down, and changed my line through that turn, and then I started drafting behind everybody I could. I learned a lot about racing at Daytona today.”
Thornton will have to defend his provisional pole during final SuperSport qualifying at 8 am Friday, and they will host their first race of the season 10 laps at 2:15 pm Friday. The grid for Saturday’s second SuperSport race will also be determined in final qualifying Friday.
Thornton fared best Thursday of Run 1 Racing’s four riders.
Antoine Richards of Bermuda did not record an official lap time in SuperSport qualifying after the throttle stuck wide open on his #45 Suzuki GSX-R600 on the out lap. He had to shut off his engine and coast back to the pits in the interest of safety, and the team could not repair it in time for him to get back on track during the session. He will attempt to qualify Friday morning.
Young Joey Pascarella was a disappointing 19th quickest in first round qualifying for the Daytona 200, featuring AMA Pro Daytona SportBikes. His best lap aboard his #825 Yamaha YZF-R6 was 1:56.357 = 89.724 mph. The team had to install a new starter prior to the session, and then he pitted for make suspension adjustments.
“It’s not like I want it, and I can’t blame it all on the bike,” Pascarella says. “It just was not a comfortable session. It will get better.”
Pascarella will get a chance to improve his starting position during a second qualifying session Friday at 8:45 am. The Daytona 200 gets the green flag at 1:15 pm Saturday and will be televised live by SPEED TV.
Skip Salenius, the fourth member of the Run 1 Racing team, also endured a frustrating opening session. He was unhappy with his #63 Yamaha R1 and made a pit stop to replace the rear sprocket. Then, he had ongoing issues with rear tire pressure and withdrew from the session after running just nine laps. He wound up 19th in the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike ranks with a lap of 1:48.777 = 116.164 mph.
“If we had another session today, it’d be OK,” Salenius says, “but the weather took away our second session. So that’s the way it is and it is unfortunate. What is frustrating is not knowing what the problem was the wheel or the tire that caused the apparent leak. We’ll get it fixed, but it puts pressure on us tomorrow.”
Final qualifying at 10:35 am Friday will be critical for Salenius to gain a good starting position for Friday’s first Superbike race starting at 4:30 pm.
More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing:
2011 GETS UNDERWAY FOR LTD RACING
Daytona, FL (March 10, 2011) — LTD Racing kicked off the 2011 AMA Pro Road Race season at Daytona on Thursday with an abbreviated afternoon of practice and qualifying after rain washed away the morning sessions. Tomas Puerta and David Gaviria fought for the AMA Pro SuperSport front row in the first of two qualifying sessions this weekend, while Sam Nash impressed on his vacation from law school. Huntley Nash was frustrated during Daytona SportBike practice but remained positive after a minor crash.
Puerta qualified fourth, one slot ahead of his teammate Gaviria on their Y.E.S-backed Yamahas. Puerta jumped to the top late in the session and came up just short of pole position with a lap of 1:55.623. “Today was the first time I got to ride the 2011 version of the bike and I was pleased with it and how the team has worked to get the bike ready for me. I have different forks this year and I thought they worked great. I had no issues with the front of the bike,” said Puerta. “At the rear, I wasn’t fully satisfied and we will make some changes but I’m very positive on how the first session went. The times were slow and everyone struggled as the track was slick after the rain.”
Gaviria, racing with LTD Racing for the first time, charged hard in the waning minutes. His best lap was 1:55.757. “I feel good and I thought I had a pretty good result but I expect more for tomorrow,” said the Colombian. “At the end of the session, I felt very comfortable on the bike. We have some changes to make but I thought it was a very positive first session for us.”
Sam Nash, nicknamed the World’s Fastest Law School Student, qualified in the top half of all 40 SuperSport competitors on Thursday. “With all the entries this weekend, I was happy to get 16th on what is pretty much a vacation for me. I’m on spring break from law school and I want to keep this up in tomorrow’s qualifying and races,” said Nash.
Huntley Nash, a promising newcomer to Daytona SportBike, was in the top ten at certain points in the DSB practice session but a crash robbed the three-time 2010 winner of laps in his only track time of the day. The Georgian finished 22nd in the lone practice with a time of 1:57.070. “I’ve had better days at the track and this session was a little humbling, you could say. I leaned over a little too far on my A bike and you can’t do that with so little grip out there,” said 18 year-old Nash. “After that, I rode around on the B bike. I need to get out there tomorrow and run with some of the faster guys and improve my position as I get ready for the Daytona 200. The A-bike felt really good before my mistake.”
“The boys pushed hard and our crew did too,” said LTD Racing’s Gary Medley. “We needed some more track time and conditions were not ideal, but we have a better idea of where we stand.”
Friday’s action includes final qualifying and race one for SuperSport and the fight for the pole position in Daytona SportBike.