Third straight Superpole for DiSalvo

From AMA Pro Racing

SONOMA, CA - Jason DiSalvo brought it when he needed it and was rewarded with his third straight Superpole of the 2009 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike season as his lap time of 1:39.518 (83.925 mph) was fast enough to hold off the lap time of 1:39.990 (83.528 mph) turned by final Superpole qualifier Josh Herrin (No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6). 

"The M4 guys did a tremendous job all day trying to get the bike to where we felt comfortable on it," said DiSalvo. "We started off the day not happy with how the bike was set up, but I've got to give a big thanks to the guys who got it ready for me. These guys even went as far as to put in a new motor for me for Superpole. I had no idea. They told me after the lap."

DiSalvo and Herrin were the only AMA Pro Daytona SportBike riders to best the 1:40 mark all day. Herrin led basic qualifying with a time of 1:39.543 (83.903 mph).

"It was a good lap for me. Every lap we're making progress in Superpole and we're starting to get better at it," said Herrin, who will start from the outside pole for the first time this season. "Hopefully next race we'll be even better. My Yamaha has been working great around Infineon and I'm hoping that we'll have a good race."

Rounding out the top four in Superpole, and starting from row two in the weekend's races will be Chaz Davies (No. 57 Factory Aprilia/ Millennium Technologies Team Aprilia RSV), who turned a lap of 1:40.081 (83.453 mph), and Tommy Aquino (No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) with a lap time of 1:40.338 (83.239 mph).

Calgary's Chris Peris (No. 10 Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR) placed 12th in basic qualifying and did not advance to the top 10 Superpole session.

In preparation for Saturday's AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei qualifying session, Leandro Mercado (No. 92 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) was over two seconds clear of the rest of the field at the culmination of the day's practice sessions. Mercado led the morning practice session with a time of 1:42.319 (81.627 mph) and was almost a second faster in the afternoon practice session with a time of 1:41.360 (82.399 mph).

Russ Wikle (No. 5 RoadracingWorld.com Suzuki GSX-R600) cut nearly two seconds from his morning run of 1:45.175 (79.410 mph) to turn the second fastest lap at 1:43.426 (80.753 mph) in the afternoon. Ricky Parker (No. 96 Graves Motorsports/Hattiesburg Cycles Yamaha YZF-R6) posted the third fastest time of the day at 1:43.468 (80.721 mph).

Daytona SportBike Superpole Results
1. Jason DiSalvo M4 Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600 1:39.517
2. Josh Herrin Team Graves Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R6 1:39.990
3. Chaz Davies Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies Team Aprilia RSV1000R 1:40.080
4. Tommy Aquino Team Graves Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R6 1:40.337
5. Jamie Hacking Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 1:40.521
6. Jake Zemke Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR 1:40.551
7. Martin Cardenas M4 Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600 1:40.645
8. Steve Rapp Bazzaz Yamaha YZF-R6 1:40.687
9. Bobby Fong Four Feathers Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 1:41.249
10. Roger Hayden Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 1:43.001