Friday, August 1, 2008

Zemke takes fourth FX pole

From amasuperbike.com

Erion Honda's Jake Zemke claimed his fourth Formula Xtreme pole in seven tries this season Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The championship favourite upped his title advantage in the process, adding another point to boost his lead to 33 points over closest challenger Steve Rapp (203 vs. 170).

On Saturday Zemke will look to start a new win streak in the class, as he took four straight wins before seeing his run stopped the last time out by Rockwall Honda's Aaron Gobert in difficult conditions at Road America (the FX class sat out the combined MotoGP/AMA Superbike weekend at Laguna Seca).

Afterwards, Zemke commented, "It was pretty uneventful really. I went through a selection of tires, not really sure what we were going to use for the race. This morning in practice we were tearing up some tires pretty good. We were definitely looking at all the options we have come race time. Actually, the time I did my fastest time on is the one we think we're going to race on. I actually went slower on the softer tire because it was pushing the front quite a bit."

Rapp actually led much of the session aboard his Attack Kawasaki ZX-6R before giving way to Zemke. The Californian will start Saturday's 16-lapper from the second slot on the grid, posting a 1:26.340 to Zemke's pole-winning 1:25.902 (both well under the lap record of 1:26.628 -- Eric Bostrom, '06).

Rapp said, "The track was pretty clear and I didn't get too many lappers like some of the past qualifying we've had. I think I just got lucky. We didn't change really anything on the bike itself. Every time I'd come in I'd see that Josh or Jake went a little bit quicker, so I'd find a split I was a little bit slower in and try to go faster -- I did every time a little bit but they did a little bit more."

Two-time defending champ Josh Hayes was third fastest (1:26.363) and will look to score his first victory of the season at a track he's won at the last two time the series has visited, while Team M4 EMGO Suzuki's Martin Cardenas rounds out the front row with a best time of 1:26.970.

The second row will feature LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati's Larry Pegram, Rapp's teammate, Chaz Davies, Matsushima Performance's Danny Eslick, and Graves Yamaha-backed Michael Beck.

Top 10 Qualifying Results
1. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600RR 1:25.902
2. Steve Rapp, Kawasaki ZX-6R 1:26.340
3. Josh Hayes, Honda CBR600RR 1:26.363
4. Martin Cardenas, Suzuki GSX-R600 1:26.970
5. Larry Pegram, Ducati 848 1:27.040
6. Chaz Davies, Kawasaki ZX-6R 1:27.054
7. Danny Eslick, Suzuki GSX-R600 1:27.815
8. Michael Beck, Yamaha YZF-R6 1:27.886
9. Garrett Carter, Suzuki GSX-R600 1:28.373
10. Aaron Gobert, Honda CBR600RR 1:28.394
Also
32. Misti Hurst, Kawasaki ZX-6R 1:34.242

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