Another Superpole for Mladin

From AMA Pro Racing

SONOMA, CA - Mat Mladin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-1000R) captured pole position in AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike qualifying at the Kawasaki Superbike Showdown at Infineon Raceway on Friday.

Basic qualifying results saw Factory Yamaha riders Ben Bostrom (No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) and Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) enter Superpole with the top two positions, while Mladin's earlier qualifying effort left him in an uncharacteristic third. During his run however, Mladin put an off-track excursion from earlier in the day behind him and put the Yamaha riders on notice with a lap of 1:36.231 (86.791 mph). Although their times were good enough to put the Yamaha machines on the front row, Bostrom and Hayes were unable to match the time that Mladin laid down in capturing his fifth consecutive pole of the season.

"Getting on the front row is good for us," said Mladin. "Right now we're trying to improve the motorbike and get it to a point where we feel comfortable. We've struggled with that so we went out with something very different for the (Superpole) lap to give us some direction for tomorrow. It worked pretty well so maybe we have found a bit of direction. But then again, who knows? It's a very different motorbike and we've got a lot to do to figure it out compared to the old one."

Going out next to last in Superpole, Hayes will start next to Mladin after turning a lap time of 1:36.861 (86.227 mph).

"Superpole has gone pretty decent for me so far this year," said Hayes, who also qualified a season-best second at Road Atlanta. "The formula has worked -- put in a clean lap, make few mistakes and get on the front row. But we're getting our butt kicked on Saturdays and Sundays. There's still work to do. We'll see what we can come up with; we have a couple of ideas. We'll see if we have a magic bullet so that we can get closer to the times we want."

Mladin's teammate Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-1000R) topped his basic qualifying time of 1:37.019 (86.086 mph) during the Superpole session. Hayden will start third after turning a lap in 1:36.941 (86.156 mph).

"It was my best Superpole of the year," said Hayden. "It was the first time that I went faster than qualifying so I feel good about that. The last two races I missed the front row so this is important. I'm happy with this."

Bostrom turned the fastest lap of the day at 1:36.117 (86.894 mph) in basic qualifying but was unable to repeat his efforts, finishing Superpole with a time of 1:37.006 (86.098 mph) and rounding out the front line for the weekend's races. 

"I didn't think (qualifying) was so good but I'm up here so that's good," said Bostrom, who will start from the front row for the first time this season. "I thought we'd be better. I didn't put it together like these other guys, but we're on the front row and we hope we can get up front. It will be a good race tomorrow."

Rising AMA Pro American Superbike talent Blake Young (No. 79 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-1000R) will be sitting out this weekend's event. Young suffered a hand injury at Barber Motorsports Park and was hoping to make a return to competition this weekend.

Superpole Results
1. Mat Mladin Rockstar · Makita · Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:36.230
2. Josh Hayes Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha YZF-R1 1:36.861
3. Tommy Hayden Rockstar · Makita · Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:36.940
4. Ben Bostrom Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha YZF-R1 1:37.005
5. Geoff May National Guard Jordan Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:37.226
6. Aaron Yates Jordan Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:37.554
7. Larry Pegram Foremost Insurance · Pegram Racing Ducati Ducati 1098R 1:38.022
8. Jake Holden Holden Racing Honda CBR1000RR 1:38.197
9. Neil Hodgson Corona Extra Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1:38.697
10. David Anthony Aussie Dave Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:38.858