Hayden, Herrin and Beach top Mid-Ohio

From AMA Pro Racing

LEXINGTON, OH - Under hot, sunny skies, day one of the Honda Super Cycle Weekend on Friday saw first round qualifying for the three major road racing classes in the AMA Pro Road Racing series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

In the premier AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike class, championship points leader Tommy Hayden on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki grabbed the provisional pole position from last year's Mid-Ohio winner Josh Hayes at the very end of the 50-minute session.

Hayes, riding his Team Graves Yamaha, had set the pace in the first practice and throughout most of the qualifying session until Hayden bettered Hayes' time by 0.011 secs. Hayden posted a lap of 1:25.637/100.891 mph around the 2.4-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to take the provisional pole position. Hayes was the first rider to dip into the 1:25 second range with a lap of 1:25.649/100.877 mph and was only bested by Hayden. 

Taking a fighting third place on the provisional grid for the doubleheader race weekend was Foremost Insurance Ducati rider and local favourite Larry Pegram. Pegram was consistently fast from the drop of the green flag and he also waited for the end of the session to set his best time of 1:26.179. Ben Bostrom was next up on his Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha with a time of 1:26.184.

In Daytona SportBike another points leader stole the spotlight with Josh Herrin posting his fastest lap on his 19th (of 20) lap of qualifying. Herrin, riding his Team Graves Yamaha was the only rider to get into the 1:28 second range with his lap of 1:28.732. Herrin, who has three wins in 2010 and one pole position, has started on the front row in every race this season and currently leads the points over the man he beat to the provisional pole position on Friday, GEICO Powersports Suzuki rider and last year's pole sitter and race winner, Danny Eslick. 

Eslick had set the early pace in the first qualifying session and then laid down a quick lap in the closing moments of qualifying until Herrin shot to the top of the time sheets. Eslick's lap of 1:29.167 looked like the time to beat and he did have one last shot at Herrin but didn't get the lap he was looking for.

Steve Rapp, riding the Team Latus Motors Ducati, once again showed his speed and skill by running quick early and then also posting a strong lap of 1:29.588, which held up with only Herrin and Eslick besting his effort. Taking fourth was Martin Cardenas on his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki with a time of 1:29.458. Cardenas had held the top spot at one point during the session and he rallied strongly to post his best lap on his 19th lap of qualifying. Cardenas has five wins this year and is in third place in points.

In the AMA Pro SuperSport Young Gun class, the issue of fastest qualifier was also settled at the very end of the 40-minute session. The top spot in the session was held by no less than five riders and, in a mad dash to get back on the track and set a time, J.D. Beach made a late change to his Rockwall Yamaha and left the pits with little over two minutes left. He had been trading the top spot with not only his Rockwall Yamaha teammate, Cameron Beaubier and LTD Yamaha teammates Huntley Nash and Tomas Puerta but also three-time race winner Joey Pascarella on his DNA Energy Drink CNR Yamaha. 

Beach posted a sensational lap of 1:30.652, just ahead of Beaubier, who was the only other rider in the 1:30 range with his lap of 1:30.849. After all the fireworks Nash, winner of the most recent AMA Pro SuperSport race at Road America, set a 1:31.432, just ahead of Pascarella with his 1:31.630.

American SuperBike Provisional Qualifying Results
1. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:25.637
2. Josh Hayes (Team Graves Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.011
3. Larry Pegram (Foremost Insurance ·Pegram Racing) Ducati 1098R +0.542
4. Ben Bostrom (Pat Clark Motorsports) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.546
5. Brett McCormick (Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.797
6. Jake Zemke (National Guard Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.848
7. Jake Holden (M4 Monster Energy Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.856
8. Chris Ulrich (M4 Monster Energy Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1.383
9. Jordan Szoke (Waznie Racing Ciclo Werks BMC Dewildt Honda) Honda CBR1000RR +1.694
10. Eric Bostrom (Cycle World Attack Performance Yoshimura Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1.745
11. Taylor Knapp (RidersDiscount.com) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1.830
12. Geoff May (Erik Buell Racing) Buell 1125RR +1.929
13. Kurtis L. Roberts (RidersDiscount.com) Yamaha YZF-R1 +2.938
14. Chris Clark (Pat Clark Motorsports) Yamaha YZF-R1 +4.861
15. Johnny Rock Page (Aussie Dave Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +5.838
16. Greg Fryer (FJ Racing) Yamaha YZF-R1 +5.939