Josh Hayes goes 2.335 seconds quicker than second-placed Monster Graves Yamaha teammate Josh Herrin, Blake Young third, Roger Hayden fourth
ELKHART LAKE, WI, JUNE 1 – Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes set the tone in a chilly, windblown morning AMA superbike provisional qualifying session at Road America. With the help of a tow down the back straight by Team Amsoil/Hero’s Geoff May (EBR), Hayes was the fastest superbike rider on the 4.05-mile road course on Friday by 2.335 seconds. How did he think the others would react to that gap?
“You want the Mat Mladin answer?,†he asked with a smile. “He’s obviously cheating†he said to hoots of laughter.
Hayes took the provisional pole with a lap of 2:11.853 in the red flag-interrupted afternoon qualifying session. The previous qualifying mark of 2:11.541 at Road America was set by Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mat Mladin in 2007 and Hayes came within 0.13 sec. of that in the morning on Friday. But there were problems in qualifying that would prevent him from setting a new qualifying mark. The 56ºF temperature and gusting winds suppressed track temperature. That affected tire performance, with Hayes experiencing cold tearing after about three laps in the morning practice. There was also a red flag that cut into his track time. He also didn’t get a tow, and, in the final eight-plus minutes once the track was cleaned up, he came up on slower riders on each hot lap.
With all that, he was still fastest on the day by 1.234 seconds, and he may have gone faster. His theoretical fast lap, based on his best segment times, was a 2:11.2.
“The bike’s working great and I’m excited to get back to this racetrack,†Hayes said just four days after winning the AMA Superbike race at Miller Motorsports Park on Memorial Day. “It’s always been one of my favorites, if not my favorite.â€
Photo Gallery: AMA Superbike Road America Friday qualifying report—Hayes dominates - Sport Rider Magazine
Angelo Bergamonti Werner Bergold Jacques Bernard Adrian Bernetic Manfred Bernsee
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