Jason DiSalvo wins his first career Superpole racing the Suzuki GSX-R600.
Team M4 Suzuki’s Jason DiSalvo scored his first career Superpole victory at Road Atlanta on Friday, claiming the fastest time in the Daytona SportBike Superpole and SportBike free session. Riding his Suzuki GSX-R600 to a pacesetting time of 1:29.933, DiSalvo will claim the top spot for this weekend's double header in Braselton, GA.
The M4 Suzuki pilot said of his victory, "I was just really happy to win my first Superpole. I kind of felt like people were expecting more from me in Superpole due to my qualifying history and I wasn't delivering the goods. This is a monkey off my back and I'm pumped to try to give the M4 guys a win tomorrow and Sunday."
The New Yorker was followed by Honda’s Jake Zemke, the 2008 AMA Supersport second place winner, and Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking, who took his first race win here at Road Atlanta in 2001.
Jason DiSalvo teammate, Martin Cardenas, also entered Superpole looking formidable, lapping second quickest in both the morning practice (1:31.394) and provisional qualifying (1:29.872). Unfortunately, the Colombian crashed during his Superpole lap in Turn 10 and will be forced to start the weekend's 20-lap SportBike finals from tenth place.
Mat Mladin takes the Daytona SportBike Superpole at Road Atlanta on his Suzuki GSX-R600.
Six-time title winner Mat Mladin came out on top following the AMA Superbike Superpole at Road Atlanta. Having taken first place for Yoshimura Suzuki at the last doubleheader in Fontana he is quickly reclaiming his position as an unstoppable force.
"It was a good lap for us," said the six-time AMA champion. "I think there's quite a bit more out there, but in conditions like today, it's quite cool and the left side of the tires never came around. There was too much rubber to get heated up in that amount of time, so the left side was pretty average and the right side was clean and we got enough temperature in it to do a decent job. It was good."
Yamaha’s Josh Hayes came in second place on the grid after his best American Superbike qualifying effort of the year. Georgia State native Geoff May turned in a third place lap for Suzuki on his home track at Road Atlanta.
Daytona SportBike Superpole
Road Atlanta
Braselton, GA
1. Jason DiSalvo (Suzuki GSX-R600) 1:29.933
2. Jake Zemke (Honda CBR600RR) 1:30.254
3. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6) 1:30.878
4. Chaz Davies (Aprilia RSV1000R) 1:30.935
5. Michael Barnes (Buell 1225R) 1:31.079
6. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6) 1:31.466
7. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:31.566
8. Josh Herrin (Yamaha YZF-R6) 1:31.588
9. Danny Eslick (Buell 1125R) 1:31.772
10. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki GSX-R600) ----------
AMA Superbike Superpole
Road Atlanta
Braselton, GA
1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:25.280
2. Josh Hayes (Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:26.901
3. Geoff May (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:26.942
4. Blake Young (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:27.071
5. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:27.257
6. Larry Pegram (Ducati 1098R) 1:27.557
7. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:27.612
8. Aaron Yates (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:28.144
9. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:28.335
10. David Anthony (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 1:28.677
