AMA Pro Road Racing Mid Ohio Friday 2011

Round 6 of the 2011 AMA Pro Road Racing series has kicked off at the Mid Ohio course in Lexington, Ohio. Team Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes, RMR Suzuki’s Danny Eslick and Triumph’s Dustin Dominguez were the headliners on Friday in their respective classes, with Hayes continuing his strong form in qualifying this year with another provisional pole position. Also worthy of mention is Dominguez’s fastest lap in SuperSport, which puts the Triumph Daytona 675 in contention for a win this Saturday.
 
American SuperBike
 
Hayes is well on his way to his sixth pole position of 2011. So far the 36-year-old is undefeated in American SuperBike when it comes to snatching the top spot on the grid, and after posting the fastest lap on Friday it appears the Gulfport, Mississippi native is ready to rack up another one. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Blake Young was only 0.074 seconds behind Hayes, with National Guard Jordan Suzuki’s Roger Hayden rounding out the top-three times 0.380 seconds behind Young.
 
Young’s Suzuki teammate, Tommy Hayden, posted the fourth-best time with a lap of 1:26.146. San Diego BMW/Locust Powered by Lee`s Cycle rider Steve Rapp nearly had Tommy Hayden at the end of the session, but had to settle with fifth on the timesheets just 0.005 seconds behind. BMW’s Larry Pegram earned sixth on the provisional grid followed by M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas, who comes to Mid Ohio fresh off his first ever win in American SuperBike. Jordan Suzuki’s Ben Bostrom was the final rider to lap within a second of Hayes after recording the eighth-fastest lap. Team Iron Horse BMW’s Chris Peris and KTM/HMC Racing’s Chris Fillmore were ninth and tenth in the charts. Cycle World Attack Performance’s JB Beach finished the session in 15th more than 3.4 seconds off the pace of Hayes.

AMA SuperBike Friday Qualifying Results:
1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1:25.639
2. Blake Young (Suzuki) 1:25.713
3. Roger Hayden (Suzuki) 1:26.093
4. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 1:26.146
5. Steve Rapp (BMW) 1:26.151
6. Larry Pegram (BMW) 1:26.300
7. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki) 1:26.380
8. Ben Bostrom (Suzuki) 1:26.562
9. Chris Peris (BMW) 1:27.354
10. Chris Fillmore (KTM) 1:27.384
11. David Anthony (Suzuki) 1:27.482
12. Shane Narbonne (Suzuki) 1:28.475
13. Geoff May (Buell) 1:28.497
14. Jeremy Toye (BMW) 1:28.927
15. JB Beach (Kawasaki) 1:29.077

Daytona SportBike
 
Eslick grabbed the fastest lap in the Daytona SportBike field on Friday. With a lap of 1:29.723 set during qualifying, Eslick was the only rider who managed a time below the 1’30 mark on the way to snagging provisional pole. Ducati men Jake Holden and Jason DiSalvo trailed Eslick, with DiSalvo running more than four-tenths off the pace for third on the timesheet. Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin picked up fourth in the order, and currently trails Eslick by only four points as the two go head to head this weekend.
 
Yamaha Extended Service/Pat Clark Sports’ Tommy Aquino nabbed fifth on the provisional starting grid and was the final rider to come within a second of Eslick’s time. Cameron Beaubier was 0.118 seconds behind Aquino, and was followed by a trio of Suzuki riders including M4’s Dane Westby, Vesrah’s Taylor Knapp and Cory West. Triple Crown Industries’s Paul Allison rounded out the top-10 with a time of 1:31.259. Some of the names absent from the top-10 included Celtic Racing’s PJ Jacobsen in 12th and LTD Racing’s Huntley Nash in 14th, both of whom were more than 2.3 seconds adrift of the leader as only one more qualifying session remains before Saturday’s race.

Daytona SportBike Friday Qualifying Results:
1. Danny Eslick (Suzuki) 1:29.723
2. Jake Holden (Ducati) 1:30.037
3. Jason DiSalvo (Ducati) 1:30.199
4. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 1:30.398
5. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha) 1:30.720
6. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) 1:30.838
7. Dane Westby (Suzuki) 1:31.093
8. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) 1:31.099
9. Cory West (Suzuki) 1:31.102
10. Paul Allison (Yamaha) 1:31.259
11. Kris Turner (Suzuki) 1:31.660
12. PJ Jacobsen (Ducati) 1:32.037
13. Tyler OHara (Yamaha) 1:32.399
14. Huntley Nash (Yamaha) 1:32.885
15. Fernando Amantini (Kawasaki) 1:32.895

AMA SuperSport
 
Riding the only Triumph in the Motorcycle-Superstore.com AMA SuperSport series, Dominguez posted the best time on Friday by 0.1647 seconds ahead of Ant Racing Suzuki’s James Rispoli. Yamaha rider Hayden Gillim recorded the third-best lap of the day, though it was nearly half a second off the pace of Dominguez. LTD Yamaha’s Tomas Puerta claimed fourth on the timesheets, the Colombian finishing Friday’s session more than a second adrift with Corey Alexander just 0.001 seconds behind. Ryan Kerr, David Gaviria and Miles Thorton snagged sixth through seventh, respectively, with series leader Gaviria more than 1.4 seconds behind Dominguez. Meanwhile it was a tough day for Stefano Mesa, who finished outside the top-10 more than two and a half seconds off pace.

AMA SuperSport Friday Qualifying Results:
1. Dustin Dominguez (Triumph) 1:31.673
2. James Rispoli (Suzuki) 1:31.837
3. Hayden Gillim (Yamaha) 1:32.118
4. Tomas Puerta (Yamaha) 1:32.978
5. Corey Alexander (Suzuki) 1:32.979
6. Ryan Kerr (Kawasaki) 1:33.017
7. David Gaviria (Yamaha) 1:33.144
8. Miles Thornton (Yamaha) 1:33.186
9. Elena Myers (Suzuki) 1:33.873
10. Eric Stump (Yamaha) 1:33.965
11. James Dellinger (Suzuki) 1:33.974
12. Stefano Mesa (Ducati) 1:34.203
13. Brad Graham (Ducati) 1:34.236
14. Cassidy Heiser (Yamaha) 1:34.991
15. Frank Babuska (Suzuki) 1:35.142