Josh Hayes sent the fastest time in the Superbike class Friday at Infineon.
The first practice and qualifying sessions got underway this afternoon at northern California’s Infineon Raceway for Round 2 of this year’s AMA Pro Road Racing Championship. Monster Energy Yamaha rider Josh Hayes took top honors in the Superbike class while Jake Holden set the fastest time in the Daytona Sportbike class. Benny Solis registered the quickest time in the
Motorcycle-Superstore.com Supersport class.
NATIONAL GUARD AMA SUPERBIKE
It appears that Josh Hayes Infineon dominance is set to continue with the reigning AMA Superbike champ setting the quickest lap time in Friday afternoon’s first qualifying session. Hayes put in a lap time of 1’36.397 toward the end of the qualifying session aboard his Graves-prepped Yamaha YZF-R1.
“I’m very fortunate that my crew does such a good job to get me a bike that is absolutely perfect,” said Hayes who’s won three races in a row here. “It works the same every time I get on it. I know I can go out and ride my behind off from the get-go.”
Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden was right on his tail with a lap of 1’36.508 followed by Jordan Suzuki’s Ben Bostrom. Class rookie Martin Cardenas slotted in fourth place and was less than a second behind Hayes
.
"We improved the bike quite a bit from the practice to qualifying, which was very encouraging," said the '10 Daytona Sportbike champ . "The top two guys are pretty far out there but we'll look to continue to improve and close the gap."
Other riders keep tabs on are Motorcycle USA’s guest sportbike test rider Steve Rapp who qualified eighth aboard a Lee’s Cycle Racing BMW S1000RR. Final qualifying takes place tomorrow followed by the first 22-lap Superbike race at 3:15 p.m.
Tommy Hayden also put in a solid qualifying showing at Infineon in the Superbike class.
1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha)
2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki)
3. Ben Bostrom (Suzuki)
4. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki)
5. Blake Young (Suzuki)
6. Larry Pegram (BMW)
7. Chris Peris (BMW)
8. Steve Rapp (BMW)
9. David Anthony (Suzuki)
10. Roger Hayden (Suzuki)
11. Geoff May (Buell)
12. Chris Clark (Yamaha)
13. Jeremy Toye (BMW)
14. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki)
15. James Randolph (BMW)
DAYTONA SPORTBIKE
The Ducatis of Jake Holden and Jason DiSalvo are looking difficult to beat in the Daytona Sportbike class.
Jake Holden set the fastest time in the first qualifying session aboard a Ducati 848 EVO. His time of 1’39.444 was just a hair quicker than Graves Motorsports rider Josh Herrin who is now being allowed to compete in Sunday’s second race (Herrin was originally suspended entirely from the Infineon round due to alleged dirty riding at Daytona).
"I love technical tracks and I have a lot of confidence here," said Holden. "I think we'll run up front no matter what (in the race); there's just a lot of tough guys out there; it's a tough pack."
Both Holden and Herrin were the only races to break into the 39-second range. RMR Geico’s Danny Eslick was the third fastest with a lap time of 1’40.182 set late in the day on the new and improved Suzuki GSX-R600. Tommy Aquino was fourth fastest at the controls of his Yamaha Extended Service/ Pat Clark Sports/Graves Yamaha prepped YZF-R6. Following him was privateer Taylor Knapp. Final qualifying for the Daytona Sportbike races will take place Saturday morning followed by the 22-lap race at 2 p.m.
Daytona Sportbike Friday Qualifying Results:
1. Jake Holden (Ducati)
2. Jason DiSalvo (Ducati)
3. Josh Herrin (Yamaha)
4. Danny Eslick (Suzuki)
5. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha)
6. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki)
7. PJ Jacobsen (Ducati)
8. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
9. Dane Westby (Suzuki)
10. Corey West (Suzuki)
11. Tyler Odom (Honda)
12. Tyler Ohara (Yamaha)
13. Paul Allison (Yamaha)
14. Bryce Prince (Yamaha)
15. Santiago Villa (Suzuki)
MOTORCYCLE SUPERSTORE.COM SUPERSPORT
LTD Yamaha's Tomas Puerta looked good in the Supersport class Friday at Infineon.
After his mixed results during the Daytona season opener young up and comer Benny Solis set the fastest time in the Supersport class. The Southern California rider lapped Infineon’s 2.32-mile road course in a time of 1’42.413 on a Honda CBR600RR. LTD Yamaha riders Tomas Puerta and David Gaviria were second and third and fastest. Elena Myers, who is trying to race this weekend with a broken arm finished 17th and was some 5-seconds off the pace of the front runners. The boys and girls of Supersport get one more qualifying session followed by the 18-lap Race 1 at 1:00 p.m. Saturday.
AMA Supersport Friday Qualifying Results:
1. Benny Solis (Honda)
2. Tomas Puerta (Yamaha)
3. David Gaviria (Yamaha)
4. Travis Ohge (Yamaha)
5. Corey Alexander (Suzuki)
6. Wyatt Farris (Yamaha)
7. Greg McCullough (Yamaha)
8. Sebastiao Ferreira (Yamaha)
9. Jason Lauritzen (Yamaha)
10. Jett Chandler (Yamaha)
11. Rocco Horvath (Kawasaki)
12. Dustin Dominguez (Ducati)
13. Brandon Cleland (Yamaha)
14. Roi Holster (Yamaha)
15. Nicholas Hayman (Ducait)
