Superstock Qualifying.
Pos. Rider Team Bike Time
1 Aaron Yates Jordan Suzuki Suzuki GSXR1000 1:38.829
2 Geoff May Jordan Suzuki Suzuki GSXR1000 1:38.856
3 Michael Barnes Celtic Racing Suzuki GSXR1000 1:39.406
4 Chris Peris Team ESP Suzuki GSX R1000 1:39.844
5 Chris Ulrich Roadracing World Suzuki GSX R1000 1:40.294
6 Jeff Wood Suzuki GSXR1000 1:40.857
7 Ben Thompson Millennium/KWS Suzuki GSXR1000 1:40.953
8 Hawk Mazzotta HALOF Racing Suzuki GSXR1000 1:40.969
9 Jake Holden Corona Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1:41.687
10 Scott Jensen Suzuki GSXR1000 1:41.739
11 Scott Russell Jamie James Yamaha YZF R1 1:41.977
Superbike Qualifying Final.
Pos. Rider Team Bike Time
1 Mathew Mladin American Suzuki Suzuki GSXR1000 1:35.760
2 Ben Spies American Suzuki Suzuki GSXR1000 1:35.967
3 Tommy Hayden American Suzuki Suzuki GSX R1000 1:36.061
4 Jason DiSalvo Yamaha Motor Corp Yamaha YZF R1 1:36.340
5 Eric Bostrom Yamaha Motor Corp Yamaha YZF R1 1:36.611
6 Jamie Hacking Monster Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX10RR 1:36.785
7 Roger Hayden Monster Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX10R 1:36.886
8 Aaron Yates Jordan Suzuki Suzuki GSXR1000 1:37.553
9 Miguel DuHamel American Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1:37.682
10 Neil Hodgson American Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1:38.424
11 Geoff May Jordan Suzuki Suzuki GSXR1000 1:38.634
12 Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki Team Green Kawasaki ZX1000 1:38.790
13 Blake Young M4 EMGO Suzuki Suzuki GSXR1000 1:39.346
14 Chris Ulrich Roadracing World Suzuki GSXR1000 1:39.346
15 Robertino Pietri Roadracing World Suzuki GSX R1000 1:39.594
16 Chris Peris Team ESP Suzuki GSX R1000 1:39.754
17 Matt Lynn Corona Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1:40.080
18 Scott Jensen Suzuki GSXR1000 1:40.302
19 Ben Thompson Millennium/KWS Suzuki GSXR1000 1:40.379
20 Keith Marshall Cyclespace.com Suzuki GSXR1000 1:40.385
Supersport Practice.
Pos. Rider Team Bike Time
1 Ben Bostrom Yamaha Motor Corp Yamaha YZF R6 1:40.640
2 Josh Hayes Erion Honda Honda CBR600RR 1:40.786
3 Steve Rapp Attack Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX6R 1:40.819
4 Josh Herrin Graves Yamaha Yamaha YZF R6 1:40.820
5 Roger Hayden Monster Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX6R 1:40.940
6 Jake Zemke Erion Honda Honda CBR600RR 1:41.528
7 Chaz Davies Attack Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX6R 1:41.546
8 Cory West M4 EMGO Suzuki Suzuki GSXR600 1:41.597
9 Tommy Hayden American Suzuki Suzuki GSX R600 1:41.620
10 Blake Young M4 EMGO Suzuki Suzuki GSXR600 1:41.674
11 Aaron Gobert Rockwall Honda Honda CBR 600RR 1:41.770
12 Martin Cardenas M4 EMGO Suzuki Suzuki GSXR 600 1:41.789
13 Shea Fouchek Erion Honda Honda CBR 600RR 1:41.995
14 Taylor Knapp Ray C's Extreme Kawasaki ZX6RR 1:42.580
15 Michael Beck Graves Yamaha Yamaha YZF R6 1:42.975
16 Joshua Day Yamaha YZF R6 1:43.077
17 Danny Eslick Matsushima Suzuki Suzuki GSXR600 1:43.394
18 Nicky Moore Moto Uno Kawasaki ZX6 1:43.650
19 Garrett Carter Matsushima Suzuki Suzuki GSXR600 1:43.770
20 Eduard Alberts Honda CBR600RR 1:44.044
Mat Mladin (#6 Rock Star Makita Suzuki, pole position at 1:35.760):
Q That extra point will be important at the end of the season, won't it?
A I guess so. If you're thinking about the championship.
Q Care to elaborate?
A I'm not thinking about the championship. We're looking forward to the race, and we have a motorcycle that's very consistent and very nice to ride. Hopefully we'll get a decent start and get away there and see what happens.
Q How's the GSX-R 1000 changed for this year? At all?
A It's the same motorcycle as last year. But there are some changes, a new fork and new engine pieces, obviously, bits and pieces like that. It's an updated version of last year's bike. After this race I know we have some more engine stuff coming, and things like that. Today I rode both my bikes, and one of them's got the engine that we finished last year in. Compared to the few updates we got for here, the new one's definitely better. We know from some dyno work that the new stuff we're going to get after here is going to be better. So we're looking forward to getting through here and getting to the real racetracks and having a crack at it.
Q After Daytona, there's more horsepower coming, eh?
A Yep. Seems that way.
Ben Spies (#1 Rock Star Makita Suzuki, second quick at 1:35.967):
Q Ben, you had nine of 11 poles last year, including here at Daytona. What is it that inspires you throughout qualifying, to get the pole?
A It's just that every point counts. That's what we strive to do. It didn't work out today. It's no big deal. We tried as hard as we could. It was a pretty good session. That's about it. We tried 100% and couldn't get it done, so that was about it.
Q We found that that one extra point really does help, in that you won by a point last year.
A Yeah. Obviously the poles came into play last year, but like I said, we did everything we could today, and at the end we put in a tire that seems to be everybody's favorite, and ours too. It started sliding around quite a bit. I rode 100% and came in and the motor was leaking quite a bit of oil, but I don't even think we had the pace to do it either way. But hopefully tomorrow we'll have some stuff fixed and try to get me faster in a couple areas of the track that I'm slow at.
Tommy Hayden (#22 Rock Star Makita Suzuki, third quick at 1:36.061):
Q Tommy, it looks pretty good, the three of you guys up here. How was your quick lap?
A It was pretty good. The bike's been working really good since I got here. I haven't really changed a whole lot. I've been steadily getting a little faster, a little faster, and I was able to get a quick lap in there. I'm pretty happy with my bike and my race tires. I need to work to get a little more consistent in the warm-up, and I should be ready for the race.
Jason DiSalvo (#40 Yamaha Racing, fourth quick at 1:36.341):
Q Jason, I think this is your first front row in the Superbike class?
A Yeah. It's good to be up here doing a press conference for Superbike. I've been here years before in FX and Supersport, Superstock, but first one for Superbike, so I'm definitely excited.
Q Tell me about your pole lap.
A It was pretty good. I was actually following Ben on my lap. I just hit all my marks. It turned out to be a pretty good lap. The Yamaha R1's working really good here this weekend. I just want to say thanks to the crew for putting in all the hard work. It's really paid off. We've got our first front row start, so I'm pretty excited.
Q You guys are on bikes that are generated from the Italian bikes in the World Superbike championship?
A Yeah. We've been developing and riding the European, the World Superbike, version. Same R1 as last year and everything, just a little bit different parts and some trickle-down from the European team. It's really helped at lot. Not taking anything away from our guys, though, because there's really been a lot of ongoing development with the parts and the information that we've gotten. They've done the best with it, and just turned it into a really rideable package.
Q Ben, did you know Jason was in back of you getting a tow?
SPIES: Yeah. I saw he was back there, but it was one of those deals, with the amount of time on the clock, we had no choice but to go. Also Tommy was behind us too. We towed them around and it almost didn't work out good. He almost out-qualified us. But he tried to return the favor to me and I kind of messed up that lap. Sometimes you don't want to lead a whole lot of people around, but the way it was, in those situations today, we needed to get that lap in and done and come in and get some tires, so that's just how it is.
Q How far through the session was your hot lap?
SPIES: It was pretty, it was a few laps from the end. It was a couple laps to go. We did everything we could today, and it wasn't good enough, obviously. We'll just keep working for Saturday.
Q Tommy, you have shown really good form this weekend. We know you're healthier than you were last year. Has there been much change with the bike, or your setup?
HAYDEN: Not a whole lot really. Just a few small things they've done. Some seats and different things, just to fit me a little bit more, being a little smaller than these guys. The bike's always been there. I just had a hard time adapting to it at first. My teammates have dominated, pretty much, on the bike, and it's just a matter of me learning how to ride it better and getting a little more comfortable and getting healthy.
Q Mat, I noticed your guys were working hard on your suspension, particularly the front end. In the past, you guys don't mess with the front end a whole lot on race weekends. Were you guys searching hard for a setup, or just trying to get that much farther ahead?
MLADIN: I'm not overly fussed with the new front fork, to be honest with you. We have some updates coming, hopefully in the next few weeks. The front fork's not something that we in America actually asked for. It was developed in World Superbike. For some reason, we had to deal with it. I'm not that overly fussed on the front fork. We believe we know what needs to happen to fix it for me. But it's not going to happen for here, obviously. We've been working hard with it, and we've got it feeling better. But it's not as good as my old fork, for me.
Q Ben, now that you're only running Superbike, does it change your approach on the weekend? Does it allow you to do anything differently with your approach to the race weekend, or is it just you're a little bit more relaxed?
A Just more relaxed. A lot more off time. More time to sleep in. Easier from that standpoint. But like I said, from going out outright fast and making the lap times happen and winning the races, it's the same level of trying to push and go fast. It's not like it's coming any easier. It's just more relaxing and more time off of the bike. In the end, it's going to make it a little physically easier, but it's still going to be tough, for sure.
