Monster Mash: Josh Hayes Earns Provisional Pole Despite
Two Crashes at Road Atlanta in First Day of Triumph Big Kahuna Atlanta
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BRASELTON, Ga. (April 20,
2012) - Defending champion Josh Hayes
watched the final ten minutes of Friday's AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike
qualifying session tick off from pitlane alongside a pair of crashed No. 1-plated Monster Energy Graves
Yamaha YZF-R1s.
Despite encountering a lot more drama than he might have
hoped for, Hayes ultimately walked away from the opening day of action for the
Triumph Big Kahuna Atlanta presented by Dunlop Tire and LeoVince with the
provisional pole after turning a lap time of 1:25.380 around Road
Atlanta's 2.55-mile natural road course.
Hayes also crashed out of the
day's free practice, but in each session no rider proved capable of taking
advantage of Hayes' absence and bettering the mark he had previously set.
"It's been a rough day," Hayes
admitted. "I had another good (lap) going before I made my second big mistake of
the day. It's been a while since we've seen the place, but I have a lot of laps
around Road Atlanta. This is, I think, the 18th year that I've raced here. Every
year I seem to get some laps in here, except for last year. Still feels like
home and I still remember my way around pretty well. All in all, things have
gone pretty well except for a couple of miscues."
The champ promised that he'll be
fully ready to fight on Saturday. "I'm a little beat up but overall everything
works. I'm running out of suits and helmets. Other than that, I have a few
abrasions on my knee but nothing that will keep me from performing well."
It came as little surprise that
Hayes' title rival, Blake Young, was the man who came closest to knocking him
off the top spot in qualifying. The Yoshimura Racing Suzuki pilot threw down a
1:25.508 to put a scare into Hayes whose fast lap had previously appeared to be
unassailable.
Local favorite Geoff May, who
hails from nearby Gainesville, Georgia, put in an outstanding effort for the
Team Amsoil/Hero EBR squad on Friday. May's 1:26.551 put him third overall,
trailing only the superstar duo of Hayes and Young.
May is no stranger to success at
Road Atlanta, of course, having won the Superstock race at the venue in 2008,
and then finishing on the podium twice in the premier SuperBike class a year
later.
Hayes' rookie teammate, Josh
Herrin, also considers Road Atlanta to be his home circuit. And the Dublin,
Georgia native was also quick, rounding out the provisional front row on his
Monster Energy Graves Yamaha on the provisional front row at 1:26.572.
The provisional second row was an
all-Suzuki affair, led by Yoshimura Racing Suzuki's Chris Clark. Teammates Roger
Hayden (National Guard Jordan Suzuki) and Ben Bostrom (Jordan Suzuki) were next,
followed by an impressive David Anthony on the Kneedraggers.com/Motul/Fly Racing
Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Steve Rapp headed the provisional
third row on the Attack Performance Kawasaki ZX-10R, with Larry Pegram (Foremost
Insurance/Pegram Racing BMW), Jake Holden (EvanSteelPeformance.com BMW), and
Chris Fillmore (KTM/HMC Racing) in line behind.
Hayes will look to add to his
burgeoning bonus point tally in final qualifying on Saturday morning before the
SuperBike stars turn their attention to the day's 20-lap final.
Martin Cardenas (GEICO Suzuki)
earned provisional pole in the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike division with a
lap time of 1:28.938.
After earning only one pole in
his AMA Pro career, the former series champion won pole last month at Daytona
before setting the provisional best time today. Has there been a change in his
approach? "No," Cardenas said, "I think this bike suits me very well and gives
me a good feeling so I can push harder. So far it's been good."
Jason DiSalvo (Latus Motors
Racing) led the morning practice and finished second in qualifying, ahead of
fellow veteran Jake Zemke (DucShop Racing.) Dane Westby (M4 Broaster Chicken
Suzuki) produced a strong session to finish on the overnight front row. Daytona
200 winner Joey Pascarella (SGA Yamaha) was fifth quickest. He was joined on the
provisional second row by Cory West (Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki), Huntley
Nash (LTD Racing) and Tommy Hayden (Yamaha Extended Services Graves Yamaha.)
In AMA Pro
Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport, the battle for provisional pole went to
reigning series champ James Rispoli (Orient Express Celtic Racing) who set a
Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport track record with a lap time of 1:30.337,
besting Jake Lewis (Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki) and Dustin Dominguez (Castrol
Triumph) in the process. This trio were the only riders in the 1:30 bracket on
the challenging Georgia circuit. Hayden Gillim (Red Bull/RoadRace Factory)
closed out the front row.
Find out who will become the next
Big Kahuna in AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike and AMA Pro GoPro Daytona
SportBike by tuning in to SPEED for a set of same-day delayed broadcasts
scheduled to begin Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT) and Sunday at 11:00
p.m. ET (8:00 p.m. PT).
Follow along live as the AMA Pro
Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport and AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series
riders battle for their boards by logging onto http://www.speed2.com.
SPEED2 is a
broadband service available to customers of Time Warner, Bright House Networks,
Cablevision, DISH and Cox. For more information and instructions on gaining
access to all of the AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com and AMA Pro Vance &
Hines XR1200 Series races, please review the SPEED2 FAQ located at http://www.speed2.com/faq.
Live Timing & Scoring of all
on-track sessions will be available at http://live.amaproracing.com/rr/.
Between the races, stay connected with AMA Pro Road Racing at www.twitter.com/AMAProSBK and www.facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing.
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AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional
motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of
events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more
about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.
For additional information
contact:
AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com
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