May and Yates discuss 2nd row Superpole qualifying at Infineon

Michael Jordan Motorsports’ teams took to the track at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA for the exciting Superpole qualifying session late Friday afternoon. As this was the first time the Michael Jordan Motorsports teams have ridden at Infineon Raceway on the new 2009 GSX-R 1000s, the teams found themselves needing to quickly get up to speed with the setups on the potent new Suzukis. With only the top 10 riders from Friday’s Basic Qualifying session eligible to participate in Superpole, this exclusive session set the final grid positions for Saturday and Sunday’s feature American Superbike races.

For both races, Geoff May of the #54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki team and #23 Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates will be starting from the second row of the American Superbike field, with May in fifth position and Yates in the sixth spot.

May’s Superpole lap was slightly slower than his Basic Qualifying lap and the National Guard Jordan Suzuki rider moved from Basic Qualifying’s Position 4 (P4) to a final Qualifying position of P5. His MJM counterpart Aaron Yates went .018 seconds faster during his Superpole lap, as compared to his Basic Qualifying time and improved his position from P7 to P6 at the conclusion of Superpole.

5th – Geoff May Speaks…

"We didn’t make any changes on the bike as it felt really good in Basic Qualifying," May said. "I was going good during my hot lap but missed a couple of shifts, one coming out of turn 7 and one out of T11, which added a little time. I’m liking the way my new Suzuki feels. This 2009 bike is a great motorcycle. We didn’t test here earlier this month, so hats off to my crew for getting us up to speed quickly."

6th – Aaron Yates Speaks…

"The guys made some tweaks going into Superpole and the bike was much improved," said Yates. "It’s funny – this is the bike felt real good before, but I wasn’t quite ready for it to be so much better! With the one hot lap in Superpole, you really need to hammer on it quick and don’t have any leeway to ease into a new setup. I feel confident though, and the guys have the new GSX-R working good. We’re here on the second row and ready to race tomorrow."


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