The Michael Jordan Motorsports (MJM) teams, #23 Jordan Suzuki and #54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki, took to the track today for their AMA Pro Racing Qualifying session at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, in front of the largest crowd the series has seen all year. Under bright blue skies and with the air temperature in the high 60s, the MJM riders put their 2009 Suzuki GSX-Rs on the second and third rows for tomorrow’s National Guard American Superbike race in today’s "traditional" Q session.
The Laguna Seca joint MotoGP weekend is unique in many ways, one of which was today’s retro Qualifying, which saw the riders have a 30-minute session during which they had to set their best time. With multiple riders occupying the top spot throughout the session including Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates, the session provided close competition with just 1.6 seconds covering the entire top 10. Qualifying came to a close with Aaron Yates of Jordan Suzuki in sixth, just .2 off the front row. Geoff May came .1 second from putting his National Guard Jordan Suzuki on the second row and will start tomorrow’s American Superbike race from P9.
Aaron Yates Speaks… (6th 1:25.338 – Jordan Suzuki #23)
"We went backward a little bit during that session with the setup," said Yates. "We ran all right though, and we are now going over the data. We’ll be in good shape tomorrow for the race. Laguna Seca is a fun track, but it’s important to have everything dialed in right. On Sunday, the Jordan Suzuki will be in it."
Geoff May Speaks… (9th 1:25.949 – National Guard Jordan Suzuki #54)
"Well, I would I have liked to put my National Guard Jordan Suzuki further up in the charts seeing as it’s July 4th and all," May said. "We played with some new things during the session and it just didn’t have the effects we were hoping for. Nine is just a number and we’ll be right there tomorrow mixing it up and looking to put the GSX-R on the box."
Photos by: Brian J. Nelson
