AMA Superbike qualifying results from Road America

As he has done for every American Superbike motorcycle race thus far in 2009, Mladin put the No. 7 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 on the pole, this time with a lap at 2:13.218 (109.391 mph). The six-time American Superbike champion has won eight of the season’s nine races to date and goes in search of his ninth Road America victory in Saturday’s first race of the doubleheader.

1st – Mat Mladin Speaks…

"It was a decent lap for us," Mladin said. "We left a little bit out there, but it wasn’t too bad. It’s more important to get things sorted out for tomorrow, and we’re definitely lacking some speed this week. A couple of other bikes have somehow picked up a lot of speed in the last month or so, straight-line speed. It looks like it might be a rough and tumble race and we’ll see how it goes in the end."

Starting alongside Mladin will be teammate Blake Young on the No. 79 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. Young, who hails from nearby Madison, Wis., posted the second-quickest lap of Superpole at 2:13.736 (108.967 mph). Young is returning to American Superbike action this weekend for the first time since he was injured in the second race of a doubleheader at Barber Motorsports Park early last month.

2nd – Blake Young Speaks…

"This is the favorite track on the circuit for me, obviously to have the fans and friends and family here," Young said. "It’s good to be back on the motorcycle. I’m really happy and it went really good for us. We moved up a spot, so we’re just going to have to work on a few more things for tomorrow morning’s warm-up session and we’ll be back at it."

Josh Hayes qualified third on the No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1 with a lap at 2:13.995 (108.756 mph). Hayes is the only rider other than Mladin to stand atop the American Superbike box this season, which he achieved with his victory in the first race of the doubleheader at Infineon Raceway last month. He was quick to point out that he and his team have some more work to do if they are going to celebrate another victory this weekend.

3rd – Josh Hayes Speaks…

"We need a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work," Hayes explained. "Mat’s still setting the benchmark, so we’re just out there working and we’ll see if we can catch up to him and make him race for it a little bit. "

Geoff May completes the American Superbike front row following a Superpole lap at 2:14.280 (108.525 mph) on the No. 54 National Guard/Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000.

The first American Superbike race of the Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader goes off from a standing start at 3:00 p.m. local time tomorrow afternoon. The scheduled distance is 13 laps (50 miles).


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