AMA Pro Racing: Road Atlanta Friday Report

American Superbike

Dominating the first qualifying session at Road Atlanta on Friday was the National Guard Jordan Suzuki rider who doubled at Daytona, Jake Zemke.

He set a fastest lap of 1:25.166, averaging 107.790 mph. This time beat the best lap of 1:25.681 set last year by seven-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin. Zemke’s teammate, Aaron Yates, had pole position in the first two rounds of AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike action, but the Georgia native is out due to a broken leg from his crash at Fontana.

Tommy Hayden was second fastest with a 1:25.447. During Round 2 at Fontana, the Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider won his first-ever American Superbike race. Third fastest was Hayden’s teammate, Blake Young, who piloted the GSX-R1000R to a 1:25.560.

Team Graves Yamaha rider Josh Hayes was fourth fastest, with the final lap under the 1:25 mark with a 1:25.739. Rounding out the top five was Ben Bostrom on the Pat Clark Motorsports’ Yamaha YZF-R1.

Top Ten Friday Times:

1. Jake Zemke (Jordan Suzuki) 1:25.166
2. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki), 1:25.497
3. Blake Young (Rockstar Makita Suzuki), 1:25.560
4. Josh Hayes (Team Graves Yamaha), 1:25.739
5. Ben Bostrom (Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha), 1:26.010
6. Larry Pegram (Foremost Insurance Ducati), 1:26.133
7. Taylor Knapp (Ridersdiscount.com Suzuki), 1:26.236
8. John Hopkins (M4 Monster Energy Suzuki), 1:26.470
9. Tray Batey (Vesrah Suzuki), 1:27.608
10. Brett McCormick (Jordan Suzuki), 1:27.722

AMA Daytona SportBike

Setting the fastest time in the Daytona SportBike category was Team Grave Yamaha rider Tommy Aquino with a 1:29.496, who beat out his teammate and Daytona 200 winner Josh Herrin by a mere .005 of a second.

Third fastest was M4 Monster Energy Suzuki rider Martin Cardenas with a 1:29.645. The Columbian won his first-ever Daytona Sportbike win at Road Atlanta last year, and took his first win this season at Race 1 in Fontana. Fourth and fifth fastest went to Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha rider Clinton Seller and Dane Westby.

Top Ten Friday Times:

1. Tommy Aquino (Team Graves Yamaha), 1:29.496
2. Josh Herrin (Team Graves Yamaha), 1:29.547
3. Martin Cardenas (M4 Monster Energy Suzuki), 1:29.645
4. Clinton Seller (Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha), 1:29.851
5. Dane Westby (Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha), 1:29.863
6. Steve Rapp (Team Latus Ducati), 1:29.888
7. Cory West (Vesrah Suzuki), 1:29.896
8. Danny Eslick (GEICO Powersports Suzuki), 1:30.113
9. Bobby Fong (CNR Motorsports Ducati), 1:30.564
10. Chris Fillmore (Vesrah Suzuki), 1:30.647