The field in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike class is quite deep; as it should be, given that it is the premier series according to AMA Pro Racing (DMG). At the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round there were 43 racers signed up to compete but, as you will see, not all of them made the grid for the race on Sunday, 25 July 2010. Given this large field of bikes, the second part of qualifying – referred to as Qualifying Practice 2 (QP2) - is split further into two separate sessions, Group A and Group B. This is determined by lap times from the first QP held earlier in the morning; the 22 fastest laps put those riders into Group A, the remaining 21 to Group B. This also means that each group’s session is only 20 minutes long, so you better have your setup dialed in and be ready to push for a good position.
The A riders hit the track first and started out running a quick pace looking to chase down that high slot. Right out
front at the start were two riders who we are getting very used to seeing at the top of the charts, Graves Yamaha-mounted Josh Herrin and Tommy Aquino. Throughout their time on the track, they only managed to shave tenths from their lap times, but it was good enough to stay out front for the main. Other standouts from the first part of QP2 were M4/Monster Energy Suzuki rider Martin Cardenas and CNR Ducati’s Bobby Fong. Project 1 Atlanta’s Clinton Seller managed to land himself further up the grid by pulling in just behind those three and claiming fourth. Of course, that displaced Latus Ducati’s Steve Rapp and pushed him down the timesheet to eighth. After Seller were the Suzuki’s of Danny Eslick (GEICO Powersports) and Cory West (Vesrah).
In Group B, the story was quite a bit different. The racers running in this practice are finally gaining a track all to themselves, as Group A did before them. However, this often gives the mid-pack guys from QP1 a slight advantage since they are no longer dealing with being passed as often by quicker lappers. The leader board moved around constantly; just about every update changed the running order. However, like Group A, the usual suspects inhabited this zone for much of the practice – they simply jumped around more in Group B. Finishing at the top of this session was Slovenian and Inotherm Yamaha rider Bostjan Skubic. He started off in sixth, hung around third for a while and then landed in a comfortable first place for the remaining minutes. Behind Skubic was internationally-experienced, and still young, Steve Bonsey on the Ace Racing Yamaha. He was the most stable of this group as he held only first and second. Right on his heels came AMS Racing Yamaha’s Matthew Presting. And, rounding out the top five here were Spectrurm Ducati’s Patrick McCord and Zlock Kawasaki’s Brian Pinkstaff. Melissa Paris pulled her YZF-R6 around to land in tenth in Group B, which was a sizeable improvement from Friday’s
times. The rumor was setup issues held her back at Laguna.
At the bottom of the board in this group were six riders who did not make the 1:35.743 cutoff time; they would sit this round out. By the end of this second qualifying practice, a total of 37 riders were on their way to the race. That there is talent in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike field would be an understatement, and you can see the diversity just as easily – six different marques in the top 20.
After AMA Pro Daytona SportBike QP2:
1. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha)
2. Josh Herrin (Yamaha)
3. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki)
4. Bobby Fong (Ducati)
5. Clinton Seller (Suzuki)
6. Danny Eslick (Suzuki)
7. Cory West (Suzuki)
8. Steve Rapp (Ducati)
9. Michael Beck (Ducati)
10. Chris Fillmore (Suzuki)
