A storm was gathering as the Daytona Sportbike series was getting ready for the first qualifying event. Forecasts said that rain was expected soon, so riders got on their bikes and set off to put in as many fast laps as possible."It was kind of complicated at the beginning because we didn't know if it was going to start raining again or not," said Martin Cardenas, who claimed the provisional pole position today in New Jersey. "We tried to get as fast as we could at the beginning and put in a good lap in case it rained later or maybe tomorrow. We tried to make a good lap and that's what we did -- we put a soft tire on very early and made a good lap. Then we waited to see if someone got close enough and Danny was very close. So I went out but I saw my pitboard was still saying 'P1'. It's great to be on (provisional) pole."
Cardenas beat out season leader Danny Eslick by .08 seconds for the provisional pole position. Cardenas, who has the most race wins so far this season with 6, sits in third place behind Eslick and Josh Herrin on the leader board. Cardenas is only 14 points behind Eslick, and could find himself as the series leader if the rest of the weekend plays out as well as today.
Tommy Aquino and Cory West took third and fourth during the qualifying session, and Herrin crossed the line in fifth. The top five riders were all within one second of eachother.
AMA Daytona Sportbike - New Jersey - Qualifying Session
1. Martin Cardenas (Suz) 1:23.683
2. Danny Eslick (Suz) 1:23.762
3. Tommy Aquino (Yam) 1:24.249
4. Cory West (Suz) 1:24.466
5. Josh Herrin (Yam) 1:24.611
6. Chris Fillmore (Suz) 1:24.720
7. Dane Westby (Yam) 1:24.822
8. Steve Rapp (Duc)1:24.969
9. Bobby Fong (Duc) 1:25.064
10. Paul Allison (Yam) 1:25.249
