Hayden Fastest at Mid-Ohio

Henny Ray Abrams | July 17, 2009

Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden topped the first American Superbike qualifying session on a day of changing weather at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.On his 18th tour of the 2.4-mile circuit, Hayden clocked a best lap of 1:25.054 mins. That put him just ahead of Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates (1:25.190) and the Yamahas of Josh Hayes (1:25.219) and Ben Bostrom (1:25.544), who’d been at the top for much of the session.The 40-minute session was interrupted about halfway in when Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Blake Young crashed in turn ten. He returned to the pits and finished the session in tenth place with mud-covered leathers.Only two spots higher was teammate Mat Mladin. Mladin’s best of 1:26.036 was nearly a second off Hayden’s time in advance of this afternoon’s Superpole session.The session ran under mostly overcast skies, with the occasional burst of sunlight. But not long after the session ended, a rain began to fall lightly before turning torrential. That put an end to on-track activity, despite the belief that racing would take place in wet conditions.The start of Daytona SportBike basic qualifying, originally scheduled for 1:20 p.m., is on hold while the track is dried.

Friday Qualifying:

1. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 1:25.054

2. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 1:25.190

3. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1:25.219

4. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha) 1:25.544

5. Geoff May (Suzuki) 1:25.566

6. Larry Pegram (Ducati) 1:25.960

7. Jake Holden (Honda) 1:26.025

8. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 1:26.036

9. Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 1:26.171

10. Blake Young (Suzuki) 1:26.605