Cycle News Staff | March 11, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MARCH 11 – Steve Rapp earned the first-ever pole position for the Vance & Hines XR1200 class at Daytona International Speedway today, the Californian and his Parts Unlimited-backed XR bettering his time from yesterday to remain at the top for today’s inaugural race.”I was just getting used to the bike some more and I didn’t know if I was in first or 10th,” Rapp said after ripping off his 2:07.992. “I knew there was no point in pulling in because there’s not much you can change. I just kept going and kept trying to improve my riding and the bike.”Rapp ended up .713 of a second faster than the pursuing pack, with Chris Fillmore leading the rest with his 2:08.704. After Rapp, things got a bit tighter with Fillmore just .156 of a second ahead of Chase McFarland. David Estok will fill the front row for the start of this afternoon’s season kickoff.Five-time Daytona 200 winner Scott Russell continued to struggle with handling woes and will start the race from the third row after qualifying 11th.
Final Qualifying
1. Steve Rapp (2:07.992)
2. Chris Fillmore (2:08.704)
3. Chase McFarland (2:08.860)
4. David Estok (2:09.247)
5. Kyle Wyman (2:09.665)
6. Joe Kopp (2:09.783)
7. Michael Barnes (2:09.832)
8. Travis Wyman (2:10.178)
9. Michael Beck (2:12.397)
10. Charlie Long (2:12.480)
