Rain-hit DSB Qualifying Lands DiSalvo on Pole

Henny Ray Abrams | May 29, 2011

TOOELE VALLEY, UTAH, MAY 29 – A light rain in the Tooele Valley turned Jason DiSalvo’s provisional pole into the pole position in advance of this afternoon’s Daytona SportBike race at Miller Motorsports Park.Overnight leader DiSalvo (Latus Motors Racing Ducati) earned the pole point with his fast lap of 1:55.291 mins. on a cool, overcast Saturday afternoon. DiSalvo now leads Cory West (Vesrah Suzuki) 94 to 56.Rain began to fall late on Saturday and continued into Sunday with a forecast of wet conditions throughout the day. In a preview of how the race may play out, GP Bike Parts Racing’s Cameron Beaubier (Yam) was fastest in the wet, with a lap of 2:08.513 mins., followed by Triple Crown Industries Paul Allison (2:08.292 mins.) and M4 Suzuki’s Dane Westby (2:08.741 mins.). DiSalvo was fifth fastest at 2:09.108 mins. and second fast qualifier Jacobsen was 11th (2:12.724 mins.).Asked if hew surprised to be fastest, Beaubier said, “A little bit. I was just going out and trying to put laps in and stuff. I’m sure everyone was just trying to get a good set-up and get to know the track in the rain for the race. I really want to just get out in the race and keep up with the front group and go from there.”The 16-lap third round of the Daytona SportBike championship is scheduled for 4:40 p.m. MDT.

Daytona SportBike Qualifying:

1. Jason DiSalvo (Ducati) 1:55.291

2. PJ Jacobsen (Ducati) 1:55.616

3. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 1:56.100

4. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) 1:56.333

5. Paul Allison (Yamaha) 1:56.607

6. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) 1:56.626

7. Danny Eslick (Suzuki) 1:56.645

8. Cory West (Suzuki) 1:56.666

9. Jake Holden (Ducati) 1:56.730

10. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha) 1:56.865

 

Henny Ray Abrams | Contributing Editor

Abrams is the longest-serving contributor at Cycle News. Over the course of his 35-some years of writing and shooting photos, he’s covered events from MotoGP to the Motocross World Championship - and everything in between.