Herrin Gets First Pole at Mid-Ohio

Henny Ray Abrams | July 9, 2011

LEXINGTON, OHIO, JULY 9 – Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin took advantage of the absence of provisional pole-sitter Danny Eslick (RMR Geico) to take his first Daytona SportBike pole of the season on a warm morning at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.Eslick’s Friday time of 1:29.723 mins. was secure until the final minute of the 20-minute session when Latus Motors Racing’s Jason DiSalvo (Duc) lowered it by a few tenths to 1:29.557 mins. Herrin found late speed on his final go to set a new fastest lap of 1:29.486 mins. after time had expired. DiSalvo, who has three pole positions, was second with the absent Eslick third.

“I’m real happy to get a pole, first of the year, and one of few; I don’t really get a lot of poles,” Herrin said. “It’s nice and it motivates you a lot, but the main thing is try and get the race set-up and I think we got that. And, like they say, it’s easy to throw down one good time, but it’s stringing them all together that counts and I think we’ve got the bike to do that today.”By earning the pole position point, his first bonus point of any kind this season, Herrin now trails Eslick by three points, 161 to 158, ahead of this afternoon’s DSB race.Eslick didn’t take part in DSB final qualifying because of a stomach ailment.DiSalvo broke into the 1:29’s, then had a much slower lap before setting his fastest. He said he was re-setting his brain and he also found a tow from Yamaha Extended Service/Pat Clark Sports’ Tommy Aquino.Jake Holden Racing’s Jake Holden dropped from second on Friday to fourth on Saturday by not improving on his lap time of 1:30.037 mins.Aquino leads off the second row from Jake Holden Racing’s Cameron Beaubier (Yam), Vesrah Suzuki’s Cory West, and M4 Suzuki’s Dane Westby.The final two riders in the top ten are Taylor Knapp, on the second Vesrah Suzuki, and Paul Allison (Yam).Daytona SportBike Qualifying:1. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 1:29.486

2. Jason DiSalvo (Ducati) 1:29.557

3. Danny Eslick (Suzuki) 1:29.723

4. Jake Holden (Ducati) 1:30.037

5. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha) 1:30.280

6. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) 1:30.838

7. Cory West (Suzuki) 1:30.963

8. Dane Westby (Suzuki) 1:31.093

9. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) 1:31.099

10. Paul Allison (Yamaha) 1:31.259

 

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.