Hayes Gets Record 11th Pole in a Row

Henny Ray Abrams | September 8, 2012

MILLVILLE, NJ, SEPT 8 – Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes earned a record-tying 11th pole position in a row at the AMA Superbike round at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Hayes pole streak began at the 2011 AMA Superbike race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and has continued through all nine rounds this season. Seven-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin also had 11 poles in a row; like Hayes his streak was spread over two season. The likelihood that Hayes will take sole control of the record at the next round in Homestead, Florida is strong, considering his current form. In this morning’s 50-minute session, Hayes improved his Friday time to 1:20.776 mins., a lap that was fastest by .645 sec.

MotorcycleSuperstore.com/Attack Kawasaki’s Steve Rapp had his best qualifying session of the year, finishing second to Hayes. He’d previously been fourth on the front row at Mid-Ohio.

Jordan Suzuki teammates Roger Hayden and Ben Bostrom finished third and fourth, respectively, but on the strength of their Friday times. Neither improved on Saturday, a day when the track didn’t start out entirely dry.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Young improved from 11th to fifth with a lap that was nearly a second faster. Young enters today’s race trailing Hayes in the championship by 71 points, 340 to 415.

Behind Young came Team Amsoil Hero’s Geoff May (EBR), Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing’s Larry Pegram (BMW) and Taylor Knapp on the Riders Discount/K&L Supply Suzuki.

AMA Superbike Qualifying:
1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1:20.776
2. Steve Rapp (Kawasaki) 1:21.521
3. Roger Hayden (Suzuki) 1:21.587
4. Ben Bostrom (Suzuki) 1:21.589
5. Blake Young (Suzuki) 1:21.762
6. Geoff May (EBR) 1:21.770
7. Larry Pegram (BMW) 1:22.202
8. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) 1:22.291
9. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 1:22.409
10. Danny Eslick (EBR) 1:22.421