Cameron Beaubier Earns First AMA Superbike Pole

Larry Lawrence | May 31, 2014
  In just his second weekend in the series  Cameron Beaubier scored his first career AMA Superbike pole Saturday at Road America. In the new qualifying format  Beaubier sped his Monster Energy Graves Yamaha R1 around the four-mile circuit in a time of 2:12.437.Beaubier owned the fastest every lap in the final qualifying session.  Larry Lawrence photo

Photography by Larry Lawrence

In just his second weekend in the series, Cameron Beaubier scored his first career AMA Superbike pole Saturday at Road America. In the new qualifying format, Beaubier sped his Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha R1 around the four-mile circuit in a time of 2:12.437.Beaubier owned the fastest every lap in the final qualifying session.

Beaubier’s Yamaha teammate Josh Hayes starts second with a time of 2:12.869, while Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden starts on the outside on row one with a time of 2:13.419.

This is the first weekend for a new AMA Superbike qualifying format. Similar to those used in MotoGP and World Superbike, competitors compete in two qualifying sessions, with the fastest 12 riders advancing to a third and final qualifier to determine grid position. Previously, Superbikes were given one practice session and two qualifiers, with grid position determined by the fastest lap time from either session.

“I felt comfortable as soon as I got on the bike,” Beaubier said. “I was able to string together a couple of 12s in the last 15 minutes of the shootout. I really like the shootout (qualifying format), it really makes it interesting.”

Hayes still owns the track record of 2:11.33 set in 2012. Riders report the track surface has gotten a bit rougher in the past couple of year.

AMA Superbike Road America Qualifying Results – May 31, 2014
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam) 2:12.437
2. Josh Hayes (Yam) 2:12.869
3. Roger Hayden (Suz) 2:13.419
4. Martin Cardenas (Suz) 2:13.431
5. David Anthony (Suz) 2:14.952
6. Chris Clark (Suz) 2:15.065
7. Chris Fillmore (KTM) 2:15.879
8. Larry Pegram (EBR) 2:16.911
9. Bernat Martinez (Yam) 2:17.014
10. Chris Ulrich (Hon) 2:17.493
11. Cory West (EBR) 2:18.018
12. Jason Ferrell (Kaw) 2:20.544

 

Larry Lawrence | Archives Editor

In addition to writing our Archives section on a weekly basis, Lawrence is another who is capable of covering any event we throw his way.