Suzuki’s Ben Spies recorded his seventh pole position of the year in qualifying for this weekend’s AMA Superbike double-header at Virginia International Raceway, Alton as Suzuki GSX-R1000s swept the top four places.
Spies had trailed team mate Mat Mladin throughout the half hour morning session until, towards the end, turned a deficit into an advantage by lapping the 2.25-mile road course in 1:23.403 minutes.
The time was under Mladin’s record of 1:24.045 minutes and .069 faster than Mladin’s best this morning.
Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates qualified third, a second down on Mladin with Tommy Hayden putting the third Rockstar Makita Suzuki on the end of the front row.
Superbike qualifying:
1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 1:23.403
2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 1:23.472
3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 1:24.545
4. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 1:24.653
5. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 1:24.707
6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 1:25.061
7. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 1:25.072
8. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 1:25.311
9. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki) 1:25.369
10. Geoff May (Suzuki) 1:25.681
