AMA Pro Barber: Friday (updated regularly)

M4 Suzuki

Team M4 Suzuki’s Jason DiSalvo scored his second consecutive AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Superpole victory on Friday at Barber Motorsports Park.

The New Yorker controlled the entire day’s SportBike action from the front aboard the team’s GSX-R600, leading the way in the morning practice, the afternoon’s Basic Qualifying session, and finally Superpole.

DiSalvo ended the day by posting a 1:28.816 during his flying lap to claim the pole for the weekend’s twin 20-lap finals.

“The lap was really good,” DiSalvo remarked. “I felt like the first half of the lap I was maybe a little conservative. Going into the hairpin you can lose a lot of time if you run wide so I took it a little easy into there but the last half of the lap was really good. I
didn’t really miss any apexes of run wide anywhere during the entire lap.

“I’m really happy. The M4 guys really tucked in this morning and we made a lot of changes during the session and it really paid off for us. I’m just happy I was able to come out and get pole for the guys. This pole felt really special, even better than the one at Atlanta. I was really pumped. It’s a thank you to the crew and it’s kind of their
home race — the shop is only a couple hours from here and I know it means a lot to them.”

Atlanta race winner Martin Cardenas was fifth fastest in Superpole. The Colombian guided his GSX-R600 around the undulating racecourse with a time of 1:29.489.

Like DiSalvo, Cardenas was strong all day, running second quick to his teammate during both practice and Basic Qualifying.

Young ace Kris Turner opened his weekend of AMA Pro SuperSport action with a pair of practice sessions. The Chattanooga, TN resident was ninth fastest in the morning (1:34.344) and 12th in the afternoon (1:34.368), aboard his SuperSport-spec GSX-R600.

On Saturday Team M4 Suzuki will look to add to their ‘09 trophy haul in the 50-mile Daytona SportBike race that concludes the day’s activities.

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LTD Racing

Birmingham, AL (May 1, 2009) – LTD Racing’s three rider lineup had a trying day at Barber Motorsports Park on Friday, but all three riders look to rebound strongly for Saturday’s qualifying. An unusually high number of the young SuperSport racers crashed in Birmingham during the afternoon practice and the LTD Racing trio was no exception.

The fastest racer for the team was Colombian Tomas Puerta. Tomy led much of the afternoon practice before losing the top position near the end of the session. He finished in second. “I was happy to ride the bike today for the first time and the R6 is a fast machine. We were able to find speed quickly, and we are confident that we can get a good starting spot for tomorrow,” he said.

Puerta (1:32.286) attempted to better Josh Day’s time (1:32.203) at the very end of afternoon practice, but Puerta crashed just before the checkered flag. “I had a low speed crash,” said Tomy. “I am okay and fortunately the bike only had some small damage. We are looking forward to qualifying on Saturday.”

Huntley Nash impressed in the morning session (6^th best) but saw his afternoon session dashed when he fell early. “The bike wasn’t that bad but the handlebar was broken, so I was stuck out on the course. I couldn’t ride it back,” said the Marietta, Ga. resident. “I only got a warm-up lap and then I crashed the next time around, so it was pretty much a wasted session. A lot of guys crashed and it looked like everyone was losing the front, so something odd was happening out there on the track.”

Points leader Joey Pascarella posted seventh and sixth best times in each of the sessions on Friday. “I felt strong, but I crashed and it kinda felt like it came out of nowhere. Hopefully, we can get the bike back together and put a strong performance in qualifying,” said the Vacaville, Calif. racer.

Tomorrow’s qualifying is scheduled for 8:40 AM.