Garrett Gerloff dominated MotoAmerica Supersport qualifying Friday at Circuit of The Americas. Riding his Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha YZF-R6, Gerloff led from the start and ended up with a best lap time of 2:13.082 on the undulating 3.4-mile road course. Not only was the 19-year-old Texan’s time good enough to secure pole position, it was more than 0.7 second faster than the field and it would have put him seventh in Superbike/Superstock 1000cc qualifying!

“My [practice] session yesterday didn’t go as I hoped it would, so today I knew what I had to,” Gerloff told reporters. “The [qualifying] session got cut by 15 minutes [due to delays earlier in the World Championship sessions], so I knew it was going to be short and sweet and I just got ready mentally. I felt like I rode pretty well. We’re working to make the bike fit me a little better. I’ve kind of changed up my riding style this year, so we’re still working on stuff. I’m feeling real good, and everything is meshing pretty well.”

After topping Thursday’s practice, Bobby Fong had to settle for second-best with the lap of 2:13.846 he did on his Latus Motors Racing/Castrol Triumph Daytona 675R.

“At first, I was pretty disappointed when I got off the motorcycle,” said Fong. “I was second and didn’t get the pole and everything. But we had some problems with the motorcycle, and hell, I usually don’t qualify that good. I’ve been struggling over the years with qualifying, putting in that one good lap with the soft tire. I haven’t really come to terms with doing one fast lap. I’m more of a race guy. But my team’s been working hard over the off-season, we’re on the front row and tomorrow’s the race. It’s all about the race.”

Taking the final position on the front row with a lap time of 2:14.067 was former AMA Superbike Champion Josh Herrin, but getting there was quite an adventure as his Wheels In Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Yamaha YZF-R6 died on him twice in the short 35-minute session.

“The qualifying session was kind of a disaster for me,” said Herrin. “I had to push the bike back to the pits two times, and then we got flagged in for some reason. So it was kind of rough. I came in and just wanted to start screaming, and it took everything I had to just stay calm and try to put in at least one good lap, and we were able to.”

Gerloff’s teammate JD Beach just missed qualifying on the front row with his 2:14.094, but he said he was happy with his improved speed and feeling with his Yamaha during the session. Herrin’s teammate Joe Roberts, who is racing as a Supersport wild card but will race in the Superstock 600cc class full-time in 2015, was fifth-fastest with a 2:14.731. Australian David Anthony completed row two thanks to the 2:14.983 he did on his M4 Suzuki GSX-R600.

Roadrace Factory Yamaha’s Tomas Puerta (2:15.196), Millennium Technologies/KWR Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Wyman (2:15.607) and Puerta’s South African teammate Cameron Petersen (2:16.730) qualified on row three.

Puerta’s other teammate Ben Young (2:18.099), Team H35 MV Agusta’s Benny Solis, Jr. (2:18.230) and Veloce Racing MV Agusta’s Hayden Gillim (2:19.745) will start Saturday afternoon’s Supersport race from row four.

MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship

Circuit of The Americas

Austin, Texas

April 10, 2015

Provisional Supersport Qualifying One Results (all on Dunlop tires):

1. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R6), 2:13.082

2. Bobby Fong (Tri Daytona 675R), 2:13.846

3. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 2:14.067

4. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), 2:14.094

5. Joe Roberts (Yam YZF-R6), 2:14.731

6. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R600), 2:14.983

7. Tomas Puerta (Yam YZF-R6), 2:15.196

8. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R6), 2:15.607

9. Cameron Petersen (Yam YZF-R6), 2:16.730

10. Ben Young (Yam YZF-R6), 2:18.099

11. Benny Solis, Jr. (MV Agusta F3 675), 2:18.230

12. Hayden Gillim (MV Agusta F3 675), 2:19.745

13. Jay Newton (Yam YZF-R6), 2:20.692

14. Kaleb De Keyrel (Yam YZF-R6), 2:22.360

15. Ramdan Rosli (Yam YZF-R6), 2:22.949

16. Melissa Paris (Suz GSX-R600), 2:23.913

17. Javelin Broderick (MV Agusta F3 675), 2:24.542

18. Kris Lillegard (MV Agusta F3 675), 2:24.746

19. JC Camacho (Yam YZF-R6), 2:25.774

20. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R6), 2:27.615