Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Graves Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking surprised no one when he took the AMA Superstock pole position during qualifying Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway. Not only was it Hacking’s third Superstock pole position of the season, but the bonus Championship point for earning pole breaks a tie between Hacking and his teammate Aaron Gobert for the Championship points lead.

“I’m riding hard because I’ve got some ground to make back up. Now we’re back leading the Championship again, and that’s a comfortable thing to know. I don’t want to be chasing,” said Hacking. “My guys are doing a good job, and we’ve got this thing working good through (turns) one and two, which is a key part of this racetrack. Plus, it’s working in the tight stuff. You can only do those times if you’re really comfortable, and I’m really comfortable. I’m pretty confident about the race.”

Hacking’s lap of 1:36.232 was over three seconds faster than Josh Hayes’ AMA Superstock lap record of 1:39.402, set in 2003 on a Suzuki GSX-R750.

Hayes also went better than his old mark, qualifing second-fastest at 1:37.028 on his Attack Kawasaki ZX-10R. Hacking’s teammate Jason DiSalvo used the draft of another rider to record a 1:37.244 and move up to third in the order. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies said he had his fastest lap of the weekend going through the first two lap segments but his GSX-R1000 jumped out of gear in the final segment, relegating him to fourth, the final spot on the front row, with a 1:37.341.

Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden had worse luck than Spies when his factory ZX-10R quit on the out lap of the session. After losing substantial time getting back to the pits, Hayden could do no better than an eighth-fastest 1:38.280 on his back-up bike.

Alex Gobert said a major change to the rear shock of his Erion Honda CBR1000RR allowed him to drop three seconds from his best lap time and qualify ninth with a 1:38.758, while riding in the slower of two qualifying groups.

A total of 14 riders qualified under the old Superstock lap record.

Provisional AMA Superstock Qualifying Results:

1. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:36.232
2. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:37.028
3. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:37.244
4. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:37.341
5. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:37.363
6. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:37.844
7. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.074
8. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:38.280
9. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:38.758
10. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.766
11. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:38.968
12. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:39.238
13. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:39.338
14. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:39.395
15. Scott Greenwood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.210
16. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.318
17. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.694
18. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.961
19. James Kerker, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:43.527
20. Montez Stewart, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:44.872
21. Jesse Janisch, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:44.933
22. Jessica Zalusky, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:45.816
23. Eric Haugo, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:46.249

112 percent of fast time: 1:47.780

24. Tom Grant, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:49.163
25. Eric Dooyema, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:49.657
26. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki GSX-R1000, no times