Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Erion Honda’s Mike Hale earned the pole position for the Pro Honda Oils AMA Supersport race at Mid-Ohio with a time of 1:45.735 on his Dunlop-shod Honda CBR600F4i. Hale’s pole position is believed to be his first AMA pole since 1995.

Supersport qualifying was held on a damp-but-drying surface, and as a result, the top seven riders in the second, odd-numbered qualifying session turned faster times than the fastest rider from the first, even-numbered qualifying group, Anthony Gobert.

Because conditions changed between sessions, AMA officials decided that the Supersport grid wiould be made up of riders alternating from each qualifying session. For instance, Hale will have pole, and Gobert will be second on the grid. Second-fastest from the second group, Jason Pridmore will be third on the grid, and second-fastest from the first session, Tom Kipp, will be fourth on the grid.

Provisional AMA Supersport Qualifying Results:

1. Mike Hale, Honda, 1:45.735
2. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, 1:48.091
3. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:45.790
4. Tom Kipp, Suzuki, 1:48.407
5. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:46.108
6. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 1:49.044
7. Ty Howard, Suzuki, 1:46.583
8. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:49.802
9. Alex Gobert, Honda, 1:46.725
10. Andrew Nelson, Honda, 1:50.945
11. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:47.071
12. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:51.744
13. Troy Green, Yamaha, 1:47.902
14. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, 1:52.272
15. Mike Smith, Suzuki, 1:48.251
16. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 1:54.038
17. Monte Nichols, Yamaha, 1:48.331
18. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 1:54.051
19. Kevin Pate, Suzuki, 1:50.113
20. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:54.075
21. Michael Hannas, Kawasaki, 1:50.255
22. James Kerker, Honda, 1:55.154
23. Tyler Wadsworth, Yamaha, 1:52.845
24. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, 1:56.134
25. Adam Coco, Yamaha, 1:52.991
26. Justin Blake, Suzuki, 2:01.654
27. Chuck Ivey, Yamaha, 1:53.606
28. Jerry Lee Dudley II, Honda, 2:04.793
29. Martin Sims, Suzuki, 1:56.417
30. Jeff Muskopf, Suzuki, 2:04.817
31. Darby Brauning, Yamaha, 1:59.256
32. Jason Peters, Suzuki, 2:11.197
33. Matthew Frick, Suzuki, 1:59.542
34. Hector Romero, Yamaha, 2:16.588
35. Jason Spencer, Suzuki, 2:05.044
36. Kevin Lehman, Honda, 2:22.046
37. Calvin Martinez, Suzuki, 2:05.599
38. Michael Radke, Suzuki, 2:46.267