Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

A crash during the short, 30-minute final qualifying session didn’t prevent Parts Unlimited PJ1 Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke from capturing the AMA Superbike pole position during qualifying Saturday morning at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota.

Zemke crashed one of his CBR1000RR Superbikes in turn 10, the final corner on the 3.0-mile road course, with less than 20 minutes remaining. He then ran back to pit lane, mounted his second CBR1000RR and spent one of his qualifying tires getting back up to full speed, before mounting his last qualifier and turning a late, fast lap of 1:35.655 to collect the second AMA Superbike pole position of his season and his career.

Provisional Combined AMA Superbike Qualifying Results:

1. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:35.655
2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:35.671
3. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:35.818
4. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:35.828
5. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:35.876
6. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 999F04, 1:36.380
7. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:36.759
8. Pascal Picotte, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:37.777
9. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.853
10. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:39.434
11. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:39.463
12. Larry Pegram, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:39.690
13. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:39.770
14. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.163
15. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.203
16. Jeremy Toye, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:40.317
17. Cory West, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:41.441
18. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:41.720
19. Jack Pfeifer, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:41.880
20. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.032
21. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.068
22. Greg Fryer, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:42.110
23. James Kerker, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:42.726
24. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.766
25. David Bell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.886
26. Mark Vandal, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:43.122
27. Scott Jensen, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:43.473
28. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:44.054
29. A.J. Ammann, Suzuki GSX-R100, 1:44.192
30. Roger Hendricks, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:44.878

More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

2004 American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship

Round 11 – Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minnesota, USA

Qualifying Session Report

MLADIN MISSES POLE BY A WHISKER AT BRAINERD

Brainerd, Minnesota, USA (Saturday, June 26) – In a dramatic final qualifying session for this weekend’s eleventh round of the American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota, defending series champion and current points leader, Mat Mladin, was edged off pole position for this weekend’s round after his time was beaten by the narrowest of margins in the final minutes of the session by
Jake Zemke.

Mladin had already posted a best time of 1:35.671 aborad his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 to head the timesheets for the second and final session, but Zemke responded after an early-session crash to grab the valuable point for pole position with a time of 1:35.655, a mere 0.016 of a second.

Tomorrow’s 21-lap race is certain to be action packed after the qualifying times showed that the top five riders were separated by just two tenths of a second. The final two placings on the front row of the grid went to the Honda’s of Miguel DuHamel (1:35.818) and Ben Bostrom (1:35.828), with Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes fifth fastest with a 1:35.876.

With a place of the front row of the grid being a priority, Mladin set the pace after fitting a set of softer qualifying tyres, something that he had not done in yesterday’s session, where he elected to spend more time concentrating on finding a suitable race setup rather than reeling off a quick time for a single lap.

“We didn’t use any qualifiers yesterday, so we had a couple up our sleeve for today,” said Mladin. “We had a little bit of trouble with some slower guys and didn’t get the best of runs, but that happens sometimes.

“We made some slight changes to the bike overnight and went quicker on race tyres than we did yesterday, so we’re very happy overall.

“Jake (Zemke) got us by just a little bit there at the end, that’s alright, but we’re quite happy with how our `race setup is.

“The times are pretty close there after qualifying, but we’ll have to see how we go with our setup in the race. Drafting will be a key point to the race, as I don’t think we’ll have the speed to break away from them down the straights. We’ll just play the race as it comes and see where we can get an edge over them.”

With a ten-point advantage at the top of the championship points table, Mladin will be aiming to stay ahead of arch rivals DuHamel and Zemke by the end of tomorrow’s 21-lap Superbike national and work not only at maintaining his lead in the series, but stretching out to a greater advantage.

COMBINED QUALIFYING, 2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship, Saturday Top
10
1. Jake Zemke (Erion Honda) 1:35.655
2. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 1:35.671
3. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) 1:35.818
4. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) 1:35.828
5. Josh Hayes (Attack Kawasaki) 1:35.876
6. Eric Bostrom (Ducati Austin) 1:36.380
7. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) 1:36.759
8. Pascal Picotte (Yamaha Canada) 1:37.777
9. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) 1:38.853
10. Shawn Higbee (KWS Suzuki) 1:39.434

2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship (Points after 10 of 18 rounds)
1. Mat Mladin (329, 5 wins); 2. Miguel DuHamel (319, 4 wins), 3. Jake Zemke (312), 4. Eric Bostrom (235, 1 win), 5. Geoff May (220); 6. Ben Bostrom (184), 7. John Haner (183), 8. Aaron Yates (165), 9. Eric Wood (161), 10. Lee Acree (156).


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

BOSTROM PICKS UP PACE IN SATURDAY QUALIFYING

Brainerd (Minnesota) – June 26, 2004: Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom shaved nearly 1.4 seconds off his Friday qualifying time today, putting his Ducati 999R in sixth spot for tomorrow’s Trofeo Ducati U.S. Superbike AMA Championship race.

Bostrom was upbeat after the only Superbike session of the day, but wanted even more from qualifying at the 3.1-mile (4.58 km), 10-turn Brainerd track. Eric’s time of 1:36.380 set on his Michelin-shod Ducati was just behind the top five runners, who were separated by a mere 0.2 seconds at the Minnesota track.

“We improved, but to be honest I was looking forward to being even faster today. Our times on race tires were pretty good, even though we didn’t drop as much time as the other guys since they used qualifying tires,” said the 27-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Saturday was warmer at Brainerd, although still cool for June. More importantly, the crosswind that bothered the riders in turn two wasn’t as much of a hindrance today as it was on Friday.

The team is optimistic about a positive result in Sunday’s race. “We were fast on race tires today; it’s a lot closer than our qualifying position shows,” said Racing Manager Tom Bodenbach. “The guys will be making just a few changes to the bike for tomorrow and then we plan on being in the hunt.”

“We’ll be a factor. Tomorrow’s going to be a good race, I’m sure of that,” said Eric, who was among the quickest on the top speed guns into Brainerd’s famous turn one.

Tomorrow’s 21-lap (100 km) race is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. (Central Daylight Time).